Happy New Year!

I think it is safe to say that 2009 has been the most awesome year to date, and these last three and a half weeks, while rather insane, have been the icing on the cake. I can't believe my sweet little Lucy is going to be a month old on Tuesday! She is growing and changing so much every day, and I am so excited to see what she does next!Lucy had a great first Christmas! We started off the celebration on Wednesday (the 23rd) by att

ending Lucy's first party! We went over to

Katie's sister's house for their annual ornament party. The Doyle/Darst/Lea/Taylor clan were so excited to meet Lucy and she had a blast (I assume... I had fun so she must have!). She was awake for the first half hour we were there and loved being held by everyone, and then she

slept and cuddled the rest of the time we were there. I even got to eat while someone else held her!

Lucy with Aunt Katie, Uncle Jamie, and Erin

On Christmas Eve, Lucy made a quick last minute trip to Target and to the pet store. She was not a big fan of waiting in the car while Daddy ran in to get doggy food, but she pulled it back together in time to go to Target! We spent the afternoon baking cookies and wrapping presents, and then all of her company started coming in the early evening. I think Lucy loved having her grandparents and great-grandparents around because it meant she never had to be put down... and Lucy loves to be held! Papa Jeff tried to talk me into leaving Lucy to go pick up the take-out Chinese food, but no go. I don't know how I will ever leave her!

Christmas Day was so much fun - just knowing that it was Lucy's first Christmas and thinking about all of the fun Christmases to come. Santa brought Lucy some toys and books, and of course Nana and Papa Jeff spoiled her too. Grandma brought her some cute hand-made clothes. Torrie (Great-grandma) made Lucy a gorgeous blanket. I think the little bit got spoiled (so did I, but this isn't about me!). Lucy actually handled Christmas Day better than Christmas Eve (she wasn't cluster feeding, which was nice for me!) and it was fun to meet Uncle Marc and Aunt Rita too. :)

The day after Christmas we went to the mall (crazy!) and Lucy had a complete and total melt-down. It was so sad, too, because the previous times we've had Lucy out and about she has seemed to love it. I think the holidays were a little bit over-stimulating! I found a nice place to nurse her though (who knew that Nordstrom had a nursing lounge?!) and that calmed her down. Lucy also had her first dinner out at a restaurant that night and she did great at Bocci! I, of course, almost had a melt-down when she started screaming right after getting there, but she calmed right down after I held her and I was able to put her back in the carseat by the time the food came. Go Lucy! Go Mommy! :)

Lucy had a great holiday and is so lucky to have so many people in her life who love her. We've spent this week resting up (she still isn't a huge fan of sleeping at night!) and getting ready for Nana's birthday party tomorrow night. Lucy is excited to meet the Smiths and the Stoudts at the party, and to see her grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts and uncles again!

Three other quick firsts:

This week (Tuesday), Mommy, took Lucy to Target on a solo trip! This is a huge deal because I have been so nervous to take her out by myself, but we both did great! I bought her a present :)

Wednesday night, Lucy had her first trip to Moe's and she did great there as well! I think the weekly trips to Moe's can continue!

Lastly, Lucy had her first bottle this week! Andrew gave her a bottle and she did a pretty good job! She doesn't love it, but she'll get used to it. We are going to keep trying to give her one bottle a day! :)

Two weeks old!

Little Lucy is two weeks old and she is still just fabulous! We had our two week doctor's appointment and I am thrilled with how well she is doing! She weighs 6 pounds, 11 ounces, so in 9 days she packed on a whole pound! I am so proud of her :) It could be because all the little porker does is eat... but I'll take it. Our pediatrician said Lucy looked perfect and even complimented us on being such relaxed parents. It is kind of strange... I am generally extremely uptight and neurotic about everything, but with Lucy, I am just trusting my instincts and feeling much more relaxed than I thought I would. Of course, I still get stressed out and I hate to see her cry, but for the most part, kudos to me :) It helps that Lucy is a pretty easy-going, happy baby!

Lucy's canine brother and sister are so curious about her and are so good with her! Even Murphey, who can be a *little* high-maintenance, is being great with her! They don't like it when she cries and they follow me up and down the stairs all day long! Daisy has pretty much learned not to lick her face (we let her lick her hands because Daisy loves to lick!) and Murphey likes to walk up and smell her head. I imagine in about 6 months or so they are all going to have lots of fun together!

She is growing and changing so much already! She has started having more awake time during the day, going for about 2 hours before crashing for a nap! Her naps are getting shorter, but are still pretty frequent throughout the day. She loves to look at lights and to play with her hands... but more than anything, she loves to suck! I think she might be a thumb sucker when she figures it out. For now, she puts her whole fist up to her mouth and makes the cutest little smacking noises as she goes to town. When she is fussy, Andrew can soothe her by letting her suck on his pinky! We have tried using the soothie pacifier, but she isn't too interested in it yet!

Lucy is starting to figure out day and night I think. At the very least, it is getting better. We are making an effort to be very quiet and still at night and to keep the lights up all day, as I've read that can help the most. I think it is also helping Lucy that we are starting to get out a little more during the day (two trips to the mall, a Target trip, a Swoozies trip, a grocery store run, and her trips to the pediatrician) so she is getting a little more stimulation. She still is not a fan at all of sleeping lying down! Every other night around 9:00, Lucy gets a bath. Then every night, we do lotion and massage, jammies, swaddle, and one last feed. She will go to sleep between 9:30 and 10:00 and we can usually get her in the Snuggle Nest in her Pack 'n Play for this first stretch of sleep. Between 11:30 and midnight she is up again for a diaper change and to eat, and at this point it is hit or miss as to where she will sleep. Sometimes I can get her to sleep in her swing (which she sleeps in FINE all day long!) but usually she just wants to snuggle and be held. Then every twoish hours all night long we repeat until around 7:30 or 8:00. At that point, Lucy has some awake play time, and the whole process starts again! Mommy and Daddy are tired, but we are really super thankful that even though Lucy wants to be held and cuddled all night long, she is really such a happy baby. She will get so excited when we change her diaper and look up at us with her big eyes... makes it worthwhile to be up for 4 hours straight in the middle of the night! :)

It is almost Lucy's first Christmas! She doesn't need anything, but I am still excited to take pictures of her beside her presents and to share her with all of the relatives coming to visit! She is going to get spoiled this week :)

"I'm soooo big!"

My favorite picture to date. She sleeps with her hands under her chin when she's on our chests! What a cutie :)

How I spend the majority of the night. If you're awake, give me a call! :)

Just chilling on the couch. Check out those booties... such cute little alien feet! :)

Cutest baby EVER! Lucy says Merry Christmas everyone!

She's Here!

And she's absolutely wonderful! Perfect. Amazing. Breath-taking. Awe-inspiring. Needless to say, we love Lucy Katherine more than anything in the world. I can't believe that we created this tiny, perfect little person and that she is part of both of us. Holy cow.

On Friday, December 4th (my last day of work, interestingly enough) I went to my OB for an NST because Lucy (although at that point she was still unnamed!) had been very quiet and I am a paranoid freak. They hooked me up to the monitors and we heard her little heart beat and they were able to catch a few moves. She was obviously running out of room! I got home about 5:30 and did not feel well at all so I took a quick nap before dinner. Andrew and I got in the car to go to Moe's about 6:30 and by the time we got there every part of my body hurt and I was majorly uncomfortable. I didn't know this was labor! I left the line and told Andrew to just get food to go and we got home around 7. I still felt bad so I got in bed and tried to just go to sleep. I woke up every 45 minutes but still had no idea what was going on. At midnight, I finally just got out of bed and went downstairs to watch TV. Andrew came with me and we still had no idea why I felt so terrible (haha seems funny now!). Around 2:30, we decided to try to get to bed. He fell asleep right away and I sat up in bed wondering what the heck was wrong with me. At 3 am, I heard a pop and felt a gush... and the rest is history. My water broke, I labored at home until about 7 am, and then we went to the hospital! I got an epidural when I was about 8 cm (I wanted it sooner, but that is a whole different story!), let the baby descend on her own for awhile while visiting with friends, and then pushed her out! So amazing (and that was the g-rated version people... let me know if you want more details!).

Lucy is doing wonderfully. She is a champion eater now (good thing, since she is such a little peanut). She was born at 5 lbs 14 ounces, weighed 5 lbs 7 ounces at 4 days old, and was up to 5 lbs 11 ounces by 6 days old. She is a little confused about days and nights and does NOT like to sleep lying down, but putting her in her WONDERFUL swing the past two nights has helped us all to catch a few consecutive hours of shut-eye. Andrew is absolutely amazing with her and does a great job of calming all of my crazy irrational worries. Oh yeah, and her umbilical cord stump fell off yesterday at 6 days old!

Now... check out these beautiful pictures of the love of my life!

Just Born!
Peaceful sleeper :)