60 days

Kingston is two months old! On one hand, it seems like he has always been a part of our family and on the other, it seems like only yesterday he was born. He really is a good baby and I think we (by "we" I mean Mc) have made the adjustment to this little guy being in our home. At his two month appointment he weighed 12 lbs 5 ozs and is 23 inches long. The shots were pretty traumatic- he has this heart piercing cry and because he doesn't cry very often, it was really sad. He has been a little feverish and that makes me the nervous mom wondering how he will react and constantly checking on him to make sure he is ok.

Mc decided to cooperate with the picture taking and wanting to help hold the "two month" sign for her baby brother.

Sunday night he made the switch from the bassinet to the big boy crib. He is doing 5-6 hour stretches which is really nice considering I go back to work on Monday. He still isn't a fan of his car seat. Slept all but 30 minutes of church last week and is so smiley. He loves to coo and is a sweet addition to our family.

Yo, yo look who is big enough for the Bumbo.

Summer days, drifting away

Oh neglected blog! Finding time to blog about life, aside from a quick facebook status update, has definitely been something (among various other things) that has been cast aside. I venture to say we have done quite a bit this summer and going back to work at the end of the month is going to be a little bit of a shocker. So to document the summer of 2011....

We have done lots of this:

Swimming at Mimi's. Mc has found the floaties and never looked back. Swim lessons next summer for sure.


Also lots of this:

First Family outing- Rio Tinto zoo day. Everything was F.R.E.E. The carousel, train, food. Note Mark's super excitement as he double fists an Icee. (thanks Mimi and Papa).

Mc with her first face painting. She picked the pink/glitter plastered dinosaur.

We have had some of these:

Naked tantrums. A bare bum on the cold entryway tile seems to be the ultimate form of rebellion at our house.

And we even managed to get in some of this....

YARD WORK! Our front yard is finally done. It is really nice to pull into actual plants and bushes rather than a kitty litterbox/rock/weed garden. My parents helped me select and plant these little beauties.

In the last few weeks of vacation I have left we have plans for BBQ's, cool summer evenings, more fresh BLT sandwiches, Mark working on his motorcycle, me working on my tan and soaking up every last bit of the summer we can before it's over.

Reigning for a month....

Happy One Month Birthday to our sweet little boy! This my friends is Kingston in comparison to a bread box (you have all heard the saying, "is it smaller than a breadbox"). In this case, Kingston is about the same size.

Some things we love about you at one month old:

- you love to snuggle!

-bath time is a joyful occasion. You are so happy and relaxed and love to have warm water poured on your body

-how sometimes your hair looks red in the right light

-that you love to be swaddled and that this may be the key to getting you to sleep through the night

-you are so patient when you want to eat. You coax and will give one good yell to let us know it's time

- mommy and daddy finally figured out that aggressively pointing "it" down means we don't have to change your outfit three times in one day

-any contrast in light (the TV, the shutters, the fan) encourage you to make the "oooooo" face that is so darling

You have found your chuckle when you are sleeping, love to be touched and held and have already made life so much more interesting. Your sister is coming around to how lovely you are and everyone that meets you falls in love with you. We are surely smitten and can't wait to see how your personality develops over the next few months. All hail the King.

This has got to be the Good Life

Having two kids is significantly more difficult that I had previously imagined. I didn't expect it to be all together "easy" but this week was a trial by fire for sure. This whole week was me planning how I was going to make it out of the house by 8:15 AM on Friday for Kingston's appointment? It was accomplished- barely. We woke up that morning to Mckinley's usual routine of not wanting to get dressed, Cory had found and demolished a used pad from the garbage, I packed the diaper bag the night before and forgot wipes and we couldn't find the Sleeping Beauty doll that has to be in Mc's purse for her to leave the house. I had mascara on, a bra and my hair was combed so I chalk that one up to success.

Kingston almost weighs 9 lbs. and was in the 73%ile for height. It is already apparent that he has a little different temperament than his sister. We don't have to use the wipe warmer to get through a bum change, he loves his bath but on the downside, where Mc liked to roll solo for tummy time or to sit in her bouncer, he LOVES to be held. He likes his car seat as long as it's moving and has the sweetest smile.


Mckinley is still NOT adjusting. The saddest part is that anyone that comes to visit and spends even a moment focusing on her, is automatically someone who should be taking her home- away from this awful place! She hit the baby this week, broke all the eggs while relocating them in the fridge and peed on her bedroom floor. She has had fleeting moments where she will ask to give the baby a kiss or to help feed him but she loses interest quickly. She still has her shining moments where she wants to snuggle, says, "I wuv you" and is tantrum free and these are the moments that make it almost possible to make it through the week without losing it :)



Out of sheer independence- this is how her flip flops usually end up on her feet.


And the Mr. I love that Kingston's arms are crossed in the picture. My two boys.

The "King" has entered the building

The Birth- Arrived at the hospital @ 9:00. Induced 11:00. Epidural by 11:30. Three pushes. Our son arrived @ 4:21 pm weighing 8 lbs. 4 ozs. 20 inches long. Crying. Bright eyed and Perfect.

The Name- Kingston Grant Williamson. We had always liked Kingston and had Mc been a boy, it would have been her name. We knew Grant would be the middle name after Mark's dad. We have been asked quite a few times what we will call him for short. For now, we are sticking to "Little Man" and will go from there. It suits him and it is darling to hear Mc say it.

The Difference- Having a baby in Utah has been so different than when Mc was born. For one, Kingston was definitely not the only baby born the day he arrived (unlike Mc). We are surrounded by family and have so many people anxious to come and meet our little boy. We are truly blessed with so many supportive friends and family (both here and AZ) and have been overwhelmed by everyone's willingness to help with Mc, bring in dinners and daily check ins.

The "Queen" is dethroned- The most typical question lately, "how is Mckinley doing with her little brother?" We had poop smeared in the closet on Saturday, a monumental tantrum about putting on her pajamas for the past few nights and when we went to get pictures yesterday, she wanted nothing to do with him. She does ask every morning, "where is my baby brother" and I think the real reason she is asking is to make sure that he didn't magically disappear in the night. She says he is "so cute" and gently touches his head occasionally but overall, she is still in denial.

The mom- being a mother of two has been a trip thus far. My life is now run in shifts and I feel that sometimes, Mc's schedule for eating, sleeping, playing is a little disrupted/forgotten by me trying to figure out the baby's schedule. Recovery has been a little more painful than I remember with Mc and I feel way more tired but I also, am just enjoying the baby rather than the logistics that come along with a newborn.

The dad- Mark is truly the best teammate in raising children. He never complains about changing a poopy bum, getting Mc dressed, waking up in the night and rarely takes time for himself. He lets me sleep, take an extra long shower and just patiently does his parental duties. As I type, he is crashed out on the couch even though he wanted to be out working on his motorcycle.

THE STAR- What a perfect little bundle. He is an excellent eater- already up to 3 ozs. Loves to be awake from 3-4 am. And has the most beautiful dark eyes. This little man has already brought so much joy to our home.

We are truly blessed and can't wait to see the joys and challenges that await in raising two children!

Chill-axin'

It really does suck

Each day as I get closer to having a newborn, I remember some of things that as a new mom with Mc, I was terrified to do.


1) the first fingernail trim- you all remember. Those little, pale, over the tip, nails that have been growing for nine long months and undoubtedly will leave a huge scratch somewhere



2) The first bath- are they too cold? too wet? what do I do if they poop in the tub (and she did)?



3) The booger sucker...using the bulb syringe to rid your child up the built up gunk in their teensie nostrils



NEVER FEAR...problem number threee has been solved! A product that's tag line is "looks weird, works wonderfully" is definitely a product for me! For $14.95, I can now SUCK (literally) the minuscule bowgies from your sweet child's nose.

Really- I pity the man that had to test this contraption prior to putting it on the market. A clean nostril is a happy nostril but this is insane.

We are down to 11 days before my due date. I had my last appointment on Friday. I am almost dilated to a 2 and still 25% effaced. What that means is I have not changed in a week. I am a little worried that I will go over with this one too (6 days with Mc) but as I have mentioned, we still have plenty to do before he gets here.

Still unsure of the name. Mc has decided that she wants to be carried everywhere. I ate 3 creamies in a row yesterday. Time. for. a. baby.