One Month Check Up!!

McKenna had her one month check up today. I have to laugh because she now weighs exactly what Christian did when he was born, it took her a month to get there. She weighs 9lbs 2oz. That means she gained half a pound this week. She is 21.5 inches long and she is in the 50th percentile for everything. Christian, of course, was in the 100th percentile for everything. He was a chubby boy from the start, but I'm very happy to have an average girl. McKenna's only issue right now is that she has cradle cap. It doesn't seem to bother her one bit, but it certainly annoys me, so if any of you mommies have an suggestions about how to get rid of it just let me know. From what I understand you just deal with it until it goes away on it's own. So anyway, we got a great report from the pediatrician (pretty sad when they know your child by name...and she's only a month old). Today has been a very normal day. Normal is good. We haven't had too many normal days lately, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!!

More than our fair share...

Yup, that's right!!! In my opinion we've had more than our fair share of sickness in the last month!! Pink eye, the horrible nasty flu, a killer stomach bug...and that's just the Chatterton family. My sister'sgirls both have strep throat and some weird virus that causes blisters to form on their throats. Emma is missing school for the third time today, so I've got all five kids and I'm trying to keep the healthy ones away from the sick ones. Thankfully PopPop (my dad) is on his way to my house to help out. He's going to take the sick girls back to their house. I'm just so nervous about having them around McKenna.

Only the grace of God is getting us through this. I seriously thought I was going to have a nervous break down on Sunday night. It's pretty terrible when you're throwing up and you've still got an infant to nurse, but thankfully God blessed me with a capable husband who didn't whine about being endlessly woken up.

Have you ever been trying to fall asleep and a song keeps playing over and over in your head? This happens to me quite frequently although the song is usually the theme song from the Backyardigans or Thomas and Friends. Well on Sunday night this is what kept going through my head over and over again..."Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will up hold you with the right hand of my righteousness." I have no idea where to find that verse in the Bible, I haven't had time to try to look it up, but it was a great encouragement to me.

I do need to take a second to shout out a quick thanks to two of Amy's friends from her church in Massachusetts. Kristi and Jenn came down this weekend to spend some time with Amy and they ended up extending their stay just to help take care of the sick kiddos so I wouldn't have to. Thank you ladies for being such a blessing!! We'll be praying that you both stay healthy and that you don't catch any of our nasty germs.

First Bath

McKenna finally got to enjoy her first real bath!! Her umbilical cord took over a month to fall off. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to come off, but it did and she can now get wet all over!

A big yawn.She wasn't so sure what to think when she first felt the water, but she never did cry. I think she enjoyed it.
Getting dried off.

A clean little cutie!

Ugh..

Now Christian and I have a stomach bug! We just can't catch a break. I am soooo sick of being sick and I'm longing for healthy warm days. It would also be nice to go to church again (haven't been in a month) or have a play date (hasn't happened since Dec.) or just be around people (doctor's and nurses don't count) in general!! Sorry for all the negativity, but this just stinks!

Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!

McKenna went to the doctor AGAIN today and I think it's safe to say that she has finally recovered from the flu. She is breathing clearly and here's the exciting part; she weighs 8lb10.5oz I'm so excited about her weight because it's been exhausting feeding her non-stop, round the clock. All my hard work has paid off. I still don't think she eats that well (it's a challenge to get her to stay awake for more than 3 min) but at least she's gaining weight and now weighs more than when she was born.
I have also fully recovered from the flu and so I've been enjoying being able to snuggle with my girl for the first time. You might remember that I caught pink eye while I was in the hospital giving birth to McKenna, so I couldn't kiss on her too much when she was first born. Then a week later I got the flu, so for two weeks I've been trying not to breathe on her. Now I am just loving being able to snuggle her and sniff that sweet new baby smell. Her hair and skin is so soft, I just can't get enough of my sweet girl.
Here's Auntie Amy, Abby and Nate with McKenna. This is how it usually goes; one person holds McKenna and a crowd quickly gathers around her. I got our high chair out (the seat reclines so a baby can sit in it) thinking that it would be a good place to sit McKenna during the day. It's rather high so the boys wouldn't be able to mess with her. Well, I was wrong. Yesterday the boys got the stools out of both of the bathrooms and carried them downstairs. I found them perched on their little stools with their hands and wet kisses all over McKenna. The poor girl never gets to sleep in peace.

Abby and McKenna.

Abby absolutely adores McKenna. She is always finding one of her toys to give to McKenna. It's so sweet. Yesterday it was a Polly Pocket car. She put it in McKenna's lap and I heard her say; "I picked this out for you. It's okay if you keep it forever."

Emma and McKenna

This is how Emma spends her after school time now. She eats a snack, does her homework and then holds McKenna until her mom comes to pick her up!

Christian and McKenna

Get Well Wishes for Olivia

Dear Olivia,

We just wanted you to know that we've been thinking about you and praying for you. Abby prayed for you at lunch today. It makes us all feel sad to know that you're sick and that you can't be at home right now. So we thought we would send you some cyber get well wishes. Christian wasn't really that interested in this project since he had just gotten out of time out. I guess that wasn't a very good time to try to get him to cooperate, but he loves you too and he prays for you at bedtime every night! We love you and so do lots of other people who check this blog! Get better soon.

Love,

Aunt Judy, Emma, Abby, Nate, Christian and McKenna

Take two...

Take three...

Olivia Updates: http://thechattpack.blogspot.com/

All together again!

Today was our first day to have Abby and Nate back with us again. I was a little nervous about this since Nate threw up last night, but he seems to be fine today. Christian definitely thinks that McKenna belongs to him. He is very possessive of her and doesn't like it when Abby and Nate try to give her love. He's finally gotten better about sharing his toys, so I guess I'm going to have to train him to share McKenna too!

I got a new game for us to play today. It's called Whack-a-mole. Each kid gets a hammer and wackes their mole when it lights up (this game is similar to something you might find in an arcade). It's hard to find games that 2 year olds can play and even though this one is recommended for ages 4+ it looked like something I thought the boys could play. Well, it wasn't quite as great as I thought it would be. Nate kept whacking everyones mole. This caused quite a fuss and eventually some crying. So Nate and I ended up watching Abby and Christian play.

We've actually had a really good day so far. McKenna has slept all day so that helps. Abby spent the entire morning begging me to let her hold McKenna. I wasn't going to let her because she's been sick and I wanted to make sure she was totally better before letting her hold McKenna, but I finally gave in. I left the room to get my camera to take a picture of Abby holding McKenna and about a second later I heard Abby hollering. I ran back into the room fearing the worst, but McKenna had just spit up all over Abby. This totally grossed Abby out and she assures me that she doesn't want to hold McKenna ever again. I'm sure she'll change her mind tomorrow.

Spring Fever

I totally have spring fever! Yesterday was such a tease...it was 64 degrees outside. When Emma got home from school we all went outside to play (even McKenna). I just enjoyed getting some fresh air and Christian actually got sweaty from running around so much. He had a lot of energy to burn off. I am ready for winter to be over. We haven't even had a big snow, but that's okay. We don't have to have a big snow every year. I'm tired of bundling everyone up before heading out the door. I'm ready for shorts, picnics, yard sales, bike riding, long walks, playgrounds, sprinklers, blooming flowers...

Christian getting a little muddy while digging under a tree.
I think Emma's a little too big for this slide!
McKenna's first time outside. It was a little windy, but it didn't seem to bother her. She slept through the entire experience.

Emma working on her cartwheel.