Life With A New Baby

Some of you might be interested to hear how life with a new baby is going in my world, so I thought I would offer an update post.

Harper is sweet, she is cute, she is cuddly. She brings a smile to the face of anyone that sees her. She is tiny, still not at 8 pounds. We have a little joke that she is 1 pound of baby and 6 and a half pounds of cheeks as she has the roundest little face. She has grown, tonight her preemie sized pajamas were too small, but they fit just fine maybe 3 days ago. We are officially into newborn sizes and she is 5 weeks old.




Harper makes the best faces, as you can see in the photo above. She has us giggling daily with her funny baby faces. 

Harper sleeps well a few nights a week and keeps me awake a few nights. The long nights that she won't sleep without being held are totally worth it. The nights she sleeps like a log are odd, I find myself going to her room to check on her every hour or so.

Rolf is warming up to her. He will give her kisses, he strokes her face and hair and he has shown an interest in holding her a few times. The first 10 days were rough, he was jealous and he acted out a lot, but he is getting better with the idea of having a sister. I am relieved! I have made an effort to hold him, hold his hand, to tell him how special he is to me and how loved he is. When I shower him with attention he feels important and his outbursts are fewer and further between. I try to include him in the care of Harper and that makes life easier. He feels important when he is handing me a bottle, throwing a diaper away or bringing me a fresh one or fetching a blanket big enough for everyone to cuddle under.

Harper is starting to demonstrate her personality. She likes only one brand of pacifiers. She likes to be held but is not fond of being stroked. She wants to be held without any extra touching and she wants you to be still when you hold her. She doesn't like to go outside, she doesn't like to ride in the car. She likes her cozy house best.

Harper is fascinated with Rolf, she hears his voice and turns her head to watch him with big blue eyes. Rolf likes the captive audience and has no complaints. 

Since having Harper I have learned about slowing down, not taking on as much work and letting the house get messy. Before Harper I stressed about those things. I wasn't sleeping enough, I was over extending myself and I was obsessed with picking up the never ending mess. I have noticed that in the past weeks with my new found go with the flow attitude that I feel better about me. 

Life with a new baby has been good. The time has passed rapidly, but it has helped me to prioritize. Harper is all anyone could hope for in a baby. She is healthy, cuddly, sweet, adorable. She makes me very happy.









Saturday #182



On Saturday #182 (#3) my family slept in a little later than normal. What a treat it was for me to wake up at a few minutes til 8!

We took the morning at a slow pace. I wasn't frantic to get a lot of things accomplished. I watched cartoons with my son and I cuddled my daughter. Since Harper was born I have really slowed down and started taking the time to enjoy life more. I notice how much my son has grown, how fast time passes and how insignificant so many things really are. There will always be laundry to fold, dishes to wash and things to pick up. My kids won't always be small... that makes it easier to go with the flow of things.

My parents finally came to see Harper. She was a sweetheart as always. She is beautiful, cuddly and totally addictive. She stole their hearts as expected. They accompanied us to the West side shopping plaza for Trick or Treat with Roo who was fun. The first stop he made was priceless. As the lady put a handful of candy into his pail he broke out in a huge smile and told her "Candy? Happy!" We both had a good laugh over that.

We then stopped for lunch and went back to our house to visit with the family. Roo was great, he was fun, he was lively, he was singing, dancing, completely showing off. I loved to see him come out of his shell and not act shy around the grandparents.

When they left we decided to take our recycling to drop off, and it wouldn't be a weekend without a dash into WalMart. I had to stock up on newborn size diapers and wipes for the week. I had been prepared for a big baby, I have size 1, 2, 3 and 4 diapers in reserve for Harper, but wouldn't you know newborn is a size I opted not to get and we are going thru a ton of those!

So I grabbed the diapering needs and headed home for a relaxing evening with my husband. He convinced me to watch a Kenny Rodgers movie with him. I fell asleep within 30 minutes but that was okay, when I woke up I saw Adam was asleep on the couch too. Quality time together in dreamland.

The day was great. It covered the basics; sleep, candy, family, shopping, happy kids. I hope you had a chance to enjoy quality time with your loved ones over the weekend. It amazes me how fast these Saturdays pass by.