Snuggly

It may seem funny to see this Christmas blanket in so many pictures.  It's Jonathan's favorite one to give to Gracie.

Milk and Pictures

First, the pictures!

Bedtime bonding

It's never too early to start appreciating a bedtime story, is it?

Now, the milk:  Gracie and I went to the follow-up appointment with the lactation consultant today, and she has lost two ounces despite our hard work.  She's 8 lbs, 13 oz. now.  We have a more aggressive plan in place and will weigh her Friday and have another appointment on Tuesday.  Please forgive me for being behind on calls and emails...feeding her is pretty time-consuming right now.  We appreciate any prayers for her to eat and gain weight!

All Crumbled Up

Yesterday turned out to be pretty full with a few visitors at our house. I'll post pictures later...

Grace slept well last night, and so did we. It's probably the first night ever that she's gotten enough to eat.  We have also learned, thanks to Jonathan, that she loves to be warm and snuggly (although not necessarily swaddled.)  When she is in her bouncy seat, he loves to cover her with a blanket and get her "all crumbled up."  He loves to help, although it's sometimes tricky to channel his help in the right direction.  Overall, he's doing great.

"All crumbled up"

Today was our first trip back to MOPS.  It's early to go back, but we felt ready, and I wanted Jonathan to have some time with his buddies.  It was fun to share Grace with everyone!  We also visited Dad and got checked (below.)  I was the only one who needed an adjustment.  Going two places in one morning was a little bit over my limit at this point.  We were all tired by the time we got home.  My plan is to go no more than one place each day, and not necessarily every day, either.  Days at home are really nice!

Milk

Grace is having the same milk issues Jonathan had.  I won't go into all the details, but she needs to be eating a lot more.  We went to the lactation consultant today (provided by our hospital-yay!) and she weighed only 8 lbs., 15 oz.  (She weighed 9 lbs., 3 oz. when we left the hospital.)  I really expected her to weigh less than she did today, so I think she probably was a lower weight and has started to gain some back, thank goodness.  Hopefully this will help some of her sleeping challenges as well.

Anyway, the lactation consultant gave us a plan that we're following (which is very similar to what we did for Jonathan, but we caught the problem earlier this time) and we'll go back Wednesday to follow up.

My mom is here for a few hours to help out on Jeff's first day back to work.  What a treat, and what great timing.  She is even in my kitchen making cookies while J and G are asleep.  The only time we have cookies is when someone else makes them.  Yum, and thanks, Mom!

Just for fun, here are more pictures from yesterday.

Jonathan wanted to set up a cozy spot in her cradle for her.

First (sponge) bath

Ahh, the joys of having hair.  She didn't enjoy the rinse or the bath.  When her hair is clean, it's lighter, like Jonathan's.  But, the clean only lasts for a few hours at a time.

Getting warmed up afterwards

Reading Jonathan's new magazine, Lego Club Jr.  Thanks, Cherissa!  Gotta get Gracie ready to play Legos as soon as possible.

Pink

We got Gracie all dolled up for church today.  We made it there on time, but it took a lot of energy!  She slept through the entire service.  We were touched by how excited everyone was to meet her.  I guess we didn't realize what a family our church community has become to us.  Of course, just when a lot of the church ladies wanted to meet her after the service, she got hungry and I went to feed her.  We'll try to give them their baby fix next week.

Saturday

Very Sweet

Jonathan was watching a little Lightning McQueen today, and Gracie was crying loudly, too.  He said that it was too loud.  I asked him if he meant Grace's cries, but he didn't.  He was afraid the movie was too loud for her and turned it down so she'd be okay.

For the Little Buddies

Our blog has been short on posts of interest to the little buddies lately.  This movie is just for you!

Jonathan and Jeff went to the zoo yesterday for some "guy time" using passes my mom won on the radio a long time ago.  They had a fantastic time!  Here, Jonathan rides his first roller coaster.  We'll post some more pictures of animals and adventures soon.

Friday

Enough said.

Life at Home

It's midafternoon and both kiddos are down for naps.  (And I'm adjusting to phrases like "both kiddos" and learning to use words like "sister, daughter, dress, and pink...")  We've spent a great family day at home in our pajamas adjusting to what our new life looks like.

Big thanks to Jeff for "hacking" the blog (although I did give him the password!) and sharing pictures and news.  We are just basking in the crazy blessings of our lives right now.  I think everyone is doing well.  I'm recovering well, Jonathan is adjusting and is very sweet with his sister, whom he calls "our baby" most of the time.  Jeff has been a champ and has helped me so much both during the day and at night.  Grace has been eating really often, especially at night, so we're very tired.  But, she hasn't been hard to console, and we want her to eat often so that I can learn to keep up with all ten pounds of her and have a successful experience with nursing.

We have been so grateful to everyone for your kind words, visits to the hospital, and more.  I'll do my best to show my gratitude by keeping new pictures posted here..

The booties are perfect, Dorothy!  Just the right size for Gracie's feet.  (Poor thing, she got the big foot gene like my siblings and me.)

Jonathan says, "I'm just keeping her warm."

She spent quite a bit of time awake today.  Both my parents had spent some good awake moments with her in the hospital, but Jeff hadn't gotten his chance-until now.

Gracie is waking up, so I'll post more...hopefully tomorrow.