The Weekend

Jessa and Andrew's Wedding
This past Saturday my good friends Jessa and Andrew got married. Even though it rained... it was a perfect day. Here are some pictures from their big day.

Here is Nate and I enjoying the reception... Kaitlyn stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa McNeilly.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew and Jessa Pike..... and me!!!! They looked amazing!

Here is myself, the beautiful Bride, and Kristin (Matron of Honor).

Stupid Dog Award!

Cody gets the Stupid Dog award this week. Sometime last week... we think Wednesday or Thursday... Cody decided to eat part of the bed sheet that was in his kennel. First I would like to point out... this bed sheet had been in his kennel for over a year now... so, why he decided to eat it now... I really don't know.

Anyway... for the last several days... he has been throwing up and pooping parts of this bed sheet. I will just put it this way... for how much I have seen come out of him... I am surprised it didn't bother him. If you looked at him and knew how he acted we would never know that he ate a bed sheet. Even though he was acting normal I was still concerned so I decided to call the Emergency Vet... (Side note: We are to leave for my friends wedding in 30 minutes.) Here is our conversation:

Nikki: "My dog ate a bed sheet and has been throwing up pieces of it for the last 2-3 days!"

Emergency Vet: "Well, you need to bring him in right away!"

Nikki: "How much do you think this will cost?"

Emergency Vet: "It is $108.00 just to see him plus any other tests we have to do."

Nikki: "What if we don't bring him in?"

Emergency Vet: "Well, there is nothing you can do for him at home... and he might die."

Nikki: "Okay, thank you!"

Let's just say that I was not very happy with this conversation... He is acting normal so can you just give me some signs to watch for???? I tried again by calling another vet that happened to be open... they were very helpful and told me what to watch for and when I should bring him to the Emergency Vet.... So, as of today.... Cody seems to have worked through the bed sheet.

A Handful of Posts

My Toothless Baby has a tooth...

Kaitlyn got her first tooth the other day. I was giving her a bath and while drying her off... I saw a little tooth peaking through.... It is the top right tooth... Of course that night she had a hard time sleeping, but nothing a little Tylenol can't help. We are also starting to see 2 more teeth poking through... pretty soon she will be catching up with all her teethe friends.

Big Girl on the Block

Last night Kaitlyn and I were practising walking... We used a walking toy that she got from her Grandma and Grandpa McNeilly. She was so proud of herself.

We had to take several takes on this video... As you can tell she loves nilla wafers... that is why her shirt is so dirty.

Before and After

A few weeks ago Nate and I did phase One of our re-landscaping. (Actually, Nate did a lot of the work - I just helped where needed.) Here are some pictures before and after... We still need to do the landscaping around the house, the backyard, and build a deck.

Here is the Before Picture! Sorry for all the equipment in the picture....

Here is the finished product - We plan on painting our name on the rock... maybe next spring.

Here is a before picture of our mailbox and lovely electrical boxes we have in our yard.

Much better.... The Hostas and the mulch make it look so much nice... and now we don't have to mow around everything.

Last Summer Weekend

Labor Day weekend Nate, Kaitlyn and I went camping. We meet Nate's family for a weekend of being outside, sleeping in a camper, and smores by the campfire. This was Kaitlyn's first camping experience and she loved it. (Wait did I say where we were camping... Well, we were in Maple Grove.) Most would not consider this camping, but not once did I feel that we were that close to the cities. The campground is very wooded and perfect for a weekend away.

Kaitlyn loved crawling around outside and eating leaves, dirt, and grass... Most of the time - I would tell her icky and she would spit it out. She also enjoyed playing with her cousins. The nice part of camping so close to home is that when it is time to leave... you don't have to sit in the car for several hours before spending the rest of the day unpacking, doing laundry, and getting ready for the week ahead.

Kaitlyn had such an exhausting weekend (or she didn't want to help pack). She fell asleep while we got ready to leave.

Oops! Did I do that?

First a disclosure... Nate parked the car in the garage the night before... Here is what happened. A few Mondays ago as I was CAREFULLY backing out of the garage I broke my side view mirror.

Birthday Party!

Nate and I were officially initiated in the yearly birthday party celebrations. Who knew how much work goes into these grand parties for our children. The good news is that it was perfect. Nate's family came down on Friday to help get ready for the big event on Saturday. I baked a cake.... It was suppose to represent a train.... Do you agree?

After some discussion with my sister-in-law... we have refined my cake making skills and have a new plan for next years cake. Stay tuned until next August for the next installation of Kaitlyn's b-day cake surprise.

We had family and friends over to celebrate Kaitlyn's 1st birthday on Saturday. She got lots of nice clothes, fun (noisy) toys, and a new fishing pole. I would like to mention that it is very hard to keep track of what gift goes to what card when you have 5 children under 3 helping with the gift opening. It was fun and chaotic all at the same time.

Kaitlyn and her cousin Hailey playing on Sunday after our big birthday weekend.

Kaitlyn loved all the attention and was so tired by the end of the present opening that we decided to wait on the birthday cake. Sunday, my sister and her friend Niki came over and we sang Kaitlyn happy birthday and watched her enjoy her cake.

After cake she went straight into the bathtub. Mommy is not a big fan of big messes, but with help of her auntie - we got everything cleaned up.

Next year... It will be even bigger. The good news is that she has enough presents to last until next year.

Happy First Birthday Kaitlyn

As I am typing this post I was in labor with my little girl one year ago today. Of course we were in Alexandria. This year has gone by way too fast. No one told me that in a blink of an eye you would not be a baby anymore, but a toddler. What? A toddler? Kaitlyn you are our little princess. We are so happy that you came into our lives one year ago today. You taught mommy and daddy a big lesson in... We will never be prepared or in-control of what you do. You are the happiest baby that we have ever met. Not a day goes by that you are not smiling or talking. You started out your life on vacation and maybe that is why you are so happy. The first few weeks of your life were pretty scary for mommy. You had to spend a lot of time at the doctor testing your bulirubin for the jaundice. During the winter you got to spend time with Daddy, but you always seemed to get mommy sick. You also like to go back to the doctor to treat your continuous ear infections. At first you hated the medicine and now you love it. I think Tylenol is your favorite or maybe you just like the little dropper. You are also very independent little girl. We tried to put the safety gate up for the living room, but you made it very clear you wanted full rein of the house. You have climbed the stairs by yourself in search of mommy. (Mommy still can't believe you didn't fall.) You a constant talker... one day we hope we can understand what you are telling us. You only like to feed yourself... you have made it clear you don't want us to feed you anymore. You drink juice from a sippy cup. Feed Cody on occasion from your high chair. You love playing in the kitchen cupboards. You love walks with mommy and Cody and eating grass while mommy and daddy do yard work.

Thank you for being our little girl.

Standing Appointment?

I feel like I am starting to spend a lot of time at the doctor's office. Yesterday I took Kaitlyn in to check her ears. She had a rough night of sleep Sunday night and had been pulling at her ears. (Well, more like just touching them.) Not to my surprise she has double ear infections again... So back on the antibiotics... actually we are now using the shots of antibiotics. One shot yesterday and another one today. She is such a trooper. Friday we are going to meet with our normal doctor to discuss our options. Tubes? I really don't want to go down that path, but we might not have an option.

The good news is that she weighs 18lbs. 4 oz. Yeah! She is getting bigger.

What If?

I find myself playing this game in my head a lot as a parent. Sunday morning Kaitlyn was playing downstairs with Daddy. I decided I needed to put in my contacts and grab a bowl of cereal... I guess Nate didn't hear me say that Kaitlyn was staying downstairs because... As I was pouring my bowl of cereal I heard Kaitlyn. As I turned towards the stairs... there she was... at the top looking at me through the gate. My first thought... is wow she climbed all the stairs by herself... second thought.... What if she fell? The good news is that she did not fall and our teaching her to climb stairs has paid off... now we have to work on going down the stairs.

New Accomplishments!

Kaitlyn is going to one years old in 7 days. Wow! She is really starting to amaze us. She can crawl everywhere... nothing seems to stop her. She loves to follow us around the house. She loves to play the toilet drums... this is where she stands up on the toilet and bangs her hands. (It is part of our morning ritual.) Her only words are: Dada and Hi. I ask her to say Mama and she says Dada. Ugh! (Daddy loves this.) She is completely a mommas girl though... If I am in the room... it is hard for Daddy to have any cuddle time. Her newest achievement is walking along furniture and to pick up toys while standing.

She also loves to eat finger foods. She drinks from her sippy cup, but loves to throw it off her highchair when she is done. Cody loves to lay right next to the high chair hoping she will drop some of her food. We have only seen her drop food to Cody twice... on purpose.

Our Wedding - Pictures

It has been requested to add more wedding pictures for everyone to view. I hope you enjoy them. The day was perfect in everyway.

This picture was not posed. The dress was a little snug at first, but we got it zipped. Thank you to all my bridesmaids and personal attendent Katie for getting the dress on.

Here is Kaitlyn seeing me the for the first time that day. She was such a great girl that day.

My sister and my mom helped get Kaitlyn ready for her big debut down the aisle. She loved being in a pretty dress.

My favorite picture of my sister and I... Granted my hair was in my face.

My beautiful Bridesmaids - I love each and everyone one of you. Thank you for being part of our day.

The guys! Aren't they handsome! Nate and I really appreciate all of you. Thank you for being part of our day.

It's Official - Mr. and Mrs. Nate McNeilly!!!!

The cutest picture ever!

Helpful or Not Helpful?

Where do I start? Last week we dealt with a high temp for 2 days... a doctors visit... possible bladder infection (or UTI in the medical world) to the most current... Rash, and crabby, highly emotional baby. Here is where I left off... Saturday evening I noticed Kaitlyn had a rash that covered her entire torso and her face. My first thought is allergic reaction to the antibiotic. (Side note: Lab results did not show any bacteria growth which equals no UTI or Bladder infection.) I tried calling a pharmacy, but soon realized that they were all closed by 8:15pm. Ugh! So my second choice was call the nurse line... I called earlier in the week about Kaitlyn's temperature... they suggested to contact my doctor within 18 hours. (Disclaimer on Nurse line: They will always recommend you contact your doctor within a certain amount of time... they don't want to be held liable for anything that happens. I try to use my motherly instinct to determine the appropriate reaction.) After giving the nurse line the specifics on Kaitlyn's rash and medical problems... their response... (suggestion)... take Kaitlyn to the nearest ER immediately. What? I am watching her play, laugh, smile, and enjoying the world as we speak. After hanging up and assuring them I would take appropriate action I decided to call my friends mom. (A pediatric nurse) She said that her rash could be a reaction from the antibiotic or from her fever. (Infants can develop a rash after a viral high fever.) My thoughts... viral fever with rash.

Sunday was not a good day in the McNeilly household. Kaitlyn was so crabby... What happened to my smiley happy baby girl? Plus - she only wanted me (her mommy) which is cute, but can get tiresome after a few days. Sunday night was even worse... she was up all night... actually from 2:30 until 5:45am. She went to bed just in-time for us to get up... I made the executive decision to sleep in. At the end of Monday after staying home and comforting my crabby baby... she started to return to her normal self. Last night she slept almost all the way through the night, woke up happier, and she has two little white bumps on her gums. (Teething?) The jury is still out, but it is looking like we may have an answer to the crabbiness.

I guess the bottom line is to trust your instincts and only take the nurse lines advice as an opinion in which it has a big disclosure.

Here is Kaitlyn enjoying some time in her new pool. The water was a little cold, but we both got used to it pretty quickly.
This picture was too cute not to post! Enjoy!

Am I the only mother? Updated

It's Official

The other exciting news in our family is that Nate has joined the Mayer Fire Department. Monday he had his first training with the department. He got to drive all the fire trucks and learn about all the buttons and gauges. He was like a little kid in a candy store. He also has been waiting for his first "FIRE CALL". 80% of the Mayer fire calls are actually medical emergencies and not fires. Last night his pager went off and he was out the door in 2 seconds... he was the second at the station since we do live 2 blocks away. Unfortunately the call was canceled so now we have wait for the next call. He will start his fire fighting classes in September.

Am I the Only Mother? UPDATE:
After another night of high temperatures... we brought Kaitlyn into the doctor. The jury is still out, but we are pretty confident she has a bladder infection. While in the doctor's office... he tells me he will need a urine sample from Kaitlyn... Not knowing all the medical procedures I ask... "And how do you get a urine sample from a baby?" I know we can't just hold her over a cup and pray she pees into it. The doctor than tells me she will need a catheter... okay, now I am wishing Nate was there... I was thinking this would only be a ear infection and already starting to say NO to tubes... I was not expecting urine extraction.... After a few minutes the tests came back with a possible bladder infection. Today they are growing the bacteria on a petrie dish... just like in science class... to determine what kind of bacteria. Once these results are in... we will discuss further steps with the doctor. We may need to bring her in for an ultrasound of her kidney's to see if everything is in working order since Bladder infections are not typical in children under the age of 3.

Am I the Only Mother?

Am I the only mother? I ask this open ended question because I feel that parenting is mostly trial and error. (and questioning?) Here is my most recent dilemma. Kaitlyn is 11 months old and toothless. This being said... I am not sure what her body will do when her first tooth comes in... will she be crabby, have a temp., red cheeks, up all night, etc... Last night after our evening walk I noticed she was very warm. After taking her temperature 3 times it was confirmed she had a fever. (101.6) I gave her some Motrin and put her to bed. (Praying she would sleep through the night.) Of course, God didn't answer my prayers the way I wanted them to be answered... and she woke up around 1:30am... approx. the time the Motrin wore off... I checked her temp again... still 101.6... Gave her some Tylenol. Of course every 30 minutes after that she would wake up and be sitting up in her crib. After about 3 times of this routine... I broke and let her sleep with us. So, here is where my questions start... do I bring her to the doctor when they open? (Last time she spiked a temp. she had double ear infections.) Or do I wait? Well, both scenarios played out in my head all morning... My daycare said I could bring her with a fever... she was happy and smiley all morning. I decided to wait... and see how the day went... No calls from daycare and when I finally did call... her fever was gone without additional medication... Hopefully it was just part of her teething process.... but... am I the only one who questions what to do?

I think this is the hardest part of parenting... guessing and trusting your instincts. It doesn't help that I worry about everything... Good thing Nate doesn't worry because when he is worried... you might as well send me to the hospital too.

Here is Kaitlyn on her new toy she got from Grandma and Grandpa. She thinks she is such a big girl. I can't believe next month she will be one.

This past weekend we went to Mora for the Kanabec county fair. Friday night Nate and I went to the Motocross race, while Kaitlyn played with her cousins. Here is cousin Hailey feeding Kaitlyn dinner. She is going to be a great babysitter one day.

Up North!

Our first family vacation was a huge success. I wish it wasn't over... next year we are taking the whole week. Our vacation started on Friday the 4th. We left in the morning for Mora. We dropped Cody off with my dad, made sure Thomas had enough food and water... and left on our journey north. We spent the 4th of July with the in-laws. It was so much fun! We parked in the Cambridge Target parking lot... to watch the fireworks. (Target got a lot of my business while we waited.) Kaitlyn stayed up the whole time and loved all the colors in the sky. Grandma and Kaitlyn watching the fireworks. She also loved spending time with her Aunty Mandi and her cousins.It is really hard to get 3 kids under 4 to look at the camera at the same time. This is the best picture of all the ones I took. As you can see from this picture. Nate loves taking pictures with me as you can tell. I think he is burnt out from all the wedding pictures. Saturday we left in the afternoon for the cabin near Nisswa. Kaitlyn stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while mommy and daddy got things situated at the cabin and could enjoy an evening with out baby.

Kaitlyn loved swimming in her new floaty! She figured out that she could touch the bottom and move around the shallow part by herself. She loved chasing after her cousins in the water. Sunday night Kaitlyn got to spend the night with her cousins... Thank you to Aunty Mandi for giving mommy and daddy another night off.

Kaitlyn loved to play in the water and eat the sand and suck on the rocks. She is pretty quick to get it up to her mouth.

Forgot to Add

Okay - As I am sitting at my desk... working!?! More and more blog topics started entering my brain... So, I am going to tell you about them only because I am behind on Kaitlyn's baby book and this blog is starting to be Kaitlyn's baby book. (Or my memory holding pot until I can write in her baby book.)

One of the hardest part of being a parent happened to us last night. First I need to give you a little history on why we had to be "bad" parents last night... or some could say "good" parents. Last week Kaitlyn decided she didn't want to sleep by herself at 3 in the morning. This lead to her not wanting to fall asleep by herself in her crib... The last 2 nights every time we would put her in her crib she would cry... So last night we had to start breaking her of this new routine. (7 days ago... she fell asleep by herself in her crib.) Anyway, last night we had to let Kaitlyn cry herself to sleep... we have a video baby monitor... so we watched her cry and just stare at the door... waiting for us to come get her... We didn't. (I have to say having Nate there... made it a lot easier on the both of us.) After about 25 minutes she fell asleep. I have heard it usually takes 3 nights to break habits... so we will see how tonight goes. (I am crossing my fingers.)

To be honest... I have now forgotten all the topics I wanted to blog about... Wait... here is one. It is not official as of right now, but Nate is going to join the Mayer Fire Department. He had his interview last night so now all he needs to do is get a physical and get approval from the city council. I am very excited about this because my dad was firefighter growing up. (My dad is also very excited to have his son-in-law follow in his footsteps.)

Another new thing is that Kaitlyn is now on formula. I have decided that I am done pumping. I am very excited about this decision and it is one less bag I need to remember in the morning. I still feed Kaitlyn in the morning and before bed, but she gets formula during the day. She loves it or doesn't know the difference.

Here is a picture of my sister, papa, Kaitlyn, and I on our boat on Father's day. (Nate is taking the picture and driving the boat.)
Kaitlyn and Grandpa a great buds now. Kaitlyn loves to go over to Grandpa's house to play with his cats and of course see Aunty Anny. (FYI- I stole a lot of these pictures from my sister.)

One last thing... SOLID FOODS. This is one of the hardest things for me to do so far as a parent. I am not very good at introducing new foods and adding more solids. She loves cheerios and those infant star puffs. Yesterday she had cheese and watermelon at my Aunt and Uncles... I am okay with other people giving her new solid foods because than I don't have to! Every time I go to the doctor I tell them how horrible I am at this part... They must think I am so strange.

Speaking of the doctor... Kaitlyn decided to hold onto her double ear infections for 6 weeks. It took 2 oral antibiotics, 3 doctors trips, and 2 shots to get rid of the infection. (The doctor pretty much told me that we have used every oral antibiotic out there and if the shots don't work... it is off to a specialist.) The shots seem to be working... so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't need to see a specialist.

Disclaimer on the picture above! I was not with Kaitlyn... my mom and sister thought it would be funny to pretend that they gave her a chip to eat. They were so cleaver that they broke a piece off to make it look like she actually had some.

Well - I think that is all I wanted to add... unless I remember more later. LOL!

10 Months and Counting

Where do I begin? Kaitlyn is growing so fast... she seems to be learning new things everyday. Here is a little recap of what she can do.

When my mom came to visit for our wedding the beginning of June she decided that Kaitlyn's current mode of rolling from point A to point B was just not good enough. By the second day my mom was home... Kaitlyn learned to army crawl across the floor. Now she is starting to get up on all fours. I have a feeling that she will be crawling on all fours within the next few days. Another milestone my mom taught her was to stand flat footed. Ever since she was a few months old Kaitlyn loved to stand on her tippy toes. I am not sure if she wants to be a ballerina, but she sure was good at it.

Here is Kaitlyn playing with her new toy I found a garage sale for $8. I love garage sales! We use this toy as a way to block the cords for the laptop and lamps in the living room. This may be the only toy she really plays with at home or she is just trying to figure out how she can get to the cords. I have found that I don't need to buy her toys. She will have toys surrounding her and she chooses to play with the following: Coasters, baskets, socks, strings on my pants or sweatshirts, the cat or dog, car seat straps, and the list keeps going. The good news is that I buy her toys at garage sales, so if she doesn't play with them it is not a big lose for us.

I am not sure I want to thank my mom for this or not... because she is now a master at pulling herself up on everything... laundry baskets, couches, tables, legs, and anything that is taller than her. We had to do some major baby proofing now that Kaitlyn has learned to crawl and climb a few stairs. We bought this new gate and decided that Kaitlyn doesn't need to have full access to the upstairs. (Or we just are lazy and haven't baby proofed everything.) We have a sunken living room, so we decided she could stay in there. The benefits to this are: Cody doesn't bother us because he chooses to stay on the other side of the gate... this also allows for less dog hair where Kaitlyn is playing, and we don't have to worry about the stairs.

Every since Kaitlyn was a few months old she has been very vocal. This has made it hard for us to determine what her first word will be or is... She loves to say "mamamamama" when she is upset. Last week she said "hi" really loud when the phone would ring at my aunt and uncles. We are pretty sure now that she knows how to say "dada". (I think she just likes to make the "da" sound and it is easier than the "ma" sound to make.)

This past Sunday... Kaitlyn came out on the boat with us for the afternoon. She loved playing with the rope, her Gerber food containers, but not her toys. About 20 minutes before we decided to head in for the day... she decided she needed a nap.

The McNeilly's

Well - We survived our first week as the McNeilly family. I have to say that it is strange when people introduce me as "Nikki McNeilly" or when Nate introduces me as his wife. I did receive the marriage license in the mail, so I can make it official on everything. I hope I can remember everything that I need to change me name on. Ugh!!!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the week: Enjoy!

Kaitlyn loved her first boat ride last Monday. She didn't mind having the life jacket on. She spent most of the trip trying to lick the zipper... I think that kept her entertained. (Who needs toys when you have a zipper?) Yesterday for Father's Day we spent a few hours on the lake. It was pretty wavy from the wind and all other boats. Kaitlyn didn't care... she drank her bottle even though I had a hard to keeping it in her mouth, she slept during the bumpiest part of the ride, and she laughed when I over exaggerated the bumps.

Kaitlyn enjoyed her first french fry. I was a nervous wreck, but Nana had it under control. I guess I have to start introducing her to new foods. Scary!!!! She really thought she was big stuff gumming this because she still is toothless!
This weekend we went to St. Cloud for Nate's Cousins graduation party. Auntie Mel put in Kaitlyn's first pony tail. She is getting so big!

I also would like to update you on her new tricks. She can now army crawl across the floor. She loves her new freedom, but Nate and I are not ready for this. This week we will be doing some more baby proofing around the house. She also has successfully pulled herself up over a step. It took a few minutes, but she got up and over it with no problem. You could tell she was very proud of herself.

Nikki McNeilly!! 06-07-08

Well it is official. I am Mrs. Nikki McNeilly! Here are some pictures from the big day. I will continue to add more pictures as I get them. My personal attendant was in charge of my camera for the day, so thank you to Katie for taking such great pictures.

Our practise kiss at the rehearsal. We enjoyed watching Hailey, Darren, and Kaitlyn playing in the wagon.
Here is a picture of me and my beautiful little girl. She was such a good baby the whole day... even though she still had double ear infections.
The whole wedding party before the big moment. The weather was beautiful, but a little humid... but bearable.
The happy family! I am a McNeilly in this picture! We took pictures at one of Nate's clients houses. Thank you to them for letting us invade their backyard for pictures. They turned out perfect.
My happy little girl enjoying the grass in her pretty dress. She smiled so great for all the pictures.