One Month Old

What a month it has been.

I think I can speak for both of us when I say it has been the most challenging month ever and the most wonderful month ever.

When they say nothing can prepare you to be a parent, they are right. You spend 40 weeks (or 41.5 weeks in my case) imagining what life will be like with a baby and then all of a sudden the baby is there - all the time. No more imagining. Thankfully something just takes over. You can suddenly function on way less sleep. You can distinguish between the cries to know exactly what she needs. And, you figure out all the funny little tricks to calm her down. Jane loves the Daddy bench press (and Jim enjoys the work out...hah).

I feel like we're settling in to a pretty good routine. Jane is a great baby. She is calm and easy. She has her moments, but honestly, who doesn't? She sleeps well at night. She wakes up to nurse every three or so hours, but is good about going right back to sleep. Jane is getting more and more alert and interactive everyday, and she is turning in to quite the "talker."

It's been so fun to watch Jane grow and change over this first month of her life. Here are some snapshots:

Words cannot express how happy this picture makes me.
I'm SO proud of our little Libby. She loves her little sister. :-)

All bundled and strapped in tight, ready for a walk
around the neighborhood.

One of Jane's favorite faces

Proud Daddy!

Jane taking her first bottle of pumped milk.

Nap time rocks!

I'm talking about Jane's nap time...not mine. :-)

Slowly Jane is getting on a regular schedule and that means "predictable" nap times where this mommy can get stuff done. Hooray!

During today's morning nap I'm prepping for tonight's dinner. So what's on the menu? Chicken with roasted garlic in the Crock Pot. I based it on this recipe from Betty Crocker. I'm on a quest these days to find quick easy meals for weeknights which means me and my trusty Crock Pot are besties. It took about 15 minutes to prep and will cook for the next 8 hours. When Jim gets home from work I'll throw some asparagus in the oven and roast it for about 15 minutes. Then we'll just dish it up and have a nice healthy dinner that took no effort to prepare. I think this recipe will be a winner.

Other nap time accomplishments will include cleaning the kitchen, catching up on laundry I didn't get to this weekend, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to make some jewelry. We'll see.

This Mom thing is hard...

Yesterday felt impossible.

Our sweet Jane cried from 7:30 in the morning until sometime after midnight. We had spurts of calm, but nothing longer than 30 minutes. Jim even came home early from work to give me some relief.

They say it is totally normal for newborns to have painful gas and digestive problems, but when there is nothing you can do to take the pain away from your baby it is heartbreaking. So Jane was crying and I was crying - all day.

Thankfully every morning we get a fresh start. Today is a night and day difference. Jane is back to her "normal routine." She's been sleeping all day, only waking up to nurse and be held for a bit.

Today feels possible and for that I am thankful.