Skinny Mini

Lilah turned a month old on June 11th! Oh my gosh, it's gone by so fast...I know all parents say that, but even with our hard nights and trials, I still can't believe that a little over a month ago she was not even out in this world yet! Before we know it she'll be 5 and going to Kindergarten and I'll be saying the same thing. :)

Last week I decided to take Lilah to Evergreen to get her weighed as Lance and I had been worried about how small she still was and that after a month she was still only fitting into her newborn clothes. So, she weighed in at only 7 pounds, 13 ounces - a lot less than some babies are born at! After feeding her with a lactation nurse, I found that I wasn't supplying enough milk for her and so we have been on a strict feeding plan all week. This includes breastfeeding, then feeding her with formula to make up what she's not gettin from me, and then I pump. Doesn't sound so bad? Well, this procedure takes 45 minutes to an hour. My little angel will fall asleep during the feeding, or think she hates the formula and refuse to drink it, get distracted, spit it out, which all adds to the feeding regiment. I told the nurse though I would do anything to get her closer to where she should be, which is around 9 pounds. The poor thing has been hungry for a few weeks at least, so she seems to be a little more mellow and lasts longer between feedings (although she still hates the carseat and is not a big fan still of car rides - darn!).

I apologize to all of my Husky friends and I debated not to put the picture of Lilah in the Cougar onesie, but that is part of her daddy's Father's day gift. I put this onesie on her and took pictures to put in a frame for daddy. Do I think she'll be a "Future Cougar" really? No way. But, it'll make Lance smile and she still looked pretty cute in it. Sidenote: I think she really didn't like having it on because as soon as I put it on her, she peed right through her diaper and on the onesie. So, a future Dawg she will be....

Kate Gosselin or Mullet?

It's a little difficult to tell from these photos, but we have decided that little Lilah is going for one of two looks. Lance thought that her spiky hair in the back and flat-lying hair in the front was a lot like Kate Gosselin's look. I always knew I'd have a girl that was very hip and stylish, because apparently Kate Gosselin's hairdo is the new Jennifer Anniston 'do from the 90s! However, as her beautiful locks from birth have grown, I've wondered if she was going more for the "business in the front, party in the back/mullet look"...maybe she's trying to start a new trend and bring the mullet back. The main character from the Twilight movies is sporting that look now, so maybe Lilah's going to be the second to bring it to the 2000s.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We Would Describe The Last Two Weeks As...

A lot of things, but to start us off:

Blowouts - If you don't have a baby or don't remember the good old days of having these, this happens when you are about to leave for an appointment, or just changed a diaper, heading out the door to do something fun, or when you are out in public. It sounds like an explosion and usually is. Their poop is so powerful at times that it shoots out the sides (yes, one morning as I was holding Lilah in bed, hoping for one more measly hour of sleep, her blowout did go out the sides, onto my tank top, shorts and our sheets), up her tummy and/or back, and then most the time ends up in a change of clothes. This happens nearly every day for us, and definitely at least once every two days. Sleepless Nights - The good news is that she seems happier and is crying less and less, so I just think her tummy needed to get used to the breast milk. However, Lilah must have her days and nights confused, because lately she likes to stay up most of the night, wide-eyed and ready to play, while her parents take shifts at trying desperately to get her to sleep. Right now she's fast asleep because she is confused that this is her time to go to sleep (it's 2:45 in the afternoon). Bouncing and White Noise - So, we finally figured out the magical key to calming down an upset Lilah. Jackie brought over their exercise ball, which is much nicer to your arms than walking around while bouncing her up and down in your hands. If Lilah gets really mad, then we just turn on my hairdryer (which now lives in our living room) and bounce on the ball, and most of the time this soothes her (along with that wonderful binky in her mouth). It's not too much fun at 2:00 in the morning (ask Lance, since he's usually the one to do it at this time of the night), but at least it works! Friends - We have had a lot of visitors (Lilah's grandparents have all come to see us a lot!) and now that things have kind of calmed down, it's been tons of fun for Lilah and her mom and dad especially! We got to meet Sadie (my friend Sarah's little girl, who was born the day before Lilah). They've been over twice, and both times Sarah's brought over lunch and Kjell came over too to see Lilah again. We had a good time, although their first visit Lilah screamed her head off towards the end of the visit, while little Sadie laid quietly asleep. :) We've also been on some walks - our first walk was with Julie, and after 5 minutes of screaming bloody murder, Lilah fell fast asleep. Daddy and mommy got out with her once too, which was nice to be out of the house and in the sunshine. My friend Dana and I met in downtown Kirkland for a walk too one sunny afternoon. The walk started off very promising, but ended with the biggest poop blowout yet (it was all over the carseat) and Lilah screaming all the way home since she had pants full of poop and an empty belly. I've learned my lesson though - always bring extra clothes and change diapers anywhere necessary. Last week we also had our very good friends, Shane and Kelli, visit from Spokane. It was so great to have them with us, we love them and really enjoyed their visit (though always way too short). Kelli is the definition of "mom" and loved holding Lilah and every little face and movement that she did. :) Shane is Lance's greatest friend and a wonderful daddy that Lance hopes to be like. This week I also got out to Spiritridge to show Lilah off to the kids and to my friends and families I ran into. It was fun and I think the kids loved seeing us...and I loved seeing them too! Lilah did great and only got upset towards the end of our visit, probably because it was a sauna in the building. We can't believe that tomorrow she'll be 4 WEEKS OLD! The time has gone by so fast already, and although challenging at times, it's been quite the adventure and of course we love her with all of our hearts.

Lilah's first two weeks....

Lilah is 2 Weeks Old!

I finally have some time while daddy rocks Lilah to update our blog....I didn't realize how much a little baby changes everything. I have had most of my days that I haven't showered, brushed my teeth and barely eaten and all of a sudden it's 3:00 in the afternoon. It's absolutely wonderful, amazing (my dad's laughing in heaven right now that I used the word "amazing" because he used to make fun of The Bachelor so much because everything they do on that show is "amazing"), scary, exhausting, and a whirlwind of emotions.

I finally went into the hospital to be induced on Monday, May 11th...and to spare you all the details, my doctor told me that I could now put on my resume - "good at being pregnant and good at giving birth". My labor went by pretty fast, as we were in the room by about 7:45 and I had Lilah by 2:50. The things you should know are: I was very nice to Lance and never said one mean thing to him, and really thought he was a good cheerleader; I DID get an epidural (which didn't work in one area at first, so I was really, REALLY hurting for awhile); when Lilah was on her way out Lance said to me, "Oh boy!" which I thought was, "It's a boy!"....this caused much panic and confusion, so I stopped pushing so that he could clarify what he just said.

Everything was good and we left the next early evening. Lance got to stay home with me and was such a great help, and as the days got closer to him going back to work, I got so sad and cried a lot. We had so many family and friends though stopping by, bringing meals, and helping with Lilah it made the transition manageable. I however was past the point of "sleep deprivation" as she didn't sleep more than about 2-3 hours of sleep ALL night long. Also, we had our little issues once we were home with our sweet girl - she first lost 12% of her body weight, so we had to do a feeding plan with formula for a day, but luckily she ate like a champ and gained 3 ounces in one day. Then, when we went back to the hospital her temperature was way down, so that scared us and a nurse sent us to our pediatrician to check her. She was fine, but then the very next night we were awake with her nearly all night long because she pooped 5 times in 3 hours, and it wasn't the normal type of poop she should have had. Luckily, to make all of my stories shorter, everything turned out fine and nothing was wrong with her. But, all of this was pretty scary with a brand new little one who can't tell you what's wrong and is so helpless.

This last Wednesday we went to the pediatrician and she gave us the green light to use a pacifier (and she also called our baby girl "challenging", yikes!), which has been a God send as it soothes her most of the time. We're still trying to figure out a sort-of schedule and figure out how this parenting thing works, but I assume we'll be doing that for months and months to come.

Even with all of my tears and the sleepless nights, we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. We think she's perfect (even her feet are perfect with some odd toes, and even with her screams that we swear have broken some glasses in our house). We have still to get out in this beautiful weather and take a walk (we tried yesterday but only made it in the parking lot in the stroller because she had a huge poop blowout and once we turned around, changed her, and got her back in the carseat, she was beyond mad), but we did take her to Red Robin for our first dinner out and she's been to Target with her mama. I felt like I had my dukes up though because I didn't want any stranger to try to touch her and was ready to fight then away with cart if necessary.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who we love so much for coming to hold Lilah, keep us company, sending us such wonderful gifts and flowers, and bring us so many great meals...we so appreciate all of you.

Our Baby Story

Well, today I am now "postdue" by 4 days and am trying hard to stay busy and keep myself from thinking about that I have not had the baby yet. Since Monday, I have ran every errand known to man (went to Target twice, grocery shopped, went to the mall, worked with Leigh Anne at the Speech Therapy clinic, a trip to the post office, and have bought some things online), read a book, cleaned, cooked, and watched numerous episodes of "A Baby Story". I baul at every episode and always say out loud how nasty the baby looks when he/she comes out because he/she is all wrinkled and purple. I know that our little girl will look beautiful though. :)



I have tried to stay positive and optimistic, but then wake up every morning feeling a little down that I didn't start having contractions or my water didn't break over night. Every little cramp or discomfort I hope will become a contraction, but it never has.



On Wednesday I had a little simple "procedure" that my doctor hoped would help me along with labor, but so far, nothing. So, I'm scheduled for another awesome "procedure" on Sunday and then an induction on Monday if still no baby girl.



By Monday then, we should have our little girl and I will finally start returning phone calls and emails, and hopefully be all smiles by then, instead of crying all the time. I told Lance I think I saved up all of my pregnancy hormones just for this week and let it all out now. I think he's probably happy to be at work to miss most of my baulfests.