Thursday, October 1, 2009

One More Makes FOUR!

One last pregnant picture...4:30am Sept. 23, 2009...on the way to the hospital.

Matt. All duded up for a c-section.
He was pretty sure he wanted to wear those scrubs all day long.
But he didn't. (They didn't go with his shoes.)

Mommy gets a quick look at Makenna before Auntie Becca and Daddy take her upstairs to get cleaned up and checked out.

Not so much a fan of the foot-printing process.

We were so glad Auntie Becca got to be Makenna's nurse. During Mattaya's delivery, Becca was a nursing student, so we invited her to watch and take pictures for us. This time she was a for-real nurse who got to take care of Makenna!

Both of our girls screamed like banshees until it was time to wash their hair.

Since we decided to bottle-feed this time around, Daddy got to do the first feeding.

It took a little while, but Mommy eventually got to hold the un-named baby. For the record, she DID have a name by the end of the first day (much better than Mattaya's naming experience!).

Leelee brought the Big Sister for a visit.
Makenna got LOTS of kisses.

Mattaya kept doing this funny fake laugh and saying, "Teeewwwt." (cute)



We had planned ahead and brought along several gifts for Mattaya (one for each day she would visit the hospital).

(Daddy was so glad to catch this shot--tissue paper floating through the air.)

Baby Dear!
Several weeks ago, Gramma Julie unearthed an old Golden Book that belonged to me. Some family friends had given it to me when Mom was expecting Luke. It's called "Baby Dear" and is all about welcoming a new baby sister (how they knew Luke was going to be a girl, I'm not sure). In the book, the big sister gets a new baby doll that she can change and feed and dress just like Mommy changes and feeds and dresses the new baby. Mattaya has LOVED reading that book, so we bought her a doll that came with all the accessories.

She came complete with a baby doll pacifier attached to her clothing!

Dr. Fischbach delivered both Mattaya and Makenna.
Interesting guy. Distinct personality. Good doctor.

Auntie Becca worked most of the time we were in the hospital. She was sure to get assigned to Makenna, and she came to see us after work each day. :)

Makenna Grace was born at 7:32am on September 23.
She weighed 7 lb 13 oz and was 19.75" long.
(Lighter and longer than Mattaya.)

Snuggle time was a little funky with a sore belly. Now I'm a little less sore, and Makenna likes my "built-in Boppy pillow" (belly's still a little swollen).


Gift #2

It's a train! One of Mattaya's loves. This girl loves "things that go".

Day 2...still didn't make it all the way to the shower. ;) Thanks to Mandie, the hair's still holding up! (We did get the pain meds figured out by the end of Day 2 and finally got a shower on Day 3.)

Snug as a bug.

Dressed for pictures.
(Not sure how this picture got turned...not sure how to fix it in blogger...too lazy to do what I know how to do that will fix it.)

We're really enjoying this shared responsibility of feeding (well, I am anyway!).
She was an efficient eater from the start. Feedings were over in about 10 minutes!

Ready to go home!
CRAZY how similar this is to Mattaya's "going home" picture.
(If you want to see Mattaya's picture, scroll up to the top of this page, click on 2007 over on your right, then click on the October post.)

Makenna has this whole "sleeping like a baby" thing DOWN! ;)

Mattaya's still thrilled to be holding "Kenna".

Sisterly love.

She's added a new step to her baby repertoire. After Mattaya kisses Makenna, she asks for a "towo" (towel...meaning burp cloth) so she can "pat, pat" Makenna's face dry.
(Mattaya gives juicy kisses.)

Grampa Dave and Gramma Julie are super-helpful.

Mattaya loved this outfit on Makenna...we heard buzzing sounds ALL DAY.

First sponge bath at home. I FINALLY got to see the curls everyone was talking about at the hospital! (Not that you can really see them here....) When wet, her hair curls up REALLY tight, like an old-lady perm!

Philosophizing.

Checking out her sweet red Mary Janes.

The pensive pose.

Matt has been really conscious about paying attention to Mattaya and planning things that are fun for HER. This afternoon, Mattaya got to help make raspberry iced tea (from a powder). Scooping powder and using the plunger pitcher are oh so fun!

But tasting it is the BEST part.

Makenna and Baby Dear drink their bottles.

Growing up so fast.

Gentle kisses for sister.
It's amazing for how rambunctious and wild Mattaya can be, she's always VERY careful and gentle around Makenna.

Not really sure about that loud big sister.

There is a constant need to "hug it".

Full.

New safety feature: Skidders!
Some friends included these most excellent slippers in a baby gift...not sure they were necessarily meant for Mattaya, but because they're her size right now, we'll let her break them in for Makenna. ;) They're socks on top with a very flexible rubber sole on bottom--GREAT for our busy girl who's frequently slipping and falling on our "fancy" tile floors.

Showing her shoes to Daddy.

Checking them out.

Makenna has a variety of smiles, and I like them all. :)


We are a very blessed, very happy family of FOUR!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Sneak Peek

The crowds have been clamoring for pictures, and while we can get online at the hospital, we can't open Facebook for some reason. So here's a quick sneak peek of our newest addition. Makenna Grace was born Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 7:32 am via scheduled c-section.

(This post is in the wrong order because I (Matt) am doing it because we couldn't get the camera to upload the pictures on our laptop so I had to come to Dave and Julie's to do it. If you start at the bottom of this post and go up that is the way it should be :))

So far Mattaya is a big fan of "Kenna". :) She is thrilled to hold her and has been so gentle. Mattaya keeps chuckling and saying: teewwwt (cute), baby, kize (cries), waa waa waa, shhhhh. She loves to give her sister kisses on the keek (cheek) and name her various body parts: hair, eyes, nose, mouth, keek, etc.

Many of you have asked how Karisa is doing, and now we can finally say, "Really well!" Things were a bit rough at first, but we may have had some crazy expectations. Once they figured out the right pain pill combo and schedule, she was able to start getting up more regularly, and she's shown a lot of progress since then. Our hospital experience has actually been quite lovely as we have so many friends on staff taking care of both Karisa and Makenna. God has blessed us in sooooo many ways, and we praise Him for His amazing grace!

Proud Dad holding girl #2!



She looks almost exactly like Mattaya's newborn pictures, except that her face is a little wider and she's got even MORE hair than Mattaya did (minus the rat tail, and darker and curlier!). She's been sucking down bottles and belching like a champ. She's very content and sleeps well.

Hope you all enjoyed the sneak peek. When we get home and settled we will do an actual blog update so you can see everything.