Milk

For those of you who are wondering...

Last week was our week to wean Gracie off of pumping/bottle feeding.  We did that, and her weight stalled out and dropped slightly over the weekend.  So, Sunday afternoon, I started adding a little bit of extra milk into her feedings again, and she has had good gains for the past couple of days.  So, now the trick is going to be finding a happy medium.  I'm still hopeful that we'll be done with the pump by the end of this week.  I'll keep experimenting to figure out what she needs to gain on her own.  The good news is that she's closer to 11 pounds now than to ten!  And she'll be a month old already on Thursday.  Amazing.  We're learning her better each day and figuring out what her cries mean and how to get her to sleep better in the late evenings, which are her difficult times.  Overall, she doesn't cry very much at all, so we're a little spoiled!

On a totally different subject, I have been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness surrounding Gracie's birth.  From gifts to meals to just plain help, everyone has been wonderful...even people that I don't know well.  And it has made me think to myself, "Did I do that for them?  Did I make them a meal when they had a baby?  Did I invite their child over to play when they needed help?  Did I bring them groceries or a gift?"  And the answer, unfortunately, is that I did only sometimes.  So, I'll be inspired in the future to keep my eyes open to opportunities to help other friends when they have a big life event...I have certainly received lots of kindness that I can pass along! 

Sunday Best

Here are Jonathan and Gracie before we went to church.  Someday soon I'll be trying to get them both to smile at the same time.  In this picture, I couldn't even get them both looking at the camera, but it didn't bother me at all.  We're just so thankful to have both of our sweet kiddos.  We forgot to get a family picture.  I'm still quite sleep deprived and was probably doing well to have everyone dressed!

Gracie's darling little dress was the first dress she was ever given-it's from Jen and her family.  I love it!  Notice that Grace has a bow in her hair.  I have been coached by several mothers of girls that she has enough hair for bows.  That may be a bit of a stretch, but it was fun for a picture!

Jeff really likes to give Jonathan an Easter basket each year, and this year, I got to put it together.  The best part was these two little Lego sets.  Target had some tiny Lego sets in their Easter section, and we gave one police set and one fire set to Jonathan.  Here they are, all set up on display for you.  He was so excited!  I wasn't kidding when I said they were little, was I?

Coloring Eggs

"Actually," says Jonathan, "we didn't color eggs.  We painted them."  I think Jeff and I are a little tired of the word, "actually."  Of course, it's partly our fault, because we know that Jonathan copies our speech patterns...ugh.

As we teach Jonathan about the true meaning of Easter, I never know exactly how to explain why in the world there are eggs involved in the holiday.  I guess there are some things we just do for fun without needing a bigger reason!

He is Risen!

We hope that you experience the joy and hope of Easter today.  He is risen, indeed!

Jake and Laura

Our dear friends, Jacob and Laura, were here for a visit on Friday.

They always give lots of love and attention to Jonathan, who loves them right back!  This time, they brought him these finger puppets.  He was pretty excited to wear them all.

This was their first time to meet Grace.  Jonathan always had to get a piece of the action.

iPhones.  What else can I say?

Gracie with Laura and Jacob

Thanks for the sweet visit, friends!

(You can tell by the number of pictures that I got that I'm not spending quite as much time feeding Grace as I was when Lucas and Cherissa were here!  It's a relief.  However, Grace's weight gain has stalled out for the past two days, so I'm hoping that she gains tomorrow and that we don't have to backtrack to more pumping and supplementing.  We'll see...)

A Benefit of Having a Sister

Gracie received this beautiful quilt from her great aunt Linda.  Jonathan thought it was perfect for snuggling, and Grace didn't mind!

Her quilt gave him renewed interest in his quilt that my dear friend, Jo, made for him before he was born.  He was happy to snuggle under one of his own!

Clean Hair

and a hairbow...

and a watchful big brother.

(It's not generally this serene around here, so I thought it was worth capturing the moment!)

The New Buddies Meet

On Friday, my dear friend Kathy came by to visit.  She had an unplanned visit to the area, and I was excited to see her and Olivia!  She had never met Grace before, so this was a fun opportunity to introduce them and have some time for grownup chatting.

Olivia is four months older than Grace.  Kathy's son, Isaac, is three months younger than Jonathan.  What a treat to have boys and girls that are close in age!  I loved seeing Olivia smile and roll around.  Her hair may be starting to curl, too.  What a cutie!  Grace still wants to stay curled up in a ball, as you can see.

The baby with the bigger foot is ours.  Oh, my.

Olivia was interested in Gracie.  I enjoyed seeing what we'll be experiencing in a few short months, but I want to soak in the sweet new baby time, too.

And here are Isaac and Jonathan when they first met.  We didn't get car seat pictures of the girls since they were awake and not in the mood.  We are so thankful for our sweet kiddos and the chance to watch them grow together!

Milk

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Grace and I had another lactation appointment today.  She weighed 10 lbs, 3.5 oz., which is not only above her birth weight, but also in the range of the weight she should have had at the age of three weeks if she hadn't lost too much weight in the first place.  So that was encouraging.  The lactation consultant said that she needed me to have a good milk supply and for Grace to be a healthy baby, and she's happy that we have both.  ("She's the picture of health," was her quote.)  So that's good, too.

Now our job is to wean Gracie from the extra milk she's getting at the end of each feeding.  She needs to nurse well enough to continue to gain weight.  I'm supposed to give her only about an ounce after each nursing session now.  We'll see how she does.  I'm also going to cut back a bit on pumping and hope that Grace does a better job nursing so that I won't need to pump.  I don't think this would be possible without the scale from Linnea, so thanks again for the loan, Linnea!  I have to weigh Gracie every day, and that would not really be feasible without a scale at home.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers.  We are hoping to be adjusting to normal life with a newborn in a week or two.  We'll keep you updated!

Brother and Sister