The Journey of the Jordan's: Lately...

Well, it's obviously been a while since I've updated. We've had a pretty busy couple of weeks. Aaron's been working later a few nights and I've been up at school trying to get things ready for the new school year. We also had Aaron's parents come down to visit. Oh yeah, we also have a 2 month old baby. Haha! :)

After my visit to my doctor because of my mastitis issues, I started weening down on pumping. I was pumping so many times a day and gradually started bringing it down a number every few days (i.e., pump 6 times a day, then 5, then 4, etc...you get the point). Now Kerrigan is on formula full-time. She seems to be doing pretty well with it. We've had a few occasional spit-ups, but it seems to be working out for her! She sure is growing like a little weed.

She is still waking up once (sometimes even twice) a night, so we're still working on her sleeping through the night. I don't go back to work until Labor Day, so hopefully by then, she will be sleeping through the night. It's not so bad right now since I'm not working. She's been staying up more during the day, so that's been helpful. She'll get there soon enough. She's had a few nights where she's slept 6-8 hours straight.

We try to give her tummy time every day. She has been doing a great job holding her head up! Her neck muscles are really getting strong! She is able to hold it up higher than she was when she first started holding it up. She's also been cooing a lot and making all sorts of little noises. I think she entertains herself and likes to hear her voice. :) She smiles a lot... she even smiles in her sleep! She has even let out a couple of laughs. She also sticks out her lip... a lot. I know this is going to be hard to handle as she gets older! She has been starting to grab and hold onto things more. She really likes my hair, Aaron's arm hair, necklaces and shirts. It is so fun to watch her grow and do new things.

One milestone that we are really proud of is that she is able to roll over from her tummy to her back! She did it the first time on July 29. She was lying on her changing pad, which is a countoured shape. She started moving around a lot and the edges were blocking her from turning over. So we decided that we would put her on a flat surface to see if she would be able to do it, so we put her on her tummy mat. After a minute or so, she had gotten onto her side, let out a sneeze! and that pushed her onto her back! :) She's done it some more on the couch and the floor. Sometimes we put her down to practice and she just gets so frustrated. We've tried to get her to practice rolling from her back to tummy. She got help from Daddy one night and was able to do it. But since then, she's just been getting too frustrated. :)

We went for her 6-8 week checkup back on August 5 (7 weeks, 2 days old). Kerrigan weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces (she was 7 pounds, 5 ounces at 2 weeks). She was 22 inches long (she was 20 1/4 inches at 2 weeks). Her head circumference was 14 1/2 inches (it was 13 3/4 inches at 2 weeks). Dr. Brian was pleased with her growth and the looks of her. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and head circumference. She is in the 75th percentile for height. At this visit, she had to get her first round of shots. :( She had 2 shots in each leg and one oral vaccination. I had Aaron go with me for moral support, but Kerrigan did really good. She got her first shot, there was a slight delay, and then she started crying. But the shots were given so quickly, she probably only cried for 20-30 seconds. Luckily, her mommy didn't lose it!

Aaron's parents came down from Cincinnati to visit for a week at the end of July. Needless to say, Aaron and I didn't get much "holding of the baby" time. :) Of course, we got to keep up our role in changing her diapers! All kidding aside, we were glad they got to meet their granddaughter. Aaron and I were able to get out one night for Game Night at Laurie and Jeremy's place. Memaw and Grandpa were happy to babysit. It was nice to be able to get out for a few hours and spend time with some of our friends! While the Jordan's were here, we spent a couple of days at my parents' pool. We went to McWane Center one afternoon. But mainly, we just hung around the house and watched Baby Kerrigan.

Everything has been going well. We are definitely blessed and lucky to have such a sweet little girl. We were talking last night and discussing how this time last year, I wasn't even pregnant yet. What a difference a year makes!

It's odd for me not to be at school right now. I went up a few days to get my classroom ready. I also was able to meet most of my kids at Meet the Teacher Day. But it's just weird knowing that school has already started and I'm not teaching. I've been trying to stay in the loop though! Haha! I'm lucky, too, because I have a wonderful sub and it should be a pretty easy transition once I start back September 7. It will definitely be hard leaving Kerrigan. But she's staying with a good family friend (Angie--who kept Carson and Parker for 2 years), so I will know she's in good hands! Plus she'll be close to school at my friend Jenni's house (she teaches with me at HES). Jenni has twin girls, so Kerrigan will have some friends! :)

Hopefully these next 3 weeks won't go back TOO fast. I just have to enjoy every second! I'll try to update this blog more often. But I'm not making any promises!

Updated pictures are below:

Kerrigan posing in her cute watermelon outfit