Everly Grace: 5 Weeks

Likes: going on 1st train ride, visiting the baby elephants at the zoo, outdoor concerts at the Levitt, dinner with Bobbob, visiting both sets of my grandparents, lots of smiles and cooing for my mommy

Dislikes: being hungry, mommy finding out her mole results and knowing that I will have to go through another day of bottle feeding, my 1 month old doctor's appointment (getting shots!)

I Dont Want to Forget a Thing

The other day I had a moment where I freaked out a little bit- I realized that I will probably never have another newborn.  Even though I am completely at peace with my family size, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I will never have that moment in the delivery room where I see my baby for the first time.  I will never feel a baby kick inside of me again.  I will never have the first day of my babies life back. And I realized that I don't want to forget a moment of this.  Sure, I would love for my baby to be born sleeping through the night (wouldn't we all?!?!), but that is also part of the joy of having a newborn.  Here is a sampling of what I don't want to forget.  

... the moment they laid Everly on my chest

... newborn milky smell

... the feeling when Everly first latched on

... rubbing my hands through all of the fuzzy, brunette hair

... perfectly manicured fingers and toes
... changing her first poopy diaper (what can I say, that is love)

... smiling while she drifts off to sleep

... grunting in her sleep

... the way her head flops (always to the left side)

... watching Emma smother her with kiss after kiss

... the way she arches her back when I wake her up to feed her

... watching her curl her legs into the froggy position

... snuggling after a feeding session
... watching her eyes roll back in her head as she drifts off to sleep
... Everly's chapped upper lip from nursing
... the first bath
... clenched fists
... watching fingers and toes fill out
... watching her when she startles herself- fingers and toes are out wide!
... the drunk milk look
... how tiny her legs were when she was born
... how much I despise the spitting up stage
... how much I love the first smiles and coo's
... how light weight she feels compared to a toddler
... how much I love breastfed poopy diapers
... how I love to take her picture in every single bow/headband I have purchased
... repeating over and over "hi Everly, I am your mommy"
... the moment they focus their eyes on you and you realize they know you are their mommy

There is no better feeling in the world than being these two girls mommy.  I am so blessed :).

Letter to Everly: 1 Month

Height: 21 3/4 inches
Weight: 10lbs 7.5oz (I think I may have finally gotten my chunky baby :))

Sweet Sweet Everly,

How are you 1 month already?!?! Time is flying by way to fast.  When you came into our lives one month ago, you completed our family.  We are still trying to figure you out and you, likewise, are trying to figure us out (especially that blonde hair sister of yours :)).  You started out the first month of your life with your days and your nights confused.  After a couple of weeks, you have finally figured it out and you will now have one part of the night where you sleep between 4 and 6 hours.  

You, sweet baby, love to do two things: eat and be held.  I feel like we nurse 100 times a day.  Daddy makes jokes that we nurse every 30 - 45 minutes.  That is ok with me, Everly, there is no better way I can imagine spending my maternity leave than breastfeeding you.  It is the best bonding in the whole world.  That and smooching the heck out of you which I tend to do right after we nurse.  You prefer to be held throughout the day especially when you are napping- occasionally, we oblige :).

You have been so many places and experienced so many things in your first month of life.  We are definitely not afraid to get out and about with you and go someplace everyday so that your sister has an "activity".  You have been to the zoo (twice), rode the trinity train, been to several different parks, several different malls and several different grocery stores (I think you agree with us that Central Market is your favorite).  You have also been to the doctor's office more than I can count.  Between your checkups, mommy's mole removal and your hearing tests- we have spent several hours in doctor's offices in August.

The best part of your first month is how much you have been able to hang out with your extended family.  You have seen both sets of your grandparents and your great grandpa several times.  Everyone that meets you- loves you :)

You have the best hair and so much of it- you take after me ;).  You gave us your first coos and smiles this month- I swoon every time you do this.

I want to soak in every single newborn moment of you- I love you dearly.

Love Always,
Mommy

1st Bottle

So far, all of Everly's firsts are just as exciting to me as Emma's- and that was no exception when it came time for Everly to have her first bottle.  Emma had her first bottle at exactly 2 weeks old- the pediatrician told us we could go for it, so we just decided to go for it.  I wasn't really planning on Everly having her first bottle that early, but due to my mole removal surgery we knew that moment would come sooner rather than later.  So at 2 weeks and 2 days we decided to prepare Everly for my day of pumping and dumping.  It was a sad, bittersweet moment for me as a breastfeeding mommy so of course I made Wes give Everly her first bottle.

I pumped the bottle to order so it would be the same temperature she was used too- she fussed around with it for a little bit and then took it like a champ.

Of course, Everly cant do anything by herself without her other half looking on bothering her.

And just like that, we were all set for our day of pumping and dumping :).

In case you were wondering, Everly did fine on the pumping and dumping day; I, on the other hand, shed a few tears the first time I dumped 8 perfectly good ounces of breast milk down the drain.  I am happy to report that Everly latched right back on the following morning and our breastfeeding journey to date has been smooth.  Now, I feel like I should go knock on some wood :).  

New Baby

And for once, I am not talking about Everly.  I started my maternity leave on my due date which left us with two weekdays before Everly's arrival.  On Friday morning, at 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant, we decided to head to the zoo to see the new baby elephant, Belle (and ohmygoodness, baby Belle was adorable and precious and made me long for my little one to arrive).  We stopped at Starbucks on our way to the zoo- I figured a little caffeine might make my own baby come- no dice.

It was raining pretty hard when we got there and we debated whether we should even go or not, but we just decided to go for it.  Daddy and Emma braving the rain.

Emma's favorite animal noise to make is the elephant- so we knew she would be excited to see one!

Mommy and Emma :).

The baby was hiding behind her mamma at first (you can see her right there in the middle- she looks like a fifth leg).

But then she came out to play!

She was so itty bitty in person- truly amazing!

My favorite moment was watching her nurse- I just couldn't wait for Everly to be born so I could be nursing her :).  It was one of those little heart melting moments.

The rain had stopped and Wes had gone out to the car to get our "real" camera.  Emma was holding onto me pretty tight when he got back- it was like she knew that in a few days she wouldn't be the only baby anymore ;).

After that we headed over to the reptile exhibit so Emma could see the fish in the aquarium.

Emma was pretty nervous, but she also "petted" a snake.  Here is Wes showing her the ropes.

I didn't catch the actual moment on my phone, but she touched the snake right before I took this picture.

After that- we headed home in order for Emma and I to take naps.  It was a great day spent as a family of three before welcoming our very own new baby a few days later.

Everly Grace: 4 Weeks

(note: lack of outfit due to 1st blowout during our 4 week old photo session :))

Likes: first coos to mommy and daddy, sleeping for six hours straight (hooray!), first trip to Starbucks, wearing her first party hat at Grandpa George's birthday, first Prochaska family walk (4+ miles)

Dislikes: taking a pacifier for longer than 5 minutes, not being fed every 45 minutes ;), being in her car seat while not being in constant motion

I Became THAT Mom

... you know the one that tries out different pacifiers just to see if her baby will take one.  Yes, I really never thought I would even have to become that mom.  With Emma, we registered for NUK pacifiers, that is what we were gifted and she took it flawlessly.  When we were preparing for Everly, I stocked up on some new 0 - 6 month NUK pacifiers.  Imagine my surprise at the hospital when Everly wanted nothing and I mean NOTHING to do with the pacifier.  I thought all kids liked pacifiers and it never crossed my mind that she wouldn't take the NUK pacifier.  After three weeks of failed attempts at taking the pacifier, Wes researched pacifiers and we headed to Target just to buy the soothie pacifier- it is supposed to mimic breastfeeding the best.  I anxiously waited until Everly woke up once we got home to see what the verdict would be.

Spoiler alert- she didn't love it, but she does take it.  And, she gets really frustrated when it falls out of her mouth which happens about every 20 seconds to five minutes.  So the pacifier saga continues.  Some people have asked me why I want her to take a pacifier so badly- the thing is I want something that will soothe her that is not breastfeeding.  A pacifier is what worked for Emma so I just assumed this will work for Everly too.  I feed Everly around the clock during the day and I know she is not hungry some of the times, but it is the only thing that will soothe her.  Baby girl needs another soothing mechanism :).

On a happier note, on the same Target trip, I bought Everly her first piece of clothing that is just for her (i.e. not a hand me down).  Another spoiler alert- this cute outfit cost less than the pacifier experiment ;).