Kaya's 2nd Month AND October/November Family Adventures

Whew!  October and November have been extremely busy for our little family!  Kaya is growing like a weed, Austin is quickly becoming more of a little boy than a toddler, and Gregor and I are constantly running around with work, church callings, family, and athletics.  How I love our crazy life!
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!

Kaya's 1st Month

Holy cow!  Has it been a month already???!!!  Our little Kaya Jane is already a month old!  I can't tell you what a joy she has been to our little family.  She is an absolute doll and makes everyone who meets her feel so peaceful and happy!
Kaya is a beauty!  Her dark hair is already starting to turn lighter and has gone to a light brown color with her roots being super blonde.  I think she's going to end up looking just like her big brother, Austin.  Hammer's hair is so gorgeous!  I've wanted to let it grow out so many times, but in keeping with wanting my beautiful little BOY to keep looking like a boy, I cut it off.  I'm SOOOOOO excited to let Kaya's hair just grow and grow!  I'm hoping that she gets the same kind of "mop-top" my sisters and I had growing up.  We all had this long, blonde, wavy/curly, thick hair that was just amazing!  She's also got these eyes that are so deep and dark blue.  I never want them to change!  She looks into your eyes and into your soul.  She's already got Gregor completely wrapped around her tiny finger, he's admitted it more than once already!

We've already had some fun adventures this past month, too!  I am so not one to shy away from taking my babies out pretty soon, but I'm very cautious on who gets to hold her, hand-washing, and not going too crazy with our little adventures by keeping her in her carseat or a chest-carrier most of the time.  Because it's fall, but not too cold out yet, we've already been fishing a few times, hiking a couple times, visited family and friends, the pumpkin patch, a couple stores, church, and Thanksgiving Point.  Austin has absolutely loved being able to get out and move and "take care" of his little sister.  He's a great big brother and helps a lot.  His favorite thing to do with Kaya lately has been to blow on her belly when I'm changing her.  He cracks up and she doesn't usually freak out too bad...
This girl is such a joy!  Ten cool facts about Kaya:

1) At her 2-week appointment she had gained a full pound over her birthweight and grown almost two inches!
2) She is an AWESOME sleeper!  It's been a huge change from how Austin slept (he's still a crappy sleeper).
3) She's a stinker!  Whenever Gregor or I say that she's being a challenge or something like that, she totally smiles!
4) Kaya has this super cute, super ROUND belly!  It cracks me up because her arms and legs are so skinny and then she's got this huge tummy!  So funny!
5) Like her Mama, she LOVES sunshine!  On warm days, we go outside to let Austin play and we just sunbathe.  We're two peas in a warm pod!
6) She can sleep through anything!  At least for right now...
7) Unfortunately, she doesn't like when mom drinks DC.  Sad day for me, but we're working it out.
8) I can already tell that she's a tough cookie.  She looks at Aus when he's throwing fits like "chill out, baby!"
9) She is the first grandbaby girl on my side ( SPOILED )!  And the 3rd on Gregor's side ( STILL SPOILED )!!!
10) She gets more and more beautiful every day!


My sister, Kate, did her newborn photoshoot.  She's amazing!!!

Probably my favorite picture!  We told him to give her a kiss and this is what we got!

Kaya Jane

September 17, 2013 is another special day for our little family!  We welcomed our little girl, Kaya Jane, into the world.  She is so so so beautiful and just a sweet baby.  Her birth was wonderful!
We had set an induction date for the 17th, even though her official due date wasn't until the 21st.  Austin was such a huge baby that I was worried that we would have similar complications if we went as long in this pregnancy, so the induction was the best idea.  Dr. Watabe, per the norm, kept saying that he was sure I was going to go into labor early, so around 37 weeks, I started thinking things were gonna happen.  I kept getting more and more dialated with every week's dr.'s appointment, but would only have about an hour or two's worth of decent contractions.  Finally, I decided that Heavenly Father just wanted me to be able to finish all my work as an Aquatics Director, coach, and elementary orchestra teacher BEFORE I could have this baby, so I decided to just plan on the 17th.
So yesterday morning at 7:18 I got a call from Labor and Delivery at American Fork Hospital to come in at 8:15 am to get things started.  It was so bizarre preparing to go to the hospital when I wasn't in labor!  Gregor and I got up, showered, dressed and then made our way to the hospital.  Kathy, my mother-in-law, had come up to help with Austin, so we left a very tearful two-year old with her and set off to meet our daughter.
Once we got to AF Hospital, I changed into a gown and got comfy.  My sweet nurse, Judy, started the pitocin around 9 am and then the waiting game began.  She started the drips of pitocin at 4 drops per hour and increased it by four every half hour after that.  I didn't really start to feel my contractions until she was at the max dosage, so I guess that was pretty nice because I didn't have to labor that horribly.  Around 11:30, Dr. Watabe came and broke my water and then we waited some more.  I was starting to feel pretty good contractions around 1 pm, so they started an epidural that decided to take only on my right side.  That was awesome, NOT!  I couldn't feel a thing on my right and I could feel EVERYTHING on my left.  Not the best when your having a baby.  I think I would have rather been either 100% natural or 100% numb.  They called up a Nurse Anesthetist (sp?) and he doubled the original dosage.  Holy DEAD legs!  I had no use of them at all!  It was kind of unnerving when my fingers and tongue started to tingle, but luckily, nothing was wrong.
After the epidural was fixed and things were moving along, Gregor and I finished a movie, talked a little bit, and just hung out for a while.  I didn't think anything would happen too quickly, but when my nurse came in to check me around 3:15, she said I was fully dialated and ready to go!  They called Dr. Watabe over and things got underway.  I was preparing for a long delivery, but literally from the time the nurse checked me to the time Kaya was here was eleven minutes!  I only pushed five times and could actually see her coming out.  It was SOOOO cool!  The cord was wrapped around her neck a couple times and Watabe couldn't get it to slip over her head, so he clamped it right there on her neck and cut it to free her from it.  Even though I was the one delivering, my "medical" side came out (my undergrad was pre-med) and I was so into seeing what I could of my daughter's birth!
Everything about Kaya is calm.  Her delivery was so calm and relaxed and I was so grateful for that.  The nurse put her on my chest and immediately I felt this overwhelming sense of peace.  My angel had come and she was in my arms at last!  I have known of her little spirit for a long time now.  She has been an essential part of our marriage and our family and to have her here in the flesh has meant so much to me and Gregor.  Judy cleaned her up on my chest and after Dr. Watabe made sure I was cleaned up and okay (I started hemorrhaging, not cool), he gave us both a handshake and told us congratulations.  Then everybody left and Gregor, Kaya, and I got over an hour and a half just to get to know each other.  It was so tender to see my big husband holding this tiny 7 lb 7 oz, 20.5 inch long baby girl.  He was smitten with her the moment he saw her.  It'll be fun to see him raise a girl!  My dad and brother, Kyle came in for a quick visit right after she was born and it was so nice to have a little bit of a bonding moment with them as well.
Once we had our time with her, Judy came back and needed to take Kaya down to the nursery.  Gregor went with her and I got a few minutes of peace and quiet to collect my thoughts and rest.  Judy and another sweet nurse, Pam, came back in and helped get me into a wheelchair to go to the Mother/Baby floor.  Once we dropped off our bags in my room, Judy asked if I wanted to go to the nursery and see Kaya get bathed and dressed.  I definitely wanted to go, so she wheeled me in there and I got to see my beautiful little girl and my sweet husband there.  The nurse getting her ready was so sweet and did her hair, gave her a little bow and told us how beautiful she was.  She didn't have a conehead and wasn't really smushed looking like a lot of newborns are.  She's just this really beautiful baby girl, even the pediatrician, Dr. Arnold, said she was gorgeous!  It was really fun to talk to the Doctor and the nurses in the nursery, everyone is so happy there!
We got to take her back to our room and have a few visitors that evening.  Everyone was so sweet and respectful and kind.  She got a few 'pink' gifts and a big, giant carriage balloon from my mom.  My favorite part of the evening was having Austin come meet his little sister for the first time.  He was SO sweet to her and just wanted to hold her and love her up.  He thought her nose was fascinating and kept trying to pinch it!  We keep telling him and she's his baby and that he needs to be soft and keep her safe and so far, he's been doing pretty good!
We spent three days and nights in the hospital and I was so grateful for a little R&R.  I didn't leave my room hardly at all, but it really was such a calm, peaceful, and happy environment that I didn't go stir crazy at all.  We had a ton of time to spend with our baby girl and Austin.  He came to visit a lot with my Mother-in-law, and was really sweet to the baby.  Gregor and I had a lot of time to talk, too and it was so wonderful to spend that time with my husband.  He really is the greatest husband and father in the world to me and our kids, I'm seriously the luckiest girl there is!
On thursday afternoon we headed home from the hospital and welcomed our little girl into our home.  She's a great baby!  She sleeps great and has been a fabulous addition to our little family!  I love her with all my heart!  It's now been a full week since we've had her and everyday she shows more and more of her big personality, but is also such a joy to be around.  We're so happy to be a family of four and look forward to eternity together!

Welcome to the world Kaya Jane!

Lots of hair, so pretty!

Perfect girl right after birth

Getting her footprints done!

More footprints in the nursery

Greiner Girls!!!

Our little family minus one

Austin meeting his sister for the first time!

Proud Papa and the girl who's got him wrapped around her finger!

Nose???

Ummmm, wait.

So, in my last post I talked about our little boy having a rough time in embryo.  Well, he's not a boy anymore...We're having a baby girl!  It was kind of a funny process in figuring out the gender change.  My friend, the L&D Nurse did an ultrasound, thought it was a boy.  Then when I had the hematoma, the radiologist thought it was a boy, too.  Pretty solid for us to think that she was really a boy, don't you think? So we had our name and everything planned and set up for another little boy.  I know how to have a boy, Austin is definitely ALL boy and the thought of having another one was actually a little bit of a relief!  Haha, NOPE!  A couple days before my 20-week ultrasound, I started bleeding again.  Not nearly as bad as I did earlier, but it scared us enough to go into the doctor and request another ultrasound at the hospital.  After making sure that everything was okay, we asked the tech to, jokingly, check that our boy was still a boy.  She looked and was like "you're sure you're having a boy?"  I was like, "yes", and she told us not to paint the nursery just yet and that she thought our baby was actually a girl!  I was floored!  Then she said to wait for our 20-week ultrasound because the equipment they had in the clinic was better than what they had at the hospital.  Well, a couple days later we were at Dr. Watabe's office and had our ultrasound.  That's where we recognized our little Kaya Jane was truly a baby girl!  I guess what had happened was that her umbilical cord kept getting between her legs and made her look like a boy.  Weird, but funny!  For a couple days I felt like I had a little imposter in my belly, but as the time has gone by, we are TOTALLY excited for a little girl!  Scared to death of all the pink, but definitely excited!
So, sometime in the next 6-7 weeks, we'll welcome a little pink bundle of joy!  Kaya Jane Greiner, I know she's gonna melt my heart!

Bubs Number 2

Yep!  We've got number two coming in September! We're really excited to have another little boy in our home.  We're pretty sure his name is going to be Roman Mark Greiner and he's already got a big place in our hearts!
As of today, I am 18 weeks along and have already had a nice scare with this little guy.  On Friday, April 19, I started bleeding pretty bad.  I hadn't been feeling very well that evening, but didn't think too much of it because I'm pregnant, and really, you don't feel too great during pregnancy anyway.  I had gone swimming for a workout and kicked my own butt, as usual, but was really, really tired when I went out with my mom and sisters for a girl's night.  We came back from dinner and hung out at my folks house for a bit when I started bleeding.  We had joked earlier about leaving Austin at my folks so Gregor and I could go to a late movie, but decided against it because my parent's both were going to be pretty busy the next day.  Dun, dun, DUN!!!  They got to watch Aus over night anyway because of a surprise trip to the ER!
Gregor and I left my parent's house immediately after a quick Priesthood blessing, where Heavenly Father promised to take care of me and my unborn son, and sped to the ER at AF Hospital.  When we went into the triage unit, they told me to go upstairs to Labor and Delivery even though I was only 17 weeks.  As soon as we got up there, they just turned us around, but put me in a wheelchair to emphasize that I needed to get a room right away.
We got into a room and checked in then just waited.  I can't tell you how much anxiety I was having at this point.  We had a tiny scare with Austin when I was pregnant with him, but it was nothing like this. I just kept praying that God would preserve my son and that I needed him and his family needed him.  Everything I was feeling during those prayers was a strange sense of calm, despite my panic.  Surprisingly to me, the doctors didn't seem to be in as much of a rush as I thought they would be in.  We later learned it was because they were all dealing with a very unruly drug patient that they had to call the police on!  CRAZY!
Finally, the radiologist came to wheel me into ultrasound.  I think this was the first time that I REALLY didn't want one.  I was terrified at what I would see.  Apprehensively, I laid on the exam table and she started the ultrasound.  The screen was turned away from me, but Gregor had positioned himself to see everything.  When he said that Roman was moving around and that his heartrate was completely normal, I started to cry.  The radiologist found an abnormality in the ultrasound, but was unsure of what it was, so we went back to our room in the ER without much answered except that, for now, we still had a healthy baby.
Dr. Jones then came in and explained ALL our options and what could happen at this point.  I was completely overwhelmed when he said that even though our boy was alive for now, that could change at any time.  He also explained all the positives, and I was just praying for the best possible scenario.  He also explained that our radiologist was consulting with her supervisor and my OB to figure out what the abnormality was and how to go about life with it.  So we waited, and waited, and waited.  It was terrifying and frustrating, but again underneath the surface I could just feel the Spirit telling me that all was going to be well and to be calm.
FINALLY, Dr. Jones came in with a big smile on his face and said that the abnormality was a Uteral Hemotoma and was not affecting the baby or the pregnancy.  It could, however, affect me.  He put me on bedrest for a few days until I could meet with my doctor, but ultimately, I was so incredibly relieved.
When I met with Dr. Watabe the next Tuesday, he explained that these things can just happen with pregnancy and that it should just take care of itself over time.  I still have to keep things pretty chill, but he okayed me to go on our Disneyland vacation that we had been planning for months and said that the baby would be fine as long as I didn't over do it.
What a relief!!!  I am so grateful that things are okay.  It's such a stressful process to bring these precious babies into the world, but I know that it's SOOOO worth it!  We Greiner's are so looking forward to meeting our little Roman in September!!!