How Time Flies When You Don't Get Much Sleep

Sarah continues to eat well and has grown to over 8 pounds and 4 ounces. Lucky for us, she has also improved her ability to both cry and spit up large amounts of milk. Sarah is not on a monitor anymore and she will probably just have a few follow up visits with a couple of specialists from here on out. Our pediatrician did tell us that Sarah probably does have cholic and will most likely be regularly fussy for the next several months.

We had a good visit in St. Joseph yesterday, but Miss Annaliese was sure jealous of Sarah whenever mommy (Ashley) held her. Annaliese is quite a handful and you can bet that Sarah and her will get into plenty of trouble together over the next few years.





Here is a good picture with Great-Grandpa Dwane holding both Sarah and Annaliese...





Here is Sarah with Uncle Dave (just a few minutes before she tried to tear out his chin hairs)...




Here is Sarah snuggling with Aunt Shauna...

And finally for your enjoyment, here is Mollie helping us out at home with a diaper check on Miss Giraffe-butt...

Tummy Time

Everything continues to be going very well (except for the lack of sleep of course) and we will be excited on Tuesday when Sarah returns to the hospital for her first follow up visit there. I will be at work, but Joella will have lots of fun especially when she goes to visit the NICU.

Here are more cute pictures of Sarah during tummy time...






Sarah is doing so well during tummy time that she might be able to walk pretty soon...





Mollie of course still has to supervise any playtime activities...







And if you are wondering about Lucy, she will sniff Sarah a little bit, but for the most part she is nervous about Sarah's grunting and crying. This picture shows about the longest time Lucy has stayed in a spot close to Miss Sarah. Don't worry, though, once Sarah is big enough to play fetch with Lucy they will be best friends for life (although I am sure that Lucy will still always bark).

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today we celebrated mommy's birthday by Sarah letting mommy sleep for 3 hours straight this morning. Before this afternoon's naptime, Joella brought Sarah by my office so I could show off our cutie to everyone at MoDOT. Sarah was quite the star and everybody was happy to see that she was doing so well.

For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant to celebrate Joella's birthday and Sarah did great the entire time. The main reason for this excellent behavior was the fact that Joella and I took turns holding Sarah while the other one ate. When we got home, we sang happy birthday to mommy and ate some ice cream cake from DQ.

A House Full of Toys

Well our house has officially become a house full of toys. Sarah certainly has some fun with her toys, but for the most part she just wants to be held and Joella and I will gladly oblige her. Sarah's pediatrician visit went well last Friday and she weighed in at 6 pounds and 15 ounces so I am sure that she is currently well past the 7 pound mark.

Here is a picture of Sarah enjoying her bouncy seat (just one of her many toys...thanks Matt & Mia!).

If you didn't notice the snout in the first picture, here is another one that shows Mollie supervising Sarah's play time.

Of course, eating is Sarah's favorite past time (although we think her favorite might be keeping mommy awake) so here is another picture of Sarah telling mommy that she wants to eat.

Finally Another Update

The past week has gone very well, but we are still getting our routines fine tuned. Joella is amazed how much work there is not having to work anymore. Today Joella went into work for a few hours and officially turned in her badge. I know that Joella will miss her friends at Honeywell, but nothing can be fun as our little cutie...especially after only 3 straight hours of sleep a day.

Sarah has continued to do well at every doctor checkup and hopefully she will be close to 7 pounds by her next visit this Friday. Sarah has moved into her big crib in the nursery and overnight she manages to sleep for almost 4 straight hours so that is a great improvement for Joella's sleep. Joella takes most of the feedings since she has the equipment, but I do give bottles when mommy is all wiped out.

Here is a picture of our cutie when she is nice and alert...





Here is Miss Sarah letting us know that she is hungry. She either wants mommy or a bottle, and you better be quick otherwise you get grunts and lots of squirming...



Sarah will manage to gnaw on her hand for a short while, but when she's hungry, she wants to eat now!





Finally, here are a couple of pictures of our cutie in her big crib...