One Month

Little Zoe turned a month old today!!! I can't believe she's been with us for a month and yet it feels like she's always been here.

Taken by her Grammie

This month has been a learning opportunity for both of us.
Zoe has learned to:
*Take a pacifier (mostly)
*Pull mommy's hair (not mommy's favorite)
*Feed very well (and we've finally learned to space this out more)
*Roll onto her side (she's been doing this since she was 2 weeks old)

*Flip herself onto her back during tummy time (it's happened twice already)
*Hold her head up (she rarely rests her head on our shoulders now)

Taken by Grammie

Mommy has learned:
*How to nurse more proficiently and more confidently (it was hard to do this around others before, but I've gotten better at using my nursing cover).
*Give Zoe smooches often (it's just a requirement)
*To type with one hand again
*To do most things one handed
*That sometimes it's ok to let her cry for 2 minutes while doing something that requires 2 hands (like slicing the homemade bread)
*That we have the best friends in the world who have been doing laundry for us since we don't have a washer and dryer right now. (hooray for no laundromat)
*To sit in the backseat of the car, hold the pacifier in with one finger and stroke Zoe's cheek with the other to get her to calm down. (this usually works, sometimes however, you just get to pull over and nurse in a parking lot.)
*To take off socks during diaper changes.

We've both done a lot of learning this month.  The biggest thing we've learned is that we love one another very much.  I can't believe she's only been here for a month and how much I love her.  I don't mind letting others hold her, but sometimes, after a while of not holding her myself I just think, "I want to hold her again, I miss her."  I'm sure this is even harder for daddy.  He makes sure to snuggle her other times though.  Last night he decided to let her fall asleep on his chest when we went to bed.  Such a special time for them both and for me so I could get some good sleep too.

So thankful for our little girl and the precious time we have with her right now.  I may be tired often, but it's totally worth it to take in this wonderful stage in her life.  We are so grateful to our wonderful Father who has given us this perfect little gift!  All almost 10 lbs of her!

although out of focus, one of my favorite photos!

Zoe 1 Week

Out little girl turned a week old on Saturday!  I can't believe she's been here for a week already and yet it feels like she's always been here.  This past Tuesday was rough for me because of hormones.  Every time I thought of  Aaron I cried.  He had to work all day that day.  Other than that though it has been a pretty great first week with our little girl.  She had one night where she was up 10x in 8 hours.  That was not fun, however, most nights I'm only up feeding her 2-3 times which is great.  She makes up for it during the day time though.  I think Zoe sees mama as an all you can eat buffet.  =P

Valerie, our midwife, and Zoe when she was born.  She looks so big!

Grammie and Zoe

Aunt Kristin and Zoe

Aunt Courtney & Zoe

Aunt Sarah & Zoe

PapPap and Zoe

Mongel and Zoe

Grandpa and Zoe

This one makes me almost cry, just love the expression on Daddy's face. 

My mom, Mongel, was with us from Tuesday - Saturday which was a huge help and we were so thankful for that!  Throughout the week we've had visits from Grammie, Grandpa, PapPap, Aunt Kristin, Aunt Courtney, Aunt Sarah & Trent, Aunt Eve & Uncle Cork, Nan, Uncle Buddy, Liz & Frank, and Sky & Andrew.  Sky and Andrew have been so awesome and are doing our laundry for us, such a blessing because we don't have a washer & dryer in our apartment.  Oh and they brought us a tasty dinner.

Zoe is so loved and she's only a week old.

Such a big yawn.

Our big one week old little girl:

(This was the best one I took.  I took about 50 and she was just not super cooperative.)

Zoe is Here

This post is going to be short because our little girl is a hungry one and eats all the time ;).  

Our little Bundle of Joy, Zoe, arrived Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 2:02 am.  It was a long labor for mama, but she is so incredibly precious I wouldn't do anything different. She was 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long. 

Photo by my Mother-in-Love Holly.