One month!

It's hard to believe we've had Abby in our arms for a whole month already! She is such a blessing to our family, and we enjoy her so much! Eli continues to be an amazing big brother; he truly loves his baby sister, and it is so precious to watch him interact with her. Though I am absolutely exhausted, it has been a truly wonderful and blessed month! Our little girl is almost as expressive as our little boy was at this age...

And even though she's not smiling responsively yet, we're sure enjoying the little smiles we're seeing!
I love being a mommy! And just for fun, we had to take a look back to compare photos! Here's Eli at one month...

You can definitely see the similarities, and we've definitely seen this expression on Abby! Such fun! :)

Amazing Abby

I realize it's been way too long since I posted new photos of Abby. So, here you go...

Abby after a bath...

My first Mother's Day as a mom of two (what an amazing blessing!!) Abby's first tummy time...
Big brother playing with Abby...
Abby at the zoo... And a sneak peek at her newborn photos from Emily...

We are so enjoying getting to know our precious little girl! She is such an amazing blessing to our family, and we are so grateful that the Lord has entrusted her to our care! We love you Abby! :)

Happy Birthday Eli!

I cannot believe my little boy is 3! They're not kidding when they tell you to enjoy your children because the moments (and years) are fleeting. First, a look back...

Here's Eli at birth...

At one...

At two...

And now three! What a difference a year makes! I remember thinking how big and grown up Eli looked last year when he turned two...but now, looking at those photos compared with this year, I can't believe how much older he looks! The only thing that keeps me from being sad about how fast he's growing up is the fact that every single age and stage with him has been even better and more fun than the last! We are blessed with a wonderful little boy, and now with a wonderful little girl who we get to experience all these fun milestones with, too!

Now, on to the birthday fun. We let Eli choose how he wanted to celebrate his birthday this year, and we were quite relieved that he chose a trip to the zoo instead of a big party. I don't know how we would have pulled that off with a newborn! Anyway, we headed to the zoo after a late breakfast and had a great time. We let Eli lead the way all day, and our first stop was the brand new penguin exhibit. It is definitely very cool. Next, we hit the farm area, where Eli did one of his very favorite things to do at the zoo: drive the tractor. We also visited the elephants, tiger, gorilla, and a few others before heading home for a barbecue with Nana and Pa. Here's a picture of some monkeys we saw on the way out...Oh wait, one of those is ours! :)

When we returned home Eli played outside while Dada barbecued steaks (at Eli's request). Dada finished building Eli's b'day gift from Nana and Pa just in time for the big day...Needless to say, this thing is a big hit, and the photo really doesn't do it justice. We're really excited to spend lots of time in the backyard this summer, as it feels like we have our own park and playground!

A couple of weeks ago I asked Eli what kind of cake he'd like for his birthday. His answer? Blue and yellow cake with white frosting! Did I pull it off? Yes! Eli was so excited about his cake that he ate a whole piece - he's never done that with cake before, and hopefully won't again since he threw up all over his bed that night! Poor guy! He sure enjoyed it though, and of course he enjoyed opening presents afterward. It was a very fun day...Happy Birthday Eli!!! You are such a big boy!

Amazing Eli

We haven't written much about how awesome Eli has been in his new role as big brother. He absolutely loves his sister, and several times a day asks if he can give her kisses. On one of our early days with Abby, Eli came to me and asked, "Can I give my sweet Abby a kids?" Precious! Not only has he been great with Abby, he has become such a great helper, and has begun doing more things himself. It's the running joke in our house now that he turned 10 the night she was born! He and Ryan have been having a lot of fun together and finding lots of projects to do around the house. We are truly blessed by this amazing little boy. I had no idea that having a second child would increase the love I have for my first. It's like my capacity to love has grown exponentially and I'm just overflowing with love for both of these little blessings! On a lighter note, five days of phototherapy (and thus five days of cabin fever) led to lots of fun (and silliness) around the house.

Helping Dada wash windows...

Digging in the dirt (still his very favorite thing to do)...

Being silly...

Enjoying the sunshine with his water table...

The return of nakey boy!Playing computer in his underwear...

Abby at home

We were really blessed to be able to take Abby home the day she was born. They usually keep you for observation for 24 hours after birth, but we asked for an early discharge and they let us go home that night. We've been having a wonderful time getting used to life as a family of four! I am SO grateful for the time that Ryan has been able to take off of work; I don't know how I'd be surviving without him here! Our first week with Abby was a made emotionally difficult by the fact that she had jaundice and required five days of phototherapy. While we were grateful that this treatment can be done at home, it still requires you to leave the baby on the special light bed at all times except for feeding. It is incredibly difficult and emotionally draining to have a new baby and not be able to hold her! Fortunately she was taken off light therapy on Sunday and we're all feeling better now that we can hold her. While she was on the bed we had to supplement her feeding with bottles (I was fortunate to be able to pump, so she was still getting my milk rather than formula), but this led to some nursing issues. Again, I am grateful that these issues have almost completely resolved now that she is off bottles. So, we're still getting accustomed to life as a family of four, and we're really, really loving it!

Abby on the phototherapy bed...

Favorite moments...Kisses for Abby... Abby's first bottle...
Eli helping give Abby her bottle...
Eli is an amazing big brother!

What a week!

Gosh, I can't believe Abby's 9 days old already! It's been a crazy, busy, emotional, and wonderful week. I obviously have a lot of catching up to do here on the blog. I think for awhile I'll likely be posting mostly photos and less narrative - but I know that's what everyone wants anyway! So, to begin catching up, here are some photos from the hospital...

First moments...Precious new baby...First bath...Dada's first hold...

Snuggling with Mama... Meeting big brother...Family of four!Happy Daddy with his kids...

Going home!!Someday when I have more time and energy (so probably not anytime soon!) I'll write a post about Abby's birth. Until then, enjoy the photos, and we'll post more soon.