while she is sleeping...life updates with pictures

Life has not been the same since January 21..and it has been an amazing journey.

 45 minutes old

I just had my 6 week check-up with my OB/GYN. I am sad the leave their office - they are an amazing group of women that have walked with us and our OB has been more than amazing in taking care of us and our daughter. I can't say enough good about their office! Hopefully now that my body has carried full-term, it knows what it is supposed to do and we can have more children down the road...a while down the road!

8 days old

Our good friend, Shelly Valentine-McCrady, offered to do a portrait session at her mom's house for us. To say it was enjoyable was an understatement. Shelly was so great with a somewhat-cranky Moira who refused to nap that morning (of course) and who also decided to pee numerous times on mommy, daddy, the blankets and on the kitchen floor (sorry!).  You can view Shelly's favorites at her photography blog here: Shelly Valentine Photography  We had a great time catching up with Shelly (the three of us had gone through school together from 3rd grade on and her mom was our long-term sub during the end of our 3rd grade year) and seeing her gorgeous daughter and mom. Thanks again, Shelly!

(almost) 1 month old

Moira is now 7 weeks old and doing fabulously.

• She is nursing like a champ (and has been, really, since birth.) and we are truly blessed to have breastfeeding working out so well for us. She was back up to her birth weight a week (to the day) after birth and  at one month, was 9 lbs. 9 oz.  We go at the end of March for her 2 month check-up and I'm excited to hear how much she's gained/grown. 

• Her hair, depending on how you look at it, can range from blonde to a light brown to a deep red. Her eyelashes have gone from white blonde to an auburn color. She is losing some hair but we're thinking she'll have some red in it when we're all done :) 
• Her eyes were the most piercing bright blue color I have EVER seen on a newborn but have darkened considerably since then. We're guessing they'll be a dark hazel or brown by the time they're done changing.

• She is starting to smile at us and while she still doesn't like diaper changes, she has decided that smiling at mommy/daddy during them makes them a little more tolerable.  

• She loves bath time so as long as the water is warm and her belly is covered. 

• She has grown out of her newborn clothes and socks (goodness, she has HUGE feet - between my wide feet and Caleb's size 15 foot...) and is now in 0-3 mos clothing as well as some 3 mos.  The 3 month clothing is a bit too big but it's what we have to work with - some of the 0-3 mos sleepers from Gerber are getting too short for her legs, so I think we're going to try to stick with Carter. 

• She is showing us a sort-of sleeping schedule that *hopefully* sticks. Right now she seems to sleep between 5 - 7 hours a night, going to sleep around 11pm. She usually wakes up between 5:30 - 6 and is back to sleep by 7. She then sleeps until 10 or 11 and cat naps (no longer than 45 minutes) from noon until 9, about every hour. She then is up until 11 and we start all over. 

• Last night, however, she slept soundly from 7:30 until nearly 10 pm...we were up at 2:30 until nearly 5 am. She did sleep from 5 until nearly 8 am and is alseep now (it's nearly 10:30)...I'm hoping she'll sleep a bit longer so I can shower and pick up. 

• I was looking at my husband's baby pictures and Moira is a spitting image of her daddy. She does make the occasional face that reminds me of my baby pictures but there is no denying that she is a Scott :)  
• After being totally certain that we would NOT give her a pacifier, we decided that she needed something to soothe herself other than using momma as a pacifier. Thankfully, the NUK Brand has worked extremely well for us. 

Being a mom is everything I imagined and yet, it's nothing like I had thought. There have been nights where I just sit and cry with her because I don't know what else to do (she's been changed, nursed, burped and swaddled). Thankfully, those nights were more in the beginning and have spaced out.  I have to be more mindful of when I do laundry/housework so that I'm doing it either when she's content in her bouncy seat or napping...otherwise my hands are busy snuggling.  And there have been days where the laundry and dishes don't get done because a certain baby needs her momma. It's been an adjustment for me to not do the housework immediately but I am learning the my daughter is more important. Thankfully, I have an amazing support system of friends and family that have walked this road and are telling me this is normal and okay. I'm glad I'm not a freak :)

6 weeks old and smiling!

I wouldn't have it any other way.