Kaya's 2nd month of life has been full of fun and smiles! She is a total doll and is showing more and more of her BIG personality every day. We've been so blessed to have her in our home! A few interesting things about Kaya this past month were:
-She has continued to be a great sleeper. She loves to sleep more than eat sometimes!
-Kaya was throwing up a lot during her 2nd month. We were really worried that she had pyloric stenosis (a condition where the pyloric sphincter of the stomach is closed off). Gregor and his brother, Erik, both suffered with that when they were babies, so we were worried that she could have it, too. We went to the doctor a few times about it and finally decided to have an infant ultrasound done on her little tummy. I was so relieved when I could see liquid passing easily through her stomach to her intestine! What a blessing! She does have a little bit of reflux, though, so we have her on some medication for that.
-This chick is a SMILER! She loves to be talked to and just smiles and smiles when you do. She's had many coo-ing conversations with her family members and just about owns anybody who sees her.
-Her Mana made her a beautiful blessing gown for her baby blessing. Her daddy, Papa, uncles, cousins, and great-grandpa stood in the circle and blessed her to be strong and healthy and happy. It was a sweet day and we had a lot of family come and wish her well.
-Kaya Jane is a RED HEAD!!! This is so awesome to me! Her grandma, Mana Kathy, has this gorgeous red hair and between the couple red heads in my family and her grandma Kathy, Kaya has a really pretty shade of strawberry blondish, reddish hair. Pretty, pretty!
-Austin absolutely ADORES his sister. He loves to take care of her and has been very helpful in getting diapers and wipes for her, along with trying to hold her constantly. He showers her with kisses and hugs and always says "Okay, baby Kaya, okay!!!" when she's crying.
-At her two-month appointment, she had gained almost 5 pounds from her birthweight! This girl can EAT! She was in the 98th percentile for height, 61st for weight and 90th for head circumfrence. She's got a little melon-head, but it doesn't look out of proportion. I think she's beautiful!
-She continues to be a strong baby. She rolls all over the place, fights getting in the carseat and loves to 'stand-up' (with help, of course). She also LOVES showers and baths, the sound of running water, her daddy, and of course, eating and sleeping.
A few fun things about Austin this past month:
-He can count to 16! This caught me by surprise. My sister was playing with him and started counting with him. He just kept going! I was so impressed because, although we work with letters and numbers daily, he hadn't shown me that he could go past 4 or 5. So smart!
-Another smart thing he can do (which drives me CRAZY!) is take off all of his clothes. Seriously, people! I was so happy that I hadn't had a stripper baby, he never seemed to care about learning to take his own clothes off. He liked putting on his own shirt, but never off. So now, I get to re-dress him about 6 times a day and look for the clothes he hides in random places. UGH!
-He LOVES to "help". The other day, I went to take a quick shower while he was watching cartoons. I called down to check on him and didn't get an answer. All you mommy's out there know that silence is definitely NOT something you want to hear when looking for your 2-year old. I ran downstairs to check on him and found him in the kitchen with the fridge open wide and the egg carton torn apart. He was standing on a chair by the stove cracking eggs into a pan. I decided not to get upset with him and instead taught him that he needed to ask to cook things and then helped him cook up his eggs (after we took about about 40 pieces of shell). Maybe my little guy is gonna be a chef??? Who knows?
-Austin is still so much my baby. He loves to snuggle mom and dad, always wants to show us something and gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.
-His common phrases lately are : "Come with me mom!" "Look at me!" "Wanna play cars" "Firetruck" "Opet da doors" "Thank you, MOM!" "Go outside!" "Carly's house?" "Wanna play with Oakley" and "Luf you, Mom (or Dad)". Melt my heart, seriously...
The end of October/beginning of November have been busy for us. We've had a lot of fun getting ready for Halloween, playing with friends, visiting family, and helping out here and there with different things.
We decided to be the Flintstones for Halloween. Our costumes were handmade and super awesome! I thought we looked pretty good for only spending about $15 on all four of us! We went trick-or-treating at Bluehost and did a couple of trunk-or-treats around our neighborhood. Aus didn't get a ton of candy, but that was completely fine by me!
Our family also went to Cornbelly's a couple times this year, too! They do a great job with their Fall Fair and the cornmaze isn't too shabby either. It's a little bit pricey, but I thought it was worth it for getting around 2-3 hours worth of stuff to do for both kids and adults. We hit up just about everything we could that wasn't haunted and got some delicious hot cocoa and pumpkin spice donuts, too! YUM!
Gregor and Austin had the chance to go down to Abilene a couple weeks ago to help Gutti and Opa move off their ranch and into town. It was such a great trip for the two of them and I know it meant a lot to Gregor to get to see his grandparents. Gutti hasn't been doing very well lately, so we don't know how much we'll get to see her before she passes away. Gregor was pretty sad when he left because of that, but that's the beauty of the Plan of Salvation. Neither of his grandparents are members of the church, but it's going to be AWESOME to do their temple work. I hope I get to be a part of it!
While they were gone, I got kinda crafty! My bff came down and we made wreaths for Christmas, my sisters and I tried (yes, tried) to make tulle skirts. They didn't really work out. I've made a few headbands for Kaya, and have generally been WAY more domestic than ever. Maybe it's having a girl...I dunno.
My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last weekend, too. It was great to go to Ogden and see them and spend time with my dad's side of the family. They are great people and I'm so proud of my Smith heritage. They stuck it out through some MAJORLY hard times and have come out so well on the other side. I'm so grateful for their examples and their love. It was neat to see their posterity and realize that my children really are here because of their love for each other and then my parents meeting and having me and then Gregor and I having children. Family is everything!
Other than the big standouts, things for us Greiners has been going well. We've had a little bit of sickness pass through, but really we're doing great! We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and a brand new year! LOVES!
