Visit with MeMe and Grand Daddy

Since Jeff is deep into his busy time at work, Connor, Kaitlynn, and I drove up to East Texas for the week to visit MeMe and Grand Daddy. All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for them, because they helped me out tremendously this week!! I was able to take extended naps most days, and Grand Daddy kept Connor occupied several mornings so he could run off some of that stored up energy he's been carrying around.

During our visit this week Connor was able to spend some time with his cousins. On Monday we made a day trip to the Dallas area to my aunt Tina's house for professional photos of the kids. I can't wait to see how the pics turn out, and I'm also going to be getting a new purse with their pictures. We had a fun day visiting with all the kiddos, but we ended up getting back to White Oak very late. Connor had another one of his awful temper tantrums that night, but I had a stern talk with him and thankfully he's been going to bed without any issues the rest of the week. Who knows how long the good behavior will last! Later in the week, cousins Makenna and Madison came over to visit and they all had a great time playing at the Diary Queen play area (that is one of our frequent stops when we visit the grandparents). We got some cute pictures you'll see below.

While we were in East Texas, Kaitlynn turned 1 month old! It's so hard to believe how fast the summer is flying by. Baby girl is definitely plumping up quickly. She is quite the little eater so I suspect she's well over 10 pounds by now. Her cheeks and legs are really filling out! Her latest accomplishments include many sweet smiles, but none that I've been able to capture on camera yet. She has even begun to "coo" a little bit when you talk really sweet to her. She absolutely LOVED her MeMe last week, giving her the most smiles of anyone! I am noticing that she prefers to be held most of the time, and she seems to have a gassy tummy in the evenings which causes her to grunt and fuss quite a bit. Her baby acne is also really bad right now. I've been putting an olive oil oitment on it which will hopefully help it to clear up soon. Since Kaitlynn loves to be held, I recently purchased a baby carrier (Baby Bjorn) which I am LOVING right now. It makes it so much easier to go places with both kids. It's funny -- I had one of those baby carriers with Connor but I didn't like it and never understood why mothers used them. Now I get it...they are for mothers of more than 1 kid, because it's impossible to chase after a toddler when you have to carry the baby all the time!

Friday morning after Kaitlynn's 3 am feeding, I noticed I was having severe breast pain and soon I was wrapped up in the covers shivering with a bad case of the chills. I began feeling very achy all over and I was so cold that I couldn't get out of bed to ask for help. A few hours later Kaitlynn was awake and wanting her next bottle, so I forced myself out of bed only to realize that I barely had enough strength to walk. I felt so miserable that I woke up MeMe for help (I couldn't even pick up the baby) and then I just started bawling like a baby! Turns out that I had a fever of 101 due to a breast infection (mastitis) which causes flu-like symptoms and terrible breast pain. Luckily my doctor called in a prescription by phone without making me go in for an appointment right away. I spent most of the day Friday in bed -- thank goodness I was at my parents' house so they could keep the kids occupied! I'm feeling much better now but I have to visit my doctor Monday to make sure the infection is under control.

We have another extremely busy week coming up. Connor starts his next round of swim lessons this week; he'll go every day for the next 2 weeks. I have 2 doctor appointments which will be challenging with 2 kids in tow. And then this weekend our great friends Dana and Katherine will be visiting with their kids! I can't wait to see them again and introduce them to Kaitlynn.

Here are a ton of photos from our week visiting MeMe and Grand Daddy. Enjoy!

Kaitlynn's all decked out for church. Love the headband bow!

Aunt Michelle and Ryah hold Kaitlynn.

All the cousins inspect Kaitlynn at Aunt Tina's house.

Here's a quick snapshot of MeMe with her grandkids.Kaitlynn fit perfectly in the basket!

MeMe's favorite baby girl outfit with pink and lace.

Robin and Karlie meet Kaitlynn.

Here's Karlie holding baby Kaitlynn...

And here she is holding Connor 3 years ago!
Connor was worn out after one of our busy days.

And so was his baby sister!

Bathtime for brother and sister.

Kaitlynn watching MeMe and about to smile...

This is the closest to her smile I was able to capture.

Here's Connor's cousin Madison playing at Dairy Queen.

Connor and cousin Makenna played so well together.

Sweet cousins.

They even stopped to share a hug.

Mama and her baby carrier. Kaitlynn loves it, too -- she was OUT!

Grand Daddy and Connor.

Connor shows us his Gig 'Em Aggies!

Grand Daddy feeding Kaitlynn a bottle.

Phew, we're finally home! Time to pass out.