Without a doubt, this past year was the hardest, most difficult, challenging year of my life. I want to shout from the roof tops "We made it! Everyone is alive AND well!" Seriously, "alive and well" is a huge accomplishment. I didn't understand the true meaning of "muster" until this past year where nearly every day is full of mustering! Here's a quick recap of the past year in the McKay household. It all started with Judson's birth and almost dying of a ruptured uterus. And then there was the c-section recovery and I couldn't lift the older two kids for six weeks. And Judson did not like to sleep when he was a baby. Really, he's just now getting the hang of the whole sleep thing. The first eight weeks were brutal. And I haven't even mentioned the spit-up. At one point around four or five months, Judson was spitting-up about 80 times a day. It was nasty. And his constipation and the switching of his reflux medicines and breaking up with our pediatrician. In June, we gutted the upstairs bathroom at the old house and re-did it ourselves. And then in mid-August we decided to put our house on the market. Meanwhile Gus and Lucy started back to pre-school. Gus gave up his pacifier and started potty-training. But Gus' version of potty-training was going off and pooping in corners while I wasn't watching, all while we were showing the house. We had the drama of the buyers not being able to get financing and going through three lenders and moving. Then we went to Disney World for a week. And then in March we helped my mom find a nursing home for Jim and moved him in. Talk about emotional. There's a lot of little things I left out, but those were the big ones. We survived and we're happy. That's an accomplishment.
Now Judson is one. We love being a family of five. Sometimes we have just two kids (usually Judson and one of the older two) and it is the weirdest feeling not having our whole brood together. Judson is such a sweet, sweet, happy boy. He adores Lucy and Gus. No one can make him laugh harder than Lucy and he thinks Gus walks on water. I was so worried about how he would fit in with our family dynamics, but it all worked out. He's definitely spoiled. All of us dote on him non-stop. He's cruising along everything and taking a step or two to get from one piece of furniture to another. He says, "Mommy, Daddy, Ball, Bath, Bye (with a southern accent)" and a few other random words. He's very social and adjusts well to schedule changes. I guess that's the beauty of being the third child. At his one year appointment he weighed 17lbs. 13 oz ( triple his birth weight), which puts him in the "less than 3 percentile" category. He's 28 1/2 inches tall, which is the 10th percentile, and his head crown is in the 20th. He's a tiny kid, but man can he eat. He usually eats more than Lucy and Gus at every meal. And he drinks a ton of whole milk. Hopefully, he'll start packing on the pounds soon.
His birthday party was fabulous. It was the typical McKay first birthday party that lasts exactly one hour. People come, sing
Happy Birthday, and eat quickly. We had his party on his birthday and it was glorious outside. We had tables set up outside, the kids played. It was such a great celebration for our family. It really does take a village and this past year I realized how much help we need. I am so grateful for everyone in our lives that have helped us along the way.
Without a doubt, this past year was the hardest, most difficult, challenging year of my life. I want to shout from the roof tops "We made it! Everyone is alive AND well!" Seriously, "alive and well" is a huge accomplishment. I didn't understand the true meaning of "muster" until this past year where nearly every day is full of mustering! Here's a quick recap of the past year in the McKay household. It all started with Judson's birth and almost dying of a ruptured uterus. And then there was the c-section recovery and I couldn't lift the older two kids for six weeks. And Judson did not like to sleep when he was a baby. Really, he's just now getting the hang of the whole sleep thing. The first eight weeks were brutal. And I haven't even mentioned the spit-up. At one point around four or five months, Judson was spitting-up about 80 times a day. It was nasty. And his constipation and the switching of his reflux medicines and breaking up with our pediatrician. In June, we gutted the upstairs bathroom at the old house and re-did it ourselves. And then in mid-August we decided to put our house on the market. Meanwhile Gus and Lucy started back to pre-school. Gus gave up his pacifier and started potty-training. But Gus' version of potty-training was going off and pooping in corners while I wasn't watching, all while we were showing the house. We had the drama of the buyers not being able to get financing and going through three lenders and moving. Then we went to Disney World for a week. And then in March we helped my mom find a nursing home for Jim and moved him in. Talk about emotional. There's a lot of little things I left out, but those were the big ones. We survived and we're happy. That's an accomplishment.
Now Judson is one. We love being a family of five. Sometimes we have just two kids (usually Judson and one of the older two) and it is the weirdest feeling not having our whole brood together. Judson is such a sweet, sweet, happy boy. He adores Lucy and Gus. No one can make him laugh harder than Lucy and he thinks Gus walks on water. I was so worried about how he would fit in with our family dynamics, but it all worked out. He's definitely spoiled. All of us dote on him non-stop. He's cruising along everything and taking a step or two to get from one piece of furniture to another. He says, "Mommy, Daddy, Ball, Bath, Bye (with a southern accent)" and a few other random words. He's very social and adjusts well to schedule changes. I guess that's the beauty of being the third child. At his one year appointment he weighed 17lbs. 13 oz ( triple his birth weight), which puts him in the "less than 3 percentile" category. He's 28 1/2 inches tall, which is the 10th percentile, and his head crown is in the 20th. He's a tiny kid, but man can he eat. He usually eats more than Lucy and Gus at every meal. And he drinks a ton of whole milk. Hopefully, he'll start packing on the pounds soon.
His birthday party was fabulous. It was the typical McKay first birthday party that lasts exactly one hour. People come, sing Happy Birthday, and eat quickly. We had his party on his birthday and it was glorious outside. We had tables set up outside, the kids played. It was such a great celebration for our family. It really does take a village and this past year I realized how much help we need. I am so grateful for everyone in our lives that have helped us along the way.
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