Home at Last

Everyone checked out okay, so this afternoon around 1 o'clock we finally got everything and everyone packed up and headed home. Makenzie slept beautifully the entire ride home and has adjusted to the change in scenery very well.

The two big sisters helping carry their new baby sister out to the car.

All snuggled and packed in to the carseat. (Thanks, Bumper family!)

Makenzie's favorite sleeping pose.

Final Hospital Update (hopefully...)

We've survived our second night. Makenzie actually slept well last night between feedings.

She's doing very well overall, though as of yesterday morning (24 hours since birth) she had lost 7% of her weight already. The doctors are mildly concerned: 5% or maybe 6% is normal for the first day. I sounds like 10% is the max they would want by the time Mom and baby go home after 48 hours, so we're a little anxious as we wait for this morning's weigh-in. She also sounds to have caught Julie's cold a little bit, so she's breathing a little raspy -we'll have to keep an eye on that to make sure the infection doesn't take hold and work it's way into her lungs.

But so far, as much as you can tell in the first two days, Makenzie is proving to be our most mild-mannered baby yet. She has rested well, been relatively easy to sooth, and slept "like a baby" for much of her first 48 hours. Jadyn and Karina's first 2 days were night and day different from Makenzie's, so it's been a wonderful change of pace for us. We're not naive enough to assume this is going to last very long, but what a blessing it's been to start out the first few days this way.

Assuming all doctor's visits go well today, we're hoping to be on the road towards home before noon. We'll keep you posted - thanks for your continued prayers! We want to thanks to all our family and friends who came to visit us - it was great to see you all and have your support here at the hospital. A double thanks to Julie's mom, who we lovingly call Gramda, for watching the big sisters so we can both here!

A few closeups

Here are a few closeups. We're still waiting for some shots with her eyes open. She did well, as newborns go, through the first night - lots of feeding, a few quick catnaps, but still adjusting to the big new world.

Some more pictures of Makenzie Nicole

Do you have the George?

Karina, Jadyn, and I (Mark ) were in the car last night on the way home, when Karina asked me to put on the CD that has "Jesus Loves Me" CD on the radio.

I put it in, and not two seconds later Karina asked, "Daddy, can you put the George song on?"

I quickly dismissed her request, saying, "Honey, let's just let the CD play." The kids always want to jump from one song to the next, and I just wanted to let it play and concentrate on driving. But then her request hit me. I don't remember the "George song"... what was that?

So I asked back, "Karina, what is the George song?"

"I think it's number 6 or 9," she replied.

"I don't remember that song," I said. "Are you sure it's on this CD?"

"Yeah," she answered, "you know... 'I've got the George, George, George down in my heart!'"

Meet...

Makenzie Nicole Foree

She's beautiful and healthy! Born at 8:31 this morning, 7 lbs, 15 oz, 19-1/3 inches long.

12+ hours to go...

At this time tomorrow morning, we'll be checked in to the hospital awaiting the operation that will introduce us to our newest family member.

Feel free to weigh in with your guestimate... the odds are good - 50/50!

Counting down...

Amazingly enough, we only have four more days to go until we get to meet our newest family member! We are all obviously excited, but the girls are beyond that even. It seems that everything we do or talk about always comes back to our new baby in some way. Karina can't wait to finally be a big sister and Jadyn is full of very helpful advice at any time on how to be a good one. (Seeing as she has had so much practice already!)

We have been spending a lot of time talking about how things will be different and/or the same after baby gets here and all of that crazy stuff that goes along with a new little one coming home. We are definitely feeling the stress and pressure of all that is coming our way starting very soon.

I think Jadyn summed it all up for us the best yesterday, though, during dinner: "It's so good that God knows everything already about everything. We don't have to. We can just wait for Him to think we need to know it." I pray that we can keep that simple truth in mind as we make it through this next week of changes. We'll keep you posted...

We are scheduled for an 8:00 a.m. c-section delivery on Thursday.

Once again...

We woke up this morning to beautiful snow...again. Every time we think we are all done, we get more. There was only about an inch or so today, so most of it is already melted, but it sure is pretty to see while it is here! The girls are hoping for lots more today and tonight. We'll see what happens. Right now we just have a few flurries coming down off and on.

Another step towards growing up...

We were talking with some friends a few weeks ago about kids losing teeth, and I mentioned that our Jadyn is 6 years-old and still hasn't lost any teeth. She has always been short one tooth in the front on the bottom - it just never came in - but she hasn't lost any yet or even had loose ones. She's really been wanting to loose a tooth - many of her friends already have, and it's a big sign of growing up some more - getting those "grown-up" teeth.

The same afternoon while we were eating lunch, Julie and I noticed that one of her front teeth has really moved over to the side in the open space. I asked Jadyn if she has any loose teeth, and she sadly replied, "no." So I asked her to open wide and reached in, and sure enough - her first loose tooth! It's actually so loose I think she'll loose it this week for sure. She was so excited - her radiant smile beamed from ear to ear as she proclaimed, "I'm going to get my first grown-up tooth!"

Not two days later we noticed one of her front top teeth is also becoming loose. What a big girl - yay for Jadyn!

Stomach to mouth: I'd like to place an order...

Karina: Daddy, I sented a lot of milk down to my body because it wanted it.

Gone, but not forgotten...

After 9 years of love, we recently sold our Mazda Protege. It was a sad day for all of us, but necessary. What I didn't realize, however, was how attached our Karina was to it, until today...

Karina: "Is the Mazda going to be home today?"

Julie: "Umm, no Honey. Remember, we sold that to someone else a little while ago? Daddy just drives the blue car now."

Karina: "But I want to see it. Is that new guy washing it?"

Julie: "I am not sure. Probably."

Karina: "But is he? Does he have a Daddy to keep it clean when crumbs get off his food because he needs to or it will be not so happy there."

Julie: "I'm sure he is taking care of it. We really don't need to worry about it anymore."

Karina: "Oh. (Pauses deep in thought.) So can we go see it today after nap? I am not going to worry it. I want to see it for a little minute."

A Fun Christmas Present

We were the beneficiaries of a Wii Fit for Christmas. We just got it today, and it's been both a fun and hilarious experience getting used to this device. You can do all sorts of fun games on it, including skiing, ski jumping, soccer activities, and more. Plus it has great exercise routines designed to help you get into shape, from cardio to stretching (Yoga) to strength.


The funniest part by far has been the Yoga. I, Mark, was trying out each of the activities and was actually doing pretty well. The system was even complimenting me with applause and "great job" on a few activities.


That is... until I tried the Yoga position called "tree." Here's a picture of what it's supposed to look like:



but if you can imagine my ungraceful self trying to 1) make this pose, and then 2) hold this pose for 30 seconds... yikes! Needless to say, Julie was all but rolling on the floor laughing at me. My nice little system trainer was no longer doling out praise, but instead saying things like, "you're a little shaky, aren't you?" and "did I notice that you just put your other foot down?" and "hmm... I think we need to practice that a little more."


It's been a blast and it's actually pretty cool, but if I'm not careful Julie might snap a picture of me looking like a fool upload it onto the blog. I'm sure it'll be coming soon. The kids love it, too, and Jadyn has quickly picked up on it especially quickly - mastering the skiing and ski jump activities.

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Best friends

Everyone needs that best friend to hang out with, especially when you are too sick to do anything but lay around. For as much trouble as Molly gives us, she is redeeming herself a little bit today by being just what our Jadyn is needing. Pretty cute!

More snow...

Once again, we got the treat of waking up to beautiful snow today! This is what we see out our back windows. I love living next to the woods!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the new year a bit early last night along with all the east coasterners. We had 4 other couples over with their kids for a fun night of hanging out and relaxing together. Amazingly enough, all the kids actually made it with energy until the big celebration started at 9 pm. Lots of friends, food, noise, good conversations and laughter...a great way to bring in the new year! Do you notice any similarities between the balloon and anything else in this picture? :o)