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.