5.01.2012

How Time Flies...

This past Saturday, my sweet baby girl turned one month old!!


I can hardly believe it's been a month...although sometimes it feels like she's been here with us forever. I'm glad it feels that way, because Joe and I felt the same way when we got married. It was just a natural change for us. Anyway.

It's been one heck of a month, that's for sure. My MIL arrived on the island the day after we came home from the hospital and stayed to help for 2 weeks {my FIL also came out to visit, during her 2nd week here}. And, omg, I didn't lift a finger while she was here. Well, other than to feed/take care of Charlotte. She even got up with me in the middle of the night to feed her! I didn't make dinner, do laundry or dishes...nothing. I slept a lot and feed Charlotte a lot. That was it. Oh, and I cried a lot too. Hello, postpartum hormones.

That's what I really wasn't prepared for. No one told me I'd feel like crying all the stinkin' time for no apparent reason. Or that I'd cry because I was overwhelmed and exhausted by this whole motherhood thing. I also wasn't told that breastfeeding is incredibly painful (at least for the first few weeks) and that I'd want to cry every time she latched on. Oh, and a word to you new moms-to-be: getting up to go to the bathroom a zillion times a night does NOT prepare you for the 2 and 4 am wake up calls. Do not be deceived.

So, what's happened during the last month?

Charlotte got her first sponge bath at home.

Daddy wanted to be the first to buy/bring her flowers.
{I cried at the sweetness.}

Her icky umbilical stump finally fell off and she got her first real bath!

We went to church and dedicated Charlotte to our Lord and Savior. =)

We took a much better family photo at church.

Charlotte spent lots of time getting loved on by Bossi and Pop. =)

And she finally started enjoying the swing!

I'm not sure how much she weighs now, but she's definitely grown!! However, my little bean is still very much wearing her newborn clothes and diapers. I have a feeling we'll be in those for a while. =) I suppose it can only be expected when you have a 5lb 5oz baby! She's a lot more awake these days, though she pretty much always falls asleep during her feedings. She's still kind of a sleepy baby... I have to wake her for some of her daytime feedings, mainly because I want her to be awake during the day and sleep better at night. She usually goes between 4 and 5 hours at night which is very nice. {It's sad the things I'm happy about these days...}

Last week was my first week alone with Charlotte - meaning Joe went back to work. =P The first day was a little rough, but we're getting the hang of being on our own will Daddy is at work. Sadly, they put Joe on a swing shift. What that means is he goes to PT at either 1400 or 1430 and doesn't get home until around 0200. =( I know I should be thankful that he doesn't have to go anywhere to do this training exercise thing, but nights with little miss priss are kinda hard. She's always a little bit fussier at night and my patience starts to wear thin. Plus, I really just don't like being alone at night. I'm hoping this schedule is only going to last one month instead of two, but with the Army I might as well prepare for it to last two. {Side note: who in their right mind schedules a brand new dad to work nights!? So considerate. Oh wait. I forgot I was talking about the Army. Sigh.}

We've certainly had our ups and downs the past month, but it's all worth it when I see this sweet, pretty little girl smiling at me! {So she's not smiling in the pic, deal with it. =}


I know I've been off the radar for the last month, but I'm hoping I'll get the hang of this mommy thing soon and find some time to get back to blogging regularly! Until then you can keep up with me on Twitter. I'm always on the Twitter. ;-)

13 comments:

  1. Yay! An update!

    I remember that first month. It's funny I talk about this like Penny is all old and stuff, but it seems like it's been such a long time since then. They grow and change so quick, I have to look at her newborn photos to be reminded of those days. I have to say, those days seem a bit easier than now haha.

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  2. Presh photos! So tiny! Liza has the same swing but acts like it's a torture device. LOL.

    Sorry about the scheduling...I know it blows!

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  3. So precious and so glad to hear all is well!

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  4. She is adorable and 4-5 hours at night sounds great, haha don't things change when we all congratulate you on that news?!

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  5. She is absolutely precious!!!!

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  6. I'm glad you're getting some long-ish stretches of sleep at night! When we came home from the hospital and Molly slept 2.5 hours straight, I almost cried I was so happy. (Was expecting the same sleeping pattern as my son- every. stinking. hour. )

    I'm sorry to hear your husband is working nights. :( That can be so rough, especially when you just wanna pass the crying baby off to someone and konk out for a little while!! But hey, I might see you on Twitter at 3am since that is our usual feeding time- tweet me! lol

    I'm glad to hear you were so well taken care of while your MIL was in town. :) That is always SO nice. :)

    Take care and grab the sleep when you can! She's adorable!!

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  7. i've been waiting on you to post something new. i tried adding you on facebook a few months ago since i dont have a twitter account.

    she is just too cute. and you will totally get the hang of it all real soon. just remember to sleep when she sleeps(i know you have heard that) and with the nursing thing, well i used a nipple shield. they sell them at target in the bottle and breast feeding isle. it was never painful to nurse my son and i plan on using one with my little girl when i have her. things will start settling down for you soon and she will sleep longer at night. i always kept a pen and paper by my bed to write what time i fed him at night, how long and which side he nursed on since he didnt always do both. hope you can get back to posting more pictures soon..

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  8. she is super super sweet :)the schedule is seriously so hard to get down I think, I hope it gets easier quickly!

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  9. Aw! I'm glad to see you on here! I'm glad to hear that things are going well and the adjusting is going great!

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  10. Great post! She is such a little bean and totally adorable! I know the schedule thing is hard, but it really does get better with time. Hang in there, you are doing great!

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  11. She is so beautiful! I just can't get over it! I hope Joe gets a better schedule next. :(

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  12. She's beautiful! I feel for you on the sleepless nights:( That will get better in time. Like someone else said (know its easier said than done) but nap when she does! I did that with my 2nd child and things were so much better.

    Also, for the breastfeeding. Lanoshin cream was my saving grace!

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