Busy Day and Newbies for the Karolkiewiczes

Today has already been super productive. I love that feeling! Keegan woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so this morning I wasn't sure how today would go. Luckily he fell back asleep then woke up on the right side of the bed :)

Keegan and I went for a four and a half mile walk, finished the laundy and did the dishes all before 11:30 this morning! Then after lunch we headed to the post office and to Marshalls. I wanted to make sure to pick up a couple of outfits for Keegan in size 3-6 months, because I feel like he's growing like a weed and will be out of his 0-3 month clothes soon, and I dont want to be stuck without an clothes that fit him! Pretty soon he'll look like a little sausage trying to fit into these clothes :) Ha!

While we were there we picked up a couple books... For Keegan we got,

I got myself a little something that I can't wait to read... Maybe naptime tomorrow I'll start it!

I loved the book "90 Minutes In Heaven," so I'm sure I will love this as well!

I've been a little spoiled the past week. There have been a couple new things that we got that I just HAD to share. I'm pretty pumped.

First of all, does anyone else watch the Today show? Anyone else a big fan of Jill's Steals and Deals?! I had never seen that segment until I was on maternity leave, and I adore it! Every week she works with different companies and designers to bring huge discount deals to viewers. The third week or so of maternity leave I ordered a watch from Ruby Kats who was featured on the show. The discount saved me about $130.00 or so... How could I resist?! This beauty finally came in the mail this week:

It's a little "gaudier" then I would normally wear... but I love it! I feel so chic with it on! :) It's super high quality, and geeze louise, for the discount on it, I couldn't NOT get it!

I am writing this and realizing how lame I am. The next thing I wanted to show off was because of something I saw on TV, too (Hey, I'm home a lot more now, and it's on in the background a lot while I clean and such). Anyway, last week I was watching the Nate Beurkus show, and Barbara (from The Shark Tank!) was on and stated that when you're selling a house, your bedding should be pretty simple- probably just a solid color- but to look chic. A large pattern could intimidate buyers without them even realizing it.

Good tip, huh?! Well MY bedding was big black and white damask. Super cute. But super loud.

I found this fantastic duvet on smartbargains.com, and I absolutely LOVE it! I feel like I have a whole new bedroom!

Sorry the picture's a little blurry. It was on my phone and I couldn't tell if it was blurry or not until I just uploaded it. Please disregard the messes on our night stands and the co-sleeper next to our bed! But so cute, huh?! I think it looks like a hotel!

We might be having a showing this weekend, so I want it to be as great as possible so as not to intimidate any buyers! HA! Please be saying a prayer. Our realtor had emailed us about someone who might be interested in buying a couple weeks ago, and we had kind of lost hope on that since we hadn't heard anything. Well, that person is SUPPOSED to come into town to see our house this weekend. So, Prayer #1: That the buyer comes into town this weekend as planned. Prayer #2: That she LOVES our house as much as we loved it when we walked through! Prayer #3: That she'll put an offer in! :) Ha, it's not too much to ask, right?!

Tomorrow my Etsy store is going to be featured on the Fabulous Friday Freebies Blog. We will be giving away the Nursery Letters that I make and to anyone that doesn't win, you can at least get a coupon code for 10% off all orders! Make sure to visit tomorrow! :)

Enjoy this beautiful summer day, everyone!

Hi, I'm Mandy, and I've been such a slacker Blogger lately!

I have been such a slacker. Yes, we've been busy, but I realized today how quickly time goes by, and how I will miss these days. I should be recording more of our day to day so I can look back on it as time goes on!

Keegan and I just got back from Sparrow Hospital where we were visiting our friends Sean and Mikenna, who just had their DARLING baby boy, Roan. It's crazy how tiny he seemed. Even though he's TWO POUNDS heavier than Keegan was when he was born- I already forgot how tiny he really was back on April 25. I love him more and more every day, but today really put it into perspective how QUICKLY time flies, and how quickly my baby is ALREADY growing up!

I want to treasure every minute I have with him.

Now, to update:

Last Thursday we went to the hospital for Keegan's swallow study. I was please to hear that he DOES have a swallowing dysfunction (I know, weird that I'm pleased, but I'm just glad to finally have an answer to what's making him uncomfortable). Essentially his epiglottis doesn't have time to close fully, so he ends up choking quite frequently. The treatment:

We have to add this to his bottles.

Unfortunately this treatment means we will be cutting back on the breast feeding. It's sad because it feels like he's really growing up. But, breast milk is not thick enough for him, and he tends to choke on that too, so I want him safe and healthy, so we do what we can. I will still nurse him a couple times a day- mostly because I'm not ready to give it up totally, but hopefully he'll continue to get some relief. It seems to be helping so far!

This Sunday we took Keegan to the church nursery for the first time... Now that his feet are big enough for newborn shoes (Ha, he is so tiny still), we dressed him up for his first time at big kid church. New shoes and all.

Of course, just like they've said at day-care, Keegan did great. He's an easy baby, and a good boy. He's been having half-time day care three days a week for the past week. He's doing great, and I'm easing into taking him to day care a little more.

There's so much at work in Kris and my life right now- it's incredible to see God's provision. I can't go into details just yet, but I just have to give glory where glory is due, and let everyone know how much God is working in our lives right now. It's awesome. Isn't it incredible how we try to control our lives, and try so hard to get OUR way, but when God takes control it always works out? Not necessarily how WE would do it, but it always works out so that we can look back and say, "Wow, that was SO God."

On that note, please continue to pray that God will bring a buyer to our house. Whenever we do get our house sold, I think we've finally decided that we will get into something temporary, like a rental or lease, until we feel like God's directed us wherever it is that He wants us to be.

Enjoy your day, everyone! :)

Our FIRST FOURTH of July Weekend as a Family!

This was a phenomenal weekend. Definitely worth documenting.

On Saturday we headed up to my parent's property on Stoney Lake up in New Era. It's a couple hours away, and just around the corner from Silver Lake (if you're familiar with West Michigan at all I'm sure you've heard of Silver Lake!). There is a Country Dairy up there, and they were having an Ice Cream Social with FREE ICE CREAM the whole day, and they have fresh burgers and everything like that. They had a cow nursery with baby cows being born (I know, sick, right?!) and a little store.

It. Was. Packed.

My mom said it's gotten busier and busier every year. That was our first time. Needless to say, it was a good time, but I think next year I'm willing to pay for my scoop of ice cream to go on another day when it isn't so busy :) Ha. I don't know how I ever lived anywhere with traffic-I hate waiting.

Keegan and his Pappy seeing the cows (He wasn't really feeling them too much :)

Keegan and Grammy standing in line for Ice Cream. He was SO good this whole time!

After that we headed over to the petting zoo and Farm Market. It was a hot day. I have to say, he wasn't really loving that either. He was steamy and just wanted to hang out in the cold car. But it was fun for us grown ups! Kris is kind of an animal fanatic, so he loved it the most probably :) Ha.

Here's our new yearly family picture so we can see how we grow...

Hopefully Kris and I won't grow too much, and just our family size and our kids. Can I get an amen?! Actually, hopefully this mommy doesn't just stay the same, hopefully this mommy shrinks a little bit in next year's picture!!!

Then we lounged around, just our family, on Sunday. We finally went to church for the first time in 2 weeks. It's crazy how you can so easily skip out on something so incredible and important. We've never NOT gotten something wonderful when we go to Riverview. We WILL try to go more consistently... EVEN DURING THE SUMMER (holding myself accountable by posting it on the internet!).

We've been going on lots of walks, and feel like Keegan is finally big enough to sit in the jogging stroller... and he ADORES it! We have the City Mini Single Stroller, and I just ADORE it, too. I want to start setting a dollar or two aside every week so that by the time we have another baby I can afford to get the double stroller! It's the best stroller EVER. EVER... Just ask Keegan:

Yesterday on the Forth we went to my Dad's cottage in Brooklyn (yup, by the Speedway) on Lake Columbia. It was a great time with all SORTS of family (all but my cousin, Kevin!). My wonderful cousin Melissa came home from France two days before, so it was SO great to catch up after not seeing her since CHRISTMAS! What?! We had great food, and great company.

Plus, Keegan went swimming for the first time! I don't know why I was shocked that he loved it so much, since bath time is his favorite. But here are some pictures... The next Michael Phelps! HA!

Having SUCH a good time with his Auntie M!  

Love this family of mine so much. Many more fantastic holiday's to come!

Well, that was our weekend, and I hope that everyone else had fantastic weekend's as well. Please pray for us! Tomorrow we're doing our first day care trial run. Not going to lie... I may have already cried twice today. Once when we dropped off his registration papers and then tonight just before blogging. He's only going for a half day, but that's the longest I've ever been away from Keegan! My little best friend!

I will update soon about how my son is now an avid (ha) swimmer after his time at the lake. We may or may not have gone out and bought a kiddie pool but because the hose water didn't warm up enough went "swimming" together in the big bathtub this afternoon... See, I TOLD you we're best friends. :)





Baby number two!

Gotcha. No, I'm not pregnant again (praise the LORD, that would be horrible at this point in my life).

But, I feel like I'm ready to tell the world about our first baby.

No, Keegan was our first BORN but not our first baby. I started miscarrying on July 21st, 2010. It was the worst week of my life.

We hadn't even been trying to get pregnant. I was late, and showing some symptoms. Kris finally convinced me to take a test. Surprisingly, it was negative. But I still didn't start a day later, so I took another. Kris had already left for work. I walked back into the bathroom to pick up a pregnancy test, and to my shock, it was POSITIVE. I started trembling immediately. I was terrified.

I didn't respond the way you would normally think someone would respond when they find out they're expecting. I couldn't stop shaking. I called Kris. HE was pumped. I simply felt terrified. I had a little spotting, so I made sure to call the OB on my way to work that morning. I described how far along I was, and described my spotting.

They said that's perfectly normal- but just for good measure to go to the lab on my lunch break and get some blood work done.

Throughout the day I got more and more excited. I had to tell my assistant manager so I could get a little extra time off at lunch to complete the blood work. She was psyched. I started getting psyched.

At the lab the lady was asking me all sorts of questions, "Is this your first?" "Oh boy, how will this baby learn to spell your last name?!" All of which got me more and more excited.

The next day I had training up in Grand Rapids for work with my co-worker, Brad. We drove together. In the morning I got a phone call from the doctor's asking me to call them as soon as I got the message. Before lunch, I stepped aside and called. To my dismay, I was told that the numbers didn't look good and to, "brace for the worst." I knew what that meant. I called Kris in absolute tears. He tried to be optimistic, that maybe our little baby would defy all odds and be one of those rare cases and end up growing and growing and growing and turn into a happy and healthy baby.

Poor Brad. I had to stay the whole afternoon through class, and then drive us back to Lansing. The whole way I kept crying and not telling him why!

We were supposed to stay late at the office that day to make phone calls to customers about some changes that were coming- but I went to the bathroom, and that's when I started miscarrying. I started bawling, and my assistant manager came back. She gave me a huge hug and told me to go home.

I called Kris on the way home, and we decided we'd go to the hospital to make sure.

I just remember feeling so guilty that the primary emotion I felt those past two days was terror. I remember screaming while I sobbed in my garage. I remember saying, "I really want you! I really do!"

I cried the whole way to Sparrow. We waited in the emergency room for seven hours before being taken back. I understood that there were "emergencies" that took precedence, but to me, this WAS an emergency. It was the life of my baby hanging in the line.

We were at the hospital until 4:00am the next morning.

I was miscarrying. They told me to come into the doctor's the next day. There was the most kind-hearted nurse I'd ever had. She looked me flat in the eye and say, "Some people will think you're crazy. But you were a Mom. Even just for a couple days- you were a mom. That will always be your first baby and no one can take that away from you." I tear up thinking about it while I type. I was told to wait it out and let everything "pass" naturally.

I remember the horror every time something came out, and I KNEW what it was. It was awful.

Even though 25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, you never talk about it. You don't tell anyone. It's so private and personal, and you can't help but feel inadequate. I knew eventually I'd be ready to tell people about it. On my time.

The doctor told us not to try to get pregnant again for at least 3-6 months. We didn't listen. Keegan was conceived 2 1/2 weeks later. I figured that God would control which baby would be our first born. Keegan must've really wanted to be born... That's why we picked the name, "Keegan". It means little fiery one, and I think it describes his personality perfectly since the day he was formed.

I now know why I lost that first baby: so that when I first found out about Keegan I couldn't help but be thrilled. That terror wasn't there. I just knew I was ready and that he had such a purpose. That first little baby helped me get to the point where I was ready to be a mom.

That first little baby brought my sister and I together after years of being at odds with each other.

My first baby had a purpose.

Teething, Sleeping and getting SO big!

Well, I think it's safe to say that Keegan must read my blog, and want to prove me wrong if I say something he doesn't like... :)

The same night I posted my last blog with his two month update, and stated that the longest he's slept was 5 hours, but that we're more on an 3-4 hour stretch schedule, he decided to prove me wrong, and slept clear through the night. He fell asleep at 10:40pm, and then didn't wake up until 5:40am! THEN, I fed him, laid him back down, and he slept another 3 hours! Needless to say, he felt great that next day.

I won't lie, I didn't want to post that he slept through the night because I didn't want to jinx it- just like when I updated on how good of a napper he was- suddenly that phase passed and he became a disaster to lay down. I wanted to wait and see if the sleeping would continue- and so far we've had three night's straight with 7 hour stretches! GO KEEGY!

I know, I know- controversial. He normally sleeps in his own bed next to ours- but he had been fussing, so I had been snuggling him back to sleep. Plus, he sleeps better on his side and belly because of his acid reflux... so no need to tell me that "back is best" or that he should be in his own bed :)

Also, what's insane, is that I think my little tiny baby may already be starting to teeth. Two months old! He's become much fussier, and he's starting to drool so much- he has one little white dot on his bottom gum. WOW. I asked my grandma-in-law if she knew if there was a history of early teeth in THEIR side of the family (since the soonest either my sister or I started teething as 4 months old) and she told me that my father-in-law had 5 teeth by 5 months old! She said she even pulled a tooth out of his mouth when he was a baby because she didn't know what it was- she just "knew" it wouldn't be a tooth. Ha!

Today Keegan and I checked out a daycare that's right over by both Kris and my work's. I didn't think I'd like it- but it was the closest... and I have to say, I actually felt very comfortable with it! He'll be going to Happy Elephant... NO, I didn't pick it just because I thought the name was cute (even though it is)!

What's awesome is the COST... It's only $4.00 an hour! Woo hoo! We will be saving a lot of money, plus isn't probably only 3 minutes from my work, so I'll get to visit on my lunch breaks- plus it's literally RIGHT on my way, so I won't have to use a lot of extra gas to drop him off on the few days he's there every week. Praise the Lord! That lifted such a weight off of my shoulders... Finding a decent daycare for a low cost was one of the most heart wrenching and stressful things to do!

Anyway, off for a walk with ALL my boys (Kris, Keegan, Henry and Tyler!). Lately we've just been sitting Keegan in the front facing big-kid stroller and strapping him in because he hates his car seat so much... he LOVES it! What a big boy...

My big TWO MONTH old Boy!

You were a little fussy tonight while I tried to take this picture... that's why you are on your changing pad... Your FAVORITE spot in the house! You will lay there completely entertained by that part of the ceiling for 20 minutes or so... !

Keegan Michael...

You are ONE MONTH OLD TODAY  TOMORROW! (we will be gone for the day!) 

And I cannot believe it. You have made my life SO much better. It only continues to get better day after day, no matter how tired I am!!!

You finally got into size one diapers just a week and a half ago or so. You have the tiniest butt and waist still, though! HA!

You are wearing all 0-3 month clothes! BIG BOY! You even wore a 3-6 month outfit last week! (well, all 0-3 month except for pants/shorts. You're so skinny you still wear newborn size in those).
Last week at your weight check (nope, not two month appointment yet, but at your weight check because of your belly issues) you were a whopping 9lbs 13oz. It cracks me up that you were not even 10lbs yet. You really are Mommy's LITTLE boy!

You are still a Momma's boy- definitely. But you and your Daddy have a GREAT time watching some Yo Gabba Gabba and working out (Daddy likes to use you as a weight!).

I think you make actually ALREADY be starting to teeth... YUP! You're drooly, fussy and have a little white dot on your gum. Maybe it's just the start... This whole teeth thing could be a really long haul! Maybe it's just a coinsidence though!

You're still a Smiley McGee. You are always smiling and starting to laugh a little. When you smile REALLY big I can see little dimples on both of your cheeks and I LOVE it! You make me feel SO funny (though I'm really not)- but THANK YOU, Keegy! You know how to boost your Mommy's self esteem!

Because of all your belly problem's you still struggle with sleeping at night. The longest you've slept through the night was 5 hours- but more commonly sleep about 3-4 hour stretches at a time. Here's hoping that as your Acid Reflux get's better, and as you get a little older those times stretch out a little further! Mommy hasn't had a full night's sleep since you were born! Whew!

But do you know what, Keegan Michael? I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you with everything I am, and love you more and more each day I spend with you!


On a side note: As a lot of people know, we've had our house on the market. We have another showing tomorrow (Saturday) sometime between 12:30 and 2:00- please say a prayer that God will bring us a buyer and bring one quickly! :) THANK YOU!

Keegan's Belly Update

WELL,

Today was a long day already. Keegan had two doctor's appointments to try and figure out what's up with his little belly. The first was just a standard weight check/doctor's appointment with our pediatrician, Dr. Josh. He is great. He's so gentle with Keegan and so patient with us. Our appointment was early: 8:40AM... I know that's not EARLY, EARLY- but it sure is harder getting out of the house with a baby. Needless to say, I was a couple minutes late... again, Dr. Josh is so patient with us!

So far, Keegan is still gaining weight really well. In the past two weeks he's gained just over a pound... a whopping 9lbs 13oz... Ha! It amazes me that some women have 9lb babies. He just seems like such a big boy to me! Praise the Lord Keegan was as little as he was when he was born. I just can't imagine! :)

The second appointment was an ultrasound at Sparrow Hospital. According to that ultrasound, it is not the hole to his belly that is causing his discomfort. So that's both good and bad. Good, because we get to rule that out as an option; Bad, because we still don't quite know what's going on. Luckily it seems like his new medication is already starting to help with his spitting up- but the other symptoms that he's showing haven't seemed to improve yet. For instance, everytime he eats he starts gagging and coughing like he's swallowed his food down the wrong pipe.

The doctor now thinks that he may have a swallowing disfunction (?). I'm not quite sure what that means, but in order to determine if he does or not, we have to go see a speech therapist at Sparrow Hospital sometime next week. They'll give him a bottle with some dye of sorts in it- and then do an x-ray of his belly to see if some of the formula ends up in his lungs- which can cause quite a bit of discomfort. My poor baby! :)

SO, I will continue to update everyone on the status. He's such a little trooper. He didn't cry once during his ultrasound. He sat back on the bed, watching the screen the whole time. Maybe he'll be a doctor someday?

Thank you, everyone for your prayers! Hopefully we'll get this all figured out soon. We shall see!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone. And any Dad's- enjoy your day... Especially my fantastic husband, Kristopher, who will be celebrating his very First FATHER'S DAY! He is a great Daddy. We are so lucky!

Here's my husband the first time he held his son. I can't ever get enough of these two!