Week Eight!!!

Izzy smiling with her 8 wk poster

Izzy smiling with Grandpa K

Izzy's new shades. Now only if she liked having them on.

Izzy is finally starting to like her jungle gym. So many things to look at.

Well we started at daycare this week and all-in-all we did pretty well. The first day was a little rough for me. I swore I wasn't going to take her back the next day. Well.... I didn't really have a choice. Everyday after got a little easier. The week seemed to fly by, which was great. Later that week we met up with our friends the Osbornes. They had their little girl Kingzlee with them. She is turning one. I can't believe how fast they grow up. It will be fun when Izzy is a little older and the two girls can play with one another. Anyway that is all I really have this week. I will be posting shortly for week nine. She is getting her two month shots and I don't want to take her. I'll let you know how it goes. Take care. ARi PS As you can see Isabella is really starting to smile at a lot of things.

Week 7!

Izzy and Cookie Monster

Izzy's and Daddy's hands

Penelope Peter and Isabella Brown. BFF's :).

Izzy's official 7 week picture. Forgot the sign this week.

So innocent. Wouldn't know she likes to keep me up all hours of the night.

Our little chunky monkey. Can't get enough.

I can't believe my baby turned 7 weeks on Thursday. I go back to work Monday and I have had only one meltdown so far. I'm sure there are more to come.

Izzy is still into her ceiling fans and now has become a friend of Cookie Monster that her daddy bought her. We have it sitting on her changing table and it keeps her occupied while we change her diapers. It must be his big eyes. Mark's Cookie Monster voice sounds a little devilish. I'm suprised she isn't scared instead.

Her smiles have become never ending and we love it. Just can't get enough.

We are still having troubles with the sleeping thing. Her schedule just isn't consistent and she went from sleeping 4-5 hours, sometimes even 6, back to 2-3 hours. Ughh. Back to the drawing board. Hopefully they will help me out with her sleeping at daycare.

Izzy met her new friend Penelope Peter this week. Mommy and her went to Lincoln and had a little lunch with Penelope and her mommy Sarah. It was nice getting out to have a conversation and a margarita.

Hope everyone is doing well and we'll talk next week. Ariann

6 wks

her official 6wk picture

Week six!!!

my rockstar!

Daddy & Is

Cletus losing weight on his diet and two-a-days

Izzy has found the fan and her mobile. We often find her grinning at the fan.

asleep! mommy free time!

This week things have really started to get into a routine and I'm sure it will only get better from here. I am really sad I have to go back to work in a week. It's like we just get things all figured out and then we have to go back to work and take her to daycare. I hate it!

I went and visited Izzy's daycare to take some paper work and diapers. I went to her room and everything seemed to be in control. That is a good thing. She is going to be the youngest one there. I guess she will be learning lots from the other kids. Ugh, I don't want to think about leaving her there. At least it's only 4.5 days.

If my scale is accurate she has gained weight and now weighs about 10 lbs. She is growing beautifully. It worries Mark a little that she is going to be a brut since she has almost all his physical characteristics. I get to claim the lips and that is it. Hope you are all doing well and we'll keep you posted next week. Ari

Week number 5!

Cletus our 111 lbs lover boy.

Izzy at 5 weeks and 4 days

Izzy again!

5 weeks and counting.

Wow how time flies. Before I know it I will be back at work. Ugggh. Mark's mom came and stayed from Wed to Sat. She helped out with watching the baby so I could run errands. It was nice, but I was ready to have Izzy time since I just came back from 4 days in GI. I guess I'm a little selfish. Everyone was telling me to savor this time because it goes fast. In the early days I was wishing for this time to go fast because of the sleepless nights and trying to guess which cry she was screaming at the moment. But now I don't want it to go so fast.

Mark bought himself a new toy to tinker on. He bought a 1976 Toyota FJ Land Cruiser. It is bright yellow and really loud. You even get a distinct smell of gas to your clothes when you ride in it. He definately deserves something fun after all the hard work he has put into the old house, the new house, and pretty much losing the attention of his wife the last few weeks. I will try to get a picture of the FJ soon.

On a bad note, Cletus the Wonder Dog's hip dysplasia has finally caught up with him. When we were in GI he started to cry loudly when he would get up from lying down. We took him to the vet and they said it was time to have surgery. But, before we can do that he has to lose about 20 lbs. He now weighs 111lbs. and should only weigh 90. So he is now on diet food, tramadol for pain, an anti-inflammatory, and injections for joint lubrication. He's worse than an 80 year old. Our hope is to have him lose 2 lbs a month and have surgery next year. He is on a two-a-day routine of walks and has since become a new dog with all his drugs.

Week 4 and moving right along!

Great Grandma Kalkowski

4 weeks old!

This week was a little hard. I went back to Grand Island to visit all the family members that haven't seen Izzy yet and I think it was a bit much. I went on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. Mark wanted to go to Hastings to visit Hermes' and Yilks so I tried to build up a supply of milk so my mom and dad could babysit. I couldn't even save up a drop. I was so sad. So I called a couple of my "handbooks" and they recommended fenugreek herbs and peach nector. My mom went on a goose chase in GI and she did not come home empty handed. I started the herbs and now things are a little better but not perfect. I never knew that it would affect me so much to not be able to satisfy my daughter with my milk. Lots of children are formula fed. What's the big deal? Not sure, but I cried for three days. Hormones....hmmm? We are now taking it day by day and supplementing with formula if need be. Somedays it's two bottles, some days it's none. But I've finally gotten comfortable with it and things are getting better.

Izzy met a lot of people this weekend and did great. She only had one fussy day the whole time. All in all she is a good baby.

Week number 3!!!

Getting Chunky!!!

More pictures

3 weeks!!!!

Wow three weeks have passed and I'm still alive, Izzy's still alive, and Mark and I still love each other. Mark's hard work paid off and we sold our old house in 48 hours. Their was even competing bids and we were offered more than list price. Can you believe it?

I have made a few outings with Izzy and none too traumatic. We are really getting the hang of this parenting thing. Thanks to all of those people who have made it a little easier by bringing over meals and being my mommy hand books. As you can see in the pictures that Izzy's mouth is purple. I was having problems with soreness (that's all I'll say) and the pediatrician thought we were passing yeast back and forth because Izzy had a faint white film on her tongue. No one wanted to see her though, "We can fix this over the phone." She has had that white film since she was in the hospital because I remember making the comment to my mom about it. Anyway, they made me go buy Gentin Violet and swab poor Izzy's mouth and it stained it purple for three days. It didn't make a bit of difference. Thrush.....I don't think so. I asked a few of those "handbooks" if they had to treat their kids for thrush and they said only after a round of antibiotics. Mother's intuition is always right.

Also you can see she is really filling out in these pictures. She is surely getting enough to eat. Until next week.

Week number two!

pictures again....I hate pictures

Another week down

Daddy and Is hanging out

Isabella's first Fourth of July. Week 2.

Things are getting a little better. A friend of mine (Sarah Petersen) said give it two weeks, it will get better. Damn I hate it when she's right. She's always right. Mark has been working vigorously on the old house trying to get it sold, my mom is gone, and I'm doing it on my own. Really not too bad. Nights are the same. Some nights get 4 hours, some nights get 2 hours, some nights NO hours.

We took Isabella for her two week check and she is gaining weight wonderfully. Not only did she get back to birth weight she almost surpassed it by a pound. She now weighs 6lbs 12ozs.

Until later!

Izzy's first week home was a learning experience. I was really concerned with her getting enough to eat, pooping the right color, and making sure she was peeing enough. I was reading every book and making myself crazy. What I needed to know was that she will eat and sleep ALOT and I would have been just fine. My mom came and spent the week with me which was a god send. She helped do the odds and ends that were left to do at the new house. I was sad to see her go. Here are a few pics of Isabella the first week.

Reece and Macy Petersen

Charlotte and Lily Darling

CP and lora

Gail Huggenberger

Here are some more visitors and some of Izzy's new friends.

Sarah Petersen

Kris Darling

Grandma and Grandpa Doering

Gamma and Grandpa Kalkowski

We've had lots of visitors come to visit Isabella. It's a good thing it is in the summer and not very many colds are going around. I think if it was winter time and lots of flu going around, Mark would of had a heart attack. He wanted to make sure everyone washed their hands and to keep the little kids to a minimum. I wasn't so obsessed with it and then she got a stuffy and runny nose at about 2 weeks. Wished I would of listened a little more. I had to do some saline wash and suck the snot out with the bulb syringe. She got better in about three days.

Izzy's Nursery

Here are some pictures of Izzy's nursery. She hasn't slept in it yet, but daddy says when mommy goes back to work, Izzy goes to the nursery. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm sure I'll sleep better without hearing all her grunting noises in the morning. She goes to bed between 10 and 11 and gets up between 2:30 am and 3:30 am. Then she gets up again around 5 or 6. Can't wait until she pulls and "all-nighter." Talk soon. Ari

happy family

proud daddy

Isabella Ann is here. 5 lbs 15 ozs. and 19 1/4 inches long. So far so good!