Busy!

Yes, I feel rather busy! I am definitely not in a schedule yet with Lucy and the blog seems one of the first things to go. How to sum up? Lucy was not eating well earlier this week and my milk supply dwindled...so I spent most of this week feeding her and then pumping after every feed. That takes up a lot of my time- almost half of a day! And she seems to be pretty uncomfortable after most feedings and needs lots of comfort and burping. I am trying to figure out if I am eating something that might be bothering her. She also seemed to have some real, social smiles the past two days, is having more awake time with her bright eyes, is getting really long and is now one month!

Bennett and Austin both had some mild diarrhea this week, to continue our sick streak and we have watched a lot of Cardinals baseball. Congrats to the Cardinals on their World Series win. We drove up to our St. Louis' friends' apartment Saturday morning to watch it live. Austin has really gotten into the game this year and now knows about hit, runs, strikes, the names of lots of the players and is on his way to the male ability to amass random amounts of sports trivia.

Tomorrow all three kids have check ups- Lucy's one month, Bennett's 3 year and Austin's 5 year. Chris' last day off is tomorrow before heading back to normal work so this week will be completely on my own.

Sorry for lack of pictures- I don't think I have taken a single picture all week. I hope to remedy that soon. This one was taken the day my mom left...the last picture on my computer. Yikes.

Life post-Nana

Well, my mom left this past Tuesday and...well that is probably why I have not posted until now. Life is good, very very good. But the days are pretty full with just trying to feed a newborn, much less take care of three kids in the midst of sickness. We are mostly better but Lucy has gotten the cold and seems to be having more gassy, uncomfortable bouts after eating, which has made for some short nights. Last night was better and we got decent sleep, but the few before that involved crying and -poor thing- feeling uncomfortable. I also took Austin in to the doctor Wednesday morning because he has had this weird rash that keeps spreading and itching. Turns out it is probably something with a strange Italian name that is his body's reaction to the upper respiratory infection he had. It is not a huge deal, other than itching, but could keep spreading and last up to 8 weeks. Poor guy. Today he seemed to itch less, so I am hoping it will get better sooner rather than later. Thankfully it is not contagious so he can keep going to school.

Chris has had some days off and has been a big help though. Friday we all trooped down at 7 am to the US Embassy to apply for Lucy's passport, report of birth abroad form and SS number. It went smoothly, we stopped at Peter's for brunch and watched watched the replay of the Cardinal's World Series game in the afternoon. Lucy is still super cute, still sleeping a lot and gets lots of kisses from her big brothers!

Here are some of the things we did with Nana...so thankful for her time here!

She took the boys outside to play a good bit, when everyone was healthy.

Lots of reading time- she brought great books and the boys loved to read with her.

Bennett of course loves to color and loves it even more when Nana accompanied him. Nana and the boys also played LOTS of games...I am sure she got tired of it, but Austin loves games and they must have played Hi-Ho Cherry-O 10 times at least.

THE FUN BAG- this is Nana's claim to fame with the boys. She is so creative and every day had something for the boys to open in the fun bag...whether it was animal crackers, a new book, a dinosaur toys, book and cards or something else, it was the highlight of each day.

Lots of holding Lucy time too- especially after I would go to bed at night. Miss you !

Two weeks

Wow, in some ways these two weeks have flown by. In other ways, there have been some long days as we all continue to have some sort of sickness, except for Lucy so far (thankfully!). Austin's cold is better, mine and Bennett's are still hanging around. My mom got a 24 hour stomach virus Wednesday and it appears that Chris is coming down with it tonight. So do keep praying we will be healthy soon and especially that Lucy stays well. Mom and I did manage to get away for part of the day today to do some shopping and a head and shoulder massage! Lucy came along and slept most of the time. It was nice to get out of the house, since we had not left much with all the sickness.

It is hard to believe my mom just has a few more days...trying to make the most of our time. She has helped SO much especially with everyone not feeling great. Thankfully she is fully recovered now from her stomach bug. So that is most of the news from here. BUT I am really thankful for my friend Tammy who came once again to take some pictures of Lucy and the family. Here are a few of the highlights!

Sickies

Well, Austin started a cold last Monday and it now seems that most of us are getting it. I am not sure about Lucy yet...really praying she doesn't have to have her first cold at 10 days old...but she seems a bit sniffly tonight. It is not a fun one- lots of sneezing and coughing that seems impossible for a almost 5 and 3 year old to cover well every time. Austin is better but still coughing a week later. Bennett was downright miserable tonight- poor little red, watery eyes. He kept asking for medicine. So, pray for us- even my Mom started feeling a scratchy throat tonight and she was the last one to be healthy. Pray for sleep, a quick bout of it for the rest of us and especially for little Lucy. Trying to nurse with a stuffed nose is the worst.

Otherwise, we are fine but mostly homebound these days. Lucy does go in for a 10 day check up tomorrow and I am hoping her weight is up. All right off to bed...may be a long night.

A week!

Hard to believe a week has past since Lucy's birth. She is slowly eating better. She still sleeps a LOT of the time- but has slept a lot of the past few nights. So I am feeling decently rested. And my mom (Nana) has been a HUGE help. The boys are having lots of fun with her and Lucy gets good snuggle time in her arms. Here are some more pictures, which is what most of you are hoping to see.

Chris, Mom and the boys went apple and pear picking on Tuesday. They all had fun and came home with a lot of apples.

Austin and Bennett both helped make a big batch of applesauce and tonight Mom (and Austin) made apple pie. Lots of fun in the kitchen.

Lucy got her first sponge bath...she didn't love it, but probably cried less than her brothers at their first baths.

My friend Tammy came over today to photograph Lucy and our family...she has taken pictures for us before and does a great job. I haven't seen those pictures yet, but after she left I did a little amateur shooting of my own and these are the results. A few of them turned out really cute!

We made it home Sunday afternoon. The boys had minor meltdowns shortly after our arrival, but have done ok since then. Both of them are having some emotionalness with the change, but also seem to love their Mei Mei. Not long after arriving home, Austin wanted to read her a book. I have a video I tried to upload, but it failed and will have to wait for another day. Not to be outdone, Bennett also read her a book. And I am definitely a momma who is excited for a girl...therefore notice the hairbow. Probably lots of those in her future...as least while she has no opinion about it. :) Lucy does have her most awake hours of the day between 2 and 6 am...so I am heading to bed soon. Might be a long night.

More Lucy

Another sweet day with Lucy...here are some more shots of her. We ended up deciding to stay the third night in the hospital so we will go home tomorrow. Insurance covers it, we couldn't get some things done today- like her birth certificate, because it was a national holiday and would have to come back in the morning anyway, so we are here one more night. Hopefully some decent rest tonight before we go home tomorrow. Isn't she so precious? Tonight she had this short but very alert period when I got those cute face shots