Here’s Mackenzie at 4 weeks old (this past Saturday).  On one hand, I can’t believe it’s 4 weeks, and on the other, it seems a LOT longer than 4 weeks since I’ve gotten a decent nights sleep!

She is officially 1 month old today.  It’s amazing how fast they grow - at her doctors appointment last Monday she weighed in at 8 lbs, 2 oz, so almost a full 2 lbs more than what she weighed at birth.

Sleep-wise, she’s doing ok - both Jackson and Morgan were longer sleepers as newborns.  At night she is starting to occasionally do 5 hours, but it is still more like 4, sometimes 3 1/2.  So that means I’m still getting up 2 times in the night to feed her - if she can stretch to 4.5 or so, then it would mean I only have to get up once, then in the morning it would be a decent enough hour to actually just get up!  That will make a big difference in how tired I’m feeling, I know.

I started using the cloth pre-fold diapers on her, and I’m liking them!  It took a few attempts before I figured out the way to make them the least bulky, and so am slowly getting the hang of it.  I’ll have to take a picture of her in them, and post it here later.  Up until now I just thought she would be too small for them, and so I’ve been using up all the newborn disposable diapers I got for free last summer from Walgreens that I posted about here.  I still have 5 or so packs of the size 1.  So with using cloth diapers on Morgan and now Mackenzie, I have not bought diapers since last summer, and even then only if you consider paying .35/pack as ‘buying’ them.

But back to Mackenzie… we could have sworn that she gave us her first smiles last Monday, but she has not done it since then, so now I’m questioning it.  At the time Gavin, Jackson and I were all looking at her, and she did 3 big ones right in a row, and they definitely seemed more than just the quick ones she does as she’s falling asleep.  But since she’s been so serious since then I keep questioning whether she really did them - but at the time we certainly agreed that she had smiled.

She’s also starting to get a lot more fussy when she is tired (which she’s tired a lot!).  She cries most of the evening (from about 8-10) when she is awake unless someone is walking around with her - *exactly the way that Jackson did.  I know that this is most likely a phase, so will wait it out a few more weeks and hopefully she’ll become more content.

So overall the transition to 3 has still gone well.  I have not had to cook at all with all the amazing meals provided to us from church friends, and now that those are over I’m starting to work on our freezer stash.  That has freed up a lot of my time so that I’m not scrambling if Mackenzie needs to eat at the same time I need to be getting dinner on the table.

We are definitely much more laid back with her than with the other 2, and have really been able to enjoy her.  Of course some things we really end up letting slide… should I actually post that I think she has gotten 3 baths since she was born? 

Can you tell who is who?  (aside from the pink and the blue?):

We think that Mackenzie (last picture) looks the most like Jackson.  She looks even more like him in other pictures, but we wanted a similar sleeping pose for all 3 - they are all about the same age in these pictures.  And all 3 loved to sleep with their hands completely up by their heads… is that a baby thing, or just our kids?  I think it’s SO cute!

I went to a consignment sale yesterday, a huge one that happens 2 times/year.  I had been to it once before last fall, and found a number of things for Jackson for the fall for incredible prices.  I have a friend who I swap girls clothes with, so Morgan always has plenty of clothes for each size, and I only supplement a few that I find on good sale.  Jackson, on the other hand, doesn’t have anyone bigger than him passing clothes our way, so I have found that consignment sales are a great way to get nice clothes for very little money.

I do pick up clothing items for the following year at the end of the current season when everything is marked down, but Jackson has been a bit unpredictable with his growth spurts, and it’s been harder to project what size he will be wearing in a year.  So by getting clothes at consignment sales for the upcoming season, I can much more accurately judge what size he will be in.

So anyway, yesterday Gavin was able to watch Jackson and Morgan for the afternoon, so Mackenzie and a friend of mine hopped in the car and made the trek to the Gwinnett Fairgrounds.  I was a bit nervous because it was the first day of the sale, and I was worried about massive crowds and long lines.  While we did wait over an hour to pay (my friend was in line first and held my place), I had no problem getting what I wanted to get, and was VERY pleased to come home with an entire summer wardrobe for Jackson, a couple odds and ends for Morgan as well as 2 pair sandals, and 2 equipment items, all for $77.

Here’s what I got for Jackson:

2 collared dress shirts
1 bathing suit
2 pair shorts
1 shirt/shorts outfit
3 tank tops
10 tshirts

His shorts from last year still mostly fit him, but I do have a few shorts in the next size up that I picked up last year at the end-of-season sales.  So all in all, he has quite the wardrobe.  The total for the above items was $50.

Here’s what I picked up for Morgan:

3 shirts
1 tank
1 pair shorts
2 sandals

Morgan already had most of her clothes for the season, but I was specifically looking for this color shorts, tanks, a couple solid shirts, and sandals.  The pink printed shirt was an extra. :)  Also, below was my best find of the day:

It is 3T, so will fit Morgan next fall/spring, but was mixed in the 2T clothes, and the best part?  It cost $1.  It was the cheapest item I purchased, and the cutest, in my opinion.  Total for Morgan: $18.50.

Lastly, I came home with a $3 wipes warmer, and a $4 car mirror.  I had always wanted one of those car mirrors so you can see your baby when they were facing backwards, but never thought it a necessity.  And as for the wipes warmer… Gavin and I have always thought some baby items are just gimmicks, this being one of them.  I’m sure warm wipes are nice, but are they really necessary?  I still don’t think so, except that I have now switched over to using the cloth wipes I got as gifts for Mackenzie’s birth, and in this particular case, a wipes warmer really would be handy to keep them moist and warm with the solution I use.  I decided if I could find one less than $5, I would try it out.  So I came home with one!

So my kids are totally set for the spring and summer, and I’m so glad to have it done, and know that I got some great clothes for such little money.  I would highly recommend consignment sales for kids clothes - most of them aren’t worn that much and are in great condition!  There are tons of sales going on right now in the Atlanta area - you can look at www.thebargainwatcher.com to find where they are.

So Gavin, our resident photographer, wanted to do some fun pictures.  He bought a king black sheet, set it up along with some makeshift flash reflectors, and decided to test things out.  This picture was from his ‘test run’ the other night when he was up with Mackenzie in the night when she decided it was time to be wide awake:

Then last night we were ready for the real photo shoot.  He had Morgan be the test subject, and she was quite willing, saying “cheese” over and over - it was very cute (especially cause she normally doesn’t agree with her photo being taken).

Then it was Mackenzie’s turn.  After Jackson and Morgan were in bed, he took the following shots:

And our favorites:

When we were done, we put Mackenzie on the sheet by herself, and she told us very clearly that she was tired of having the flash in her eyes (even though she slept through the whole photo session):

How fun to have these pictures!  I am very impressed!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a week since our little girl was born.  It has gone by so fast for me - my mom was here helping out until Friday morning, which was SO nice - she was a huge help especially with Jackson and Morgan, getting us meals on the table at night, and keeping the house (especially the kitchen) clean.

We got home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon - the first few days were spent just getting used to how much time I spend feeding Mackenzie.  It’s amazing how often, and for how long, she eats.  I am thankful she is a good little eater though.  A nurse came by the house on Monday to check on us since we left the hospital a day early, and Mackenzie checked out just fine!

On Wednesday we took her in for her first doctor appointment.  Here she is waiting for the doctor to come in:

She weighed in at 6 lbs, 3 oz, so almost back to her birth weight (which is good for breastfed babies), and measured at 19.5 inches long.  We had noticed that she really really wants to get at her hands, but had mostly kept them covered because of her crazy long fingernails.  She has no interest in a pacifier (none of our kids have), but really enjoys her hands, when she can find them.  We also realized that whenever she is tired, or a bit unsure of what is going on (like below), she really wants to suck on them as well!

Jackson continues to love on Mackenzie, showering her with kisses and hugs multiple times a day.  He tells us all the time how much he loves her, and one night gave me kiss after kiss on my cheek, telling me that they were for Mackenzie to drink when she drinks her milk.  How cute is that?

It’s been fun to sit at the kitchen table and have on the floor in her bouncy seat, just looking around.  I think this hat makes her look a bit like the Pope.

Overall she has been a pretty easy baby this first week, although I know a lot can change around 10 days - 2 weeks old, so I’m not saying she’s an easy baby yet!  Jackson started his 2-year crying “phase” around 2 weeks old, and Morgan continued to be an easy baby, becoming more of a challenge around 12 months.  We’ll see what pattern Mackenzie follows, or if she is completely different!

Her fussy times come in the transition from being awake and alert after eating to falling asleep.  If she goes right back to sleep after eating, then she sleeps for the full 2.5 - 3 hours until she eats again.  But if she has an awake and alert time for an hour or more (which she does a few times a day), then a lot of times she gets fussy as she is trying to fall asleep.  Both of the other 2 were like this - just needing a bit of loving or rocking to fall asleep, although she has also fallen asleep on her own as well, which is nice.  When she is alert, we can’t get enough of looking at her though!

And of course is just an angel when asleep.

So the first week has gone well.  My mom left Friday morning, and Gavin had to go to camp for the day, so I had my first time of being alone with all 3, and needing to get Jackson from preschool.  It ended up being pretty easy overall, as Mackenzie slept from about 11 am until 5 pm, waking up just long enough to eat.  Starting next week I’ll need to figure out how to feed Mackenzie and get the other 2 up and ready to get Jackson to preschool by 9:00.

We have some wonderful people signed up to bring us meals for the next 2-3 weeks, so it has been such a blessing to not have to worry about cooking at all - plus we have our freezer stash for when I need to put something easy together.

Some have asked if we plan to call her Mackenzie, and the answer for now is yes.  We knew when we named her that she may go by Kenzie, or Kenz, at some point, and we’re ok with that, but for now, we’re keeping it as Mackenzie.

Gavin and I realized again just how much we love newborns - their soft skin, adorable noises, sweet smell, facial expressions, all of it.  She is just so tiny, and we feel like we could pretty much hold her all day long!  And seeing the other 2 love on her as well (Morgan in her own little way) makes it even sweeter.  I know our new journey is just beginning, but so far we love our family of 5.

Morgan is very into jumping these days.  It’s her favorite form of dancing (or maybe it’s tied with the head bob), and she just jumps around everywhere.  Here she is in action:

I never wrote out the stories for Jackson or Morgan, although I certainly remember them well, so I should probably do it at some point soon!  But I thought it would be nice to have a record of Mackenzie’s birth story, and what better place than here for others who might be interested (ok, so maybe just those of you who are moms anyway!).

Both Jackson and Morgan were pretty fast labors, and with both of them once my labor started (with contractions with Jackson, and my water breaking with Morgan), it didn’t take very long before they made their appearances.  I guess I just assumed this time would be similar, except maybe faster.  Well, the actual delivery was super quick, but I started having contractions a full 2 days before we went to the hospital.

On Wed the 21st, I had contractions most of the afternoon - they were pretty close together, but didn’t hurt.  After a few hours I ended up calling the nurse because I wasn’t really sure what was going on.  She helped me realize I was dehydrated - between running around that day doing various things, and not drinking as much as normal (I know, it’s bad) because it put me in the bathroom literally every few minutes, I had let myself become completely dehydrated, which is what caused these odd contractions.  I immediately downed as much water as I could, and made sure after that point to consciously drink, despite making about 10 trips/hour to the bathroom!  My contractions then spaced out and almost went away.

But before going to bed on Wednesday, I did have a couple contractions that I could actually feel - but they also went away when I went to sleep.  All day Thursday I had mild contractions that were 10-20 minutes apart, ranging in intensity from feeling hardly anything, to feeling some pain.  But they never leveled out into anything consistant.  When I went to bed they again subsided.

By Friday I was tired of constantly thinking I was going into labor, so decided to just ignore them as much as I could - no more timing, because it just made me annoyed that they would look like they were getting consistant, then space back out again.  But by about 2 pm on Friday, I decided to start timing them again because they were getting stronger, and some of them I was unable to talk through.  Turns out they were consistantly 10 minutes apart.  This is when the midwife had told me to come to the hospital because of my previous quick deliveries, but after the previous 2 days of them tapering back off, I decided to hold out, and just time them - I didn’t want to be wrong again.  For the next 6 hours, they were 10 minutes apart, some strong, some only mildly painful.  I was about to call the nurse around 8, then they went back to 15 minutes apart.  I was NOT a happy camper!  But, for that next hour that they were 15 minutes apart, when they came I had to actually focus on breathing through them, they were strong.  Then around 9 they picked back up to 10 minutes apart.  At 10:30 I decided, ok, let’s call the nurse - she told me to come in, our friend Kristen came over to spend the night with the kids, and we went to the hospital.  Finally!!

We got checked into our room around midnight, the midwife came in and said I was 6 cm - it was such a relief to know that I hadn’t come in for nothing.  She was very relaxed and said we’ll just take our time, no rush, and said I could have an epidural right away if I wanted.  I said yes - the contractions were very bearable, but I was so tired, and knew I could just rest for a while after I got the epidural.  So around 1:30 I got it, and the midwife came back in around 2.  She said she could either break my water, and the baby would be here in probably an hour, or she could let me get some rest.  I didn’t think there was any way I would actually fall asleep, so I told her to give me 30 minutes, and if I wasn’t asleep, let’s go ahead with things.  Well Gavin and I both conked out for 1.5 hours before they woke me up.  It was sure nice to get at least some sleep.

The midwife broke my water at about 4:15 or so, as my contractions had spaced back out.  She said again, no rush, we’ll just let your body do the rest.  Gavin’s parents arrived at 5:30 am after driving through the night, so we visited with them for a little while - I was still dozing in and out, as I was so relaxed.  At 6:15 the midwife came in and said I was probably ready, so we kicked out Gavin’s parents.  Now up to this point I had only been feeling mild pressure with the contractions, but it didn’t stay that long.  With Morgan I had felt almost excruciating pressure/pain right before she was born (despite the epidural), so that’s honestly what I was waiting for, so I didn’t think this time that I could possibly be ready. (now Morgan was also in whatever position it is that causes back labor, so that had something to do with that pain, I know.  I also think that my epidural was stronger this go-around) .

The midwife told me to give a short push, and she then said ‘yup, there’s the head, let me get my stuff ready’.  I couldn’t believe it, because I felt almost nothing!  She got her stuff set up, and 3 easy pushes later Mackenzie was born.  Piece of cake.  All morning I kept saying how I couldn’t believe how easy it was!  I had really been expecting the kind of pressure/pain that I had with Morgan - I had friends who had had totally painless deliveries, but I honestly was not sure it was possible.  I very much admire people who do natural childbirth, but I have honestly had no desire to do so - I have often wondered how I would do, but have really enjoyed the birthing experience I have had with all 3.

So that’s our little girl’s birth story - she came into the world at 6:30 am on Jan 24th.  My immediate recovery went really well - the only thing that made it difficult was losing almost an entire night’s sleep.  Aside from that, I could not have asked for anything better!  We ended up leaving the hospital on Sunday afternoon - it was only the day after she was born, but after being up all night on Friday night (at the hospital), and her being born so early in the morning, by the time Sunday came we felt as if we had been there a long time, and had no desire to stay another night.  Our insurance company sent a nurse out on Monday to check on Mackenzie and me since we did leave a day early, which I thought was a nice thing to have.

Our kids must like weekends though - Morgan was born on a Friday night, Mackenzie on a Saturday morning, and Jackson on a Saturday afternoon! :)  Jackson was 12 days early, Morgan was 11 days early, and Mackenzie was 9 days early (but still our smallest baby).

Ok, so my menu will be on hold for a while as we have so many wonderful people bringing us meals, and I don’t have to worry about a menu and cooking right now - yeah!  I will continue to make a grocery run probably once a week to get us our essentials and other good deal items that are on sale, but that’s about it.  And we’ll be eating off our frozen stash for the other nights.

Some of the items below were purchased right before Mackenzie was born, then I made a run last night to get a few things and take advantage of the $5 of 10 item sale Kroger was having before it ended last night - got lots of items we needed and will use both in the short term and the long term.  Plus, it was nice to get out for an hour or so by myself!

Grocery:

Kroger run 1 - made a stop in last week to do another ‘$5 off for 10 items’, because we needed every single one of the items!

• Spent: 15.19
• Full item value: 29.73
• Saved: 14.54 (49%)

Kroger run 2 (yesterday): In this transaction alone I purchased 39 items, and one of them was a full price chicken broth base I was out of (for 4.99) - if I had not needed that item, then everything I bought would have been on sale plus a coupon for most.  I used a total of 25 paper coupons (16 of which were doubled), and 4 e-coupons, for a total coupon savings alone of 38.21.  In using the sales/coupons, I got the following items for free (or even as money-makers): 4 packages toilet paper, 1 can rotel, 2 cans hormel chili, and chex mix.  I paid .20 or less for the following items: 4 bags Wacky Mac pasta and 1 box fiber 1 bars.  Everything else was at least 50% or more off regular price.  I love these kind of grocery runs.

• Spent: 30.23
• Full item value: 89.08
• Saved: 58.85 (67%)

Publix: Only ran into Publix for Hunts Tomatos and Oatmeal (I finally found a great granola recipe that the kids LOVE) - both were on sale buy-one-get-one, plus I had coupons for them all, and a couple avocados, which we love and splurge on when I can get them for under $1.

• Spent:  9.83
• Full item value: 29.64
• Saved: 19.81 (67%)

Totals:

• Spent: 55.25
• Full item value: 148.45
• Saved: 93.20 (63%)

These are also the last ‘big’ grocery runs I plan to make - both this time and last time I took advantage of the $5 of 10 items at Kroger have really paid off, so it’s worth it!  I should have taken a picture of everything I came home with before I put it all away!