Life with baby....

...has been so many things, but WONDERFUL and EXHAUSTING describe the last month the best. We are so blessed to have Elizabeth in our lives and in our family. I am in awe of God and His wonderful works and His impeccable timing. Keith and I love our babies so much!

Sorry I haven't kept up with the blog better...As you can imagine, sleep for Mommy is rare these days. Sometimes life seems overwhelming and I just want to cry. The laundry never ends, the housework never ends, my breasts are on call 24 hours a day, there are bills to pay, Bradyn wants me to play with him, I need to cook dinner, get groceries, Elizabeth's crying and I don't know why, Bradyn's screaming, I need to change another diaper, AHHHHHHHHHH! Some of this is hormonal, but most of it is pure exhaustion. I am much better (mentally and emotionally) when Elizabeth and I have a "good night" and I get decent sleep. Overall, baby care in general is soooo much easier the 2nd time around, but juggling 2 children and not being able to rest during the day after being up most of the night is difficult. Elizabeth slept good for about a week after we got home from the hospital. There were a couple of times she slept 3 or 4 hours at a time and I would have to wake her up to nurse. That quickly came to an end though as she stopped liking being swaddled in a receiving blanket. When I try to wrap her up, she gets upset and struggles to get out, but when I leave her unwrapped, her arms fly out and she startles herself. We got into a bad habit of putting her in our bed because she wouldn't sleep alone in her pack-n-play that is set up right by me. Keith slept on the couch for about a week just so I could get some sleep. Terrible, I know. Thus, we have already moved her into her own room and she is now sleeping (or not sleeping!) in her crib. She makes little baby noises all night long and jumps alot, but I am not nearly as aware of it hearing it on the baby monitor. Also, she cannot hear and is no longer disturbed by me getting back into bed, going to the restroom, or Keith occasionally snoring. In fact, we have a baby monitor that has a camera on it (thanks to my husband and his job at Supercircuits!!!) and I watch Elizabeth on it for a few minutes when I get into bed. I only get up when I hear her start to cry..... which is still about every 1 1/2 hours, give or take about 30 minutes.

We took Elizabeth downtown when she was a little over two weeks old to get her newborn portraits. Getting there was kinda crazy.... we got in the middle of a marathon they were having down by the Capitol, which detoured us because several streets were blocked off, and when we were about a mile away from our destination, we almost had a wreck! I suppose it was all worth it; we got some great pictures of Elizabeth.

Days and nights are tough right now, but I am trying to take it all in; these newborn moments go by so quickly. These are precious, precious days. :-)