Day 29 – July 8, 2012
Lilly is 4 weeks old today!
It is so hard to believe that it has already been 4 weeks since our
beautiful baby girl came into our lives.
Anyone who tells you that having a baby won’t change your life that much
has never had a baby. You may be able to
still go out and do a lot of the things you used to do, but I assure you, your
mentality and the way you think about EVERYthing changes. I feel like I look at the world in a
completely different way now that another person relies on me to keep them safe
and happy. I also find that the things I
valued and found important (besides the big things like friends and family)
have changed. Have a baby…you’ll see!
Today was a fun day because we went to see Jared and Carissa’s
new house! Addie was so excited to show
me the house that she took me by the hand and was leading me around. Their house is absolutely beautiful! Lilly then had some cuddle time with Carissa
(surprise, surprise I forgot to take a picture) and Addie and Drew were very
excited to tickle her feet J We all had lunch together while Lilly took a
nap and then Addie and Drew posed for a few pictures with Lilly before we had
to leave.
Lilly still loves taking naps with Mommy…or maybe it’s Mommy
who loves taking naps with Lilly? Either
way, they are great naps! It’s so nice
to just curl up and feel her heartbeat and cuddle with her warm, tiny little
body all snuggled up on me. I swear, I
will let her do this until she is a teenager!
Day 30 – July 9, 2012
Today was an interesting day. I had received a postcard from Sears Portrait
Studios with an amazing deal for a small portrait package for only $7.99 with
no sitting fee. Since Darren and I were
trying to find something to do each day, the price was right and I wanted to
get some cute newborn pictures of Lilly anyway, it seemed like a perfect
opportunity. We started out having to
wait while another family chose their pictures, so I snuck away to the bathroom
to feed Lilly. When it was time for our
session the photographer asked how many people would be photographed. I said I wanted one pose with all three of
us, but the majority of the session would be just Lilly. I really wanted a picture of the three of us
(I even did my hair that morning, which new moms know is a big deal!). After we took a few poses with the three of
us, it was Lilly’s turn. We decided to
try putting her in one of her really cute, frilly outfits for a few poses. The photographer sort of sat her on a bean
bag covered in a blanket and expected her to sit there with her feet crossed…right. I was getting nervous because Lilly did not
look comfortable in this position and she was starting to get fussy. So we tried a new outfit and a new
position. The photographer kept on trying
to tell Lilly to smile, which is hilarious considering she is 4 weeks old does
not exactly smile on command, plus the photographer was having Darren and I “pose”
Lilly but she was not always explaining things well. We were literally crawling around on our
hands and knees trying to put Lilly in these crazy poses and she was getting
more and more unhappy. Finally the
photographer asked if we wanted any other poses and I asked if we could get
some of the cliché (but completely adorable) naked, sleeping baby
pictures. These were BY FAR the easiest
poses and they came out the best for sure.
I am glad I spoke up and asked to do these poses, otherwise we would
have wasted a lot of time. Here is a
preview photo from our session:
Getting ready to go to our photo session
After we completed our portrait session, we grabbed some lunch at Greek Fiesta and then were going to Babies R Us and Target. Lilly was hungry, so I fed her in the car in the parking lot (our first time doing that). We stocked up on some wipes and diapers from the stores because they had some great sales and I had coupons J It was starting to storm, so we cut our shopping trip short and headed home.
When we got home, apparently lightning had shorted out our garage door opener and a few other minor electronics in our house. I was glad we weren't there when that happened. Our neighbor, Mike, came over to help Darren fix whatever they could while Lilly and I hung out in the house.
Cuddling up with Daddy after a long day
Finally getting a good nap
Here is a video clip!
Day 30 – July 9, 2012
I decided to go in to work for a meeting today, which left
Darren flying solo with Lilly. I was
completely confident that he would be fine, but it was hard leaving Lilly. I know it sounds crazy, but I miss her when I
just leave the room or when we go to sleep, so I knew leaving her for a couple
of hours was going to be tough (how am I going to ever go back to work???) Lilly and Daddy had a great afternoon while I
was gone.
That evening Michelle, Chad, Allie and Ryan came over for
dinner. It was great to all hang out and
everyone enjoyed some Lilly cuddle time J I was not
surprised when I had to cut my dinner short to give Lilly her dinner, but I
have learned that my meals go by her schedule, so it wasn’t a big deal. She cluster feeds in the evenings normally
anyway, so I was prepared for her to want to eat. The cluster feeding has been amazing though
because she sleeps for 4-5 hours at a time at night.
Ryan, Allie, Lilly and Aunt Michelle
Aunt Michelle is smiling because she can't see the stream of spit up coming out of Lilly!
Cuddle time with Uncle Chad
Darren entertains Allie
Even Daddy got his cuddle time
Day 32 – July 11, 2012
This morning we had some great tummy time with Lilly. It’s funny that she loves picking her head up
constantly when she is being held on our shoulders, but she is very stubborn
during tummy time. It’s a good thing
Aunt Jekah made Lilly this really soft and thick blanket that she can play on
so she doesn’t get hurt when she picks her head up and drops it back down.
Maggie was a great helper during play time
I am still loving Lilly's "monkey toes"
Here is more video, including a smile!
Here is more video, including a smile!
She deserved a nice nap after all of that hard work!
Getting ready to go out to dinner
Sitting quietly while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed dinner out
Lilly enjoying her first bottle (given by Daddy) at the restaurant
Cuddle time with Sonya
Day 33 – July 12, 2012
Today we went to get one of our favorite indulgences –
Biscuitville. Lilly has actually been
there with us once before, but I don’t remember if I documented it, and
obviously it’s a very important milestone!
We love Biscuitville. I don’t
know if there are any Biscuitville locations in the north, but it’s the best
place for breakfast…ever. Anyway, back
to Lilly: she behaved perfectly and allowed Darren and I to enjoy our
breakfast. She is such a great baby!
Sleeping at Biscuitville
After we came home our neighbor, Matt, let Darren know that
they were up for visitors. Matt and his
wife Sam had a baby 5 days ago and we were waiting to get the green light to come
and visit. We walked down the street and
were able to meet baby Clara. She is
absolutely beautiful and both she and Sam are doing very well.
Later that evening we went to visit Jess, Matt, Ana and baby
Emma. Emma was born about 10 days before
Lilly, so it’s amazing that she will have a playmate so close in age. The girls can’t really play yet, but we tried
to entertain them on Emma’s play mat.
Ana even got in on the action J It was great
to just hang out, have some pizza and catch up with our good friends. Also, it’s nice to have support from friends
who are going through the same experience (even though Emma is their second
child). We had such a great time and
look forward to many more “play dates” in the future, especially now that Matt
is on track 4!
Matt, Emma, Darren and Lilly
The girls posed for some pictures
And then Lilly had enough
Ana, Emma and Lilly enjoy some play time
Day 34 – July 13, 2012
After seeing how Lilly enjoyed the play mat at Emma’s house
yesterday, we remembered that we had one as well and decided to take it
out. Lilly really likes laying on it
after tummy time, especially looking at the part with the lights and
sound. It’s funny how entertaining it is
for us to just lay and watch her. We get
to see the world through her eyes, which is basically seeing everything for the
first time. I absolutely love every
moment we spend with her.
Later that afternoon we went out for our daily “outing”. This time we went to Starbucks to get free
drinks that they were offering between 12-3.
We tried their new “refresher” beverages, which were kind of “eh” but they
were free so it was ok. We really just
want to make sure that we get out of the house for something every day. As much as we love Lilly and love being
parents, it definitely turns your world upside down and some of the simple
things you take for granted, like going grocery shopping, become a little more
difficult (though not as hard as I originally thought).
Getting ready to go to Starbucks
Apparently the trip made her really sleepy
Play time with Daddy!
Enjoying her play mat for the first time
Day 35 – July 14,
2012
Our big “outing” today was going to Harris Teeter and
Walmart in Holly Springs. We ran into my
friend and teammate, Kim, and her son, Nathan, in the parking lot of Harris
Teeter, so that was nice. It’s also nice
to go grocery shopping with Lilly because she is so well behaved and everyone
comments on how cute she is (as if we didn’t know that). We also ran into a former student (future
student for Darren) and her mom in Walmart.
It was great to see her and she was excited to see Lilly again.
Getting ready to go to the grocery store!
I think this face says, "Really Mommy and Daddy? You're sticking me in this seat again?"
"Yay! I have a clean diaper!"
"At least for the time being...hehe"
"Mommy has no idea I am already planning my next move..."
"I am so excited to play with Mommy!"
"Is she going to let that big, furry, black dog play with us, too?"
"I'll give Mommy a big smile so she has no idea what I am about to do"
"Haha, I just pooped again!"
"Hey Mommy, it's time to change me again..."
We had some nice “tummy time” later in the afternoon to help
work on Lilly’s neck strength. She is
getting much better and even turned her head from one side to the other in one
motion today! That might not sound like
a lot, but we had never seen her do that before, so we were very excited. It must be a lot of work for her because she
was continually falling asleep and then getting back up and trying again.
Apparently "tummy time" really makes Lilly sleepy
No comments:
Post a Comment