Working Girl

I had a job interview recently with a Christian preschool to sub for a lady that will be on maternity leave starting in May.  Well, she was put on bedrest and I am now teaching 4 year olds at Aldersgate Weekday.  There is a possibility of it becoming permanent, but I'm still searching for a teaching position in our public elementary schools.  The best part is that B gets to go with me everyday.  I find it important for his social development and I LOVE that even the nursery attends chapel every morning.  If nothing else, I'm glad B was given such a precious spot at Aldersgate.


I love the ladies that I work with and my students are very sweet.  The only downside for me is that I wasn't quite ready to go back to work.  My time with B is so precious to me and I wasn't prepped for the phone call two weeks ago that they needed me earlier than expected.  Also, we went to Disney World a couple of weeks ago for Spring Break and B's routine got super crazy with the time change.  So my first week of work was rough due to lack of sleep.  We think he's back on track now (fingers crossed).  I will post more about our trip soon!

8 Weeks Later...

So two months have come and gone. I have recovered from my surgery and so happy that I can move around again. Simple everyday pleasures such as showering were a huge feat for me. Feedings every two hours were rough on me during my recovery because I needed my sleep but had this new little person depending on me to take care of him.

Anyways, B is getting so big and weighs a little over 11 lbs. We have our two month check-up next week and I am super nervous about the shots. I think they hurt me more than they hurt him.

Developments:

Bennett isn't sleeping through the night just yet, but he only gets up once between 1-2am and then again around 5-6. There are still nights where he gets up more than once but they are few and far between. We are getting sooo close to sleeping all night (can't wait). He has just started smiling and laughing some, usually in the mornings. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen but you be the judge.

As for being a mommy, I am starting to settle into the title. I was a teensy bit nervous with him in the beginning. I was the gal that found it uncomfortable to hold newborns, lol. Funny how they aren't nearly as fragile as they appear. My bee is very strong though and holds his head up very well for being 8 weeks.
Sorry for my lack of blogging but I hope to be posting more regularly now that I'm healed and getting into the swing of things.
Ps: I dislike nursing! I sooo can't wait to be done with this stage but I know it's best for B.

James Bennett McKinney

It's with great pleasure that I'm announcing the arrival of Mr. James Bennett McKinney! Bennett was born at 7:22AM on December 6th! He weighs a very healthy seven pounds, five ounces. He's 19.5 inches long and he's absolutely perfect.
Elisabeth was a trooper through the c-section. I held her hand throughout the operation and we both teared up when he was presented to us. (Okay- she teared up while I boo-hoed)
Anyway, Bennett was born and was crying in no time at all. I escorted him to the nursery while the docs stitched Elisabeth up. Once in the nursery, he started looking around for his Mommy right away. (and by looking for Mommy, I mean he was rooting around a lot!) After he was weighed, warmed and cleaned up a bit, back to Mommy he went. He had no problem finding his 'target' and took to nursing right away!
One of the things that we've learned is that it's tough to get rest in the hospital. Between Bennett needing to eat and the nurses coming in every few hours to check on Elisabeth, it's tough to get rested up.
Other than the lack of rest, things are going really well! Elisabeth is back on her feet and moving around, albeit moving slowly. I try and walk her around the floor here at the hospital. I've been told that the more she walks the quicker (and better) her recovery will be. I'm going to walk her legs off today. :)
Bennett is doing really well too. His weight is down to 6 pounds 14 ounces, but that's to be expected. When Mommy's milk kicks in later today or tomorrow he'll pile that weight back on quickly.

I guess I'll close this entry out. I'm tired and it's been a long day/night. I'll post more later.

Baby Showers

I have been so lucky to have some wonderful friends and family host baby showers for me.  My first shower was hosted by the girls I went to AUM with.  We had such a wonderful time and I racked up, receiving lots of supplies such as lotion, powder, pacifiers, bottles, etc.  I also got a diaper genie (Russ insisted on this registry item, so he was very excited about getting it).

The girls at work threw me a surprise shower.  Honestly, I have never had any kind of surprise party thrown in my honor.  I was very honored and turned all shades of pink when I walked into the room.  The food was amazing and the cake was delicious.  They all chipped in and gave us our baby monitor.  Those ladies are very special to me and I will miss working with them.

Finally, my Aunt Jane threw me a shower in Birmingham.  I got to see lots of my Ham friends and spend some quality family time.  She had the cutest little sandwiches for nibbling on as well as other scrumptious foods.  Her table was decorated with a little piggy bank and picture frame with a sonogram picture of B that was mine to keep.  My Aunt Jane even put a little $$$ in his piggy bank to get him started...how cute!

Here's some baby bump shots just for Angie!  :)

Counting Down

Sorry for the lack of blogging these days...Russ and I have been super busy with work and prepping for baby.  I still have so much to do before B gets here.  It's getting harder to accomplish small chores that were once easy.  For instance, laundry can be such a daunting task for me!  Not only do I have to bend over the hamper and sort, I have to bring these items from the dryer to my bed to fold.  Well, I am so big that I become out of breath very easily so now I sit down to fold the clothes.  Boy, I feel out of shape even though I know this to be normal during my 8th month.

Recently, Russ went to New Orleans for a work conference and my mom was sweet enough to stay with me.  Trust me, I had plenty of work for her!  A coworker of mine gave me 6 garbage bags full of baby boy clothes.  Mom and I began separating them and put the larger sizes into bins for storage.  Let me put it this way, there were so many clothes that I had to be picky about what to keep.  We persevered!  I have also washed all of Bennett's newborn and 0-3 month clothes.  The bathroom is now stocked with lotions, wipes, powder, and baby wash.  

Anyways, I must preface what I'm about to say with a warning that my mom and I are NOT creative peeps.  We secretly wish we were and always get super dooper excited when we get a bee in our bonnet to try something.  Well, I have this little white bookshelf that was mine during childhood.  I wanted to paint it a funky color and place it in B's nursery.  Mom instantly wanted to partake so we bought a rusted clay color paint that is in the bedding and sprayed away.  Needless to say, it looked like we murdered something in the backyard.  Upon coming home, Russ died laughing and asked why we did that when he told me and told me it had to be stripped in the first place.  So mom has taken it with her to see if Poppa can salvage our handiwork.  I wish I had taken pics so you could see the massacre. 

My tummy is super big and it has caused a lot of sleepless nights in the McKinney household.  I just can't seem to get comfortable.  Sleeping on my back isn't really an option...so I try sleeping on my side.  Here's the glitch with that, I am retaining water and my circulation isn't at its best so it cuts off supply to whatever hand on the side I sleep.  This means I wake up in the middle of the night without feeling in my hand.  This is worse than it just falling asleep and tingling.  It's super numb and I feel as though it may just fall off!  I am very thankful that I have a week off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday!  woohoo for naps!

I will update again soon with shower details and pics!  I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and safe journeys while visiting family.  :)

Sweet Surprises

Hello!  So we had some minor health concerns and had to go in for yet another ultrasound to check things out.  Everything looks great...no worries!  On the plus side, we got another ultrasound.  This time B was turned and we were able to see his face.  It was very surreal to catch a glimpse of the beautiful little creature that keeps kicking me in the bladder.  It was such a sweet surprise getting to see him.  He was moving his little mouth and eyes some...Daddy and Mommy were so taken with him that we just stared at the picture all day with goofy smiles.

Turtles Galore!

Mom and Mimi came down yesterday and we set our minds to shopping. Our goal was primarily for a dual purpose pack 'n play. The one I liked at Target was out of stock but we found a comparable one at Babies 'R Us. I was even treated to a few nightgowns since my enlarged self no longer fits into pj pants. ha

And did I not say that I had no intention of starting a theme for my nursery?! I was afraid that people would start giving me too many turtle items and it has happened. Who, might you be wondering, is purchasing all of the turtle motif imaginable? The person I was most afraid of doing so...ME! Now my pack 'n play has a turtle mobile that attaches to the bassinet. Actually, it's merely happenstance that it has a turtle mobile...I picked this particular one b/c it seemed gender neutral so that I may reuse if we are blessed with more 'chillrens' in the future. But now I see turtles everywhere I go. Coincidentally, our ultrasound tech even calls his peepee a "turtle." Do you see it??? lol

We had another ultrasound to check on my placenta status and it is still previated. The doc is optimistic that it will correct itself, however, the ultrasound tech said that it would've moved some by now. This all means that signs point to a c-section some time in early-mid December. On a positive note, we get more ultrasounds and a scheduled birth! Hope you enjoy the new pics of Bennett!!!