sleeping beauty

It's a great thing that babies like to sleep so much at this newborn stage....because I love to watch them sleep.  I find myself not knowing what to do when Emilia sleeps longer than usual - which "usual" is a very loose term right now as we are still establishing a routine or schedule!  However, I find that when she sleeps for more than 30 minutes to 1 hour, I wander around for a bit & almost feel lonely without holding her next to me.  Again, probably why I let her fall asleep in my arms far more than I planned to.  I still read conflicting theories on this - some say you can't spoil a newborn and that it helps their self-esteem to feel close, connected and to not be allowed to cry.  Other resources say a little crying helps them develop their lungs (really?!), to figure out how to soothe themselves and the like.  I find that I lean more towards the first....I can't seem to think that I could spoil this little girl too much at this stage.  And if I do - then so be it, this might very well be our final baby in the house.  Not sure on that one, because when I hold her and relish in those baby moments I think that this is why some people have 6, 8 or even 10 children.  They love babies and must always want one around!...and I'm sure other reasons go into it :)  I have those moments with her thinking the same thing...if only I could always have a baby in our home.  A sweet, sleeping and peaceful baby.  What a beautiful little sleeping babe she is...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sleep tight our little angel

Got'cha

Bryson Jr. was playing around with my camera this morning and snapped this....classic photo of Bryson Sr. trying to be funny.  I love it.  

la-la land

Every so often, this little gal will be somewhere and drift off to la-la land.  I was watching her eyes, and thought this might be the case as she slowly started to close her eyes...

 ..and then she was out!  I love watching her sleep - probably too much.  There are some days she'll fall asleep in my arms and I'll think about moving her, but then I watch her, and kiss her head and think I'll have years to have her sleep in her own bed.  I only get a short time {in the grand scheme of things}, that I can hold her while she sleeps.  I've noticed that I'm a little more aware of how fast time can and does go with Emilia, after having a break of 6 years between my babies.  Because of knowing that time will go too fast, I'm alright getting the bare minimum done these days - if I shower, feed the family and maybe do some laundry or another little job to keep it so the house doesn't fall completely apart....and then spend lots of time cuddling, holding and feeding Emilia...that's my perfect day!

Introducing...

A 'lil Aunt Jemima look :). I looked down & the bow on Emilia's hat reminded me of the knot on Jemima's handkerchief she wears. I'm thankful for a little humor during our 5am feedings!

Daddy Daughter

It has seemed that Bryson has mostly been sick since Emilia was born - except for the first week after she was born.  He had strep during Christmas and then a sinus infection after or during...it all blends together.  Unfortunately, health during the winter season has never been something Bryson can pull off...he says it's genes, and I say it's the end of a year and his body finally says enough is enough, and gets sick for a really long time.  Blah! 

Anyway, this last week he has started to feel better.  And thankfully the little Miss gets to remember who her Daddy is!  It's been hard that he hasn't been able to hold and bond with her - I think that this is one of a handful of times that he has held her since she was born, and now that she is smiling she was able to reward him with big smiles and her cute faces :)   

 

 ..and he made cute faces back.  They were quite the pair to watch while I was finishing dinner :)

Jacob's Gift

Jacob has had this blue fleecy blanket since he was a baby, and loves it for cuddling and sleep.  It was the blanket he had to have in order to fall asleep each night & the blanket he'd run to get when watching a movie and he wanted something soft to cuddle with.  Today he brought his blanket up and tucked it around Emilia and said she can have his blanket now.  I asked him if he was sure, because it IS his favorite blanket...but he wanted to give the blanket to her.   

Have I mentioned before how much this little boy loves Emilia?!  

 

It has been one of the sweetest and greatest blessings in having Emilia to see how much Jacob adores her.  He has always had a tender heart and loves to love people, but I am so thankful that these two already have and that they will continue to develop a sweet bond as brother & sister.  I was so worried about the difference in their ages....but I don't worry about that any longer.  Love goes beyond age, beyond gender, beyond everything so that a 6 year old rough & tough boy will show his big heart when he gives his beloved blankie to his little sister.

Jacob gave more than his blankie to Emilia....he gives her the gift of being one incredible older brother.

7 weeks

This princess is 7 weeks old today!  We put her in a new little outfit my friend gave us and here are 7 pictures of her adorable-ness. Oh how I love this girl!

The cheeks - oh, these cute chubby cheeks that are as smooth as silk!  

At 7 weeks: 

Emilia is sleeping rather consistently - especially at night!  She usually goes to sleep somewhere between 10:30pm and 11:30pm and then sleeps either a 3-4 hour stretch, and then about every 2nd or 3rd night she'll do a 6 hour stretch!  I feel incredible after those 6 hour night stretches :)  She will wake up and eat and then go back to sleep for another 3 hours.  I love that she has finally figured out that night is for sleeping!  It makes us all much happier :)  

She does not like it when I eat Indian food!  I haven't noticed a problem with nursing and any other food, but we had Indian for the second time on Friday night and she was fussy all night, which was a repeat from the other time we had Indian food a few weeks ago.  It looks like I'll have to give up my Chicken Tikki Masala for awhile...I would be devastated, but this face is treat enough!  

The only downfall to all this sleep - is that she has been growing up!  I feel that this last week I lost my squishy newborn and have a little one month old!  She still feels little when I cradle her, but there is a difference in how alert she is when she is awake and how she looks.  It is bittersweet to move out of that NEW newborn phase.   

She is definitely out of the Newborn jammies that she was wearing, and is wearing the 0-3 month clothing and filling it out more.  Her headbands are even getting too small for her head.  Oh, how I wish more would be frozen than the weather outside, and that I could just freeze these moments for a little bit longer....

Emilia was asleep this morning when the older children were getting ready for school.  They absolutely did not want to leave without giving her a kiss, so they all tiptoed into my room and gave her a little kiss on the top of her head.  We are all completely smitten by this little lady and really can't hold her enough or give her too many kisses.  

We love our Emilia!