Ivy at 2 weeks

Tonight is my first night since Chad went back to work that I am on my own without any help. The kids are being especially good tonight so I am getting all caught up on blogging. I imagine the blog updates will be less frequent but I will probably do 3 or 4 updates at a time like tonight. So this post is all about Ivy. I haven't posted since we were in the hospital. She was born on a Tuesday and was not discharged until Friday evening because of her jaundice. Since then she has had no problems, and gained about a half pound above her birth weight when we went to the doctor for her two week checkup. So she is eating well and gaining weight just like she is supposed to. She is a little more particular than I remember Ezra being. She wants to be held a lot, which we usually oblige. :) She sleeps pretty well, but she is alert and awake a lot...this might have something to do with the fact that her big brother is always playing with loud toys or messing with her. She eats well, about every 2.5-3 hours. We started putting her in her own room last night because she might be the loudest baby ever when she sleeps. She was keeping us awake with all her squeaks and grunts. Last night she did great, waking up at 1:30ish and 5:30ish. Anything is better than what Ezra did which was wake up every 2 hours or less around the clock for the first three months and want to eat. I have enjoyed these early days a lot. I don't even really mind the sleep deprivation, because I now know how quickly this phase passes and how soon she will not be this tiny little baby anymore. I have learned to relax and enjoy the parenting thing a lot more...not that I didn't enjoy it with Ezra, but I definitely had a lot more stress and anxiety about every little thing, especially when it had to do with his eating and sleeping. 

 Chad's mom came to visit for a few days and was a great extra set of hands. I think this is a really good picture of the two of them. We have had lots of help so far...my mom came the day Ivy was born and stayed for the rest of the week. She took care of Ezra that week and kept my house in working order. Sadly Ivy and I did not get to spend much time with her because we were in the hospital most of the week, but I am looking forward to another visit from mom next month. We are still looking forward to visits from my dad and Chad's dad. We are excited for everyone to meet the newest grandbaby.

 I love this sweet expression. She spends much of the day with her eyes open just observing the world around her.

 This is how we feel pretty much all the time these days...and wouldn't trade it for anything.