Birthday, Babies and Breastfeeding

Happy Veteran's Day to all! We had a wonderful weekend full of fun and family and birthday celebrations. We also had a productive week in the land of babies and toddlers.

Mackenzie helped us make cookies one day this week.

This week Scott needed to get a few things done at work so he had to go to his local office a few times during the week. We were able to have other people watch Mackenzie so Kiersten only needed to focus on Finley but one day it was all Kiersten all day with both girls. And it went wonderfully! She had planned several activities for Mackenzie that could be accomplished with a newborn in tow for example, going on a walk or playing with painters tape (trust me she loved it). Just a few more things are needed before we can go downtown to get Finley's passport and ensuring we can all go back to Paraguay in January.

Painters tape fun!

Classic coloring/drawing.

Friday was Kiersten's birthday. Scott dropped Mackenzie at Grace's house and went into work. Kiersten left Finley with Grandma to go get a much needed haircut. With two little children now she decided to go for the big chop; 5 inches plus off! And so far so good with the new short "mom" hair. When she got home, Scott and M were still gone so she took a nap. What a great birthday, huh? When everyone did come home, Kiersten and Mackenzie had a great time eating a snack in the kitchen and having an impromptu dance party. This was truly one of Kiersten's favorite moments of her birthday. For dinner, Scott and Kiersten got to have a date night which might be their last for a while so they took advantage of the babysitters (Grandma and Pop-Pop). When they got home, Kiersten opened a few presents and enjoyed her birthday pie. It was a wonderfully low-key birthday.

Before...

After!

Finley even gave Kiersten a birthday present of nursing at every feed during the night so Kiersten didn't have to pump! Meaning she spent half the time being awake in the middle of the night and got a little bit more sleep. This trend continued for the rest of the week. We decided to just jump to nursing Finley at every feed instead of supplementing with pumping and the bottle and 3 days in and everything seems to be going well. We are well ahead of schedule and Mom could not be more thrilled!

Saturday was a busy, fun day. In the morning, Kiersten and her mom made three pies and took care of the baby. In the afternoon, the men picked up the catering from Cafe Rio and we had a party with local family and some close friends. This party was to congratulate Mackenzie on being a big sister and Kiersten's birthday was a convenient excuse. A few more people brought pies bringing the pie total to 7! How glorious! Mackenzie had a blast running around the house with her cousins and other little girls and everyone enjoyed food, pies and good company.

Playing in the big leaf pile with cousin Ashlyn.

The fabulous spread. So many pies!

Sunday Kiersten finally made it to Sacrament Meeting after not being able to go for almost 2 months. Other than going out to church it was a quiet day spent with family.

Nothing like a chilly family walk to bring us closer together.

And so far on this holiday Monday morning we took family pictures! It's been getting chilly here in Northern Virginia but the lighting was good and we had a willing photographer so we bundled up the baby and went outdoors to snap some shots of our little family. We got some good ones but you'll have to wait to see them on our Christmas cards which should be to you by Thanksgiving (fingers crossed).

We got Middle Eastern food out this week. So yummy.

The Mackenzie Update:

• She still loves her baby sister. We are trusting her and letting her get closer to the baby and touch her more. She loves to kiss her, tickle her feet, help with diapers and rest her head on/near the baby's head. She really is a sweet big sister.

  

  She even loves trying on baby sister's clothes!

• She has learned what an 'Alexa' is but can't quite say 'Alexa' so she can't make it work without an adult. She loves to say, 'Lexa, pay again!' Translation: 'Alexa, play it again!' meaning the song we were just dancing to.
• She is gaining more independence. Her new favorite catch phrase is, "Kenzie do it."
  

The Finley Report:

• Finley has a belly button! She's ready to graduate to real baths.
• Nursing at every feed. We didn't think she'd get to this point until Thanksgiving at the earliest but if we've learned anything about this girl it's that she is resilient and adaptable.
  
• We have nicknamed her 'our little goat'. She bleats like a goat. If she is hungry or uncomfortable (gassy, cold, waking up, etc.) she bleats. 
• She rarely cries. If she does it's because she's cold, was woken up, getting her diaper changed or been bonked on the head by her sister.
  

As you can see we are getting better and more comfortable with parenting two this week. We can only hope things continue to go well. This is also Scott's last week in America before heading back to Paraguay for the 5 weeks before Christmas. Kiersten is grateful to be staying with family to help with the girls but it won't quite be the same. So if we don't get to the blog next week you'll know why.