HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween!!

We went with a New York City family theme.

Most importantly, a New York bagel with cream cheese.

Yumm! I could just eat him up!

A Metrocard!

And a tourist!

Mandy made Kippy's bagel outfit. I painted Dan's Metrocard shirt, and my outfit came from a tourist souvenir shop. Simple costume trio, all dressed-up and no where to go. Literally. We made the costumes for the photo and that's it. But it was still fun.

Weekending it

Thanks for all your support and prayers from last week's post. They worked! This weekend was much better and hopefully it will be a continuing trend.

Happy Halloween eve (well, nearly Halloween by the time this posts)

The major highlight from this weekend: we got a car!!!

Dan has lived in NYC for 9 years and I've lived here for 8 and neither of us have ever felt the need to have a car. We prided ourselves on NOT having a car for so long. But, we severely underestimated the difficulty of getting around with a baby without a car. Having a baby and being limited to public transportation is REALLY hard.

I won't get into all the hassle we went through at the dealership (since that's likely everyone's experience when buying a car) but we eventually left with what we wanted (Subaru Forester) and are really happy. It has already made life more convenient.

Can you believe it's practically November??? Time is flying.

Come back tomorrow for our family Halloween costume reveal!

Peeks from the Week (and weekend)

I know a lot of family (and maybe some strangers) really look forward to Kippy updates on the blog. I'm trying to be consistent but I apologize for this week's delay. I'm rolling together our typical Weekending it post and Peeks from the Week.

This past weekend was rocky due to continued direct nursing drama. I am so grateful we aren't dealing with other issues simultaneously and I try to remind myself that it could be SO much worse. I realize that so many other moms have these issues plus three other kids or major heath situations to deal with. So, yes, I feel like a worthless person when I claim that life is hard right now. But, honestly, I'm tired. Even though we are almost three months in, my milk supply is still swinging wildly upwards and every week something new happens. This past weekend it was nipple biting. Sorry, TMI, but yeah. Kippy was trying to control the forceful let-down by clamping down and, what feels like, bite off my nipple. It's excruciating. And he was vomiting a lot on top of it. Hey Terri Mom, remember when you told me that one of the boys puked into your bra? Yeah, that's happened to me twice now. I'll spare you all the pictures but it was a pretty miserable weekend.

Not much had improved by Monday so the lactation consultant came back for a third time on Tuesday morning. She is so sweet and kind and helpful but I can tell she is a bit baffled by my situation as well. She devised a new "plan" and suggested I get blood work to check my thyroid because there has to be some underlying cause for the massive amounts of milk I'm producing without any effort. And she has me block feeding AND block pumping which means I have to go 6+ hours without emptying one side which means I sit in a soaking wet shirt at work all day, fully engorged. Fun times.

This morning I got up at 3 am and had to pump off 12 ounces because my shirt was drenched. Good thing I have been sleeping on a folded towel since Kip was born otherwise our mattress would reek of old milk by this point. Wait, maybe it does?

Other than the never-ending feeding drama. Kip is as cute as can be. So we'll end this post with highlights from my camera roll.

Here's to hoping this weekend is better than last! Happy Friday.

Peeks from the Week

This week, Kippy found his hands!

He also had his two month old well check-up. It was the first time I took him to the doctor alone and it was a little hairy. I had him in a coat and the Bjorn carrier and he was restless. Undressing him is hard and of course he had a poopy diaper. He is up to 11 pounds and nearly 24 inches! He got a great report from the doctor and then got some shots.

Oh, my heart! It was so sad to see him scream from the shots. I nearly cried myself. His paci and a good snuggle from me calmed him down and then he napped so sweetly. Fortunately he didn't have any bad reactions and was a happy little guy by the end of the day.

On Tuesday we had the Lactation Consultant come back for a follow-up. We are figuring out the direct nursing but still struggling with oversupply. It complicates a lot of things and the LC said I would probably always have to pump more than a typical nursing mom would because otherwise Kip will continue to be overwhelmed by my let-downs and I risk infection if I go too long between feedings. I just have to keep reminding myself that we are still so new at this and, hopefully, with time we will both be more comfortable. In the meantime, I'm feeding another baby with my donated milk.

There was a dip in temperature on Tuesday and it really felt like fall outside. So I bundled Kippy up in a hoodie and although he wasn't a fan, he sure looked cute.

Then I put him in a hat and mittens!

Gosh, I love walking into the apartment after work and seeing my little monkey. He is usually cranky and hungry but I'm just so happy to see him.

Happy weekend ahead!

Picking a name

Random post.

Picking a name for another human being is really hard and feels like a huge responsibility.

Dan and I had trouble coming-up with boy names. We had a girl name picked out before we were even married but when we found out we were having a boy, we struggled. I kept a list on my phone of potential options and the goal was to have three names we liked and we would pick one once the baby was born. We didn't come up with three options until the end of July.

When the doctor asked us shortly after delivery if we had a name we both told her, Kipling Alan Johnson, without any discussion. Truthfully, we settled on that name a couple of weeks before he was born but left it open for change if for some reason he didn't look like his name. However, once we were asked, we didn't even hesitate. Though I will say, it was weird to actually call him by a name after referring to him as "baby" for nine months.

So, why the name?

Kipling
My mom suggested Kipling months and months ago and I really liked it because it is unique in that it isn't used frequently and feels a bit classic but it isn't bizarre like some unique names can seem. The full name, Kipling, works as an adult and professional name but it can be shortened for something that works well for a teenager or little kid like, Kip. There are also loads of cute nicknames like Kippy (what we mainly call him) and Kippers.

Alan
The middle name was an easy choice. My dad's name is Allan and Dan's dad's name is James Allen, but he goes by Allen. Choosing Alan would honor both of our dads and we like that since Alan isn't a super common name anymore. We chose the spelling Alan with one L because our dads spell their names differently, one is EN and one is AN both with a double L. So we went with a third spelling so we didn't favor one dad over the other ;o).

So far we've been calling him mainly Kippy or Kip. But I also call him totally random things that just fall out of my mouth when I see him. Mostly, monkey or boo boo and I still call him baby. Mandy calls him Kippy K or K Man. Dan calls him monkey and boo boo too.

I hope Kippy likes his name as he grows up and feels like it suits his personality. We think it works well because he has a unique first name that stands out a bit more with a common last name and he gets a familial tie with his middle name.

Weekending it

And another Monday rolls around...

We had a fantastic fall weekend. Before I recap, I wanted to share our Fall Bucket List.

I just made it on our wall chalkboard and kept it really basic because we have a baby around and can't expect too much.

This weekend we checked off two more items. Mandy stayed over Friday night and hung out with us and a couple from Dan's old college church intern days. We had pizza and after they left, Dan got stuck in our building elevator while taking the trash out! He was in there for over 40 minutes!! I was so grateful he had his phone with him to text me and that Mandy was here so she could wait in the lobby for the fire department while I stayed in the apartment with a sleeping Kippy.

Now, Dan was brave and perfectly fine. Had that been me...different story. I would have called 911 immediately and likely had a panic attack, curled up on the floor, and passed away. And now, I'm never getting in that elevator again.

After the elevator incident we didn't get to bed until super late on Friday night and Kip woke up at 5 am on Saturday, as usual. The plus side of a baby is getting the day started early. We all got ready and headed out in Mandy's car for a day-venture upstate at Boscobel.

Boscobel is a historic estate near Cold Springs, New York, about 2 hours outside of the city. Dan and I have been many times throughout our relationship and I even dreamed about getting married there before I saw the price tag. Summer during our dating days. Fall, just before getting engaged, and Winter when we sat on Santa's lap and were so giddy to start wedding planning. We've taken my parents and Dan's parents to visit. This time was Mandy's first visit. See related posts here.

The leaves have just started to change so it wasn't quite as colorful as I wanted but it was still gorgeous and we had fantastic weather. The clouds cleared and we had perfect lighting for photos. Mandy took some amazing photos for us. Just what I wanted.

Kip did SO good on the trip. He was content and napped in the car. I nursed him in the parking lot when we got there. He was chill during the photos and then took another nap while we had lunch, explored Cold Springs, and we even had time for ice cream. I nursed him again before we headed back towards the city and he only got fussy the last half hour of the drive home when we were stuck in traffic. We all had a great day.

THANKS MANDY! Her car and generosity in helping us with Kip has really made for a fun season so far. If it wasn't for her (and her car) Dan and I would probably never venture out of our area with Kip. Seriously considering getting a car now.

We got Kippy a little souvenir teddy bear named Toothpick. SO CUTE.

On Sunday, we went to church and Kippy slept through the whole service!! We followed church with a trip to a French pastry shop for a treat, Trader Joes, and saying goodbye to Mandy. Dan watched the KC Chiefs game while I worked on part of our family halloween costume...stay tuned.

Have a great start to your week!

Peeks from the Week

It's been a mellow week.

On Monday it rained all day, so Kippy and I stayed inside and he was a content little buddy which allowed me to catch-up on chores around the apartment.

On Tuesday, we went out for a long morning stroll. It looked like fall but it still felt like summer.

Celebrated Kip's Two Months Old birthday!

And we had a friend come over and visit in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, Mandy hung out with Kippy and she even made us her yummy hash brown casserole for dinner.

Thursday, is Dad's day. Dan and Kippy went on two long walks.

And this morning I left a snugly Kippy all bundled up for a nap on Auntie Mimi.

We have fun plans for the weekend to head to Boscobel to see the fall foliage. Happy Friday!