2014 - Week 21

On Monday, we were up and at ‘em pretty early. We showered, got the girls some breakfast and we were off. The big girls were off to spend the day at my in-laws’, while Christian, Eliza and I were off to her photo shoot. Earlier this year we won a facebook contest with a local photographer for a newborn session. Even though Dawn took some pictures for us last year, we figured we’d still use this session. I ADORE this photographer’s style, so I was really excited. Unfortunately, Eliza was not quite as excited. We could not get her to stay asleep for ANYTHING. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, she would just cry and cry if I wasn’t holding/feeding her, so we couldn’t even get any awake pictures to compensate. We were there for THREE hours trying to get her to calm down and stay asleep, but it just wasn’t happening. I was SO bummed (but also incredibly grateful that we got our pictures last week!). At one point she did get her into one position and snapped a few quick pictures, otherwise it was a complete bust. We grabbed some punch, picked the girls up and made our way home. It was pouring rain all day, so baseball was canceled. I wasn’t feeling too hot, so that worked out alright. Eliza's cord finally fell off, so tonight we gave her her first real bath...she loves the running water, but not so much being in the water. The big girls were anxious to help bathe her...making things very interesting.

Overall, Tuesday was pretty quiet and we just hung out around the house. Christian did have to take the van into the shop. Yes, you heard that right…our month old van is already in the shop. It’s been leaking oil…they scanned it and determined a sensor needed replacing. Thankfully it’s covered under the warranty, but what a pain…and I can’t help but feel like it’s a bad omen. I’ve had the worst luck with cars, I’m really hoping this one doesn’t follow suit. Eliza has another rough, crabby, fussy day, which means I had a rough, crabby, fussy day. Christian has been such a HUGE, amazing help with the kids and around the house, but I’m in the stage where I just NEVER get a break from the baby, and that’s getting exhausting. I look forward to being able to get some things done around the house again…and, shower daily!

Finally got her to take a little snooze!

Snuggling with Daddy...I don't get to do this much anymore because she's instantly starving as soon as I hold her...

On Wednesday, Christian worked in the gardens and on the yard for much the day. The big girls spent a lot of time outside, giving me a little bit of quiet inside. While I did manage to get all three girls down for a nice nap at the same time, the rest of the day was another long  one with Eliza. Trust me, I’ve never forgotten how difficult the newborn stage is…but she sure likes to remind me. She’s been sleeping OK at night, but otherwise pretty much just catnapping during the day and it gets so frustrating. But, that’s about the extent of what I do these days…hang out with baby Eliza!

Some sprinkler fun for the big girls

Well, first off, Christian ended up taking little Eliza from me last night while I was an exhausted emotional wreck, giving her one of the bottles I’ve managed to pump so far, and kept her out in the living room with him for much of the night. Giving me some actual, GOOD sleep for the first time in a LONG time. Oh man, I’ve never been so grateful. I think sometimes just being with me makes her go crazy sometimes. It felt good to wake up feeling a little refreshed today. Other than the usual breakfast, play, lunch, naps, play, dinner….we were all off for Eliza’s two week check-up today. She has a few rashes that are all pretty typical, but everything looked and sounded great. She’s up to 8lbs 3ozs (from 7lbs 10ozs at her lowest), so it’s such a relief to know she’s gaining! He said she’s gained exactly what he’d want to see at this point, so YAY! The one thing I hate most about breastfeeding is never knowing for sure how much they are getting. Knowing she’s gaining gives me some comfort. While she has been nursing well, I’m still in quite a bit of pain...mostly when she latches on. From what I can recall with Amelia, she is latched on right, and I don’t seem to have symptoms of a clogged duct or mastitis, so hopefully my body just adjusts, soon! It’s making me really hate nursing, and it’s hard enough without the added mind games!

One of Christian's yard projects this year, tilling and planting along the side of the garage...

On Friday I woke up with the first massive migraine I’ve had in quite a while I pushed through for a while, but I was in tears by mid-morning. Christian was finishing up in the gardens all morning/afternoon, and the girls played outside most of the day, which helped keep things quiet. Olivia eventually came in to give me an ice pack, I chugged some Gatorade and ibuprofen and rested as much as I could (basically, between feedings), and it finally went away in the late afternoon. No fun!

She actually let me put her in her swing today...and didn't immediately cry. YES!

Similar to last week, I’m so behind that I have no idea what we did on Saturday. Oops! You can guess I probably spent most of the day with Eliza, that’s pretty much a given. It’s Memorial Day weekend, so the big girls didn’t have swim class today…must’ve been a pretty boring day!

Snoozing away in her swing. So sweet!

Sunday was, again, a nothing but cat naps kind of day for Eliza. AY! She’s lucky she’s so dang cute! I did manage to escape the house for a nice long grocery shopping trip to Target. Boy do I cherish my freedom these days! Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day.

These two are gonna be twins!

Until Next Week XOXO