The Whites: Settling In

So I think we're starting to get settled and adjusted with our new little family member. We've made it through weeks 2 and 3 and we're all still doing pretty well. Emily is still being a pretty easy baby. Noah is doing better and better. Mike went back to work--the first day at home with me and both kids was a little rough. Noah and I didn't get along too well that day--lots of talking back and getting upset over pretty much anything I offered him. We had several time outs that day. The second day was better--only one time out and big meltdown. I'll take that kind of progress. We're having to teach him some new boundaries with Emily. He's still only loving toward her, however we're working on being more gentle with our loving. He wants to "share" his toys with her--but dinosaurs in her face aren't ideal. He likes to show her things and like to be in charge of turing on her bouncy seat and swing.

We went in for a check up and her 2nd newborn screen when she was 10 days old. At that point she was back above her birth weight at 7lb 9.5 oz and 20.75 in. She's growing like a champ already! We had to go back in just past 3 weeks old to have her belly button looked at and at that point she was already weighing in at 9 lb 3 oz! She starting to get some little rolls on her arms and some chub to her cheeks. As she's getting a little bigger I think she's starting to look even more like Noah as a baby.

This time around with a baby at home, I wanted to make more of a point of getting out of the house and having some exposure to the outside world a little sooner. I felt too excluded for too long with Noah and reflecting back that wasn't good for my mental health. We've kept Emily in the sling or covered in her carrier so she can still avoid germy hands but we've definitely taken advantage of having a variety of activities over the last few weeks.

Mike's Dad came into town for a few days to see family and meet Emily. We were able to go out to lunch with him several times including a trip to Dave and Busters with Mike's brother and all the cousins. Noah had a blast. Emily slept the whole time! That's the great thing about newborns--the ability to sleep just about anywhere. We're enjoying taking her out and getting out while it's still fairly easy! She's been to church twice now too. And we also had VBS at church in the evenings last week. That was great as it got Noah out of the house and gave him something to look forward to. He LOVED it and had a blast again this year.

Mike and I also enjoyed celebrating our anniversary during VBS week--Noah went to church and we took Emily out to dinner. Again, she slept the whole time giving us a quiet dinner to reflect on the last year. It's been a wonderful 8 years and is always fun to look back and see how far we've come during that time! I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful man to share life with.

Meeting Grandpa. She didn't cry the entire time, it just looks that way.