4th months old already?!?!

I seriously cannot believe we have a 4 month old.  People always say, just wait.  4-6 months is the best.  I've loved my life every day since the moment she was born....how could it get even better!?  But it does!!

Things Mackenzie now does:
~Well, we woke up and saw her rolling onto her side in her crib at 3am (talk about freaking out!)

~Her holding her head up even more on tummy time

~A few weeks ago we introduced her to Sophie the Giraffe since she has started grabbing things.  Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Sophie?!!?  To watch Mackenzie turn Sophie around to either stick a leg in her mouth or her neck or her horns.  The different textures amaze her!  I love it!

~Still sleeping through the night!  7pm-5am

~Goes through about 7 diapers a day but only 1 dirty...YAHOO!!!  And we don't see it because its usually after she gets dropped off at daycare!

~Smiles back at you when you smile :)

~Is starting to giggle.....downright the cutest thing on the planet!

~Loves to look at you like "what the heck are you doing" when she isn't interested.

~Loves to stand on her feet (with us holding her of course!)

~Started in her bouncer this week and LOVES it!!  We have to put a pillow below her but she loves that it lights up and sings!

~Grabbing hair...lips....anything that she can get her hands on!!  (Lips tend to hurt---ask Brandon! haha)

~mimics our movements....if we move our hands around, she does too!

~Tries to sit up in her rock and play!!  The Bumbo must be helping!  haha.

~She still loves mirrors!!  Especially the ones at the doctors office!

Can't wait to see what else she learns to do!!

She also finally got to meet my brother Brian and sister in law Lori last week!  We wish they lived closer!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families!!

3 Month Update and Halloween!

I can't believe she is 3 months old already!! Time is flying by!!  I got to meet a new friend of hers, Hudson, who was born on Monday and he is sooooooooooo little and fragile compared to her!!  It's crazy!!!

Things she does:  Puts everything she can in her mouth, coos, holds her head up, burps herself, smiles when she sees you and you talk to her, kicks things on her activity mat, and sleeps through the night!!!

Things I love:  When she smiles at me first thing in the morning and when I pick her up from daycare!!

She came to eat lunch with me today! :)  Best part of my day!

3 months picture

She was an Elephant for Halloween!!!

Cutie pie in her Halloween gear!

Goin for a stroll at night...Gotta love Fall!!

2 Month Recap

2 months have FLOWN by...It's amazing when you get so little sleep how time can just fly by.  Miss Mackenzie is amazing and such a good baby.  We were truly blessed with a baby who cries very little and is a happy baby.  She sleeps 8 hours and then takes good long naps during the day.  Now I know why I couldn't wake her for the life of me when she was just weeks old!  This girl has always loved her sleep...just like Brandon and I...and mostly...Aunt Katie!  We have had many ups this month!  Thank goodness because last month was challenging.  I'll keep saying it, but Breastfeeding is probably the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life (besides giving birth).  Brandon tries to help and tries to calm me down and it just never worked.  He felt helpless.  I was frustrated...Mackenzie was frustrated...and in turn Brandon was frustrated.  That's all better now!  We stuck through it and I believe we are coming out on top.  This week I had to finally come to terms with the fact that I can't nurse her all day every day.  I must go back to work.  I think it was so hard for me to come to terms with it because we had so many issues and I feel like we just got the hang of it.  But life goes on and I have to get back to the real world.  So, next week I will enter the working life again with more challenges to face.  I am not letting myself give up because it becomes too exhausting and too challenging.  I will make time for it because its what is best for her and I.  She is apart of my life now and I will make time for her in my day no matter if she is with me or not.  :)

 

Anyways, as I reflect back, I remember the day she was born and I never want to forget a single minute of it.  It was such an amazing experience.  As I was reading another blog, I saw this phrase and couldn't help by love it.   

 

Giving birth:  "The phenomenon of willingly giving up your body to be broken for another being so that they can have life." 

 

It hit home so much.  Labor and Delivery is not fun by any means...Unless you have an epidural!  haha.  Thank goodness for that!  But still...You push your body to an extent that is unimaginable to any human being.  Anyways...besides that....its something I hope I never forget! 

 

Back to Mackenzie.....Things she does now....

 

-She stares at the ceiling fan all the time

-She smiles when you smile

-She cooes and they are the cutest things ever!

-She's an awesome sleeper

-She's awake for longer periods of time.

 

It may not be much, but every day we love seeing her grow.  She is a blessing in our lives.  When I look at her I don't worry about the stresses in life....(and then I look away)...and I don't worry that I still haven't lost much baby weight...(until I look away)...and I don't worry about the dishes or if the house is clean.  But let's get real, Brandon worries about that part!  haha. 

 

Happy 2 month Baby Girl! 

 

I rambled a lot this post! 

Sky Top Trip

Well we went on our annual trip to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC.  Mom, Katie and I went this year with Mackenzie.  We picked apples, go get our apple donuts, and then headed to Hendersonville for shopping and lunch at Mezzalunas.  Yummmmm :-) I can't wait to see !ackenzies picture next year and watch her grow each year!!  There was no climbing in trees this year but maybe

next year!

Just another update!

I can't believe its been almost 5 weeks since my last post!!  Time flies!  Never in my life has time flown by before and now it's going faster than ever!!  We have had a busy past few weeks.  Mackenzie pretty much has been at the doctors office every 3 days since she was born due to her weight issues.  She's such a peanut who did not have a good latch...Breastfeeding NIGHTMARE.  It's funny because before I had her, I stocked up on formula.  Every time I went to the doctor, I asked for samples.  I couponed like crazy and got more!  I have a whole 3 shelf bookcase full of it.  I figured I would try and if it didn't work out, then I would just switch to formula.........Boy was that not the case after I had her!  The past 6 weeks have been completely intense and emotional.  I don't even know how else to say it.  For some reason, the idea of giving her formula and not something that is tailored to her drove me crazy...no idea why!  ha ha.  But I refused to give up...in fact, I still refuse to give up.  I have done more research and watched more videos on it than I ever thought possible.  I'd say I'm slightly obsessed over it.  Anyways, I have made it my life.  It stinks that in a few weeks all the hard work I put in, will pretty much go away since she will be on bottles.  Oh well, we will figure it out!  It's funny how the thought of me not nursing her except at night made me cry...then again, her not fitting into her Newborn clothes makes me cry too!  At least my husband has been a supportive trooper through all this.  I'm sure he would have preferred for me not to drive myself crazy and be emotional all the time, but he tuckered through it...heck, he still is! 

Here are some more pics I found from the hospital!! 

In labor here...before the epidural...before I could really feel the contractions!

                    

Now on to some fun stuff!!  We had visitors!!  Niki and Jason came down over Labor Day weekend.  It was fun to see them and just relax.  We celebrated Mackenzie's 1 month birthday (by me having a glass of wine of course!), introduced Mackenzie to the Browns football season, and just hung out.  Then, the following weekend, Bill and Nicole were down.  Another fun weekend!  It was Brandon's birthday and we asked Bill to be Mackenzie's Godfather.  All in all, we had an exciting 2 weeks!!  Here are some pictures. 

 

This weekend, we asked Katie, my sister, to be Mackenzie's Godmother.  She was quite excited!  Here is the video and you can see her reaction!  (Don't mind me telling Brandon to stop at the end because I was scared the video would be too long to upload!)  I wanted to do something fun for her and sentimental...and of course I cried as soon as she did! 

 

Who would have known that having a baby makes you the most emotional person on the planet!  haha.  Oh and don't get me started on the Carter's commercial...I still cry every time I see it!

 

 

Happy Friday! Week 2 of Mackenzie!

Well, this week was much easier than last week...It's so funny how fast your life changes.  Not that we had much of a life before hand, but now its so different.  There is a tiny little person that solely relies on you for everything.  Since I chose to breastfeed, it's literally everything!  Brandon changes her diapers, burps her, and just lays with her to help me out.  I look forward to him coming home every day.  I love every minute with her, but it's so nice to hear him pull in and know that I can do the dishes without looking over my shoulder every 2 seconds.  

This week we have learned that Mackenzie doesn't like to have a dirty diaper on her.  By that I mean...we change her diaper after she pees (due to screaming)...then as soon as we practically tighten it, she poops...then we change it (again due to screaming)...then she poops again.  Then she is a happy camper!  

She is such a good baby.  She only cries when she has those dirty diapers.  When she is hungry, she just eats her hands or clicks her mouth...It's very obvious!  haha.  Then at night, we swaddle her, hit the lullaby on her mobile, and put her in her crib.  She sleeps soooo hard...just like Brandon.

Brandon...let's talk about that...Mackenzie is ALL Brandon.  Her looks, her faces, her demeanor, everything.  Heck, even her gas is like Brandon!  haha.  We keep it classy in the Davis household.

Last week, my friend and coworker, Merica, took her newborn pictures.  They came out awesome.  Here are a few, but I'm sure you saw them on Facebook!  We took them at the Rock Quarry in Downtown Greenville.   It's the same place we took our wedding photos.  It brought back lots of memories and was great to be able to go to the same place and take her newborn pictures.  

Can you believe she is 17 days old today?!?!?!!?!  I can't!

Mackenzie's Birth Day

I can't believe my weekly pregnancy posts have come to an end!  It's like saying goodbye to pregnancy...It's kind of sad...but then I look at Mackenzie and I just smile.  Well, here's the dillie--o on her birth day.  

We started out week 39 with a weekly visit to see the doctor.  Brandon went with me since I was already dilated to 3 and 80% effaced the week before.  So, my favorite doctor did my check and I was dilated to 4 and 90% effaced.  She looked at Brandon and I and said..."lets have a baby tomorrow!"  Brandon started to get teary eyed and choked up.  It was so sweet.  He was so beyond excited...So, off we left knowing that the next day would not be the same as today.  Here's what I looked like on 7/29/13.  

At 4:45am on July 30th, we called the hospital to see what time we needed to be there.  6:30...what was I going to do until 6:30.  So, I took another shower and redid my hair to try and stay relaxed.  I was so anxious, nervous, scared, excited, and every other emotion you can imagine.  Then at 6:00, Brandon was ready to go...so we were off to the hospital that was only 10 minutes away.  

Here we are at the elevators!  

We check in and walk to the Labor and Delivery room that I would set up shop in for the next 7 1/2 hours.  We got comfy and cozy and then the troops showed up.  My sister and parents decided that they wanted to spend the day with us.  So, we all hung out.  

By 7:15 I was hooked up to the Pitocin, IV, Blood Pressure monitor and some other stuff.  At 8:30ish, Dr. Alt came and broke my water...boy was that weird!  haha.  From then on until about 10:30ish, I was ok...chatting, feeling contractions but they weren't hurting, and watching tv...then around 11:00, I had tears in my eyes from the contractions...Epidural...yes ma'am!!  Within 15 minutes, Dr. Drugs was there to hook me up!!  haha. That wasn't his name but boy did he make me feel much better! 

 From 11 until about 3:00ish, our day was uneventful.  I was feeling contractions but they didn't hurt and I was still laughing and joking (except when that damn BP cuff went off...that hurt like hell...my nurse (Stephanie) kept telling me that it was a distraction from contractions and boy it sure was!  Then all of a sudden, I couldn't laugh any more..the pressure was so intense...quickly people started leaving the room and my nurse said we were gonna start pushing...little did I know how much work this is!!  I was very thankful that my mom and Brandon were there with me and that I had one kick ass nurse.  She was amazing.  Then, at 3:52pm, Mackenzie Elizabeth entered the world weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 20 inches long.  Brandon was so amazing the entire time.  He was so supportive and truly the best husband and partner I could ask for.  There is nothing sweeter than your husband telling you that he was "so proud of you."  

I couldn't believe she was here!  How was that precious baby inside my belly?  Babies are truly magical and a gift from God.  And so, from this moment on, our lives changed forever.  In Mackenzie's first 10 days, we have had many laughs, cries, and challenges.  How could someone so small change your life so much?  She's so amazing and such a blessing for Brandon and I.  Here are some pictures from the hospital.  

                      Our first family photo



                                                         
                                                                                              Sweet baby girl and I

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Gramma's Girl

                        

Grandpa and Mack

                                                                                Jill and Mack

  

                         Kate and Mack                                                                 My amazing Dr :)  

Aunt Katie

 

 <---Monica



            Tina --------->

After 2 days in the hospital, it was time to go home!  Mackenzie and I sat in the back seat while Brandon drove home.  

And so it began....our new life with Mackenzie.  :-)