An Update on Kaylei

We want to thank all of you who have prayed for Kaylei. We went to Shriners last week and they did an ultrasound on her hip. The docs said it looked hopeful and her hip is healing. We find out on 21 Aug. how much longer Kaylei will be in the harness.
She seems to be adjusted to the harness. We can only take it off when we go to the doctor's office, every 2 weeks. She gets sponge baths in between but I love getting to get that harness off and rub her little toes!

We were able to visit my (Alice) family in Idaho Falls. We met the second boy of my sister, Kristofer is 3 1/2 months older than Kaylei. We also got to see Josef, 3. Here are some pictures of us at the Idaho Falls Zoo.

What the doctor said . . .

Kaylei went in to the doc for her 16 week check-up. She weighs in at a whopping 16 pounds, 9 1/2 ounces and is 25 1/2 inches long. She's growing pretty well and still tops out the size chart for her age. She received her second set of shots and did pretty well. The real test is if she gets a fever or not tonight. She also was diagnosed with developmental hip dyplasia. We are looking for an pediatric orthopaedic surgeon to help us start treatment. The earlier the better! She should be good with a strong therapy treatment but if we wait too long it could affect her standing and walking progression. Please keep her in your prayers!

Kaylei Update

Life has been so busy that past couple of months. Kaylei is awake more and loves to makes noise. We prefer her happy coos and babbling but she does cry too. Kaylei seems to be enjoying life outside the womb. She sits in her bumbo chair and checks out her surroundings. She's sleeps through the night lately which has been nice. Bedtime is anywhere from 9:30 to 11:30 and she'll sleep til 7 am for her first feeding, then she's back off to sleepyland til after 9. I don't know how Troy and I got so LUCKY!

Memorial Weekend

(Kaylei and daddy on daddy's birthday 4/29)

Kaylei took her first big overnight trip on memorial day weekend. We went to Cascade and Boise for the long weekend. We left Friday afternoon and made it all the way to Riggins before we needed to stop and feed. We had one incident the way down. We had been listening to a Moscow radio station that was about out of range so the volume was turned way up. I decided to put in a CD as we approached a construction zone. The music blarred so loud I jumped out of my seat, and apparently woke Kaylei out of deep sleep resulting in a WAILING baby! Good thing we were stopped for construction. I crawled in the back and pulled her out of the car seat and comforted her for almost ten minutes! She was not a happy camper.

All of Kaylei's relatives were happy to see her. We stayed at Grandma Hinck's house in Cascade. Kaylei didn't get a chance to relax as she was passed from one relative to the next. She didn't sleep well at night either as Grandma's house is much colder than she's used to, so she ended up snuggling with me and Troy thus we didn't sleep much either.

We returned on Sunday evening giving us Monday to recuperate. We sleep all day in between meals and feedings. I don't think I even got dressed! It was quite the experience for both baby and me. I don't think we'll be travelling for a little while.

My favorite parenting mishap

There are several lessons I have learned as a parent that I would like to share in a humorous story.
I have been blessed with a larger than normal baby. She was born large and has gained weight rapidly. I think she is very happy and healthy. Well, babies are expensive and we are trying to stretch the money where needed. We have a large supply of 0-3 month clothes and diapers which are supposed to fit baby for a couple of months or until they are about 12 pounds. The problem is that our less than 2 month old has exceeded that 12 pound size...but I figured I could squeeze her into them for another week or so. In retrospect that may not have been a good idea. Her clothes were a little snug and her diaper probably not large enough to contain her largest deposits as we set off on our first long trip to visit her grandpa. The trip to see grandpa went well, it was the return portion where things got messy.
Fun fact: Did you know breast fed babies do not poop for up to 5 days, and it is considered normal?
I did not know this either. I also did not think that a 12 lb kid could produce 1/2 pound of slimy poop.
This brings us back to day 4 of no pooping with the inadequate diaper and tight fitting onesy... in a car on the side of the road. The good news was that we do not have to worry about if she had an intestinal blockage anymore. There was a slight problem with the bottom 1/2 of her onesy being saturated and the only way to get off was over her head. But her head and upper torso were the only things not covered in green slimy and I did not want to spread it anymore than she had already. Out came the pocketknife and I cut her clothes off. Now we make sure to use large diapers, loose fitting clothes, and carry lots of wipes.

Happiness is being a Daddy

Ok, so Alice writes all of these blogs she thinks it is Troy's turn.
I love being a Daddy, it is so much fun. I think being a Mom would be great too, but I don't have to deal with the feedings. This baby care is a lot of work which we try to split evenly.
My precious little girl is beginning to smile more regularly and it melts my heart to see her face light up. Just in case you didn't know she is a total Daddy's girl... in fact she has been since the day she was born. I am enjoying all of these sweet moments but anticipating when she is a little bigger and more interactive. I am a little worried about when she starts crawling as to where she will disappear to. As a responsible parent I am preparing for these events; I am working on teaching Buddy (our dog) a new command... "Where's the baby?"

Our Summer Plans

Our little Kaylei sure is growing fast! She currently weighs about 11.5 pounds and has outgrown all newborn sizes! Her socks are size 6mos+. She's still in 0-3 but is getting a bit long for some of those as well! She only sleeps for about 3 hours at a time at night and eats about every 2 hours during the day. Mom is still recovering from the "traumatic" birth as the doc called it. She'll be working 2 jobs this summer. 4 hours, 2-3 days a week for ID fish and game as a receptionist ( a new job for the resume!) and then a few days at the dam processing fish for USGS, which will only be a few hours as well. Dad is looking forward to spending the summer working on non-game projects including electro-shocking for salamanders! Hopefully he's home more than he was this winter when he worked on a fisher project. We hope everyone is doing great. Drop us a line and let us know! :)