I Would've Died for This

After watching the following video, I have been reflecting on the journey we had to embark on to have our little girl.  I will never forget the moment our bundled girl was placed in my arms after two days of labor, 40 wonderful weeks of pregnancy, six long years of waiting, three expensive infertility treatments, and two losses.  This was the moment I would have died for and had desired with my whole heart for my life.  Infertility nearly broke my heart and my spirit as I longed to hold a baby of my own in my arms.  Now I can't believe the little angel is really here and our prayers were answered.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the blessed gift of our sweet girl, Elisabeth Dorothy.   May we never take this blessing for granted.

Loving Family

We were blessed to have Lance's mom and our sister-in-law, Kara, and her two children come to visit two weeks ago.  We had a great time taking adventures to local parks and spending time with each other reading scriptures, eating tasty foods, and just enjoying each other's company.  Sofi loved having so much attention and walks from the family and Elisabeth and I were spoiled by having so many willing hands to help.

Ari admiring her new girl cousin.  Ari was a great help and always picked out

Elisabeth's clothes.

Lincoln was afraid of Sofi at first but he eventually warmed up to her.

Elisabeth snuggled up nice and cozy with Grandma Bev.

Papa

Elisabeth loves her papa.  Notice how she is holding on to his shirt for dear life.  She always holds on to him like that when he comes home from work.  Almost like she is afraid he is going to leave again.  Definitely Papa's girl.  We are lucky to have such a devoted dad in our house who gets up early every day to feed her a bottle and then watches her on Saturday for a few hours so I can get a few hours of "Mommy time."

We love you Lance!

Six Hours

Six hours. That is how long she went between feedings last night. She slept for five of those hours. Hooray!!!! I took everyone's advice and put her to bed after her 8:30 p.m. feeding. No fussy time for us and she woke up at her usual time in the middle of the night. Poor kid. We were keeping her awake so we could get sleep and we were probably preventing her from getting the sleep she needed.

I have a feeling that I am giving the wrong impression about my baby to others. She really is a good, normal baby. She smiles lots, has never mixed up her nights/days, enjoys tummy time, nurses like a champ and is quite the snuggler. She is doing fine . . . I just need a little training because I feel like I am clueless sometimes. Parenting is really harder than I imagined. In my heart of hearts, I just wish she would hear my voice, fall into my arms and be soothed instantly. Oh yeah - and sleep through the night from birth. Funny how we have expectations as parents that aren't necessarily realistic.

As she snuggled down for her morning nap on my shoulder, I couldn't help but count my blessings. We are lucky to have such a sweet, loving little girl. Moments like that (and the fact she went six hours between feedings last night) make the tired, long days all worth it.

Sofi Turns Two

Yes, we celebrate our dog's birthday.  She was our first baby after all.  Our five year old niece Ari, went with me to pick out a special dog treat at a local dog bakery.  Unbelievable that they would have such things.  Even more unbelievable that people like us would go there to purchase their baked goods.  Happy Birthday to the best beagle ever.  We love you Sofi!

Silly names

It is amazing how many silly names you can give your baby. Here are a few photos and examples of the funny names we call Elisabeth. We still haven't decided on a proper nickname for her. Lance calls her Ellie, I like Beth, Grandma Bev likes Elisa, and Arianna (our niece) likes Lizzie. So, we will just have to stick with Elisabeth until one of them fits her personality!

Papa's Pooper

Little Papoose

Sweet Pea

Fuss Budget...Boy, can she ever when she wants to!

Pretty Girl (1 month old)

Munchkina (pronounced Munch-keena)

Hungry Bumpkin

Soliciting Advice

I have decided it is time to start asking my loyal blog readers for some mothering advice. I have read lots of books on how to take care if an infant and I have discovered that sometimes life experiences of real people are sometimes more valuable than experts in a book.

1. Elisabeth is fussy every night between 8 - 11 p.m. and most of the time we can not console her. What have you done for the daily fussy time of your children that has worked?

2. Elisabeth LOVES to be held. So much that I struggle to get anything done during the day and to get her to take a good long nap so I can nap. As soon as we put her down in her cradle, swing, etc., she is up again, crying to be picked up. I have a nice Moby wrap that she likes...only some of the time. How soon should I let her learn to self-soothe or cry it out? Any advice to get her to be content being put down?

Thanks in advance for your advice. I am willing to try new things to keep her healthy and happy.