1 Month!

Kinley turned 1 month on May 24th. We were leaving town that day so I had this all written out, but didn't get the time to take a picture of her and finish this off. But here is the update.

The day after we brought her home.
 2 days old.

I never knew so much could change in 1 month...or that one little girl could make such a difference in our family. It's amazing how much growth I've seen in Kinley in just the 4 short weeks she's been a part of our family. Physically, she's grown 2 lbs, and 1.5 inches. But that's not all. It's funny to me how babies are born knowing literally NOTHING and they just have to figure it all out. When she does  figure it out it's like the COOLEST thing ever. Like in the last week/ week and a half she has gotten so good at following us with her eyes. I LOVE IT! Who would've thought that would bring so much joy? She can kick her little legs SO hard. I'll have her laying on my tummy and next thing you know she is rocketing herself into my face. A few of her newborn outfits are getting a bit snug on her, just a little more evidence she's growing. Not that we need that as a reminder, she already seems so much bigger and grown up than when she was born. I can't believe it. It's kinda unfair how quickly they're not that tiny little baby you brought home from the hospital. When I bring her out of the house and other people see her they say, "She's so tiny!" And I think, "Ya, but she's not as tiny as she used to be!"

Just enjoying the life of a baby.

The morning she turned 1 month old, she was all smiles. But I think it was just a fluke. She smiles more than she used to, but the social smile isn't quite there yet. Can't wait!

Just a few things I should jot down about Kinley so I don't forget much later on in life (I have been working on copying my blog posts over into my journal...LOVE!).

• Kinley is a grunter! Oh my gosh. Sometimes we just laugh at how loud this girl is. She will be sleeping and making all sorts of crazy noises. In the beginning we used to think she was awake. So in the middle of the night we'd wake up to get her and realize she was still asleep. Slowly we're learning to sleep through all her noises. 
• She hates for us to set her down after she has fallen asleep in our arms. The second we lay her in her cradle, she SPAZZES out. I mean full on spaz. Every piece of her body jumps and she is suddenly wide awake. It's crazy. 
• Also, Kinley will wait until we have changed her diaper to poop/pee. Literally within 2 minutes she's already made a mess. She just knows. She also loves to pee when her diapers off. We are lucky she's not a boy. 
• The last few days I have noticed that she will fall asleep in her vibrating chair while I'm taking a shower, but the second I turn the water off she is awake. So yesterday when I got out I put some ocean/water sounds on the computer and she slept for another hour and a half. 
• Everyone that sees her comments on how great her skin is. It's true, this girl has great skin (when she's not clawing herself) and a dark complexion. 
• Speaking of clawing, her nails grow sooo incredibly fast. I feel like I am cutting them all the time. 
• She loves to suck. My mom calls her a "Sucker." I used to think she was incredibly hungry, then I figured out it just sooths her to help her fall asleep. 
• Kinley loves to cuddle. And mommy and daddy both love to have her fall asleep on us.
• She also makes THE CUTEST noise after she sneezes. One of these days I will try to catch it on video.

• 

  Loves sleeping like this.

Whelp, that is all. Like I said, nothing big, but everything just feels so monumental with her. Haha. Oh ya, sometimes before you have kids you say things like "I will never do....(fill in the blank) when I have a kid." Um ya, already broken a few of those. We swore we weren't going to give her a pacifier, but ultimately, Kinley came into the world loving to suck and unfortunately my body isn't always available for her. And she

She loves bath time!

found her hands, and we decided a pacifier was better than her sucking on her hands. So she won out on the binky thing. I also swore she would never sleep in my bed (still kinda freaks me out). But everybody sleeps much better when she does. She starts out in her cradle but after she wakes up the first time to eat she just stays in bed because it would honestly take 3 hours to get her to go back to bed in the crib. Trust me, we tried, and it was miserable for everybody involved.

Kinley brings more joy and happiness to our home than we could have ever imagined. We love having her around. Sometimes it is hard not to stare at her all day long because she is just absolutely beautiful! We love her to pieces and I'm just at a loss for words to truly express how much we love her. Already it's hard to imagine there was life before her. Thanks for choosing us Kinley!!!

1 Day old. Jeans all rolled up. Haha

1 Month old. Sooo big!

A Stranger Named Ken (I Think)

Let me preface by stating I do not like Walmart. Here is just one of my reasons. Have you ever noticed they hire a lot of old people? Which I am not bagging on in the least, what I don't like is how these people are treated. Numerous times I have been in Walmart and seen these elder workers unfairly mistreated. If there is one thing you must know about me, I have 2 BIG soft spots. 1) Old people. 2) Men. My mom always tells me I like my dad more than her. It's not true...it's just I have a lot of sympathy for them, along with old people. Soft spots I tell you! Anyway, so what do you get when you cross an elderly man working at Walmart? A very emotional JaNae! I don't often go to Walmart but the times I do I, without fail, see this old man (About my Grandpa Larson's age, p.s. grandpa you're not old. haha)  walking the store with his little broom and dustpan. He keeps to himself and is always looking at the ground. I make it a point to try to make eye contact with him, but it is very hard. Yesterday I had to go buy something real quick and as I was walking I saw him yet again. He just looked so sad. While I'm glad he has work, there is a part of me that just wants to cry every time I see him. Why is he still working at his age? Maybe he wants to be working, but I don't know. But Walmart? Sweeping up after people's messes? It just bothers me. What happened to the day when the young people took care of the old? I know people are going to read this and think I'm crazy and this is a stupid post...but the sympathetic side of me can't see past this poor old man that should be off his feet, not working a crap job. So anyway, I walked past him the first time as he came upon a juice spill in one of the aisles. I hurried past him because I literally almost started to cry (and promise this has nothing to do with post partum hormones). Then on my way back to pay for my items I saw him again, and was closer to tears. Then after paying I saw him a third time on my way out of the store. I checked his badge this time and his badge was a little worn, but I'm pretty sure it said Ken. This time he looked up and I smiled at him and he smiled back! It was wonderful. The first time I had seen him smile, and it was a beautiful, BIG smile. It just made me so happy. Even though I can't go into Walmart and do his sweeping for him (because trust me I would if I could, and have thought about it many a times), I'm glad I could bring a smile to his face. Good ole Kenny holds a special place in my heart. 

Speaking of my heart, these two take up the most space in mine. 

I know nobody wants to read my blog without a picture of these cuties. 

Nights

Sometimes I'm scared to go to bed because I never know how long I will get to sleep before being awoken. Which is so silly since night times are usually great and the one time we are all awake spending time together. The times I'm exhausted and think, "There is no way I can feed her right now, I have no energy" Kinley is on top of things and starts letting out these cute "little" toots that send me and Taylor into laughing fits. I love it. Even at night when I'm forcing my eyes to stay open, I can't help but stare at her as she eats. She's just such a beautiful little thing and I am completely fascinated by her. Then Taylor will change her diaper and rock her to sleep and I love watching them together. Taylor loves her and is so sweet to her. He sings her songs and tells her stories, and gives her tours of the house (if he's really desperate to get her to sleep). It's wonderful to watch. And every night my love for both of them is added upon. Last night was especially cute. Taylor was holding her and she was right at that moment where she was in between being asleep and awake. Taylor kissed her cheek and she smiled. Coincidence? Probably. Then he did it again, and she smiled again. And again and again and again. I mean it must have happened like 15 times! It was awesome. Then this morning he tried it again, and it didn't work out so well. Haha. But it was amazing to watch last night. I think she knows who her daddy is and she just loves him. He's got a magic about him. But I still can't wait until she can actually smile because she is happy and she wants to smile. Her smile is just lovely. Anyway, that is all for now. Good job everyone!

Kinley Evelyn Has Arrived!

I've been meaning to do this for a couple days, but a lot has been happening. I just wanted to write it all out before everything gets REALLY fuzzy (I'm already struggling with the details, lol). Onward!

I'll start with my 38 week appointment. This was the first appointment where my dr. was going to do an internal exam. I was pretty excited because with all my cramping I thought for sure I was going to be a little bit dilated. Checked and I was a 1, which basically means absolutely nothing. I was fine with that. 39 week appointment, still nothing.

By 40 weeks I was thinking, "I don't know what is happening down there because I've thought things should be progressing, and yet nothing." But I woke up the morning of my appointment, already 2 days overdue, and said to Taylor, "We will be on our way to the hospital tonight." I still don't know if I was just saying it to say it, or because I actually believed it. But alas, I was checked and still NOTHING! Not a single change. He scheduled my induction for the next Monday and at first I was a little disappointed, but got over it real quick, I knew she'd be out eventually. After my appointment I went to my parents since the office is real close to their house and chilled for a little while waiting for Taylor to get out of class. I took Sparky for a walk (wishful thinking) and then went home. When I got in I told Taylor I felt a little different, and we should go for a walk. So we left and went walking.

Arriving home I was feeling something, but wasn't really sure what it was. This was about 9 pm. Up until this point I had never had a single contraction. I put on some real shoes and we went for another walk. Then I was tired and I got in bed and watched some TV. I was laying there and everything went away, so I figured it was false labor. I got up walked around the house a little, and then did some squats or something. Then I could tell I was having contractions. I still wasn't timing them because it seemed so pointless, I just knew they were there. I hopped in the shower to see if that would stop them, but it didn't. I told Tay he should probably start packing our bags. I still don't know if I believed it, but I figured we should be prepared (That was about 11:20). I called my mom and sister and told them I was having contractions but nothing exciting was happening yet and I'd call them later. Well about 20 mins later my water broke. I wasn't convinced, but it was enough that we decided we should go. Tay gave me a blessing and then I stood up to walk out and BAM, a huge gush this time. Luckily I was able to get it in the toilet, and I was happy it happened before I got in the car. Haha. (Wow, this is already a long story. But it's more for me than you so I don't care). From that moment, my contractions immediately got real painful. We hopped in the car, and hit every single red light on the way to the hospital, I kid you not. It was ridiculous and slightly funny. We got to the hospital a little before 1 and I was immediately admitted and hooked up to an IV. At that time I was a 2 .5. The stinking nurse sucked at getting the needle in me and kept saying it was because I was dehydrated. I wanted to tell her that I had been in the hospital previously for dehydration and that nurse was able to get it in first try, so clearly she had to be the problem, but I thought better of it since she was the one holding the needle (Ultimately she ended up sticking me 6 times before being successful, which is just ridiculous. My left arm is really bruised and sometimes it even hurts to hold Kinley in that arm).

My contractions were really painful and it was hard to be in a comfortable position when they came. I had no idea how to make it better because the pain seemed so targeted in one area, but then my whole body would start shaking and it was awful. I also would get extremely light headed and slightly delusional with each passing contraction, I just couldn't think clearly. It was strange. I tried lifting myself off the bed with every contraction for some relief, but with the IV in my hand it was very difficult. I was having them every 3 minutes, so it was not fun. The nurse asked me what my pain was and I told her an 8. She said, "You must not have a very high pain tolerance." I wanted to punch her in the face, seriously. I thought that was so rude. And again, I would have told her off, but I was way too loopy, and probably too shocked to get any words out. Plus I was an 8 during a contraction, but a 0 when I wasn't contracting. Didn't that mean something? Lol. I thought, "Have you ever been in labor?!" I still want to punch that lady. :)

They gave me some pain meds through my IV about 3:00 and it made me really weird. I started to call for Taylor and made him come stand by me and hold my hand and I was saying weird things to him and I don't even know...Taylor would probably have to tell you about that because I honestly can't remember that part of the night very well. I think Tay got to sleep for a couple minutes though. By 3:30 that thing had completely worn off and now my contractions were much worse and extremely close together. I managed to watch the clock and they were coming every minute and a half. It was terrible. I asked when my epidural was coming and she told me 45 minutes. At exactly 4:15 I had Taylor call the nurse and ask where my epidural was. Lol. They said it would be another 20 minutes. LAME! So I endured. Then when the anesthesiologist came the nurse was helping with another delivery, so we had to wait.

After I got the epidural (OBVIOUSLY). Our last picture
as a family of 2. Very bittersweet. 

While waiting we could hear this lady in the next room SCREAMING! That confirmed to me I was making the right decision to get an epidural. 5:15 I finally got the epidural. I was dilated to a 7. Everything was right in the world, and I could finally enjoy labor. Seriously, it was happy moments. And all the sudden labor seemed soooo short. I had no idea where the previous 6 hours had gone. Weird how that works.

I called my family to tell them what was going on. By 7:30 I was a 9.5 and I figured I'd be having the baby real soon. The nurse could even see the babies head and showed Taylor where it was. My family came and we just had fun laughing and chatting and waiting. Then it was 10 and we were all wondering what the heck was taking so long and why they weren't having me push yet. Well finally the nurse came in and asked me to push a few times to see how I was doing and then she'd call the Dr. I pushed through 2 contractions and little girls head was there and ready. They called and just had me wait with my legs up and told me not to push. The Dr. was 25 minutes away. While we were waiting every once in a while baby girls heart would drop a little so the nurse would give her a head massage and it would go right back up. I thought that was funny.

I wish we had a picture of Taylor's
face when he first saw her. It was
absolutely adorable. Mine, not so much.

Suddenly the nurse got frantic and started calling everybody in saying this baby wasn't going to wait any longer. She was seriously trying to push the baby inside me with one hand, while preparing the bed for labor with the other. Everybody was in there (except my Dr. since they didn't call him soon enough) in less than a minute and I pushed maybe twice and her head popped out. She didn't scream or cry or anything at first, so I thought something was wrong with her. I looked at Taylor and I could tell he was very touched by this experience, as was I. I got to hold a gooey little girl and then they whisked her away to wipe her down and check her out. While they were doing that I asked if I was going to deliver the placenta now and the Dr. laughed and said the placenta came out already. I had no idea! She said I hadn't torn much and only had to put a few stitches in. Meanwhile my Dr. came in and let's just say he was NOT very happy with them for missing my delivery. I was sad he missed it too because I LOVED my doctor. Now for a series of pictures. 

Kinley getting cleaned up. 

I was happy and completely unaware of pictures being taken of me. 

Staring at her daddy. Now that is one HAPPY daddy.

At least she got a picture with Dr. Sauter.

All the while, I kept asking how much she weighed. I think the nurse was getting annoyed with me because they still hadn't measured her yet. Finally they told me she was 7 pounds 2 oz. I couldn't believe how little she was. Taylor held her and it was adorable. Then he walked her over to me and we just got to enjoy our little girl who still didn't have a confirmed name. We had mentioned Kinley previously and it seemed to be the only name that either of us really liked. We never confirmed that to be her name because we just wanted to see her and make sure before we told anyone that was her name. Taylor chose Evelyn. He was in love with that name, but I couldn't ever imagine calling my little girl Evelyn, but I loved it for her middle name. And that's how her name was chosen. (And a few more pictures).

Happiness. 

First Family Photo

Kinley Evelyn Ball

My 2 favorites. He loves her so much!

Kinley has been a great little baby girl. She only cries when she is hungry or nakey. The first night we were home I was telling my mom how awesome of a baby she was and she's so mellow...then we went to bed and when I talked to her again in the morning I said, "I was wrong." I think it was just a fluke though for that one night, she was really hungry and we were up pretty much every hour. Lol. But she really is a mellow little thing and has done much better at night since then.

Going Home!

1 day old. Just before leaving
the hospital.

We love her and she's so cutsie. And mostly I love seeing Taylor with her. He's never been more adorable in his life. He just loves her and is so good with her. He also is amazing with helping me. Despite having all his own school work to worry about he is constantly checking in on me and making sure I am alright and getting me whatever I need. He is so compassionate and caring and I'm so happy Kinley has him as a dad. I tell her every day she has an amazing dad. I seriously couldn't imagine having this experience with anyone else. It has been an overwhelming confirmation to me that I chose to spend eternity with the best person for me.

I love my husband, baby girl, and family!

Who do you think she looks like? My vote is Taylor!