not that kind of hangover...

More of a "it was my birthday so I was lazy and got lots of presents and played way way too much of thisso way to much of this
& thispiled up and now I have way too much to catch up on" kind of hangover...

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately but hopefully the Ronk household will be back up and running (and clean) soon!

In case you were wondering my awesome husband loaded me up with a king sized heated blanket, The Pioneer Woman Cookbook, a Julia Child Cookbook, a gray sweater, a Starbucks cold cup, new wooden spoons, paint sprayer, Kitchen Aid food processor and a shower pouf. :)

He totally spoils me!

Kenley's 6 Month Photos

Here are some of Kenley's 6 month pictures! Kenley wasn't being super smile-y that day but I still think we got some good ones!

{These were all taken by Capture the Moment Photography, the same lady who did her other professional pictures.}










This yellow dress was mine when I was a baby! Kenley loved the strings on it so we didn't get a picture that matched the picture of me like I wanted so I will probably be going to Wal-mart soon to get another picture taken of her in it while it still fits.

This ring was sent to Kenley by her Great Great Aunt Ann. Aunt Ann is one of the sweetest ladies in the entire world and this ring was hers when she was a baby and now she is passing it on to Kenley!

Shopping is hard work

Happy Birthday Keri!!!

Kenley's 1st Snow!

We woke up this morning to about 7 inches of snow! Snow is not that common here in eastern North Carolina so this is a special treat! Kenley really liked it when she got to touch it and she liked it even more when I put a tiny bit of clean snow on her tongue!
Sadie and Tyson love playing in the snow. Sadie runs around like a maniac and then comes back in with millions of snow balls clumped to her fur. Tyson jumped on the trampoline with me for a little bit too but the snow was so thick that we could barely bounce!

Birthday get together!

Last night the Goodfellow family hosted a birthday get together for me! I got to choose what we had for dinner so I chose chocolate chip pancakes and breakfast food! {I think I need to get back to being that girl who was once planning on becoming a nutritionist, otherwise our kiddos are going to be on the fast track to being on the Biggest Loser.} Seriously though, I love chocolate chip pancakes and they were so good! Thanks Melissa! After dinner we played Mafia, can you believe that Stephen, Lauren, and Brian were the Mafia 2 times in a row! Lauren was Mafia every time, I think that we are helping her to become a better liar :). That is such a fun game! Thanks friends for honoring me with a little bday party!


Lily Kate and Kenley loved looking at the fishies.... no so much looking at the camera though
I love this sweet girl!

No hospital stay for Kenley!!

Our girl is now up to 12lbs 1ounce!! We have to go back in 2 weeks for another weight check and in 6 weeks for a thyroid test but no hospital stay!! The doctor said that he still wanted me to try supplementing with formula and that he wants Kenley to be getting 3 meals of solids per day. Brian went with me just in case I lost it again... I almost did.. but luckily Brian was there to stand with Kenley while they did the examination and I could sit down and not be the freak who always passes out. :)
So basically there is nothing really to report except that Kenley has gained some weight and we will not have to go to the hospital! No failure to thrive here!

This is what happens when you put Kenley down for a nap right after her bath

Crazy Hair!

Thriftin!

Yesterday we went to the Helping Hands final closing sale and got everything in the picture below for $20.74! We found a nickel in a pocket though so that brings our total to $20.69!

We scored a big mirror for this project, a ball gown, 2 boxes of glass ornaments, a box of Christmas light bulbs, 2 cans of clear spray paint, a white pumpkin, a changing pad for the Church nursery, a coat for Brian, a skirt for me, a pair of nice snow pants, a pool noodle for this project, 5 air filters, a new air vent (since ours is ugly!), and that folding table!

We are super excited about our finds! We walked out of there feeling like we had ripped them off! Then we went to Lowes and found a $5 gallon of mis-tint paint that I think it going to look awesome on the coffee table we are refinishing! What a great Saturday spent hanging out with the Hubs and Kenley!

Kenley's first piano lesson

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oatmeal

This recipe is not healthy, but it does contain oats which are good for nursing Mamas! Its really not even a recipe just a bunch of things thrown together that make an awesome bowl of oatmeal that I think tastes just like a cookie!
Ingredients
Instant Oats
Milk
Brown Sugar
Vanilla
Mini Chocolate Chips

Place desired amount of oats and milk in bowl and microwave for 1.5 minutes. Stir in a big spoonful of brown sugar and pour in a dribble of vanilla. Mix together then top with mini chocolate chips. Yum!

Leave it to me to take a healthy breakfast and turn it into dessert :)

The Skinny on the Skinny Girl

Well, we have made it halfway through "Fatten Kenley Up" week! She seems to be doing really well with eating but it is still hard for me to tell if she has gained any weight. We are optimistic though!
{Talk of breast feeding below. Feel free to skip reading any further if that is awkward for you.}

I am writing down every time she eats just like when she was a newborn, so that I can take it in to the doctor to prove that I am trying to feed her. Now I remember how annoying writing everything down was in the beginning and why I stopped doing that after like a day :). I was writing down everything I ate as well but on the second day of that I ate way to many oreos so I decided the pediatrician didn't need to see my oreo binge. :) Interestingly enough, I have found out that Kenley has herself on a very regular 6 minute schedule. She will nurse for 6 minutes then get distracted and pull off then I will switch sides and she will only nurse for another 6 minutes before she gets distracted and pulls off again. I am not really sure what that means...

Kenley is completely refusing to take a bottle of formula. So my plan to supplement her will formula after I nurse her has not worked. I am working on getting my supply up so that I can pump and then I can mix breast milk in with her cereal and foods rather than formula.Oatmeal has been on the menu for my breakfasts since I have read that it helps with supply. I have also started taking Reglan. I had half a bottle leftover from when I was hospitalized with my infection and it worked back then and I have noticed an improvement since I started taking it again. I am not typically one to self-prescribe medicine to myself but this time it is working.

I have an awesome oatmeal recipe to share with you tomorrow!

I have also stopped doing the 30 Day Shred... I think Jillian will forgive me, since it is for the betterment of my child and all.. But I know she is going to kick my booty when I get back to having her work me out. :)

Kenley tried sweet potato on Tuesday, she only took a few bites but she seemed to like it. I think I may have left it a bit thick for her though . All I did to prepare the sweet potato was roast it in the oven for 50 minutes at 400 degrees, then I just mashed it up. I love sweet potato so I ate what she didn't :). Next time I make it or her I will add a little breast milk or formula to thin it out. On Wednesday Kenley tried avocado, she only took a few bites but she didn't seem to not like it. Yesterday was the first day that we gave Kenley 2 solids meals, cereal for lunch and avocado for dinner along with her regular nursing of course. She seems to like the cereal more than the sweet potato or avocado just because she will eat almost the entire portion of cereal that I make.
So that pretty much sums up how Kenley is doing. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and advice and comforting words!

6 Month Check-Up

Kenley's six month appointment today did not go at all like I thought it would. As you can see in the picture below she weighted in at 11lbs 11.3ounces. Which means that basically she has gained no weight in two months. This puts her below the 0% on the percentile scale. This is type of thing is usually classified as Failure to Thrive. So basically if Kenley doesn't show a significant weight gain by next Monday she will have to be hospitalized and officially labeled as failure to thrive. The doctor told me that breastfeeding isn't working for Kenley and I need to completely switch her over to formula. I do not want to do this at all. It makes me so sad but obviously I want to do what is best for Kenley. At this point though I think that I will still continue to breastfeed her and then supplement with formula. If that doesn't help her gain weight this week then I will consider totally switching her over. There is also a tiny bit of a chance that the weight problem could be do to a heart problem so they are going to refer us to a pediatric cardiologist. Kenley had to have x-rays and blood work done today too. Here are some pictures of her getting her x-rays. It was so sad. The techs could not find Kenley's veins for the blood work so it took me holding her tight and 3 techs to try to get blood and even then they barely got any. She was stuck once in her left arm, twice in her right, and once in her heel. It was so pitiful. I didn't get any pictures of that ordeal, but here is a picture of her in her bandages.
She is still just such a happy baby, here she is chilling while we waitedI think that for future doctors visits I need to employ the buddy system. I am seriously going to get a reputation there! After the doctor told me about the weight problems, he was explaining to me the difference in formulas. In true Keri-at-the-doctors-office fashion, I started to get nauseous, dizzy, sweaty, and pale. I was no longer listening to what he was saying and I mumbled something about needing water. He made me sit down and had a corpsman bring me water and take my blood pressure. How embarrassing! I think that I am allergic to anything remotely medical. :)

I trust that God is in control. Kenley is His child. He will take care of us through this. May His will be done in and through our lives.

Your prayers are appreciated so much!