Josie is One Month Old!

I have to say this month has just flown by! It doesn't seem possible that our sweet little girl is 4 weeks old today! She is doing great! We had our one month check up yesterday and she is now 7 lbs 8 oz and is 20.5 inches long! She is definitely on the small side with her growth. We had another blood test for her jaundice and it has come down more to 10.4. The pediatrician says it is due to breastfeeding. Not sure how that works, but he said it is within normal levels and should clear up in another month and will not harm her.



{Our little Josie, 1 Month Old}



{Look! She already knows how to count!}



{She looks just like me when I was a baby!}




She is sleeping consistantly between five and six and a half hours at night. She gets a diaper change, nurses, and then goes right back to sleep!  She still has a ton of hair and is still as wild as ever. {She is my little punk rocker!}

She is still way too little for the cloth diapers and I'm not sure when she will fit into them. We have found that Huggies diapers are not a good fit for us. Almost always they are garaunteed to leak everything.

She has broken out in new baby rash. Looks awful, poor girl, but she is still beautiful.  She has thrush too, but we are going to try putting coconut oil on her tongue instead of using a perscription to try to combat it naturally.

The last month I have had it pretty easy with meals thanks to some of the wonderful moms at MOPs. Last Friday was the first meal I had to make for our family in three weeks! I will be forever grateful to them for that! It definitely helped ease us into life with two kids. Less cooking equals less dishes and more time to devote to our kids. It has been great.

Monday night she had her first bottle given by her Papa! I helped out with VBS and pumped a bottle just in case since I would be gone for about two hours. My dad said she took it no problem! I had left him with two different bottles and four different nipples to try just in case and he didn't need them!

Overall she is doing wonderfully! We couldn't be happier with her! God gave us a great gift!

Eggs-periment

While doing one of Wyatt's daily devotions {Gotta Have God} we came across this neat experiment that we had to try. This experiment takes the shell off an egg and you are able to hold the inside of the egg! Pretty cool, huh?

What you will need:

1. An egg
2. Vinegar
3. A glass jar

Place the egg in a glass jar and cover it with vinegar. Leave for 48 hours. The end result will be an egg without a shell that you can hold and squeeze gently in your hands.

This is such a simple thing to do and a lot of fun. Just a fair warning: The egg can break if dropped. We didn't know how strong it was and Wyatt dropped his in the sink and it broke open. Needless to say, we had one unhappy boy after that. But it is so easy we can just do again!

Enjoy!

Josie: 1 Week Old

Our little Josie is just over a week old now and is doing great! We went to her first check up yesterday and she is back up to her birth weight of 6lbs 4oz. She is a little jaundice so we were sent over to the lab for blood work and later that evening the doctor called back and told us she wanted us to go back to the lab in two days to be tested again to see if it is going away on its own.

She has been eating great, she never fusses unless she needs something, and she has been sleeping well at night. I only have to get up with her once or twice. She is a such good baby!

Wyatt has been a big help and stepping into his role as 'Big Brother' rather well. He throws away the dirty diapers for us. He loves to hold her hand and give her kisses. Yesterday he said, "She is so cute! I missed her when she was in your belly!" He loves her so much!

Over all things are going great with Josie. I will keep you updated as best I can with any further news as we go!



Big Boy Bed

It is a big day for Wyatt today! He gets his Big Boy Bed! He is so excited! We got the bed at Habitat for Humanity for $28 a couple weeks ago. It is a steel bed and very solid. Just needed some TLC. I kind of liked the way it looked originally, but it had a lot of rust, so I ended up painting it.

{Before}

{Nick sanded down the rusty spots for me}

Today we went and got the mattress and box springs. We kind of looked a little hillbilly with them strapped to the roof of our car... but we were able to get them home.

{Finished!}



{Had to test it out!}



I didn't realize how tall it is after it was all put together. We are going to have to get a swimming noodle to put underneath the sheet to help him from rolling off the edge. It is a MUCH bigger fall with this bed! I am also hoping this will renew our desire for naps too! I know, I am probably not going to see that, but I can hope can't I?

Josie's Birth Story

Our due date was June 1 and I thought for sure she would be early. I was thinking more of a week early, she was thinking more like a day. I woke up early Thursday morning to my water breaking all on its own. I didn't know it at the time, but confirmed my suspicions at a Dr.'s appointment in the afternoon. The doctor sent us right over to get admitted to the hospital and we were in our room a little after 3pm. We were only dilated to 4 at that time.

About 4pm we were started on Pitocin to help me get my contractions going. As we waited we took in the last moments as a family of three.





{Our Family of three}



{So excited waiting for his little sister to come}



At 6:30pm I was checked and still was only dilated to 4. At 7pm contractions were in full swing. At 8pm the nurse came in and said she would check me again for progress at 8:30pm {A whole half hour of painful contractions more?!} Okay, I can do this... She suggested I try to go to the bathroom that it may help move things along. So I did. And it worked! I felt an uncontrollable need to push and we rushed back to the bed. They called for the doctor to come {who was still at home} and started to break down the bed. They told me to try to not push {easier said than done!} The doctor made it, asked if there was time to change into scrubs. Yeah, sure, I guess. So he left. A couple contractions more, I was able to not push. Next one, not so much. My body took over control and I had to push. Our doctor rushed in just in time to deliver. At 8:27 our little Josie Mae was born! Who would of thought it could go that fast! I am forever thankful that it did though!

The best part was when they put her on my belly and told me we had a baby girl! It was absolutely incredible! She was beautiful. She gave a little cry and then just laid there looking around taking everything in. 



{Daddy gets to hold her for the first time!}



 

She is the best baby! She never fusses, never cries! When she isn't sleeping she is content just lying there looking around. She is snugly and sweet. She is tiny! She has the longest fingers and feet!



Josie Mae
Born May 31, 2012

@ 8:27pm

6 lbs 4 oz

19.5 inches long





{Wyatt gets to hold Josie for the first time!}





{Happy big brother}



{Going home!}

 





{Home at last!}



Well, we are home and already had our first visitors! It feels SO great to be home! Wyatt is just smitten with his new sister. He can't leave his hands off her! Constantly holding her hand, kissing her, and hovering over her! After we put him to bed Josie started crying because she was hungry, Wyatt came running out of his bedroom asking if she was okay! He says, "Well, I'm the big brother, I need to see if she is okay." He is taking his role very seriously!

Now for transition. Adjusting to a life with two kids will surely take some time, but I am definitely looking forward to it! The biggest challenge so far is going to be Wyatt. He has been a big help so far, almost giving too much help. He is still learning how to act around her. After he mellows a bit, I have no doubt he will be a fantastic big brother!