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…