Dragonflies, Ants, Pine Trees, and Snow... and Pouting

Another week gone and another week of joy with the cutest gift in the world!

This week daddy flew Quinney around the room making her a dragonfly because she was wearing a new dragonfly outfit.  She LOVED it!

Mommy continued to march with the ants which Quinney also continues to love.

And... we went to the mountains with her for the first time.  Joe and I love to be in the mountains so it was an event to have Quincey touch her first tree.  She will spend lots of time in the woods so her first trip there was super special.  And, she got a feel of snow.  I don't think she was too thrilled by either but it was a great family day out and about.

 
Oh... And Joe found a piece of wood he wanted!

Once we got home, I was filming a video for her aunties and she made the cutest pouty faces.  She's really starting to get a personality and it's been so fun seeing these little glimpses into what she will be like.  She smiled for the first time at Joe when he was making funny sounds and smiled for the first time at me when we were playing on the floor.  Melted both of our hearts.

We continue to fall more and more in love every day with our little Quinney.

Growing Like A Weed

In just another week, it seems as though Quincey has changed so much.  Every day she is full of new curiosities and becomes more and more like a little human that I can interact with. 

She really likes to sit up these days.  She scans the room from one corner to the next with wide eyes taking it all in.

We also have a dance party every day where we boogie down to "The Ants Go Marching"  Alexa will soon have it on our top most played songs!  She absolutely loves to dance around the room with me.

And finally, we have been taking a daily bath.  She could sit in the water forever.  As long as we're not washing her face and hair, she loves it!  Speaking of her hair... when it gets wet it gets super curly.  I think it would be great if she had curly hair!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week.

 

 

WOWZERS! ONE MONTH OLD!

 

It's so cliche' but I CAN NOT believe that a month has already escaped since having Quincey.  It has literally been the fastest, most exhausting, most exhilarating, most overflowing with love, and most rewarding month of my life!

Here's an overview of month one.....

During Quincey's first month, she has learned how to make fun sounds, how to follow with her eyes, how to smile, how to get what she wants by crying, and how to get cuter every day!

Overall, she is actually a very good baby.  I think she has her daddy's demeanor because she's pretty chill.  She rarely full blown cries and when she does it's because she's over tired or stuffed up.  She doesn't mind having a dirty diaper, she doesn't mind being changed, she doesn't mind getting dressed, she doesn't mind having tons of pictures taken of her, she doesn't mind being moved from one location to the next, and she definitely doesn't mind being held by mommy and daddy!

 

 

We have been worried about her breathing as she tends to have an elevated baseline - meaning she takes around 55 breaths a minute on average and, when upset or congested, she tends to get herself up into the 70s quite easily which has been concerning.  So, we decided to take her in to get seen because every time we called the doctor, that was the recommendation as respiratory issues is not an issue to dance around so, in the midst of corona, we took her to the pediatric urgent care at the hospital.  We got to the door and were told that only one of us could go in.  I opted to have Joe go with her since he has been the one taking lead on her breathing issues.  The minute he went through the door with her, separation anxiety wrapped her hands around me tightly.  I walked back to the car, (with her diaper bag and binki still with me and not with the baby!!) feeling as though a piece of me was missing.  That was a long 30 minutes alone in the car but we found out that she is doing just great.  Oxygen level is 100% and our little girl is a champ!  We also got a current weight... 9.9 pounds!  She is definitely growing right on course.

 

We also try to take two walks a day in her stroller.  Joe got us a JEEP stroller which we think is pretty cool because her daddy drove a jeep for years.  She likes the walks and they have been important for me as I can't stand being cooped up inside and we can't go anywhere because of corona; however, going anywhere with an infant is quite the event anyways so, even without the corona virus, my quick trips here and there wouldn't likely be occurring.  In fact, packing a diaper bag and being prepared to leave the house along with things like putting the car seat in and out of the vehicle are things I have yet to get the hang of because I've been in a car all of 3 times in the last month!

 

Quincey likes bath time until it comes to cleaning her face.  She gets the cutest little look on her face when she's put in the water and once she realizes, "hey, this isn't that bad."  she really enjoys it.  When I have to washer her hair and face is when fun time ends and, "get me out of here" begins.  I really hope she likes the water just like her mommy.

Speaking of being like mommy or daddy... everyone says that she looks like Joe and he takes great pride in that :)

She has also started to lose her hair.  BUMMER!  It's still nice and thick around the sides but the top has fallen out substantially.  She's still just as cute as a button though.

 

Getting her to take good hearty naps has been tough.  She loves little 20 minute cat naps but then quickly wakes up.  This means that a lot of our days have been spent with her acting as though she's always on the verge of her next naps, not a ton of quality awake time, and a tad bit more fussy then I would like.  We have been trying to stretch out those naps but it's definitely a process.

Joe gets to work from home during the corona virus so it has been nonstop family time which has been GREAT!  It's going to be a real adjustment when he's not in the home all day.

I am so thankful that I have a beautiful home and that my only job is to be a mommy right now and I have to thank my husband for that.  I don't have to worry about finding a job right now and that is amazing.  I know so many moms do it but trying to go back to work right now would be excruciating.  Thinking of handing her off to someone else for the day is a really really really tough thought at this point.  There are times, when she won't settle, that I think how nice it would be to be working in the office like Joe is but those moments are few and far between.   I'm just glad to have a husband that is a hard worker, can provide for us, and always has our best interest at heart.

The hardest struggle for me, besides the logistics of no sleep and learning how to do everything while holding a baby has been not being with family.  I long to see my sisters and parents so badly.  I think part of the blessing of having this baby is sharing her with those you love the most and not being able to do that has been really tough.  I literally sit around and think about how great it will be for her to be passed around like a football from one auntie to the next, one cousin to the next, while she just lays there and soaks in all the love.  I hope that time is not far off.

I just told Joe a couple days ago, I can not imagine my life without her now.  While being pregnant everything felt so surreal, like who is this being growing inside of me and using all my energy reserves?  But, now that she has been born and we are a month in, I have jumped head first into the world of mommyhood and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!  Life would never be the same without her and the life before her seems so far away.  It was a great life but what a beautiful life this one is!

Oh ya... one last thing.  SHE LOVES HER BINKI!

 

And one more thing... I LOVE HER TOES!!!

 

 

Bring the Baby Back Home

On March 17th we were able to leave the hospital and come home.

I have spent a lot of a time babysitting, being an auntie, and was even a nanny in Florida but that does not prepare you for 24 hour care giving of an infant! - and I wouldn't trade it for the world! 

But, the first couple days didn't come without their struggles.  Again, thank God for my amazing husband and for my wonderful sister who both comforted me as I dealt with raging hormones while trying to adjust those first couple days.  I was a blubbering mess numerous times throughout the days.  I just wanted to do everything right which ended up coming with no sleep and learning curves every step of the way.

She was so little and I was so worried that I was going to do something wrong that I wasn't letting myself trust my instincts.  If she was fussy, I was worried that I would harm her to feed her before the "scheduled feeding time."  And, there were tons of little things that I was all consumed with like one of the pediatricians at the hospital said they should sleep in swaddles and I had asked if that is all she should sleep, meaning should I put her in an outfit under the swaddle, and they said yes, that she should only sleep in a swaddle so I was all worried about putting a onesie on her under the swaddle but I think what the pediatricians were referring to is not having bedding in her crib as it could suffocate her.  So, I spent all my time overthinking every little thing instead of doing what I instinctively knew to do. 

And, where to put her to sleep?  I mean, she has been crammed in my uterus for 9 months and now I'm supposed to put her in a different room in this big ol' crib to sleep!?!  Luckily Joe's mom bought us a beautiful bassinet to sleep her in that is in our room and we tried that but as soon as we would put her down, she would fuss.  His brother and sister in law got us a small sleeper that goes in the bed with us but keeps her safe with borders around her which has been life saving.  At first when we tried it, she didn't like it but once we realized it had a piece of uncomfortable cardboard in it that needed to be removed she loved it!  She sleeps close enough to us that she sleeps without having to be held and is safe in the process.  Until we figured that out though, sleep was a distant memory!

After two nights of like no sleep cause Quincey wouldn't sleep without being held, I finally had a breakdown with my sister, Dessa, on the phone who basically told me to throw the books out the window and do what felt right.  So, I went downstairs and told Joe what I needed and he made it happen.  I needed lights left on in the bedroom so I could see her, I needed to have her closer to me, and I needed to figure out a way to get her to sleep safely yet near us.  Once we made these changes I felt so much better and I think that translated to Quincey.  I finally got sleep and, as a new family, we finally started to carve out a new normal for our little family.

 
Coming home finally!

 I had been up all night.  My shirt was on inside out and backwards and, ironically, its tag says, "AWAKE"