More Pictures from the Weekend

Our family following the wedding

(Thanks for the pic Katie B!)

My Dad was able to make it!

Us at the reception

The wedding party making their entrance at the reception

Katie B and her escort (sorry I don't know his name!)

Alaina and Sean

Kerriann with Daddy and Grandpa

Katie H and Sean during the mother/son dance

 

Ashley and Kevin giving their speeches at the reception

Adriane, Mo, and Lena

Cutting the cake

The dance floor

Poor Kerriann was ready to go!

Sean & Alaina's Wedding-10/24/09

Kevin, Kerriann and I attended Kevin's older brother Sean's wedding this past Saturday.  It was such a beautiful wedding, and Alaina made such a beautiful bride!  I'm so happy to have her as my first sister-in-law :). I'm sure she would agree that we are both very lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family. 

The wedding took place at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hagerstown, MD.  The bridesmaids wore long red dresses and looked just as beautiful as the bride.  Kevin's Uncle, Father Paul Hudock, said most of the mass.  Everyone loved the personal touch that he put on it.  I felt very honored to be chosen by Sean and Alaina to do the first reading during the mass, and I'm relieved to say that I didn't mess it up ;) haha.  Kevin and his younger brother Ryan were the best men, and Alaina's sisters Ashley and Kati were the maid and matrons of honor.  Below are a few pictures of the wedding ceremony.

The alter

Kerriann snoozing before the ceremony started...this didn't last for long

The bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Sean Herlihy

During one of the readings

Sean & Alaina's Rehearsal Dinner

Sean and Alaina's wedding rehearsal dinner took place on Friday, October 23, 2009 at Bulls and Bears in Hagerstown, MD.  It was great to visit and get to know the members of the bridal party before the actual wedding.  The rehearsal went really well, the church was beautiful and such a great choice for their wedding.  Below are a few pictures from Friday evening!

Our family at dinner

Ryan, Katie, Kerriann, Sean, Tom, Kevin and Adriane

Kerriann with Uncle Paul and Grammy

A toast at the end

Sean & Alaina during the toast

Kevin and Adriane at dinner

Pictures from week 11

Snoozing on the breakfast table

*YAWN*

She STILL has a love/hate relationship with the swaddle

With Daddy

With Mommy...blurry because she never holds still!

Kerriann's first plane ride

...was a great success!  And so was her second!  When we were boarding the plane on Thursday evening to travel from Atlanta to D.C. for Sean and Alaina's wedding she was fussing and we could tell that everyone on the plane was bracing themselves for a rough trip.  Kevin and I worried that we would be "that couple with the screaming baby."  Luckily, Kerriann was just hungry and as soon as I started feeding her she sucked off and on until we were in the air and then took a quick nap.  She woke again just in time to do a little more snacking as we landed.  Because of this the pressure changes had no effect on her.  She was only awake for a short time on the flight and during it she was happy and smiling.  The older babies sitting around us were a lot more annoying than she was!  We were so relieved that the trip went well.  Below are a few pictures from our travels (including the plane and car ride home...she did great then too!)

With Daddy on the flight from Atlanta to D.C.

 

With Mommy

Snoozing on the return flight from D.C. to ATL

More napping on the drive from ATL to Enterprise (home)

More house updates

Last Monday we updated the furniture in our living room!  Before we were using a mismatched couch and recliner, plus the glider that was meant for Kerriann's room.  Now we have a beautiful leather couch, oversized chair and ottoman, and a great coffee table with matching end tables.  The room is finally coming together.  Below are a few pictures of Kerriann modeling the new furniture.  We'll post more pictures when the walls are finished as well!

 

 

 

Kerriann can use her hands...kind of!

The past few days Kerriann has begun the process of finding and using her hands.  She's not yet able to stare at them in amazement for hours knowing that they're attached to her body...but I'm sure she'll be there soon.  She can now hold a rattle and shake it.  She also has started to bat at toys hanging above her.  Whenever I'm feeding her her hands go crazy and tug at my shirt (she also scratches me now...ouch!).  Yesterday she even grabbed the camera cord as I was taking a picture of her.  Below are a few pictures of her doing some of these things!

Pulling on Mommy's camera cord

Playing with my first doll that Great-Grandma Lohr gave me

Just shaking one of my rattles

All bundled up on my first cold day EVER!

In the stroller with the car seat cozy to keep me warm...going for a Saturday afternoon walk!

Guest Bathroom is Complete!

So I know it's probably the least exciting room in our house and you might not really be that excited by this but...OUR GUEST BATHROOM IS COMPLETE!  It is the first room that is officially finished being decorated.  It didn't take much...but you have to start somewhere, right?  Below are a few pictures:

HELP!

We have now tried almost every bottle on the market and every technique known to man to get Kerriann to accept a bottle of pumped milk.  I LOVE breastfeeding but this is something that we really need her to be able to do on occasion. 

Kerriann ALWAYS wants to eat as soon as dinner is ready and it would be nice to share the task of feeding her so it's not always Mommy starving for an extra half hour.  It would also be very nice to be able to leave her with one of her Grandparents or other family members when we are visiting.  I know they would enjoy being able to share that bond with her as much as Kevin and I would love to have a couple of hours to ourselves :).  I wouldn't be so passionate about this, but with the upcoming trip north for Sean and Alaina's wedding it would be so nice.  I would like to be able to have her take a bottle while waiting for the plane/on the plane just in case.  It would also be great if she got hungry during the wedding or reception (dresses for the most part are NOT breastfeeding friendly!). 

Sigh...if anyone has any ideas please pass them our way!  We have tried Adiri, Playtex Ventaire, Playtex Nursers, Born Free and NUK bottles all with no success.  We have tried Kevin giving her the bottle while I step out of the house for 45 minutes.  I have also tried giving her the bottle.  Warm...cold...it doesn't matter to her.  I'm almost ready to throw in the towel and just accept that she may never take it...but I have never heard of a baby being like this before.  What if something happened to me and she HAD to take a bottle? 

So again...bottle feeding Moms...tips?  Advice?  Suggestions?

On another note...here are a few cute pictures of our little princess from today!  We didn't do much...just hung out around the house and went to Ft Rucker with Kevin to wash his quad.

Oh no you didn't just take a picture of me Mommy!

Getting ready to accidentally flash the camera so I can eat my dress!

Watching tv...one of my favorite pasttimes!

Must have been a boring show...I passed out!

Look how strong I am!

Getting ready to take a ride on Daddy's quad before he sells it!

Updates on KA (reflux, sleep habits, etc.)

Over the past few weeks Kerriann has REALLY developed a personality.  She is such a cute little person now.  She can follow objects with her eyes and if she hears your voice she can find you across the room.  It's crazy how fast she has developed these skills.  She is also constantly smiling which feels so rewarding.  Finally seeing her show emotions makes all of the sleepless nights feel so worth it!  Even when her diaper is leaking all over the place and we're out in public without a change of clothes...you can't help but love her when she looks up at you with her big smile! 

Kerriann is now OBSESSED with the TV...especially when we have football on!  Some nights we are forced to turn the tv off so that we can get her to fall asleep.  She seems to mesmorized by the flashing lights and bright colors.  For now we're trying not to worry about this obsession, but once she is old enough to start playing with toys I am going to make sure the tv is turned off most of the time. 

We have also been encouraging Kerriann to spend more time on her tummy since her 2 month check up and we are already seeing a lot of progress!  A few days ago when she was on her tummy she tried so hard to roll over...she was so frustrated that she wasn't strong enough to do it.  We took a video so as soon as we can find the cord to the video camera we'll upload it so everyone can see. 

The past few days we were noticing more crying fits and back arching...she was also getting upset before/during burping so we suspected that she may be outgrowing her dosage of Axid (she is on it for reflux).  I called the doctor yesterday because we needed a refill anyways and they upped her dosage from .5 mL to .8mL and we have already seen a difference.  She also napped really well yesterday and had the best nights sleep she's had in about a week.  I just realized that I have never really mentioned the problems we have faced with her regarding acid reflux.  During the first few weeks of life she was VERY fussy constantly...always crying, arching her back, and just generally unhappy.  We hardly ever had a happy baby.  After researching online I suspected that she might have "reflux"...what they used to diagnose many times as "colic."  It is really just the same acid reflux that adults suffer from.  It typically clears up by 6 months in infants (around the time that they start spending the majority of their time sitting upright) with the worst period being between 4 and 6 months.  A lot of my relatives suffer from reflux and have had surgeries and taken medications to deal with it so I wasn't surprised when she was diagnosed.  Almost immediatley after starting on Axid we saw a difference.  I credit our happy, smiley baby to this wonderful drug!  Thank goodness doctors are finally starting to see that babies scream and cry because something is wrong with them, not just because they are babies.  There is a difference between whining and what we were experiencing. 

As far as Kerriann's sleep habits...she has been very inconsistant.  While Kevin was away at SERE school (between weeks 3 and 6) she had developed a pretty good pattern of going to bed between 11 and 12 and giving me a 4-5 hour stretch followed by 2 hour stretches after that.  Once we made the drive back to AL (which was pretty stressful on us both) she was completely thrown off.  After about a week she went back to the same sort of schedule.  Then out of NOWHERE for about a week (around week 8) she slept 10 hour stretches at night!  It was a miracle!  Kevin and I were finally able to catch up on sleep.  But now...sadly...we are back to a pretty rough schedule.  I would kill for another 10 hour sleep stretch!  The past few days she has been up every 2-3 hours...sometimes more often.  I'm hoping it's just a phase and maybe due to us moving her into her crib about a week ago (she had been sleeping in a pack 'n play in our room).  We felt that since she was sleeping so well it would be safe to move her.  I know it wasn't normal or typical to get 10 hour stretches out of a breastfed baby but I can't help but wish that we could go back to that...maybe tonight it will happen...?

Tuesday Nights

For the past few weeks Kerriann and I have spent Tuesday evenings from 5:30-8:30 alone while Kevin takes a financial class.  I used to dread being alone during Kerriann's peak fussy period of the day, but after a few times alone I feel that I am now a pro at beating it!  My favorite part of the evening is between 6 and 7 when I attempt to take her for a walk.  The neighborhood loop is about half a mile...if I'm lucky we make it around twice before Kerriann gets hungry, needs a diaper change, or just plain wants to get out of the stroller.  Tonight we ran into a Dad who was taking his two daughters, 10 mo and 3 yrs, for a ride in their jogging stroller.  I really hope we can invest in one someday.  I miss running...and once Kerriann has better control of her neck I think it would be a really great way to exercise. Other than our walk, today wasn't very exciting.  We just hung out around the house...laundry...cleaning...that type of stuff!  I'm really going to get better about WRITING on here from now on instead of just posting pictures.  Now that our house is coming together and we're really figuring Kerriann out, I'm starting to find a little more free time.  I promise my posts will be more informative from now on :).

Pictured:  Kerriann enjoying the walk and her new favorite snack...blankets!