His Little Valentine

There is something amazing about watching daddies with their little girls. One of the biggest reasons I wanted a daughter was to be able to watch Brad and our little girl. My dreams came true when Brad came home, handed me a bouquet of roses and then laied three roses next to his little sleeping Valentine. I know this is only the beginning. I know that it won't be long until he is taking her on her first date. Kayla is so blessed to have an amazing Daddy. I am already a little jealous because I am quite confident she will be a daddy's girl.

Brad, I love you. I love watching you with our kids. I new you would be an amazing father, but every day you still manage to impress me with how loving and patient you are with N, A, and K. Parenting has definitely been an adventure, and I can't
imagine doing any of it without you.


Here are a few pictures of the boys first time decorating cookies. Or in this case eating frosting off knives with sugar cookies on the side.

Time is flying by

It is hard to believe my little girl is one month old already. It has flown by. She is so amazing we are loving every minute we spend with her. We have had amazing family to help us all adjust to our family of 5. Now I get to enjoy being a mom of three by myself some days. It is an adjustment and at times it is crazy. I need to do a better job at playing with the boys and not "getting stuff done". My house is never clean, but I get stressed when the kitchen is a disaster or there are diapers all over the place. Yeah, I said it. I will admit it. We more often or not have a diaper laying someplace. Oh well.

Kayla is still a calm little bundle of joy. She is becoming more vocal, but it is usually when she needs her paci, is working on a burp/spit up, or is about to poop. She also tends to cry when she gets bumped or prodded by her brothers. She is going to have to be one tough little girl. She tries really hard to be a good sleeper. Some times she tries to hard to sleep during the day and then is a restless sleeper at night. She is doing a much better job at keeping her paci and impresses her Daddy with how well she can hold her head up. I can tell he is really excited for her to get a little older and more interactive, but he still loves cuddling her right now.

I wish I could write more but four little hands are now attempting to write their own message, nap time is over.

Bathing Beauty

Thanks Aunt Erin for taking my picture while Mommy gave me a bath.



Kayla enjoyed her first bath. She did not like it when I repositioned her, and kept trying to put her head in the water. She still is a calm little girl.

Family

Here are some pictures of our first week at home with our new family.

Mommy giving Kayla her first sponge bath.

What can I say. This is my life.

Bubbles with Nana.

Amanda is helping Mommy dress a little girl.

Soapy fingers in the mouth. Yuck!

Daddy's Girl already.

Uncle Trav is a big softy.

Fascinated by Papa.

Snuggles with Great Grandma.

Wrestling with Tav (Uncle Trav)


Learning how to be a big brother.

Getting to Know Little Miss Kayla

High Everyone!!!

I am sure now that I write this, everything is going to change. But so far here is what we are learning about our little miss Kayla.

* She loves to sleep. I think I have had to wake her up for every feeding. We are not feeding her as often as the Dr. said, because she just sleeps through it if we do.
* She does not really cry. If she does she usually stops within seconds. She fusses and makes funny noises.
* When she squirms and fusses it usually means she is about to burp or poop.
*She ALWAYS poops right after we change her diaper.
*She gets the hiccups and spits up which makes feeding her a little tricky because then she does not want to eat.
*She is precious, and I love spending all my time with her.

Here is what I am learning about me...
*It is much easier this time around.
* I still worry about whether she is eating enough, sleeping to much, and other things. But I definitely worry less than I did with the boys.
*I love having Brad home all the time and I am not excited to have him go back to work.

Wiggling and stretching during my awake time.

See I can open my eyes.

All Smiles.
One of my many funny faces.

Becoming Big Brothers

If you read my last blog you know I asked for prayers over my family as the boys adapt to having a little sister around. Yesterday the boys came home. It started a little rough. They didn't want to have anything to do with me. Which I knew was normal, I expected it, and I knew it wouldn't last, but it was still hard. Andrew especially seemed very concerned and upset. Now looking back on it, we think he was upset becuase he could not find "the baby". He knew Kayla should be there with us, but didn't know she was in the other room sleeping. Once the baby "showed up" everything got better. The boys helped Babci change her diaper and watched me feed her. On a side note now Andrew points to my clothes and tells me "off, off" so I can feed Kayla. Great! Soon the boys were climbing all over Babci so they could see and tough "my baby". Brad and I stayed in the other room so we would not disturb such a precious moment. I was so grateful that my mom was around to capture some pictures of it. Here are a few of my favorite.


Andrew giving love pats to baby Kayla.

Nathan "Baby, Baby!"

They played find the baby's nose, toes, fingers, etc.

This is an answer to our prayers, and is now my favorite picture.

It's a Girl!!!

Kayla Faith Hockersmith
Born January 18, 2010
9:56 pm
7.9 lb 20 in

Surprise, Surprise! We checked in to the hospital to monitor the baby's movement and checked out 3 days latter with our little one in our arms. Turns out that while the baby had a strong heartbeat and was moving just fine, I was starting early signs of labor. Since we were having a c-section they don't want you to going into labor. The nurse came in and told us "Looks like we are having a baby tonight, Dr. Smith is on his way, we should have you in the OR in 30 min." We were completely shocked and I am not sure I was ready.
Despite me being more nervous this time around than last time, the surgery went smoothly. Our little one came out screaming and crying, but everyone forgot to tell us if it was a boy or a girl. When the nurse said it was a girl, Brad and I just looked at each other and started to cry. I was completely shocked. I am still in shock.
We had a completely different experience this time around. Kayla never left our side the whole time we were at the hospital. I was able to feed her right away and she latched on immediately with no problem. I had no high blood pressure and no blood transfusion which was a huge blessing. We had a very calm relaxing 3 days at the hospital. Despite her loud entrance into the world, Kayla has proved to be a very calm, quiet baby. We are interested to see if this changes over the next few weeks as her personality comes to life.
The boys are definitely adjusting. They will come home today. So far they are very tentative and unsure of her. Andrew especially seems to be concerned. I know it is going to be really hard for me knowing they need extra love and attention right now and I can't even pick them up. Pray that Brad and I will have extra patience and extra love. Pray that I will be realistic on how much I can do and to give myself grace.
We are so amazed at how God has answered our prayers and given us a family beyond all our dreams.