Sleeping Beauty...

If only she would sleep like this during the night!

The first two weeks at home have been the longest, yet shortest weeks of our lives! It truly seems like we've had Brooke in our lives for years, but having her here still feels new enough to be cherishing each second together as a family!

Our gorgeous girl is fast asleep right now - probably catching up on her beauty rest from the last few sleepless nights. It's funny though - I don't think the nights were nearly as sleepless for HER as they were for Mommy and Daddy!

Brooke's routine has been a pretty consistent 3 hour feeding schedule, mixed with plenty of dirty diapers for us to change! Her system is obviously still regulating since her belly is sometimes upset...It seems that her 'witching hour' is every night from 8:00 to 11:00pm! She isn't fussy, just uncomfortable...and doesn't seem to settle during that entire 3 hour time period. By the time she settles, its time to eat again, which makes things a little crazy for a very tired Mommy!

Overall, things have been relatively normal... I keep checking with Aunt Meg and Manda to make sure that things sound right... "Should she be eating this much? Should her poop look like this? Shouldn't she be sleeping MORE than this??" Thank goodness for all of these experienced Mommies around me... I've learned so much from them - they have truly helped me to feel comfortable taking care of my own little person!

We've continued to enjoy the whirlwind of visitors that hasn't seemed to slow down since we've been home with Brooke! I won't take time to list all of the family and friends that have come to see us, since it seems like the list would include everyone I've ever known in my life! As much as our loved ones have enjoyed meeting her, we've enjoyed showing her off!

Nana and Grammy Kathy just can't stay away... They have both been so helpful!

My mom has this instinctive power to know exactly what I need before I know I need it! There she is, on the doorstep, having just purchased or taken care of something that was on my 'to do' list for the day!

Kathy is having a terrible time being so far away - so we're taking as much time with her as we can get until they are finally back in town for good! We love spending time with her, since we usually get to sneak in a visit with Aunt Stephanie and cousins Zoe and Marlee too!

As I continue to feel more and more like myself, I have enjoyed a few outings that have helped to give me some sense of reality with a child! Zig stayed with Brooke on Saturday afternoon while I ran to the grocery store for the first time! It was the longest half hour of my life and I'm pretty sure I broke some kind of record for the 'women who walked fastest with a grocery cart through the store!' It was the first time I was not in the same room with Brooke since she was born - but what an amazing feeling it was to leave her with Zig and know that she was fine! I enjoyed DRIVING, listening to music, feeling the breeze from the windows and walking around in public without the big belly in the way! When I got back, Daddy was feeding Brooke on the couch and she greeted me with a big girl burp! She was perfect...but I missed her!

Yesterday, the three of us (still sounds weird that there's three of us) went for a ride in the country and ended up stopping to visit friends that just moved into a new house! It was great to be out of the house for a few hours and visit with people in the outside world!

Zig has been incredible - helping me with feedings, changing diapers, and even fighting me to hold her all night long!

So, as we continue to find our routine and live life with the most beautiful little girl in the world, we will continue to be thankful for all that the good Lord has blessed us with!

Enjoy a few new pictures of little Beamer!