Pictures!

David and I got both kids down by 7:30PM last night. We had some ADULT TIME! Man, it felt good to just have David and Jessica time! Life is SLOWLY getting back to normal! And just as I type that, I jinx it. That is what happens in baby land.


Laine's new bouncy seat! Pretend you don't see the pile of laundry and makeshift trash bag hanging on our bathroom door. Gotta have a place for those middle of the night diaper changes! Ha!


Aidan at Anika's birthday party this last Saturday. I thought this was funny, he was one of perhaps 3 boys total. Hilarious.


Laine chillin on my lap! She squinted when the flash went off. I thought it was too cute. DON'T BOTHER ME!


Flowers from David on my birthday! Sweet hubby.


Great photo of Aunt Stacy and Laine! She came to visit after Christmas! It was WONDERFUL to have her here!


Fell asleep on the changing table. This kid sleeps CONSTANTLY. Except when we go to small group. ;)


First smile that we could catch on a camera! So sweet.


Beautiful baby. I know most parents think they have the most beautiful children in the world. :) I'm pretty sure it is true in my case. Ha!


And Aidan, Laine and I on our first walk. We had a couple days of really warm weather, and we took advantage! This picture also means a lot to me because it was the first day that I officially felt like myself again. The crazy was nearly over, the sun was shining, the baby was sleeping better. We were just settling into a routine finally (I mean, as far as routines can go with a newborn) and I just felt BETTER this day. I like to say that I came out of the FOG finally!


Laine will be 6 weeks officially on Wednesday. Here is the latest!

- she is sleeping pretty good! I am somewhat reluctant to post this, because when you PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE something good that your baby is doing, it is guaranteed to change that day. So let's just say, we're doing better. HA! No seriously, for the past two nights, she has given us a 6-6.5 hour stretch initially, then a 3 hour stretch afterward. Sunday we had small group and we got home late (and keeping her out late was a DISASTER). She slept from 9-3:30am, then from 4-6:45AM. Last night, she slept from 7:30PM (a more regular bedtime) and woke at 1:15AM, then slept from 1:45am to 5AM after eating. So I'll take it. We didn't make it to bed until about 9:30AM last night, so I JIPPED myself of the opportunity to sleep for 6 glorious hours, but it was just nice to hang with David alone for the evening. So worth it! But we're proud of how she is doing. I'm sure there will be a regression soon, but whatever. Just HEADING in the right direction at this point is fine with me. :) Not bad for a 6 week old baby!

- naps. She sleeps CONSTANTLY still. Yesterday it was all day long. She woke from her last nap at 5:30PM and of course was fussy the remainder of the evening. She is SO FUSSY in the PM. SO FUSSY. All hands on deck. Aidan was this way too! This is the reason for the early bedtime. I have NO IDEA how some babies can stay up until 11 on purpose? The PM seems to be the witching hour for us, it is a miracle to just get the bath accomplished during this time! Off to bed, EARLY. I know it would make sense for us to put her down later and get the first stretch of sleep to align with when WE sleep, but we just can't make it. Even with a nap that runs into the PM, no matter how recent the nap, she is still horrendously fussy ANYTIME after 6! I'll be happy when we pass through this stage! Ha!

- smiles! She is starting to smile! We LOVE LOVE LOVE her smile. It isn't very regular or predictable at this point, but when we get one, it is OH SO CUTE!

- falling asleep on her own. She is doing fantastic at this. David is the baby whisperer for naps and bedtime. Me? Not so much. He can get her down awake without a single fuss. I'm seriously jealous. Tonight I am letting him put her down for bed and I'm going to OBSERVE so that I can learn. Not fair. For me, she fusses and it takes a little bit of time, she resists. And quite frequently, she starts to cry and I go to her and rock her to sleep. It's not ALL bad, sometimes I hit the jackpot and she just lays down and goes to bed without a single peep, but not as often as I would like. But I'm going to take notes from my amazing husband and try to do it this same way! I think I put her down TOO awake, David puts her down just BARELY awake and it could be making the difference. It's ok, no biggie. David is the bomb at putting a baby to sleep. But he doesn't have breasts! So I win. :) HAHAHAHA KIDDING I'm just thankful to have a husband who helps. We can always learn different things from each other!

- she moved to her own room and crib last week. She is a seriously LOUD sleeper sometimes and she seems to LOVE the comfort of her room for her naps (sometimes she konks out in there for 2.5 hours!) and so we took the leap a bit early. And boy are we glad we did! She is doing great, I think the consistency in sleeping locations is helping! And David and I sleep better, not hearing every little peep, although we can hear her when she needs us on the baby monitor! When she wakes in the middle of the night to eat, David gets up and gets her for me and I feed her in our bedroom still. Then after we are finished, I swaddle her back up, rock her for a couple more minutes in her room then put her back down. I think it is working ok so far! After the first night, I wasn't sure if we were going to keep her in there (she didn't sleep very well) but we stuck it out and she is doing beautifully now. FOR NOW. :) I reserve the right to flip flop on you.

That's all I can think of for now! David wants me to upload some pics from his phone this week, so there should be more coming soon. Also, we are doing photos with Jenn at Storyteller Photography on Friday, so I hope to get some great pics of Aidan and Laine soon!