2 Months Old

I'm finally caught up to real time on my blog..yay!

So, on March 20th Reese turned 2 months old! Very hard for us to believe. She is changing every day and we love her new facial expressions (not always mad or scrunched anymore) and her new noises. She is really starting to coo and have a social smile, especially in the mornings. They are so fun! We love just holding her and talking to her and trying to get her to smile at us.

Here are her 2 month photos (aka chubby and adorable):

She is starting to discover her hands...especially the left one. 

At 9 weeks I captured the biggest smile yet!

On March 23rd, Ty took Reese to her 2 month Dr appt. I didnt want to go because I knew she was getting a lot of shots and I knew I'd cry, so I let him do it. :) She did well, just screamed for a few seconds after receiving 3 shots in her thighs. He brought a bottle and fed her right before and after them, so that helped. Here are her 2 month stats:

Weight: 11.9 lbs (73%)

Height: 23" (69%)...that's more like it.

Head Circum: 15.35 (53%)

BMI: 15.85

I also started back to work this week (part time). I work on Tuesday and Wednesdays. I was sad whenever I thought about going back and cried a few times leading up to Tuesday, since I knew I'd be gone 10 hours each day...the longest away from her yet. When that day came though, I was ok and once I got to my office I was very excited to see people and be back. It was actually relaxing to be there and it felt good.

She was with Ty for over 1/2 the day and my mom for 4 hours. She slept that whole time my mom was there. The same went for Wednesday, 1/2 with Ty and 1/2 with Peggy.  After I got home from work Wed. I was excited for my long weekend to start and I was also very tired (especially on Thursday, I napped a couple times that day with Reese.)

On Friday we went to MQH's Fish Fry with a bunch of friends and Jen for my B-day, then came back to our house for ice cream cake. We also watched UK beat OSU!! It was fun and we stayed up until 1:30am...the latest in months! Needless to say (today), we are having an enjoyable lazy day at home together.

Weeks 6, 7 and 8

These were the weeks we thought Reese really started to develop, change and fill out. She started to smile more, her face filled out (as well as her belly) and she was even staying awake longer throughout the day and was more alert. She slept 6 hours a few times during the night, but mostly slept 4-5 hour increments at night...which wasn't too bad. Ty and I still alternated feedings, since both of us weren't back to work fulltime yet. Her eyelashes were even growing and seemed to double in length...as well as her fingernails which we had to trim a few times. Unfortunately she started to get an umbilical hernia as well. I guess it's common among infants, but hers steadily grew over these weeks. Hopefully it has stopped growing for now. The Dr said it may go back in over time, but if not then she will have surgery at age 1 or 2. We will see.

WEEK 6
We visited my work this week and the Nagars visited on Saturday.

WEEK 7
Went to Montoya's for the first time with my dad, Ty and Reese and she slept the whole time (nice). We also saw the Stamms there. I started working out again this week - Steph came to my house a couple times and met both parents and Gram, as they were watching Reese while I trained.  We also went to Ty's new office to check it out for the first time and Sarah M. and Evie, as well as the Stamms came over to visit as well. Ty and I also went out to eat Sat. night at our fav restaurant, Nicola's, while my parents watched Reese. This was a busy week!

Looks different even from last week!

Daddy started playing the piano again and Reese loves to listen. Sometimes she even falls asleep in his lap.

early smile :)

Evie's Visit 3/10/11

Onesie Uncle Joe bought in Vegas on his honeymoon (when Reese was just 8 weeks in utero)

We had a few nice days and enjoyed them in the stroller!

WEEK 8

This was my last week before starting back to work so Peggy (our sitter) came over a few times to learn Reese's routine. Aunt Bonnie and Karen visited too, for the first time, and brought Reese some sweet rain boots that will fit when she's older. 

UK also was playing in the tournament, so Reese rocked my old onesie which my parents bought before I was born (30 yrs ago). It fits her well at this age, but I was a big baby and grew out of it after only a few weeks, ha. It didn't get much use. 

We also went to Nancy's for a St. Patty's Day party Thurs. night. Reese was very fussy there for some reason..more than usual, but Aunt Jen was able to calm her down in her Woombie. This week we also started doing a little tummy time, but it's still hard for her to pick her head up. She enjoys laying on her back on the mat more. 

(Sorry for the sideways pics, I'm still figuring that out)

Auntie Leah's Visit

Leah was so excited to visit her "Scooter" and flew in the following weekend after her parents to visit her only niece. We also had a great time! We hung out around the house a lot, Ty and I went to get a couples' massage while Leah watched her one afternoon, Leah and I gave her a bath when Ty was giving a talk one morning and we all went to Carraba's with my dad for dinner Sat. night... and Reese slept the whole time! Leah was doing her 21-day Vegan Challenge then, so she made us Vegan pancakes and we tried the other foods she bought, like vegan ice cream which I enjoyed. Yum. I made quinoa and stirfry one night, so she got to try that too. 

Reese was 5 weeks old at this point.

Reese looks scared, but enjoyed the bath :)

Afterwards....

Leah took some cute shots on her phone:

Mimi and Poppi Visit and 1 Month Old

The weekend of February 18-20th Ty's parents came in town to visit Reese for the first time. We had video chatted multiple times but seeing her in person was way better. All 3 of us drove to the airport to pick them up Friday morning, then back to our house for the weekend. We spent most of the time in our house just hanging out and they held and fed her most of the weekend. Ty and I made dinner Friday night, Saturday night we went to my mom's dinner party with her cousins and we went on a little trip to Dillards. One afternoon Terry, Reese, Logan and I took a walk in the neighborhood since the weather was actually nice. We had a great time.

This weekend was also her 1 month birthday!!

Reese with all of her Grandmas (1 being Great Gram) and her "I Love Grandma" bib.....

Now for her 1 month photo shoot:

We also had her 1 month Dr visit that week (2/23) and here were her stats:

Weight: 9.81 lbs (62%)
Height: They said 21", but we think they didnt measure her right since she did grow more than 1/2" since birth :) They needed to stretch her out more, ha (but that would've been 42%)
Head Circum: 14.75 (53%)
BMI 15.64

The first few weeks

At this point (8 weeks later) the early weeks are a bit of a blur, but finally being home with Reese, Ty and Logan was fun and definitely a learning experience. Reese slept a lot the first week which was great..we thought. We had such a hard time waking her to eat that we fed her every 4 hours. At her one week Dr. appt, though, she had lost a little more weight, down to 6 lb 15 oz, so we have to increase the feedings to every 3 hours at least. She was still so sleepy all the time and loved to be swaddled, but when we did that she started gaining at a decent pace. We probably went back to St. E 3-4 times more for their free weight checks and the nurses were probably starting to wonder why we were there so often. We just wanted to make sure she didnt loose anymore. All was good from there on out.

My parents and Auntie Jen Jen were over A LOT to help us out. Jen came for 14 days straight, I think, to see her niece and relieve us. My mom even spent a couple nights over here to take some feedings in the middle of the night so we'd both get some sleep. For the first week or 2, Reese slept in the family room in her yellow rock n play sleeper and Ty and I would alternate being on the couch, so the other could sleep in our bed. After 2 weeks we both slept in our room, but would take turns going out to the family room for feedings. She was never in our room because she made so many noises in her sleep that none of us would've slept well with her right there. That worked best for us.

We also video chatted with Ty's family a lot for those first weeks until they could come visit.

Also, many good friends and neighbors brought food and dinners each night for over nearly 10 days. That was SO helpful, since making dinner was the last thing on our minds. We spent most of our time (when we weren't feeding or changing her) just looking at her and kissing her little lips and round cheeks. We also changed her outfits a lot as well has her headbands. A couple times we washed her hair in the sink and she loved it as long as her body was wrapped up and warm. So fun!

Here's a recap of some of the happenings....

DAY 7 - 1 week after Reese was born, her cousin was born in Pennsylvania - Tristan Isaiah Brown. He was due 5 days before her, but came 7 after. We can't wait to meet him this summer when his parents (Ty's brother and wife) and their 3 other children come to KY!!

DAY 8 - Reese's 1 week Dr. visit and was mentioned above. It was our first trip out of the house and took about an hour in all though the office is 2 min. down the road. Luckily we are a little more efficient at packing up and going out now. Her 1 week stats:
Weight: 6.93 (18 percentile)
Height: 20.5" (67%)
Head Circum: 13.58" (26%)
BMI: 11.58

DAYS 9 (and 13) - Amber Pugh (Photos by Amber) came over to shoot Reese's newborn photos. It was fun dressing her up and I think we shot for about 3 hrs over both days. We came out with some great photos of our little babe! In one shot when Ty and I were holding her in our hands and she was bare bottomed, she pooped all over my hands and clothes, it shot straight out on me once the diaper was off, of course...ha. It was funny. Glad it happened to me and not Ty, he would've died.

DAY 10- Her cord fell off, yay! She did give a little yell and we wondered what had happened, then we saw it just laying on her belly.

DAY 17- Super Bowl party at the Gastenvelds - this was Reese's first party experience and we were there nearly 4 hours! I think she slept the whole time in people's arms.

DAY 23- Joe's grandma's wedding - this was the first time that both Ty and I left her at the same time. We had run errands and done things here and there by ourselves, but we both went to this mass and reception together on a Saturday afternoon. Since my whole family was also attending the wedding, Melissa watched Reese for 3+ hours. All went well.

Now for some pics:

Reese was constantly swaddled...we love our little GLOW WORM. :)

Hospital Visitors and Going Home

We stayed in the hospital from Thursday to Saturday around 1pm. There was a HUGE snowstorm those days and we heard the roads were very bad. Many schools were closed that Friday. Luckily we live so close to the hospital that I wasn't worried. Since we were inside for the majority of 3 days, we pretty much missed it anyway.

Visitors at the hospital included my immediate family, Grandma, Megan, Tara and Melissa, among others. There was also a hospital photographer that came and took some shots of Reese for the St. E website.

We did get a little sleep here and there, but woke her and fed her every 3 hours. At night, Shannon (another nurse I knew) took her out of the room so we really got some rest. That was soo helpful!

This was when we realized Reese LOVES to be swaddled...and she still does (at 6+ weeks). She doesnt sleep well when she's not. As you will see, Reese has her usual scrunched face in most of these early photos....

On Saturday, it took us forever to pack up all of our things, gifts, etc, but luckily the ride home was about 2 min long. When we got home on Saturday afternoon there was a stork in the yard. 

We were curious how Logan would react to Reese, but he was fine. He only sniffed her a few times...he was excited we were home and seemed more interested in us. He did try to jump over her while I was holding her on the couch the first day and his back feet landed on her belly. That shook me up, but she was fine after a single cry. He did get a little nervous and walked around when we cried for a period of time, and even went upstairs once after he had had too much. He is good now and just sniffs and licks her occasionally.  :)