Day Twelve

The party's now over, help has left, and real life has officially begun! My mom, dad, and Bobby flew their separate ways yesterday morning. Now as I sit here alone, in a quiet house, with both girls asleep, it feels as if the first days of Elle's life have been a total whirlwind. It's gone by way too fast and I find myself wishing I could freeze this baby stage forever. I love every bit about it. I love having a newborn- there's just something exciting about being able to say she's only DAYS old! I think my fast recovery has helped a lot too. With Madi I felt sore, tired, and unsure about how to do it all. This time I feel like an old pro- thankfully all the infant stuff came back super fast!

It was tons of fun being with family- having help entertaining Madi, people around to adore, cuddle, and hold Elle, and a second set of hands in the kitchen (thanks mom)! But I'll be the first to admit that I have problems relaxing when people come to visit. I'm sure I drove my mom crazy with insisting on being more than involved in all the housework, organizing, and cleaning. When they all drove away yesterday morning I found myself wanting to cry, wishing that I'd been better about sitting back and just enjoying it all. It's definitely hard being so far away from family and knowing that my girls will have changed so much by the next time they see their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Thank goodness for skype- I have a feeling we'll be using it a lot more these next few months!

Elle's now 12 days old and I've already had 2 full days at home alone with Madi and Elle, and just today, a full morning outing with both girls. I remember being terrified of taking Madi places when she was a newborn. I was scared of her crying and petrified about having to nurse in public! Wow- I feel like such an experienced mom now! :) Before I share the success of my first outing with both girls, let me recap what we've been up to these past 12 days. . .

Day 1: Came home from the hospital. I was supposed to stay until Sunday, but both my doctor and Elle's pediatrician agreed that we were in great shape and could go home early! So, at 10:30pm, Elle and I were wheeled out of the hospital! It was really fun being able to take Elle home with me when I was discharged. Many of you may remember that Madi had to stay in the NICU for her first week of life :(. That was really hard for us. So as you can imagine, taking Elle home on time was a real treat!

Day 2: First sponge bath- which Elle wasn't the biggest fan of.

Day 3: First trip to the doctor- also not too happy about. Followed by Elle's first outing to the store. Monday afternoon Tisha, Bobby, Adley and Ani arrived from NC. After an evening of enjoying a new baby they all crashed here at the house.

Day 4: In the morning Tisha, Bobby, and Adley left to do some site seeing in NYC (per Bob's request since this was his first time out to the East coast), leaving Ani here to play with mom and Madi for the rest of the week. Putting mom on double toddler duty was quite the task. She organized daily activities for her and the girls to give me some quiet time at home. Madi had a blast hanging out with her cousin!

Day 5: Elle's first trip to the pool.

I couldn't resist going to get a few pics of Madi and Ani in their matching swim suits!

Day 6: Papa flew in. Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob also flew in and stopped by in the evening to see Elle.

Day 7: ONE WEEK OLD! Elle slept for 5 hours straight- giving me my first decent nights sleep! Tisha, Bobby, and Adley got back from NYC. To burn off some energy before their drive back to NC, dad took the kids on a nature hike followed by a picnic. Papa always knows how to keep the kids happy!

Day 8: My parents went with Spencer, Bobby, Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob to Baltimore for some site seeing at Fort McHenry. This was actually my first afternoon with both girls- but didn't really count though since they were both sleeping for 3 hours of it.

Day 9: Elle was blessed here at home by her daddy, with my dad, Bobby, and Spencer's uncle Bob in the circle. Stacey and Scott Musgrave also joined us. That evening, Spencer, Bobby and my parents went into the city to see the monuments at night (something I highly recommend doing).

Day 10: Happy Birthday Bobby!! 

Mom, dad, and Bobby spent the day in the city doing the DC thing. With Spencer at work, this was my first official full day at home with the girls. Everyone got home in time for dinner. Per Bobby's request, I made tacos and butterscotch dessert!

Before putting Madi to bed I discovered she had a fever. LOVELY!

Day 11: Spencer drove everyone to the airport at 7am, leaving me at home again- without a car. Luckily he came home from work a little early due to being completely exhausted from a sleepless night and a very early morning. The girls and I braved the humidity and ventured out on a walk to the park. It might be time to start thinking about a double stroller. By the end of our hike up the hill, to the swings, past the pool, and back home, Madi was dying. I ended up carrying her part of the way home while pushing Elle's snap-n-go.

Finally this brings me to today- our 12th day with Elle as a part of the family.

After dropping Spencer off at the Metro this morning, we hit up the grocery store and then headed over to the doctor at 9:30am for Elle's 2 week check-up. She's now back to her birth weight (8 lbs 5 0z) and even grew half an inch to 21 3/4 inches long! What a big girl! Unfortunately, Madi wasn't able to live up to her big sister duties at the doctor's office. She lost it when they called us back and kept crying over and over, "I don't want to go to the doctor!" Then as Elle started to cry (after pricking her to draw blood for the PKU test) Madi finally got ahold of herself. She coped with this tramatic situation by throwing Elle's blanket over her head! From the doctor's, we hit up the library where we spent the rest of our morning. I was pretty proud of myself for conquering regular daily errands with 2 kids! I'm sure every outing won't be this easy, but today was definitely a success!