First Halloween

Our little Giraffe enjoyed her first Halloween with great friends, food and a cozy stroller ride while the big kids went trick or treating!  

Two Months!!

Our sweet baby girl is now two months old.  We have her 2 month appointment with the pediatrician on Friday!  We haven't been back since 2 weeks so we are excited to see how much she has grown!  Here are a few highlights to remember...

• All Smiles - Kennedy can light up a room with her smiles and we LOVE it!  We've officially moved beyond the guessing game and she happily gives us many big smiles throughout the day!
• Her Grip - She can now grab things and hang on!   That includes my necklaces, my shirt, my arm, and her toys hanging from the play mat!  
• Her Eyes - she has quite the stare and we love when she locks eyes with us.  Kennedy especially loves to watch her Daddy while he gives her a bottle!  Which brings me to...
• The Bottle!  YAY!   Nick gives Kennedy one bottle per day which has been great! 
• Sleep - We've moved past the every 3 hour middle of the night feeds and hit a new milestone of 7 hours this weekend!  By no means is this her new schedule, but we are making progress and now consistently average a 5-7 hour span between feeds throughout the night.  She also moved to her nursery this month and is doing great in her big girl crib!
• Tummy Time - Kennedy loves tummy time and consistently moves her head from side to side and can lift her head up for a short time.
• Babysitter - We had our first non family babysitter this past weekend and everything went perfectly!  Nick and I enjoyed a wonderful date night and Kennedy didn't fuss at all.  The report back on Jack though, was that he wouldn't take his eyes off this new person holding his little sister.
• The Pacifier - She loves it!  Luckily, we moved past playing the pacifier game at night but it can calm her instantly during the day!

Nick's concern at two months - quote. "How will I ever learn how to do Kennedy's hair?"

Ohio Plates?

Every once in a while you have one of those moments you just know will stick in your head forever.  Many times the memories or images that shape our lives happen and we don't recognize the significance or importance.  However, there are those times that you are sure right away an image will stick in your head for a lifetime.

Last Thursday I pulled in to our driveway from work and saw an Ohio license plate belonging to my brother's family van for the first time in Fayetteville!  Sure, I knew they were coming in to town, this was not a surprise visit, but it was still surreal to know that they had sacrificed time, money, energy, and patience to load up their three kids and drive over ten hours to see us.

We had a perfect weekend.  Northwest Arkansas did its best to show off in a big way.  The weather was perfect, the fall scenery was in full bloom, and we were able to see all NWA had to offer.  We took in the Walmart 5 and 10, toured Crystal Bridges, explored the local parks, visited the farmer's market, did a little shopping at the new Cabelas, went to a fall festival, and Ben, Scott, and I got in a couple of intense games of front yard football.

While we certainly miss the days of being able to see them whenever we wanted, this time of being together for an extended period of time was truly special.  It re-emphasized how lucky we are to have such great family in our lives, and of course made us anxious to see them again at Thanksgiving!

A New Monday Routine

I really don't know where the days are going or what Kennedy and I do that make them fly by.  We've mastered the diaper changes, feedings and laundry and even enjoyed play dates and shopping adventures. But, I have to admit, we haven't been great about blogging and posting pictures!  So, my new goal is to update the blog on Monday mornings.  Here are a few from our trip to the park yesterday.  The weather was beautiful here so the three of us walked the trails, sat in the park and enjoyed coffee on a patio!  It was a perfect afternoon!

More Tummy Time

One Month

We celebrated Kennedy's one month birthday on September 25th.  How can one month feel like the days flew by so fast yet at the same time lasted forever?  These four weeks have been wonderful and have far exceeded any and all expectations Nick and I ever had of parenthood.  Last week Nick came home with this cake from Rick's bakery and two pints of Graeter's ice cream (yes, we finally found Graeter's in Arkansas!)  For the first two weeks of Kennedy's life, my mom, aka Nana, was here to completely spoil her.  My Dad, Grumpy, (he picked that name but we all know he is the furthest thing from "Grumpy") was able to fly back for the weekend before they made the drive back to Akron.

Kennedy's First Month - a few highlights

• Her Hair - I just love it and although it may be thinning just a bit, it still is adorable
•  Tummy Time - she can turn her head from side to side and even lift it up on her own...it's keeping it up that she needs to work on!
• Social Butterfly - Fortunately, in Fayetteville, Kennedy is surrounded by lots of friends and we've had fun having lunch dates, dinner dates and play dates even though she tends to sleep through most of them.
• Her Hands - she loves her hands up by her face - too bad we swaddle her when she sleeps!  She can know hold her hands together and also loves to grab anything in reach - most recently my hair and Nick's shirt collar.
• Sleep - she sleeps like an angel for the majority of the day.  We are still working on the late evening hours but until then we refer to her as the party girl and as Nick likes to say, the bars don't close until 2 so if she is sound asleep before then we are doing alright!
• Her Eyes - We love when she looks at us but she especially likes staring at lights and ceiling fans.
• Walks and The Car - She loves both and Jack especially enjoys the walks!
• Pacifier - an instant soother.  If only we could teach her not to spit it out in the middle of the night!

Here are a few pictures to document her one month birthday.  I struggled to find the right pose and the right place with the right bow and the right blanket.  All I kept thinking of was the huge commitment over the next 12 months that I would need to continue!  So, I've included a few and have the next month to decide which to repeat!
 

One Month Old 

Kennedy's Birthday

August 25, 2012 - - -  8:08am CST - - - Kennedy Grace Spicher - - - Her Birth Story!

This blog post has been on my to do list for just about three weeks now (yes, KGS is already 3 weeks old!) but between the feedings, diaper changes, laundry, more laundry and I don't know what else, the days have been flying by.  We've had an amazing time with our little girl and are absolutely crazy about her.  So, before we share about all of the little things new parents like us get excited about, I do want to document the day our lives changed forever - 8.25.12

Nick and I enjoyed our last date night as just the two of us that Friday evening at Ruth Chris.  We had an amazing dinner and ended our night on our front porch just hanging out and talking about the anticipated arrival of our little one...which I thought surely would be after my hair appointment that was scheduled for the following week.  Well, OB wasn't too concerned about my hair or my final two weeks of early maternity leave.  12:40am was when the fun began.  I woke up and glanced at the clock as I was rolling over to get comfortable and felt what I later found out to be my water breaking.  No, it was not like the movies or even a little bit obvious.  After some waiting and excited chatter about the potential of could this be the day, Nick was convinced he should start packing his bag.  I decided to take a shower and by now was having lower back pain that was unlike any of the braxton hicks contractions I had been experiencing for the many weeks prior.  Nick texted our doctor as she said to let her know when we thought we were in labor because she was going to do her best to deliver us!  Nick started timing the "pain" and we soon realized that the consistent pattern of 4-6 minutes meant we were headed to the hospital.

Nick had to get a few pictures on the way...

We walked into the ER at 2:45am and were quickly told we would be heading home.  The doctor on call took one look at me and said it was impossible that I was in labor but was required to keep me for an hour to monitor things.  Thankfully, after an hour of waiting and some crazy back pain, a wonderful nurse confirmed that my water had broken and we weren't going anywhere.  Nick called our parents and we were officially admitted.

By 4am we were now in our private room waiting on the anesthesiologist for the epidural.  I was SO thankful for the epidural.  I actually received a light dose.  I learned (after asking the poor guy a million questions) that the dose of an epidural is based on height.  Despite my 5'9" tall girl classification, he gave me a regular girl amount so I was able to feel my legs and wiggle my toes but still have the positive effect of no pain!!

So with the epidural going and an IV in, we thought we were settling in to a long day of labor when all of a sudden things became quite eventful.  A crew of nurses came rushing in as we later found out the baby's heart rate had dropped.  After 45 minutes on oxygen and being tossed from side to side as if I was in a tumbling class, the nurses finally determined that I had quickly progressed from 1.5cm to 10cm and this baby was ready to go!  After 10 minutes of pushing, we heard from Dr. Paige who couldn't believe things were moving so fast.  Her husband was actually on call and there at the hospital to deliver us.  The nurses were amazing and such an encouragement.  It literally felt like a party in the room in between pushes, ice chips and taking polls on boys names as we had yet to make a final name decision.  At 8:08am, just 4 hours after being admitted, Kennedy Grace was in my arms.  A GIRL!  I couldn't believe it.

I can't even describe all of the emotions that I felt at that moment.  Excitement, Shock, Amazement, Joy - how did this happen so fast and was she really ours?!?  I spent the next two hours just staring at our precious little girl before they took her to the nursery for the standard tests and what not.  Nick and I were officially parents and our life as the two of us had now become three.  She's perfect and so is our new adventure that we've just begun and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Kennedy's first birthday cake!

Heading Home!

A Prayer of Thankfulness

Ever feel like a 'thank you' just isn't quite enough?  That is the feeling Nicki and I have had since 8:08 a.m. on Saturday August 25th when Kennedy Grace Spicher met the world for the first time, weighing in at 6 lbs 4oz.

Without question, this week has been the most magical, special, unbelievable, and many other adjectives combined, week we've had in our lives.  I will let Nicki post the labor and delivery story, but over the past week there have been so many moments where we have said to ourselves how thankful we are for this blessing, and it seems appropriate to stop and say a prayer of thankfulness:

God,
We want to thank you.  That's it.  Just thank you.  An all encompassing thank you for the blessing of life, and the perfect miracle that surrounds it.  We thank you for your constant presence now and forever.

We thank you for entrusting us with the life of Kennedy Grace and providing us with the wisdom, patience, humility, and faith it will take to raise her in your image.

We thank you for allowing for Nicki's incredibly smooth labor, delivery, and recovery. We want to thank you for the nurse at the ER who refused to listen to the ER doctor who told us we were "definitely going home and not having this baby for another two weeks" about five hours before Kennedy was born.

Nicki arriving at the ER at almost 3 a.m. (Kennedy was born just 5 hours later) 

We thank you for the nurses at Willow Creek who stayed another hour beyond their 16 hour shift just to be able to deliver Kennedy.  We thank you for Dr. Hix and Dr. Partridge who have guided us through this pregnancy with such love and care.  We thank you for the nursery nurses who cared for Kennedy during the first days of her life like she was their own child.


We thank you for our grandparents.  We thank you for the safe 14 hour drive from Akron and flights from Cincinnati.  We thank you for their unending love and support.  We know without them we would have been lost.  We thank you for the model they have set before us, and thank you for their unselfish giving of their time to love their new granddaughter.

We thank you for our incredible friends.  You have surrounded us by a group of people both here and around the country who have showed us limitless love through hospital visits, home visits, meals, and simple phone calls.  These friends have also shown us what it means to rely on You in times of parenting trials.  We never would have imagined a day we would deliver our first child in Fayetteville, AR - and now we can't imagine it any differently.

We thank you for our wonderful work families.  You have blessed us with co-workers who go beyond just being co-workers and truly care for our well being and our lives.  We recognize this is not common practice and want to thank you for these friends.

I want to thank you for giving us a daughter who was born with more patience and understanding than I have.  You recognized my fear of very limited knowledge of how to raise a newborn and brought us a baby that seemingly has agreed to put up with my learning curve of how to change a diaper, bathe, swaddle, and change clothes with such grace.

I want to thank you for my incredible wife, who has made pregnancy, labor, and parenting look easy.  She has proven that all the reading, preparation, nesting, organizing, was actually worth it and has made for a smooth transition in to parenting.  You made her to be a mom and for that I am thankful!

We have so much for which to be thankful, and the words thank you seem to be so insignificant.  You have given us a magical experience.  And You know, that in the coming hours, days, weeks, months, and years we will come to You asking for many many things - patience, wisdom, grace, peace, comfort, understanding, amongst others.  But at this time, in this moment, we want to just stop asking for things and offer a thank you.  We thank you.

Amen