4-6 week peak of frustration

So, Khloe will be 4 weeks old tomorrow ... and a month old on Friday. I know that the 6 week mark will throw us a growth spurt and probably several days of crankiness and ill sleep schedules. I think it has already begun. So far in her life, Khloe has been an excellent sleeper. In fact, she has really stuck to a great schedule and given us little to complain about. Then last night hit ... she was super gassy, and pushed and grunted from about 2:00 a.m. until she decided it was time to wake up at 7:00 a.m. I was pretty tired, needless to say. Then she didn't want to take her first nap ... or her second nap ... by her third nap, she had "semi-napped" in her swing twice already. I thought for sure she would crash. It took a little bit, but she finally slept for a couple of hours (a little restless but she slept none-the-less). This evening she took a short cat-nap in the swing again, and when it was time for bed ... she slept in my arms but refused to sleep once put down. Plus, she had just eaten and no more than an hour and a half later, she was ready to chow down again! I fed her at 8:00 p.m., and finally got her to fall asleep ... by 9:25 p.m., she was crying and rooting! I fed her a bottle this time, because I'm starting to feel like maybe I don't have enough milk for her when I breastfeed, and maybe that's why she's not relaxing and able to rest. She drank 3 1/2 ounces of breast milk that I had pumped a couple of days ago. Then she fell asleep in my arms. As soon as I put her down, she woke up, and now she's crying ... and crying. You may be thinking ... maybe she needs to burp. Nope! She let out a huge burp right after she finished feeding. Clean diaper? Check. Overtired? Maybe. I am overtired, that's for sure. I know that after about the 6-week mark, Colton really started to settle into a great routine--even though, he still woke up during the night until 3 months. I am hoping that these next couple of weeks may bring me some hard times, but after that 6-week mark, she settles into a routine again. She was doing so well! I was feeling so good about it. Now, I'm feeling very frustrated. She's asleep now ... all I can pray is that it lasts longer than one hour.

I'm feeling like I should pump more to see exactly how much I'm producing, because obviously she is needing more milk than I seem to be providing breast feeding. Right now, I am pumping once a day ... right before bed. I get 3 to 3 1/2 ounces total (from both sides combined). She drinks all of that in one bottle during her dreamfeed. But I know that the fuller side usually only has 2 to 2 1/2 ounces in it. Maybe she needs more than 2 to 2 1/2 ounces. I am currently only feeding her from one side at a time. Maybe I need to feed her from both sides. Maybe she should finish one side completely and then drink from the other side until she's full. Then start on the opposite side each time. I don't know what the answer is ... I just feel like something isn't right in my current situation. I do remember hating this part with Colton. It was so much easier once he turned one!

On another not so frustrating note, Brenda and Gerson came to visit us this past Sabbath. It was nice to see them. Brenda is looking good as she is entering her third trimester. Only 12 more weeks before baby Araujo is due. Pretty exciting! Brenda trained some of her Mommy skills by holding Khloe while she was here. It was a fun day.Cute picture!
This is Colton's current love. He pushed it a little bit while Brenda and Gerson were visiting. He could push this thing 24 hours a day!Colton had fun with them here, too.

For dinner that night, he had some yogurt. He's pretty good at eating yogurt on his own, but sometimes, he gets it everywhere! He's too cute!

Today, Colton wanted to hold Khloe, so I put her on his lap. He was good ... took a few pictures then attempted to slide her off of his lap saying, "I'm done. Move Khloe." Don't worry! I was right there; I grabbed her before any harm could be done.Isn't this the cutest!?!

He is a cute big brother, though. Whenever she is crying, he says, "It's okay, Khloe. It's okay." Then he looks at me and says, "Khloe is crying. She's (mad, sad, hungry, sleepy)." He loves to touch her and tickle her feet. I love to see how great he is with her.Colton's finger in her ear! He has to touch her!>Big boy smile for the camera!

Last night, Colton took a bath with Daddy in the big bathtub. He had the best time! He splashed and splashed with Daddy ... I guess it was like being a pool for him. Today when I was getting ready, Colton even reminded me that he took a bath with Daddy last night. He said, "I took a warm bath with Daddy!" I said, "Did you have fun?" He said, "Yeah!"Splash time!

Khloe finally had a bath this week where she didn't cry even one time! I was so happy to see her enjoy her warm evening bath. She just seemed so peaceful, and that felt good.All smiles!

She's getting to be pretty big. She's probably over 10 lbs. by now. Billy will weigh her on her 1 month birthday on Friday. Today she wore her first 0-3 month jammies instead of newborn jammies. She is getting to be a bit long for the newborn jammies. That's sad ... and exciting. I thought she smiled for the first time today, but Billy said he doesn't think it's a smile. He thinks she's just making silly faces again. I guess I won't mark it down as the first time she smiled quite yet.Smiles?Big girl in her cute dress!

This weekend, we are planning on going to a pumpkin patch. I'm really excited! They, also, have an animal farm there. I think Colton will really like to see the animals. Plus, we haven't bought our pumpkins for this year, so it will be nice to pick out two good sized pumpkins for the kids. I think we'll have a good time.

I sent out Khloe's birth annoucements this week. I'm excited, because I love how they turned out. Here's a sneak peak!

I'll take some pictures of Khloe on her 1 month birthday ... hopefully in the outfit she wore to my sister's wedding, since I didn't get any good pictures of her in it on that day. Wish me luck and pray for me as I figure out this little girl and her newest changes!

I'll close with this video of Colton praying for his meal. We're still working on getting him to understand closing of the eyes, but the prayer is pretty good. Here's the translation: "Dear Jesus, Thank you for the food. Help it to strengthen my body. In Jesus name we pray, Amen."