Additional Pictures of Kara's Party on 8/25/07

As promised, here are some more pictures from Kara's party that was hosted by Kristie Hadley and Rene' Haught--two good friends of ours. The food was great, and we really appreciated the support of our friends that were able to celebrate with us! Kara's Aunts--Krista and Karen, love to hold her!

Hennessey Family Trip to Capon Springs

Kathy's family planned a trip to Capon Springs during the Labor Day holiday weekend about a year ago. At that time, no one had any idea that Kara would be born in July and adopted by our family! And...no one knew that Krista would become pregnant and due to deliver within a couple of weeks! Capon Springs and Farms is a beautiful family-style vacation-place nestled in the Capon Valley in Hampshire County, WV. You can find their website online and learn about all of the interesting aspects Capon Springs has to offer. Traveling with 7 week old is interesting, and most of Kara's things filled the 8-foot bed of our truck! We needed her bassinet, her swing, bouncer seat, baby sling, diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, and lots of clothes. Tim, Kathy, Samantha, and her friend Kacy each had one bag a piece, and Kara had many! Kara did not adapt all that well to change of scenery while we were in Capon Springs, and Kathy and Tim did not get much sleep at all. Then Kathy became ill on Sunday morning--maybe from lack of sleep--who knows. We are looking forward to going back to Capon Springs when Kara is a little older! The food is absolutely delicious there--reason enough to go back.

Pictures: Kara with her first doll in the cottage at Capon Springs; Samantha in the spring-fed pool (freezing) at Capon Springs; Tim, Kathy & Kara on front porch of main house at Capon Springs; and Papa, Samantha & Kacy fishing at Capon Springs. Both Samantha and Kacy caught fish!!

More of Kara playing!

Daddy took some cute pictures of Kara having a good time with one of her activity gyms! Kara also gave Tim a really big, wonderful smile today! The experts say that around this age (7-8 weeks) the smiles are real...not gas-related. Later this evening when Tim was holding Kara, she started making cooing sounds, and Tim started mimicking the sounds. They went back and forth like this for quite awhile--and Tim and I were in tears because it was so incredibly sweet!

Kara, the Princess!

Of course we think our Kara is a little princess, so when Kathy saw this onesie at Target, that Kara is wearing in the pictures, she just had to buy it! No matter which way you look at it, Kara is "Always a Princess", and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Kara's lovin' her swing

We finally purchased a swing for Kara over the weekend, and she definitely loves it! Thanks to Tim's Aunt Susie for her generous contribution, which allowed us to get this "must-have" item for Kara.

Kara--all dressed up for her party!

Isn't she beautiful?! Kara was all dressed and ready to go to her party last Saturday, and we decided to take some pictures to show off her new outfit. Daddy picked it out--just for the special occasion! Two of our friends planned a welcoming party for Kara to celebrate her addition to our family. We'll post some pictures taken at the party later on.

Kara playing!

Kara really likes playing with her new playground activity mat! It's so much fun to see how excited she gets looking at all the patterns and colors, and listening to the music. The activity mat was given to Kara by Mrs. Young and Mrs. Prophater, my mother-in-law's good friends.

Kara's new sling

We purchased a baby sling for Kara yesterday and it's working great for her! She's like a pea in a pod or a cute bug in a rug!

Another new outfit!

Kara is wearing a darling outfit she received from Tim's Aunt Miriam and Uncle Gary in New York. Kathy decided to take a couple of pictures while Kara was calm in her crib right before her nap.

Delicious dinner!

Last night Mike and John fixed all of us an absolutely delicious dinner! We had fillets that were cooked just perfectly (with Bearnaise sauce), and a potato and watercress salad with a blue cheese/oil dressing. My mouth is watering again just writing about it. Well, Kara got a little fussy while we were all still eating, so Kathy decided to hold her. Kathy was a little creative (for a moment) and propped Kara on her chest with her bottom on the dinner table to eat a bite of steak. Tim snapped the picture of the pose!

Kara with her grandparents

We definitely had to post some pictures of Kara with her Grandma and Grandpa Lang! These are some good ones. We've had a nice time during their weekend visit!

Visiting with family from Ohio

Tim's parents, brother and sister-in-law arrived in town this afternoon. We had a wonderful dinner of margarita chicken, corn on the cob, and a grilled peppers salad (the salad was thanks to Mike). Tim's dad also helped with grilling the chicken. Tomorrow's dinner is all up to John and Mike, and we're sure it's going to be delicious! Everyone has enjoyed holding Kara, feeding her and just generally making sure she's content and happy. The pictures are: Mike (Tim's brother) with Kara, and Zoe (Mike's wife) feeding Kara.

Kara's appointment with Dr. Joe

We had Kara's 1 month well-baby visit today. She is 20 1/4 inches long (over the 50th percentile) and 7 lbs 10 oz (right above the 10th percentile). So that basically means she is average length, but still lower in weight than most babies her age. I say she is long and lean! :-) Dr. Joe seems to think that Kara has a reflux problem that is causing her to spit-up shortly after she eats (small amounts but sometimes through her nose). It may also be the cause for gas pains and her occasional choking when I lay her on her back right after eating. Kara prefers to sit up more in her bouncer or lay upright on her belly on my chest. Dr. Joe gave us a prescription for Zantac. Ironically, Samantha was diagnosed with a reflux problem about 1 1/2 years ago and takes a Zantac pill every day. Kara also has a blocked tear duct in the right eye--this is the same eye that Samantha's was blocked when she was a baby! Samantha had to have surgery on her tear duct when she was 13 months old, and again at 15 months old. We hope that Kara's opens up on her own before she is 12 months old. Dr. Joe gave us some antibiotic ointment to use in Kara's eye once a day to prevent an eye infection from the buildup of mucous that has nowhere to drain. Twelve years ago the doctor didn't do that, and Samantha had constant eye infections which made it look like she had a black eye. The doctor only prescribed the antibiotic drops after the infection was already there. Pretty interesting that Kara and Samantha have these things in common--even though they are not biological sisters. Kara also had her second Hepatitis B vaccination today and it was hard to watch her scream when she got the shot. We were told that next month at her 2 month-old well-baby visit she will receive four vaccinations--uh oh! It's easy to forget those nasty shots 12 years later!

Aunt Anne visits from California!

Tim's sister, Anne, flew in from California today to see Kara for the first time! Kara's middle name comes from her Aunt Anne. Tim's parents, John & Ellen, his brother, Mike, and sister-in-law, Zoe are driving in tomorrow from Ohio. We will have a house full of people this weekend, and it will be great!

What a cutie!

Kara is wearing a new outfit given to her by the O'Malley's, my sister Karen's in-laws. It looks so cute on her! Kara is lying on a really soft blanket given to her by two of my cousins families living in Illinois. We think Kara looks so adorable whether she is sleeping or wide awake!

Kara's birthday present to Mommy!

Kara gave her mommy the best birthday present last night! Kara, mommy & daddy went to bed at 11 pm and Kara didn't wake up for her first bottle until 2:45 am--she slept for 3 hours and 45 minutes straight! And...it happened to be Tim's turn to feed Kara first. Kara went back to sleep at 3:15 am and didn't wake up until shortly after 6 am. So, that means Kathy got to stay in bed a full 7 hours! For those of you who can remember what it feels like to wake up every couple hours to feed your babies, you know how wonderful it is to get that extra sleep.

We had a really good day today! Kara was sweet as usual, and we all went out to dinner at Outback to celebrate Kathy's birthday. Then we went to Dairy Queen for dessert!

Family Birthday Celebrations

Today we visited with all of Kathy's family at her parent's home in northern Virginia. We celebrated Kathy's mom's birthday (8/22) and Kathy's birthday (8/13)! We had a great time together eating, reminiscing, and playing with our two nephews, Aidan and Sean. They were in pictures posted earlier. Everyone loved holding and feeding Kara. It will be even more fun when Kara can get down there on the floor and play with the toys too! Kathy's youngest sister, Krista, is due to have a baby boy at the end of September. Kara and "baby boy" Jacks will be close to the same age, so they will spend a lot of time playing together!

Kara is 4 weeks old!

Hard to believe, but Kara is a already four weeks old today! Everything is going really well...Kara is growing and changing each and every day. She has longer periods of time when she is more alert, and is eating like a champ. We are having so much fun together!

Visits with Friends

A Our friend, Rene', came to visit Kara with her two daughters, Brenna and Kailan. Our friend & neighbor, Kristie, also came by for a visit today! Kara has some real fans even at this early age!

Cute beginning...

Kathy woke up at 7 am this morning, very surprised that Kara had not woken her up already! Daddy did the 2nd feeding from 2:45 to 3:30 (approx) am, so that meant Kara had slept 3 1/2 hours straight! Kathy peeked in on Kara to discover Kara hugging her musical giraffe attached to the side of her crib. It was so cute! Kathy was dying to take a picture, but she knew the flash would probably wake Kara up. Kathy woke up Tim, because he just had to see how cute she was with his own eyes. Then Kara woke up on her own about 10 minutes later!

Kara is having some more visitors this afternoon, so we'll take some more pictures then.

Sweet Kara

Kara had a really good day today. The new formula seems to definitely be helping. She happily played with her activity gym for at least 45 minutes today. The pictures are right after Kara had her evening bath and story time. She is quite content!

A new formula for Kara

The good news is that Kara has been really increasing her intake of formula at most of her feedings. The bad news is that it seems to create more gas...which means more discomfort for Kara. :-( We decided to contact Dr. Joe today because we just couldn't stand the idea of waiting till the next appointment on the 16th to get some advice on how to make Kara feel better. It's just too hard to watch her when she is in pain. Dr. Joe suggested we try Similac Alimentum Hypoallergenic Formula. So far so good. It is a little pricey compared to others because it's hypoallergenic, but it's definitely worth it if it makes Kara feel better.

Kara's new toy!

Yesterday, we put together Kara's new activity gym. It was given to her by our friends, Danny & Diana Wall. She really enjoyed it--especially the bright colors and patterns! She even got a couple minutes of tummy time. :-) Dr. Joe said she only needs a couple of minutes a day at this age. Kara is already a pro at raising her head off of mommy and daddy's chest!

If you have a weak stomach--don't read!

Well...Kara and soy formula do not go together. The first feeding was not a problem, but the next two definitely were. Kara displayed what they call...projectile spitting up--not vomiting--because it's just the formula. It went everywhere! The first time we didn't necessarily associate it with the soy formula, but after the second time, we knew there had to be an association. Kathy's only comparison is Samantha (who was on soy formula from 6 weeks on) and she did spit up...enough so that she always had a bib on. But what happened yesterday evening with Kara was HUGE, messy, and done with such force, that it was really scary! It even seemed like more came out than what she took in. Needless to say, we are back on the Enfamil Gentlease Lipil. We have another appointment with Dr. Joe on August 16th, and we will let her know that the soy did NOT work.

Kara is 3 weeks old!

Kara had her first appointment with her local pediatrician, Dr. Joe, this morning. She is doing great, and now weighs 7 lbs 1 oz! I forgot to mention earlier that Dr. Kohl's office (in OK) realized during her appointment on July 18th that Kara's length was measured incorrectly at the time of her birth. We were told that she was 19 1/2 inches long. On July 18th, Kara was measured at 18 inches, and the nurse said that she definitely didn't shrink! On July 24th, the last appointment with Dr. Kohl, Kara measured 18 1/2 inches, and today she was 19 1/2 inches long. Although it is normal for babies to lose weight after they're born, they definitely do not lose any length! Dr. Joe recommended that Kara start on a soy formula today because of her continuous problem with gas pains. She had her first 2 oz of soy formula at noon today and didn't seem to mind it a bit. We drink soy milk in our home, so we're glad she seems to like it. Dr. Joe said it will take about 48 hours on the new formula to see if it will really make a difference for Kara. We sure hope it does!

A visit from family!

Kara's Nana, Aunt Karen, and her two cousins, Aidan and Sean came to visit us today! We took some pictures (of course) to commemorate the visit. What a sweet angel!

Cute pictures of Kara

Some new pictures to enjoy!

Sleeping with Mommy

Tim caught Kara sleeping with mommy the other night. Pretty cute, don't ya think?!

Piggies, anyone?!

Beth Green reminded us yesterday at church that feet and toes are quite adorable! Here is a picture of Kara's!