Week 4

The exciting event for Audrey during week 4 was going out to Grandma & Grandpa Price’s house for the first time!  Our uncles, Clint and Cullen, were in town for the weekend to pick up a truck they bought and do some turkey hunting, so we headed out there to visit on Friday and Saturday afternoon/evenings. 

Just chillin, taking in the country air! :)

Audrey got to meet the puppies, Bob and Joy.  Joy was not too  interested, but Bob thought she smelled DELICIOUS!

Grandma loved juggling both of her granddaughters!

Audrey went for her first wagon ride all by herself!! :)

Elena helped direct, of course!

Besides the trips to Grandma & Grandpa’s, this week has been a pretty nice, relaxing one.  Lots of eating, napping, and that’s about it! 

Luckily, baby girls look adorable when they’re napping!

Audrey did learn the dangers of sleeping face down on her pink blankie… check out the waffle print all over her face! :)

Life with two little girls continues to be exciting… Audrey is growing and changing by the day.  She eats constantly, so she’s really gaining weight!  I’m anxious for her next appointment to see how much she weighs now.  We go back next week, on the 5th, so I guess we’ll know soon enough!  She is awake more now during the day, which is fun.  She has big, bright eyes and is constantly looking around and moving while she’s awake.

She is just starting to take a binky occasionally… sometimes she loves it, and sometimes she gags herself and spits it back out immediately.  I’m going to start teaching her to take a bottle in the next week or two.  I already have quite a bit of milk stored up, so if she starts taking a bottle I’ll have a little more flexibility- I’ll be able to go to Sunday School, and Josh and I might get to go out to dinner at some point! :)  Ah, the little things…

Audrey is still a pretty good sleeper, she’ll give us 4-5 hours at night, which is pretty good for a newborn.  However, she is also the LOUDEST sleeper ever, so even though she doesn’t want to eat that often at night, we’re not always sleeping when she is, because she grunts constantly.  She sounds like The Hulk trying to get out of the swaddle, but even if we don’t swaddle her she makes the same noises.  So I’m more than ready for her to start sleeping through the night so she can go sleep in her own crib, instead of right next to our bed!! 

So, that’s about it for updates… and it’s time to feed the milk monster… off for another week of fun! :)  Another visit to Grandma & Grandpa’s, a trip to the doctor, her first softball game… Week 5 is shaping up to be an interesting one!!

Week 3

It’s hard to believe that Audrey is 3 weeks old already!  Time really flies… I am LOVING my time at home with her, both the days I have both girls, and the days it’s just me and Audrey.  It’s been very relaxing and a really neat time to just hang out with my girls! 

Not much exciting happened this week, which was kind of how we wanted it!  Since Audrey’s cord fell off last week, she did get to take her first bath this week!  She was hungry, so she mostly tried to nurse the head rest every time it touched her… but we had fun giving her a bath!  And, of course, it made for some cute pics…

 

On Saturday, Josh had a city-wide youth event, so we hung out with him in the morning, to help him get all ready to go.  Laney actually went to Tim’s house and was hanging out with Mallorye, but Audrey went with me to the BSU… and mostly just slept underneath the table the whole time.  One of the nice things about babies at this age! :) 

Even asleep and under the table… Audrey had a question!

Then, in the afternoon, Uncle Charlie came to visit because he was taking an all day test, and had a break.  He sure does love his girls…

It’s hard to get a good posed picture anymore…

Even though you can’t see Laney’s face, I thought this one was cuter!

Totally content with Uncle Charlie… or wondering how she ended up in a family of crazy people… sometimes I’m not sure with Audrey! :) 

Of course, being home with her all day everyday, I had to take a few pictures of just hanging around! 

 

Tummy time is very exhausting!

 

She’s a very content baby… just hanging out!

 

It is amazing how fast she is changing.  She is still giving us pretty good sleep at night.  It is definitely harder to sleep through all of the grunts and just random noises with her in the room with us!  But it’s pretty convenient to be able to change and nurse her without ever getting out of bed!  So, I guess there are plusses and minuses.

She is awake and alert more, which is fun.  Still not really making eye contact, at least not very often.  But she is very content when she is awake, only really getting upset when she is hungry.  Which is OFTEN- she’s definitely an eater!  She eats every 2-3 hours when she’s awake.  Guess I should be extra grateful for the 4 or 5 hours she gives us at night!! :)

That’s really about it… we are definitely enjoying our time at home, and I’m so grateful to have more time home with her.  It’s passing so fast, I’m so thankful I don’t have to go back in 3 more weeks, like I did with Laney. 

I did run into an old friend today, and she told me something that she heard when she had her second kid.  A friend of her’s sent her a card that just said “Two is different.”  And that’s definitely true!  I love having two kids, but it is different!  I took both girls to Walmart this week, and it went really well, but it was a little nerve-wracking, because it could have easily been awful!!  It’s hard to know who to pay attention to when they both need it.  I’m glad Laney is so independent, because she can pretty easily occupy herself, go to the bathroom by herself, get dressed (mostly), etc.  But when she doesn’t feel like doing something, she can be a stubborn little girl, and it’s hard to do much about it when I’m in the middle of nursing or changing Audrey.  Guess we just have to find a balance!  We’re redefining our family… of course it will take some time!  But we’re enjoying it, and I love watching Laney with Audrey- she is actually very sweet with her.  If Audrey is crying she’ll tell me to go check on her, or will give her her blanket, or binky or something similar.  She’s going to make a good big sister, that’s for sure! 

We are so blessed…

Week 2

Week two was a much calmer and more relaxing week for Miss Audrey (and the rest of us), thank goodness!  Therefore, there aren’t nearly as many pictures as last week, because we mostly spent this week hanging out, resting, and just getting back into a routine!  Which has been wonderful…

On Thursday, Audrey got to meet more family members- Tim & Mally came over to get to know the newest Looten, and brought us pizza for dinner (yum… love not having dietary restrictions anymore!).  We had a good time just hanging out, and Audrey seemed to take to Uncle Tim! :)

Holding his newest niece… she looks so tiny!

Audrey still spent quite a bit of time at the beginning of this week sunbathing, just to make sure we took care of the jaundice!

Friday we took Audrey back to the doctor’s office to check on her jaundice and weight.  She had gained 4.5 more ounces since Monday!!  So she weighed 6 lbs, 7 ounces… more than she weighed when she was born.  Her jaundice was pretty much gone, too, she was looking much more pink and much less yellow!  We were quite excited by how much weight she had gained, although I can’t say I was too surprised- she is definitely a good eater!! 

Since we were out and about on Friday anyway, we decided to show Miss Audrey off a bit.  After going out for breakfast (yay for biscuits and gravy!), we went to my mom’s office and to Josh’s office.  It was funny how many people wouldn’t hold her because she was so tiny.  I guess you just get used to them so fast…

Hanging out at Daddy’s office, I caught a napping smile!

 

This weekend, Audrey got to meet a whole slew of new people, and I totally failed on taking pictures with ANY of them.  I really thought I had, and then started looking and realized I had no pictures!  Guess I got so used to everyone ELSE taking pictures last week, and forgot that I needed to now that Jess isn’t around!! :)  Anyway, the Lootens came up to visit, so Audrey met Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Jessie, Kael, Leila, Jeff, and Connie!  It was quite the party with two toddlers, two infants, and all those grown ups! :)  We had a really good time, though, and Audrey spent most of the weekend doing what she does best- sleeping and eating!

Hanging out with Daddy at Grandma Jo’s house!

After our exciting weekend, the last few days of this week have been pretty calm.  Daddy had to go back to work on Monday, which was a bummer.  The three girls stayed home together Monday, and then Tuesday Laney went back to daycare, too.  She needs the routine and the time with other kids, and Mommy & Audrey need the rest!  Which is pretty much what we’ve been doing:

Being a two-child household has been an adjustment, that’s for sure!  I am very grateful for my wonderful husband, who has started doing so much with Laney, and really taken over taking care of her when he is home.  It is hard to balance a newborn who wants to eat every 2 hours with a two year old who has impeccable timing- as soon as I sit down to feed Audrey, Laney needs something!  But she is becoming much more independent (not that she wasn’t already!), and she really is settling in.  We’ve had much fewer power struggles this week.  And she is becoming way more interested in helping and playing with Audrey (and Audrey’s toys- we can’t keep her out of the swing!). 

Audrey herself is turning out to be a very content baby.  She is spending more time awake now, which is always nice.  She is a pretty good sleeper, too, which is AWESOME!  We usually put her down around 10, and she sleeps until 3 or 4.  And she usually goes back to sleep after I feed her, and gives us another 3 or 4 hours.  For a newborn, that’s pretty spectacular!  It is a lot different having her in the room with us; I hear every snort and snuffle and grunt.  I wonder how much of it I would hear if she was across the hall and I was hearing it all through the monitor instead!  Especially since she doesn’t really ever start crying- she wakes me up with just the grunts and snorts and a few fussy noises.  But I’m glad I don’t have to worry about her waking Laney up! 

During the day, she’s very content- she naps a lot, of course, but when she is awake, she’s pretty content to entertain herself for awhile in her bouncy seat or on the jungle mat. 

 

Mostly, we are feeling incredibly blessed to have two beautiful, healthy little girls!  It’s been quite the adventure! :)   

Week 1

Well, here we go again with weekly posts!  I hope I can stay caught up with them and two little girls!  :)  But at least the first week will be on time!!  Be warned, though, for half of her first week there were always 3 cameras going… so there are lots of cute pics!! :) 

The first half of Miss Audrey’s first week was spent in the hospital, obviously.  Even though we were far away from home, she had lots of visitors, just not the same ones we would have expected in Columbia! :) 

Mommy and Daddy, still in shock, but getting ready to head back to the operating room!

Newborn Audrey, when she finally stopped screaming!

Meeting Mommy!  A very tired mommy… :)

Grandpa Price got to be in charge of Laney that night, since Grandma came with us to the hospital.  They did really well, though, and Grandma & Grandpa brought Laney by the next day to meet Miss Audrey!  Laney was… not so sure about her.  She was interested in watching her, and looking at her, but not so much in touching or holding her.  And she was a bit on the cranky side, so Grandpa ended up taking her for a walk around the hospital.  But her world was turned totally upside down, so I couldn’t blame her for being a little cranky! 

Grandpa Price was happy to hold Audrey, though!

This lovely picture of Grandma & Grandpa with Audrey was taken by Laney, sitting on my bed.  It actually turned out pretty cute!

Josh’s cousin, Steve, who goes to school in Carbondale, so he got to be there Wednesday night, and came back to visit on Thursday, too.  He even bought Audrey a SIU Salukis onesie, and a Saluki duck to commemorate her being born in Carbondale!

Uncle Charlie, Aunt Ruthie, and Aunt Jessica were in Colorado, so they were driving to IL for Grandpa’s funeral when they got the news that I was in labor.  It really worked out well, because they stopped in Columbia and picked up the car seat, some clothes, and other stuff of Audrey’s that we hadn’t planned on needing in IL!  They got into town Thursday in time for Grandpa’s visitation, and couldn’t resist a visit to the hospital afterwards. 

 

Uncle Charlie, always a sucker for a baby!  He loves his nieces!

Aunt Ruthie!

 

and Aunt Jessica!

We got to go home earlier than we probably would have normally so we could rest awhile before heading all the way back to Columbia.  And, of course, I had to take a few going home pictures! 

All wrapped up in her pink blankie, ready to go!   Good thing Aunt Jess & Ruth thought to grab the bows! :)

All buckled into her car seat, with her Saluki duck!  It’s amazing how tiny she looks in that car seat!  Even the infant head rest is way too big!  But I know that she’ll be filling it out before I know it!

We spent Friday night and Saturday morning resting at Grandma’s house, and meeting LOTS of family members!  Everyone was really great, they took good care of me, and everybody loved on Audrey! 

My cousin, Corissa…

Laney, learning the ins and outs of burping a baby!  She kept saying “Burp for me” the rest of the week, because that’s what I was saying!

 

Meeting Great-Grandma Judy!

 

Hanging out with Aunt Jane

And my cousin, Beau, who proves that EVERYONE is a sucker for a new baby! :)

Since Aunt Jess was there, we had to have a newborn photo shoot… I did restrain myself and just put in my favorite pic… which was hard! :)

 

We did occasionally see eyeballs!  I had forgotten how much newborns sleep!  They’re really NEVER awake! 

Saturday, we made the long trek home.  It wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it would be… we stopped every hour so I could walk around a bit, but that was really not many more stops then we would have made anyway, with a two year old in the back seat!  We just stopped for a little longer each time.  Including the stop at Carter’s to buy Miss Audrey an Easter dress, since we didn’t plan on her being around for Easter, and all of Laney’s baby clothes are way too big on her… so we bought her a few little outfits, too.  Anyway, since we got home, we’ve been hanging out and enjoying some rest.  We went to church on Easter, and had a low-key lunch (thank you, KFC) and Easter egg hunt for Laney.  Audrey did manage to match her sister’s record- she didn’t miss a church service, because she wasn’t born in time for Wednesday, and we were there the next Sunday! :)  

Miss Audrey, all decked out for Easter Sunday!

Since then, we’ve just been getting to know each other.  It’s been awesome having Josh home for the whole week, too.  He’s been great at taking care of Laney, they’ve really had fun.  It’s been an adjustment for Laney, and we’re having some toddler issues, but she really likes Audrey.  And I think she will be better when she is in more of a normal routine- she’ll go back to daycare 3 days a week next week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).  It will be good for her to have some out of the house time, and away from Audrey time.  But, really, considering how upside down her life has been turned in the last two weeks, a little testing of boundaries is probably natural! 

And now some pics from our time at home…

Truman has adjusted pretty well to the new addition.  He figures anything that naps this much must not be all bad! :)

Bonding with Daddy and Laney

Audrey was just a little jaundiced, so she’s been spending some good, quality time in sunbeams.  Which makes for the most adorable pictures!

Ellen knitted this baby pod for Jess to use when she’s doing baby photo shoots, and we tried it out with Audrey.  Pretty cute!

 

Anyway, we really are settling in.  We took Audrey to the doctor on Monday, and she’d already started gaining weight, which is a good thing.  She was right at 6 lbs in the hospital on Thursday, and she was 6 lbs, 2.5 oz Monday.  They thought she looked really good, just a little jaundiced and, of course, a tiny little peanut.  But a healthy one, for which we are very grateful! 

She is a really good baby, too.  She sleeps 5-6 hours at night, which is awesome.  She nurses really well (hence the weight gain), which is such a nice thing, because I know not all babies do!  She is much quieter than Laney was.  We’ve taken to calling her squeak, because she is so tiny (as in, pipsqueak) and because she doesn’t really cry, she just makes these squeaking noises.  She has the longest feet and toes; even longer than Laney’s were. 

It’s amazing how fast you can fall in love with this little person who really doesn’t do anything but sleep and eat!  But she is definitely loved!  Such a miracle…