Wordless Wednesday: Go Bears!!

Baby Blues

No, not the sad kind...the sweet kind. I'm thinking more each day that Piper is going to actually have blue eyes! It's difficult to capture in a picture, but I'll keep trying. Her eyes still have the dark blue "newborn" color around the edges, so they turn out dark in pictures. The middle, next to the pupils is starting to look more clear blue to me. Morgan's eyes started out with that dark blue color, but I could always see some brown next to the pupils waiting to appear. Now, Morgan was fully six or eight months old when they finally appeared as the rich brown color. Piper's could still turn that direction, but for now they are looking like they might really be baby blues.

On our own

Well, mostly. David is working from home today, so I have a little help when he can take a break. Grandma and Papa A left early this morning...so sad. They were amazing to come and stay with us for 3.5 weeks to help out. Such a gift!!

So, here's how the day has gone so far. David made breakfast for Morgan while I fed Piper. Then we joined them and I managed to eat a piece of toast (yay!). Then David offered to take Morgan on an errand, so I got to shower! Piper only screamed a little while I was finishing, much better than I though she'd do. Then Morgan and Daddy were home. A few diaper changes later, I was playing with Morgan in the bonus room and Piper was in and out of sleep in the swing. Idyllic, right?

Then I got this bright idea to go to Target. There were a few things we needed and I decided the timing was just right between feedings to make the trip. I had not yet been on an errand with both girls all by myself. The anticipation of it was getting worse, so I decided to just do it. David was surprised when I came out to put Morgan in the car and followed up with Piper in her carseat (he was organizing his work products in the garage). I got everyone loaded up and off we went. On the way there I realized I hadn't packed a diaper bag, but luckily we didn't need it. Next time I'll try to remember...

At the store I put Morgan in the seat in the front of the cart and Piper went in her carseat in the cart itself. Luckily we didn't need to buy anything large so this worked. I'm still anticipating the first trip to the grocery store...I think David's going to have to brave that one with me (or my sister, Ali who is visiting this weekend). We will need two carts...definitely. So...There was only a little crying in the store, by both kids. I think Piper's crying bothered Morgan, so she cried a little in sympathy. Hopefully we didn't annoy anyone too much. Then Piper fell asleep and didn't wake up until we stopped at the check out (oh joy!). We got what we needed and headed back to the car. I loaded them back in the car and decided to treat myself to a Starbucks coffee on the way home. It's a Monday ritual anyway. Morgan had fun flirting with the drive-thru guy (not sure he was so thrilled) and home we went. When I pulled up David applauded my efforts. Hey, I deserved it.

Then we had one more Piper feeding and it was back to kitchen for lunch, and naptime for Morgan. Then a miracle ensued. I was able to get Piper to sleep in the swing and now BOTH babies (yes, Morgan will be a "baby" to me until she's Two) are asleep!! Morgan is due to wake up soon, so I hope to have some playtime with her before Piper wakes up hungry again.

Thank you Lord, for good timing today (so far)! We know this will not happen every day, but it is acknowledged. I think it will get better each day and I'll become more confident in my abilities as mother of TWO. It's still so hard to believe...but such a blessing.

Piper is One Month Old!

Piper is one month old today! Somehow it seems like it has flown by, but sometimes it seems to have really crawled along...I think that's what waking several times a night does to you. At least we know that this is the hardest part and soon we will all be sleeping longer and better.

I took these pictures this morning and she just looks HUGE to me! She has grown a lot in a short period of time. She looks smaller when you see Morgan next to her, but she's still a chunky monkey. I suspect she'll be like Morgan, always at the top of the percentile charts.

Check out those cheeks...and the crazy hair! You can't tell from these pics, but I think her eyes may stay blue.

Tried to get some pictures with big sis Morgan, but neither were very cooperative.

Big Sister Fun

Morgan is enjoying being a big sister to Piper. Every chance she gets she'll "help" rock Piper in her swing, car seat or give her lots of hugs and kisses. About once a day she goes into "bad girl" mode and hits Piper (mostly if I'm trying to feed her under a nursing cover) or she'll slap at Mama a little. She knows when she is in trouble because she puts herself in "time out." I think we might have to change our "time out" strategy, it doesn't work as well as we would like at this point.

We came home from a few of Piper's appointments today (all went well!) and kept her in her car seat because she was sleeping so nicely. Morgan rocked Piper...a little too vigorously, so I kept saying "be gentle." Then she was just so cute that I got out the camera. Here's what happened next...

Oh, Mama's got the camera on me!

Now I'll run down the hallway and "roll over"...maybe Mama will come and tickle me

OK, she's still got the camera. I'll run towards her and smile real big!!

Such a little goof!!! We love our big girl!

Snuggle Puppy

We have a favorite book in our house. It is a Sandra Boynton book called "Snuggle Puppy." Morgan especially loves it before bedtime because the way the book is written you have to sing it instead of just read it. It has always made her smile and laugh. This week she started singing it with us!! A few months ago she started saying the word "this" when we got to that line in the book ("...it goes something like THIS...") So cute. Now we've graduated to singing too! There are a lot of drawn-out "OOOOs" and she sings the "OOOO" right along with us, or on her own if we prompt her to do it. She also either says the word "kiss" or offers us her cheek at the part where we give her a kiss. She also seems to have good pitch when she sings too. She'll imitate just the tone and note you sing to her. She does this when she says "choo choo" for a train sound too. For some reason I would always say "choo choo" in a sing-song voice when we were learning what sounds things make. Now she says it in the same voice I do, kind of higher pitched and drawn-out a bit. I love hearing it every time.

It is a miracle!

The Miracle Blanket, that is. We decided to put it into action last night. We had used it with Morgan starting fairly early and it helped her sleep better and longer. It swaddles them up good and tight with their arms by their sides. Then they don't wake themselves with their spontaneous arm movements and they feel all warm, cozy and somewhat like they felt in the womb.

Piper had a rough time last eveing. She's really come into a fussy phase and has a hard time transitioning from awake to sleeping. As you saw in the previous post, we've put the swaddle, Jr. and the swing unto use...but night-time is another story. I want her to get the idea that once she's in the miracle blanket, it's time for a long sleep, so it will only be used at night and she will sleep in her bassinet. Prior to this (for various reasons) she had been sleeping on me in bed...but this was never a long-term plan. She also started waking up more often, so it wasn't working anyway. She's also a sweaty little bugger too.

As I was saying, she was having a fussy time last night. We went to our church small group and she basically cried the whole time, when she wasn't eating. We wondered when we got home whether we'd be able to get her to go to sleep. Finally at about 11 pm she seemed close nodding off. We wrapped her up in the miracle blanket and put her in the bassinet. Within ten minutes she was asleep!

Here's the kicker, she didn't fully wake up until 5 am!! That's 6 hours!! She started making some small "hungry sounds" around 3 am...so I didn't sleep from then on since I was convinced she was waking up any minute. She didn't truly make her hungry cries until just before 5 am. Lucky David had earplugs in so he slept fine! Overall this was a great night though. We'll see if it continues...as it might have been a fluke, but we know the potential is there. Good job Piper!!

Back to Basics

It was time to pull out the "swaddle jr." again. We call it the "jr." because the "big gun" swaddle is the Miracle Blanket which is due to go into use again soon. The "jr." is great for naps during the day while the MB is for night-time use. Piper just couldn't get herself to sleep yesterday in the morning, so we used the swaddle, swing and binky to triple-team her into submission. A nice nap ensued and we all got some rest. It was a bonus that it was Morgan's regular naptime too!

Bouncy Balls and Football

How do these things work together?! Yesterday David multi-tasked by calming a fussy baby AND watching a lot of football! He also had to give Morgan a turn or two on the ball too. At times it was the only thing that would calm Piper down. She just couldn't decide what she wanted, to eat, to hang out, to sleep. It was a mystery to all of us.

Go Daddy Go!

Finally giving up the fight

Coming out of the fog

I think I'm seeing some light through the newborn fog. We've been sleep deprived and adjusting to two babies in the house, but that is to be expected. We've had wonderful help from family, Grandma and Grandpa B left last Thursday and Gramma and Grampa A arrived on Saturday. We don't know what we'd do without them. Here are a few shots from the last 5 days or so.

I'm soooo big!!

Piper's first "sponge" bath

Snoozing with Daddy (wasn't this Morgan just yesterday?)

Morgan LOVES her baby sister!

Piper's Birth Story...

...is coming. I'm having trouble copying and pasting from a word document. Any advice? I really don't want to have to retype the whole thing. In the meantime here are a few pics from right after Piper's birth and in the hospital. I will have more once I can download them from my Dad's camera.

I got to hold her right away all blue and wiggling. This is after they were able to clean her off a bit and put on a hat. Don't I look lovely, running mascara and all?!

She was so red and splotchy! They did say she won the "chubby cheek" award for the day.

She rolls on her side like this on the changing table too. Must be comfy.

With Daddy

As soon as I put this outfit on her she just conked out asleep. It was like, "finally Mom, I was cold!"