Love, Katrina :)

Happy 2010!

2010-01-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I am excited to be updating this blog, and I apologize for it being out-of-date and for my Flikr pictures being incognito. I am working on fixing those again, but it will a work-in-progress for a good while. :)

We had a fantastic time visiting in Georgia over the holidays. We flew to Atlanta on Christmas Day, and the girls did really well with traveling. Overall, I do not think it could have gone better, and I am especially thankful that we all got to sit together on both legs of the trip!

It was a very special present for me to be able to see my family at Christmastime! I cannot believe that it was two weeks ago already! We got to see everyone on the Baldwin side of the family. I wish I had made time to squeeze in visits to my Torbush family, too.

We had a wonderful start back to work and for the girls in their new childcare situation this last week! I have a lot to be thankful for with all of that, and I am looking forward to at least entering one new post each month this year.

By the way, Mackenzie started really walking this weekend. She had been taking a few steps here and there, but now, those wobbly steps are carrying her all over the house. :)

Will write more soon... :)

Time flies... but we are the pilot :)

2009-09-19T14:08:00.001-07:00

My wonderful principal mentioned the quote behind the title of this entry the other day before a meeting. And boy, how time does fly... and now that I have a wonderful class of eighteen kindergartners (14 of which are girls!), time seems to zoom by way-too-fast.
Sydney is talking more and more, breaks out into song, 'reads' books to her babies, and laughs all the time while telling me something that we adults would find ordinary is "funny." Mackenzie is almost impossible to keep in one spot, as she now cruises or pushes her walker toy everywhere while making her happy noises. She is a little peanut, but like Ryan said yesterday, she doesn't know that, and nothing stops her.
This picture is from when family was here in July... over two months ago, which is hard to believe. It was like vacation for us, and we loved having them here and miss them all so very much! This picture is at our favorite park, and Sydney was having so much fun that she did not want to stop for a picture, thus the sad girl face!
Well, Mackenzie is crying out from waking up from her nap, so I had better let the beautiful craziness resume! :)

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

We are so thankful to have unbelievably amazing dads, and I am also very appreciative of Ryan for being the greatest dad ever for our girls! :)
Here are some pictures of the girls having fun... they remind me of what a joy it is to be a parent. :)

This is a toothless Mackenzie, taken a month ago- she now has two bottom teeth!

Mackenzie laughs with her face contorted like this all of the time, and it makes me laugh, too! This was her first time sticking her feet in the pool a few weeks ago... I cannot find swim diapers to fit her small size, so I hold her while she splashes her feet in the water. She is now all over the place crawling so fast... I have to be careful to keep a close eye on her. :)

Sydney loves playing with the watering cans and fountains at the children's gardens. She gets grimy and soaked, but also very, very happy!

Beautiful Timing

2009-05-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

For two school years now, I have not been in the classroom, and it has felt odd after teaching for nine years to have that break. I am so used to the school year schedule as a way of me keeping track of time passing that my regular calendar does not suffice, and I cannot believe it is mid-May. These two years have been so very full as we have been blessed with the two girls, and I have been working on earning a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction in Literacy as well as keeping in touch with the kindergarten team at Dunn as their mentor. My heart has often been divided as I long to teach and know the importance of being at home, too. Well, after a lot of prayer and the Lord opening the perfect doors, things have all worked out in the last week for me to teach a half-day kindergarten class in the afternoons next year at Dunn. My wonderful friend Carrie is going to keep the girls, even pick them up before she picks up her son at pre-school so that I don't have a hectic drop-off on the south side of town and then try to make it on time to school on the north side (she is amazing!). Last Thursday was my interview and hiring and I also doubled up on my last two Master's classes (they are doozies!) so that I will be done with that degree by July... which reminds me, I had better get back to work on my assignments! I have really grown to appreciate stay-at-home moms (and all moms, too), and I am very excited to teach at Dunn again and start my tenth year of teaching in August. :)

April Showers...

2009-04-04T11:11:00.001-07:00

...bring FROZEN May flowers!!! We have really been blessed, though, with three snow storms in a row in light of the low accumulation of snow that we had prior to all of this moisture. And with us having nowhere that we absolutely need to go today, I am really enjoying typing this on Ryan's laptop as I am all cozy under a blanket with my foot up and iced. I have been so thankful for how great my foot has felt, and since it is doing so well, I wore the special post-op driving shoe and took the girls out Wed.-Fri. in the afternoons to escape cabin fever. :)

Speaking of the girls, here is our big 5-month-old Mackenzie girl...

She is a roly-poly and does not stay on her back for long! She has started sleeping through the night (woohoo!) and eating better. Kenzie has been taking Zantac for a while, and we also recently did a GI test at PVH where she reluctantly struggled to take barium in a bottle, then a series of X-rays over 6 1/2 hours or so showed the barium passing through her system (thankfully Susue was here to help us or that would have been a really hard day!). The results were all normal, so we are unsure of why she has so many challenges in eating, but she is not spitting up now and feeds fine as long as she can turn her head all the way to the left.

And here is Sydney...

Syd is so entertaining and joyful! She has started using words to answer questions (no-no) or to ask for things (more), and we are still going to visit with a speech specialist in a couple of weeks just to see if there is anything else we can do to support her further. It is encouraging to hear her, and she wants to talk so badly! :)

By the way, if these pictures look better than our previous ones, it is because we have upgraded to a Canon EOS 50D, and Ryan is already working hard at learning how to make it perform its best. He took this one of me a little while ago...

The camera seems to be constantly in action when Ryan is home, so there is pressure to be presentable! Well, I know I have a hungry baby girl to attend to, so I had better stop for now, but with the miasma of picture-taking that is going on, I will post again soon!

Everything went great!

2009-03-16T21:59:00.001-07:00

Hey- thanks so much for your prayers and thoughts for today! It all went really well, and it's 11 p.m. here now and the anesthesia just started to wear off a couple of hours ago, so I have felt great. Ryan has been incredible at taking care of the girls and me, and we are looking forward to Susie coming! Don't tell Ryan, but I have actually enjoyed today. :) I have bigtime problems with never stopping working and that seems to have worsened with baby #2... there is just always something that needs to be done and I have trouble relaxing, so today, I had no choice, of course, but still could enjoy the day and do a few things. With my foot elevated with a pile of frozen veggies and ice packs on it, I have...

Held, fed, and played with Mackenzie lots - it's nice to not be in a hurry!
Colored with Syd- for twenty minutes or more - which I know I have never done for that long!
Read my schoolbook (Educational Psychology) and worked on my assignments - today I am actually learning and not just flying through it to get it done! (just three classes left until my Master's in Literacy is completed!)
Watched two episodes of Family Ties through hulu - I am a sitcom girl, but I am picky... my favorites are funny and have good values modeled (which leaves me longing for The Cosby Show, Growing Pains, and the beforementioned Family Ties). However, I have watched many of these reruns recently while folding clothes or whatever and know that I will be done seeing them all again too soon!
And I had a great Quiet Time with a lot of thankful prayer for how well the surgery went! :)

Well, thanks again! I had better conk out for the night!!! :)

Bunionectomy

2009-03-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Kind of a weird title for a post, huh? Well, on Monday morning I will be having surgery to correct a bunion that worsened during pregnancy. I wear arch supports, which totally ease the pain, but surgery for me is inevitable, so with Mackenzie being immobile and me not teaching at this time, we are going for it. I have been at peace about it until having the pre-op appointment today, which made it all sound a little scary. Basically, my doctor will break the metatarsal that has turned outward, reposition the bone, and put in a screw to hold it in place. If you could please pray for the surgery to go well with no complications with the procedure or anesthesia and for a not-too-tricky recovery, I would appreciate that so very much. I think the scary thing is going in alone. Ryan was by my side for the two C-sections, but who goes in with you for foot surgery? I know the Lord will be with me, and that gives me great peace. The first two weeks are the most intense for needing recovery time, and thankfully, Susie is graciously coming to help us!!! I will wear a special boot for every step I take for six weeks and cannot exercise during that period, with limited mobility for six more weeks after the boot comes off.
Hmmm, now you know all about bunionectomies! I am sure a recent picture of the girls would be more interesting than hearing all of this- thanks for reading! :)

Meet Happy Mackenzie!

2009-02-21T12:18:00.001-08:00

I just realized that I have done our younger daughter a disservice by only posting pictures of her that are not displaying her true personality, which is one content, laidback, happy gal! So please take a moment to get to know this sweetie pie- who, by the way, is becoming quite an alert and engaging conversationalist with her important baby chatter. She would enjoy getting to talk to you! She maintains eye contact so strongly that I feel rude if I look away! :)

The girls are wishing you a Belated Happy Valentine's Day in their Love Bug shirts! :)

It Takes Two :)

2009-02-01T10:14:00.001-08:00

I am writing this post right now, especially, knowing that Ryan will probably see this before he makes it back home to us tonight - he has a cool new app that tells him about updated feeds, and I know his iPhone is his loyal companion on the plane. He has been in Florida over the weekend, and since he left at 4:30 Friday morning, I think I have been living in slow motion... that can't possibly have just been the day before yesterday. :)
I have realized how much he helps me with the girls and house demands and attaining sleep, especially today as I continually fight to keep my eyes open. I know that I can crash out for 20 minutes right now, but I don't think that will help a lot, so I thought that I would write this instead. Mackenzie's appetite has picked up this weekend, which is great for a baby girl who would rather sleep than eat, and last night she ate at 8, 10, 12, and 5, and then Syd was up at 7ish, so you can understand why caffeine is not even really helping me today. :) Yesterday and Friday, I drank coffee and Diet Dew (which I never do), so that I could be a little more with it, and that helped a lot, especially so I could take the girls out of the house to go spend time Friday night and yesterday afternoon with some of the greatest people and friends that I know from working together at Dunn! :) (By the way, thanks so much, ladies, for all of those good talks - I had an absolute blast seeing you all!)
Anyway, back to the purpose of this post - Ryan, dear, if I fall asleep tonight right when we get the girls down, therefore not having a chance to tell you this - please know that I am so thankful for you. You are an absolutely amazing husband and daddy, and we love you very, very much. Oh, and, I don't think that you can leave us again for a long time to come... We can't wait to see you!!!!

Spaghetti & Smoothies & Great Memories to Come :)

2009-01-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ryan made us a delicious dinner of spaghetti and smoothies tonight, but I have to admit, as good as that was, my favorite part of dinner this evening was not the supper itself- it was having room for all of us at the table. Previous to a couple of weeks ago, we had been dining at the two-seater table that I had originally bought for my one-bedroom apartment when I first moved here. It was a great table with a lot of dear memories- I have often sat at it and reminisced about the night Ryan proposed to me across that table seven years ago- but, nevertheless, we have completely outgrown it, and I have desired a larger dining table for quite awhile now... and I am thankful we have one! I look ahead to all of the amazing times we will have there. I fondly remember the oval table where delicious meals, sweet conversation, and a miasma of Sorry and Uno games took place at my grandmother Weez's house when I was growing up. I hope that the girls have lots of treasured memories around this table one day. :)

Best Baby Inventions

2009-01-15T11:52:00.001-08:00

Right after Syd was first born, a dear friend asked me what my favorite baby invention was, and at that time I was not sure. Would it be the Boppy, Bumbo, or Bjorn? (Seems like most baby products are alliterative and must start with 'b'!) Now, 18 months in, my two favorite inventions are disposable diapers and the washing machine, but quickly following those two is our Phil and Ted's Sport Double Stroller. It is so handy, stable, and easy to push. It also is fun to see people realize that Mackenzie is hiding below Sydney. We are crazy about it and love that we are not obnoxiously wide when shopping with the girls and can navigate easily. Here are a couple of pictures of the girls in the stroller. By the way, these were taken on Christmas Day. We had a little bit of a white Christmas (on the ground, at least). :)

Learning a lot!

2009-01-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have a lot on my mind tonight, and thought writing it out might help me to start fresh tomorrow! First of all, I am so thankful that Sydney is close to the end of being over a very rough bug that she has had since Thursday. The first three days of it, she could not keep any food and barely any liquids in her system, and needless to say, we have been cleaning a lot of laundry and carpet from the aftermath of that all. I took her to the doctor on Saturday, which was good to find out that she was doing okay in the midst of it, because that night she kept throwing herself down and crying out loudly for quite a while. She also did that a bit the days before, so we had learned that distraction was healing and are ever so thankful for the Wiggles. (Incidentally, each time we let her watch T.V. and she is obviously tuned into it, I hear the American Academy of Pediatrics quoting in my head that television viewing is not recommended for children under the age of two. :)
Oh, and I should mention that I am thankful that I did not get that horrid bug, but am especially thankful that Mackenzie came through unscathed. Sydney still does not have her appetite back and has lost a little weight and is not 100%, but is so much better. I will be wiping down high chairs with antibacterial wipes and using her placemat when we eat out from now on, in case that is how she got it. Ryan was down and out with it over the weekend, and we are so glad that he had a quick recovery.
Mackenzie is doing so very well, but she continues to throw up a bottle a day, sometimes every-other-day, and it is usually without warning. It can occur during a feeding or minutes afterwards. At her well care exam today, I learned that babies do that sometimes and that there is no concern since her weight gain is good - oh, and she is up to 9 lbs., 10.5 oz. I am hopeful that we can help her keep that food in her and that this will get better and better. It can be hard when Syd has hung out with us during the first feeding, the clean-up, and then the re-feeding, but she is such a sport, she usually grabs wet wipes and starts cleaning! :)
Passerbys at stores would often tell me when I was pregnant that I would be busy when baby number two arrived, especially with the girls being 16 months apart, and I would nod and smile. And now, sometimes, I feel like I fight to keep a smile on the inside in all of the busyness all day long. I am used to running around busily from teaching, but I could go home and rest all evening long if needed. I think starting my new Master's class this week in conjunction with everything at home has been a lot and I really want to learn from these experiences - to be joyful in the midst of the craziness and to enjoy being the mommy to these two precious girls. It is already going so fast... All of this keeps me praying a lot, and one verse in particular has been on my heart as the Lord encourages me throughout the day -
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness... boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Cor. 12:9)
Well, I do feel better after getting all of that out. Thanks for listening. Oh, and I never posted Christmas pictures, so here are a few... looking at them tonight reminds me that I have a lot to be truly thankful for...

Baby's Got Blue Eyes :)

2008-12-20T16:20:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since writing... it's been crazy at times, but oh, so good! Mackenzie's eyes are getting bluer each day! She was a whopping 8 lbs., 12 oz. on Wednesday! Sydney loves helping take care of her sister - grabbing me a burp cloth when needed or taking her stuffed animals out of the baby swing when it is Mackenzie's turn! By the way, now that Syd knows what to do with a baby, her dolls get the royal treatment. I laugh at seeing them get burped (quite strongly with sound effects at times!), attempts at diaper changes, and on their stomachs for tummy times on blankets on the floor! Here are some more recent pictures...

Big enough for the Bjorn!

2008-12-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

The wind was piercing yesterday, but we wanted to get out and take the girls to grab groceries. We knew Syd would need to be in the front of the cart, but what to do with Mackenzie? Bjorn to the rescue! I was so excited that she could fit it in already and am looking forward to using it around the house. The shopping trip was great and I got to snuggle with Mackenzie the whole time and keep her warm, too. :) By the way, Super Target's grocery prices are unbelievably inexpensive compared to what we usually pay and will be our grocery supplier from now on.
Here are a couple of more pictures of our growing baby girl...

Getting so big! :)

2008-11-28T09:52:00.001-08:00

This picture is from when Mackenzie came home for the first time back on November 7th! I have to give the picture integrity, though, by letting you know that Sydney is reaching for the car seat straps - thus the reason for her joy - to get to check those out!
Last Tuesday, the 25th, at Mackenzie's weight check, I was blown away when she was at 7 lbs., 9 oz. That is a pound more than her birth weight, and truly, since her weight went down and all after her birth, she gained that pound in about 10 days! That was really encouraging, because feedings have been laborious at times lately. It is an absolute gift of grace that Mackenzie loves to sleep so much, but she started not being attentive enough to nurse last weekend (seemed to be holding out for the much easier bottle that we were needing to supplement with), and feedings were taking an hour to an hour and a half - mostly to keep her awake to feed. In light of that, we are transitioning to her taking the bottle only, and I am bummed and having a hard time letting go of nursing. I know that it will all be good, though. I am so glad that she is doing so well, and want to do whatever is needed to keep that growth going!
I will aim to get some current pictures of her on here soon! :)

Mackenzie's Birth Story :)

2008-11-11T21:34:00.001-08:00

We are so very happy to introduce you to Mackenzie Elise Korzyniowski! She is eight days of age today! Here is her special birth story...
On Monday, November 3rd, I started having regular contractions in the morning and felt like she was on her way. After a labor check that afternoon, we found out that I was in early labor and that we needed to go on over to the hospital to deliver the baby. We had a c-section planned for Friday, but Mackenzie couldn't wait that long to come! The c-section went really well, and I was so thankful to hold that baby girl for the first time. She was born at 8:23 p.m., weighing 6 lbs., 9 oz., with a length of 18.5". She stayed in the room with me the whole time, and it was so enjoyable to spend so much time together in the hospital, for I did not get to do that with Syd due to her being in the NICU. I was looking forward to being discharged on Thursday morning, but an infection developed above my incision Wednesday night. After 36 hours of periodic doses of IV antibiotics, it looked much better, so we came home early on Friday afternoon. I was so thankful that my dad could come to see us in the hospital and be with us over the weekend!
Now, here we are at home, a dear family of four. The hours of breastfeeding are pretty tiring at times, and we are needing to supplement for her to get what she needs. I will keep trying a little longer, but am not going to stress out over it like I did with Syd! :) We are so glad that Susie is here to help and be with us at this time. Without her amazing help with Sydney and everything else I don't think I would be able to give breastfeeding a shot or have time to rest. :)
Mackenzie is a gift from the Lord in so many ways. She is precious, healthy, a snugglebug, and (so far) one laidback baby. She loves to sleep and needs coercing to wake up. There were so many challenges last year with Sydney's first few months - it really makes us appreciate this great start! :)
Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and prayers! We can't wait to introduce you to her in person! :)

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

Sydney made Halloween a treat for us this year - she was so funny in her puppy costume! We visited Dunn's parade on Thursday, trick-or-treated at Ryan's work Friday afternoon, and went to a few houses in the neighborhood that night. This was the first time that Ryan and I got to take her out for trick-or-treating, and there was just something so special about heading out with her, with her cat flashlight's beacon lighting the way, and seeing her experience it all for the first time! :)

New hardwood floor :)

2008-10-31T13:10:00.001-07:00

Ryan and Kelley, our wonderful neighbor, installed hardwood floor in our living room and dining room areas last week. I was always a big fan of our carpet, but too many baby food stains quickly convinced me that a change was needed! I am so thankful that Ryan kept encouraging us to do this! Here are pictures to show the changes...

Before...

During...

After...

Will Mackenzie's birthday be November 7th? :)

2008-10-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

At my doctor's appointment today, we scheduled the C-Section for next Friday, November 7th at noon!!!!! I will be 38 weeks tomorrow, and am amazed to have made it this far... I know that so many of you have been praying for us, and I cannot tell you enough how much that means to us, and I know those prayers are being answered. My blood pressure and swelling have been so good this time around, and I am thankful that the preeclampsia from last time is not coming back! I am a little nervous that labor may come before November 7th, but I know that all of the timing of this is in the Lord's hands, and my nervousness is definitely eclipsed by excitement (and weariness at times!). So, this baby girl on-the-way has had lots of time to grow and thrive throughout pregnancy... she keeps pushing her body parts out of my very rotund belly. We are so excited to meet and hold this precious girl in eight days! :)

Fall color - quickly passing

2008-10-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

I ran out yesterday to take pictures of the backyard since cold and windy weather was on its way. I knew that the leaves would be gone if I waited too long, and sure enough, the trees are almost bare today from the wind. Fall in its beauty passes fast, and I bet we will have snow before too long!

Trip to the zoo and gardens

2008-10-22T16:25:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken a while back at places we visited in September, but I thought I should put them up. I am in the process of backing up pictures and cleaning off my memory card - it still has pictures of Sydney's birth on it! I will try to be better about trusting my pictures of Mackenzie to I Photo, the backup hard drive, the blog, etc., but I bet I will clutter the memory card once again!

Great visit to Nashville! :)

2008-10-05T10:10:00.001-07:00

IMG_8656.JPG, originally uploaded by skorzy.

We were so glad to be able to be with all of our Korzyniowski family last weekend to celebrate Bob's 65th birthday (and Eric and Ryan's 32nd birthdays, and all three gentleman share the birthday of Sept. 23rd- which is really cool). Sydney did so well - just was worn out on the return flight and tricky to console to where we overheard the people in front of us ask to be moved - to no avail. We were so glad to get to see everyone before Mackenzie comes and travel won't be so easy for a while. There are lots of pictures on Susie's website of Bookworm Confessions, so to see more, please follow that link. :)

No stopping me now! :)

2008-09-15T21:32:00.001-07:00

Playground playtime

2008-08-20T20:44:00.001-07:00

Sydney has enjoyed lots of time this summer at the amazing playground down the street from us. She really enjoys this tunnel and is quite the explorer... which keeps me on my toes! Here are some pictures from her adventures there today. :)

Wild child!

2008-08-20T20:41:00.001-07:00