6 Weeks Old!

Alexa's first full week in Kansas! We started out our weekend by taking Alexa to the pumpkin patch. We found a great farm about 30 minutes away in Missouri. They had a very large pumpkin field, hay ride, train ride, petting zoo, corn maze & toys for the kids. Of course we only opted to do the pumpkin patch & some photos but this will be a great place to come back to when Alexa is a little older. It is very windy here & the farm was no exception. We had to keep Alexa bundled up but she did not seem to mind. We picked out her first pumpkin (which weighs more than she does) and took lots of photos.

Saturday night we attended a bonfire with people Justin will be working with. Alexa received lots of attention from some of the other wives. She didn't seem to mind the fire & slept right through it.

Ever since Alexa was born I have been worrying about how much or how little she is eating. I decided I would pump for the entire day & keep track of how much she is taking in. She ate anywhere from 3.5oz to 5oz each feeding. I could not believe she was eating that much. Total for the day she ate 24oz after her 6 feedings. The common equation used to determine how much a newborn should eat is their weight times 2.5. Alexa was approximately 8lbs last week so she should be eating 20oz. Of course this not an exact science & she has grown since her last measuring, but this was reassuring for me. I will do this once a week until I am comfortable with her nursing routine.

I love watching Alexa grown! The down side is having her move out of her newborn clothes. Justin tried putting on her brown jumper but was unable to do so. Our little (or not so little) girl can no longer wear some of her newborn clothes. I guess we will be starting to box some stuff up to save in case she gets a little sister one day. The clothes we are having the most trouble with are one piece items. Alexa still has a very small stomach and mid section. Her legs seem to be where the trouble is at. Anything that has closed off legs are too short on her. We also moved her into size 1 diapers. There is no turning back from here!

On Tuesday morning our furniture arrived. I have been very anxious for this day. I knew it would be stressful, but exciting at the same time. Alexa of course was a little challenging, but we were completely unpacked before bedtime on Wednesday.

This week Alexa has discovered my hair. She will pull it when she eating, burping, getting rocked to sleep or just hanging out. Any suggestions on this would be great. I love seeing her becoming more active, but it does hurt. We have also started having Alexa sleep in her crib. She really does not mind being in her room & has been doing great. At night I still prefer her in our room. This makes it easier for me to nurse her with out her really having to wake up. When she does wake up to eat it she usually does not cry. I can hear her while she just whimpering & therefore she does not get upset. I am afraid to move her to her room while she is so quiet. I would hate to not be able to hear her. I guess we will work on that in a few weeks, I am in no rush.

Oh yah, big news for Alexa. Her clogged tear duct is no longer clogged. We have gone 24 hours with out cleaning the yellow gunk out of her eye.

5 Weeks Old!

This was a big week for our little Alexa. Justin and I made the decision to dedicate Alexa at the church we were married in. Grandma Sandy came in town on Friday. We went shopping to pick out a dedication outfit & some 3 month clothes that Alexa will be wearing in a few months. Grandpa David came in Saturday morning to join the fun. We were also able to spend a little bit of time with Nana Donna & Pepere David Saturday evening.

Sunday morning was a challenge to get out the door by 8:30am. Grandma Sandy stayed with us over night so she would be there to help us get ready. Somehow we left just 2 minutes late! We went to our last bible study & said some good byes. Then it was time for Alexa's dedication. We choose Sharon King to present Alexa to the church. She has been a very meaningful person in our marriage and really helped us get through the difficult times of the pregnancy. The dedication was perfect & we have it all on video. After the ceremony we went to lunch with the Dieckmanns & Lexi's Grandparents. It was a great weekend & we are really appreciative to everyone who was able to come visit.

Alexa had her 4 week (1 month) well baby visit. She is now 21inches long and weighs 7lbs 14oz. Her head circumference is 35centimeters. The doctor had no concerns with her health. Alexa's next doctors appointment will be at her 8 week check up. This will also be the start of her infant shots.

Monday was our first day at the hotel. I was really nervous about how Alexa would do in a new environment. Being at the Marriott did not effect her one bit. She did her normal sleeping/eating routine. She attracted a lot of attention at the restaurant and lounge. I was actually surprised on how many people asked us about Alexa.

The car rides were very stressful for all 3 of us. The first day, Alexa managed to sleep 3 hours straight before we stopped to eat and stretch. She eat & then went back to sleep until we arrived in Knoxville. This made me very hopefully that the next 2 days would go as smoothly... I was wrong! Thursday was scheduled to take us 7 hours plus stops. We made it an hour and a half before we had to stop. The total trip took us almost 12 hours. This included a 3 hour stop in Paducah to see Anthony, Jennifer & baby Chloe. Friday was our shortest car ride. We made it to Fort Leavenworth at 2pm. Justin was able to meet a few people he will be working with & we were able to see our new house.

4 Weeks Old

Alexa had a busy week. On Friday we traveled to Greenville. Alexa did great for the entire 2 hour drive. She met her Great-Grandparents & saw her uncles as well as a few of her Grandparents. We went to Justin's High School Alumni BBQ & about 20 minutes of the homecoming football game. This was Alexa's first night away from home. We brought her pack 'n play, bouncer & a ton of diapers and outfits. Of course we over packed! Alexa & I slept in Chase's bedroom. She did great the entire night. She woke up twice, ate & then went right back to sleep. It was really nice to wake up on Saturday & feel some what refreshed.

Saturday morning Alexa met Leah & JB. JB was not sure about her at first but ended up giving her a kiss on the forehead before he left. I am sure in a few years they will be playing together. Saturday evening we went to a friends house to celebrate their birthdays. Alexa was a great sport & slept through most of it. I was able to get a lot of my questions answered from Liz & was given a lot of great nursing support. Jerusha & Alexa had their first dinner date!

Sunday morning we attended church. Alexa was grunting & cuing all through bible study. She did really well through the contemporary service. She did wake up & decided she was hungry. I took her into the prayer room, fed her & made it back from the last few songs. The music in there can be loud, but Alexa does not seem to be bothered by it. We had lunch with the Dieckmanns & then spent the afternoon as a family.

This week Alexa & I have been running errands together. I started using the stroller & have been getting quite the work out getting it in and out of the car. It is amazing to me on long our simple errands have been taking. But we did manage to get a little bit of clothes shopping in & more importantly picked up Alexa's birth certificate.

Alexa has started to use her hands and has been focusing on objects. I had her under her play gym for 20 minutes at a time each day this week. She LOVES the music & tries to grab at the toys. Justin discovered Alexa's love for music. At times it is the only thing we can use to get her to calm down. She loves to hear people sing & gets upset when it is just back ground music. So far she likes Ben Folds & Maroon 5! Alexa also started outgrowing her newborn outfits. I cannot believe we are already packing up some of her clothes. She is also very close to transitioning into size 1 diapers. My baby girl is growing up sooo fast!

I wanted to share somethings that I am come to realize over the last month. A successful day should not be measured by how clean the house is or even if you were able to get your hair brushed. But instead it should be measured by a happy baby & a well rested Momma. Getting to take a shower, doing a load of laundry or making a nice dinner are just bonuses (they don't happen around here anymore). I have been doing my best to sit back and just enjoy the time I have with Alexa. I know there will come a time where I do not get to sit on the coach and stare at my beautiful baby. So for now, the bed may not be made, my hair will be kept in a pony tail & dinner will consist of whatever we manage to piece together but we will be enjoying every minute of it.

I may not be able to post the next few weeks. But to give you an idea of what we will be up to: Alexa will be getting dedicated, have her one month check up & we are moving half way across the country. I will continue to do my best to post pictures & give updates.

Week 3- Alexa found her voice

The title sums it up. Alexa June is no longer my quiet, always sleeping baby. This can be attributed to the jaundice clearing up, which is a good thing. But I feel like I have a new baby laying in my arms. She has become more vocal in her sleep as well as her awake time. She has started a grunting noise which is only adorable after 8am! When she is hungry, everyone knows it. At night she makes lots of sounds which wake us up, but not her. Its precious!

She has also had an increase in hiccups. She can get so worked up the minute they start because she knows they will be around for awhile. I wish there was more I can do for her. But she does sound like a squeaky toy, which is the cutest thing ever. We will try to get it on the video camera before she out grows it.

This last week we had visits from Megan & Matthew as well as Jay, Susan & Caleb. I love having people come down to visit us. Matthew & Alexa did not show much interest in each other, but they both had a sense that there was another little person around them. Susan was able to give Alexa part of a bottle & Jay really enjoyed holding her for over an hour.

Monday was my first day at home alone with Alexa. I was actually really looking forward to this. Looking back I realize how foolish I was. I started out the day catching up on stuff I have fallen behind on, had breakfast, fed Alexa, gave her a bath, had lunch, fed Alexa, did some laundry, cleaning, fed Alexa, thought about making dinner but did my toes instead, fed Alexa & then 8pm came & I was EXHAUSTED! Tuesday started out OK, I decided to take it a little bit slower. I did everything I had to do & then tried to relax a little bit. Right before bed time (8pm) I started having bone pain all over my body. After taking a warm bath I felt worse. Throughout the night my temperature hit 101.6. I woke up feeling worse & ended up in the doctors office. My temp then was 103! I was told to take Tylenol, lots of fluid & rest. If my fever is not gone in 72hours I had to come back. When we got home from the doctors Alexa & I took a 3 hour nap. I felt a lot better after that & hopefully will continue to improve.

This week Alexa has become more alert & aware of her surroundings. She will turn her head and even her eyes when Justin or I start talking. On Monday while I was holding her, she followed Justin with her eyes from one end of the room to another. We know she cannot focus on us that far away, but she can certainly tell we are there. She is also getting a little bit of control of her hands. She gets very frustrated when she loses her Binky (pacifier) so I started moving her hand behind it to teach her how to hold it in. She has been able to leave her hand up there for a few minutes at a time.

So far our biggest challenge has been nursing. She seems to be getting a lot better at it, but is also getting slower. Some days she will want to eat for an hour at a time every 2-3 hours. The biggest mistake I made with breast feeding was pumping & giving her bottled milk before she was a month old. Justin & I took a class and were taught this specifically and yet I still gave in. It was very hard to watch my 3 day old cry because she was hungry. I only gave her 3 bottles total that first week, but now she is getting 2-3 a day :(. I ALWAYS try to nurse her first & she will eat for at least 20 minutes. If she cries and roots around like she is hungry after that point I will give her a few ounces from a bottle. I know I am only making it harder on myself in the longer run, but I am doing my best. I am really hoping before we move we can have a better grip on the nursing. Either way at this point she is still only getting 100% breast milk, which was my goal.

This week has also been challenging for us at night. After the first 2 weeks of decent sleep we were not prepared for what this little girl had in store for us. Once she is asleep she will stay that way for 2-4 hours. The problem this week has been getting her to sleep. Nothing seems to soother her and at times it can take up to 2 hours to get her to finally go to sleep (then she wakes up hungry 2 hours later). When she is crying it appears that she is hungry. If I know she had enough to eat, then I try to get her to take her binky. We learned that she is usually not hungry after her normal eating. If I try to nurse her longer or give her a bottle she will take it because its comforting, but then she will spit it all up & sometimes more.

We are down to our last 2 weeks in Columbia. As excited as we are for Kansas and the opportunities it is bring for Justin, we are really sad about leaving South Carolina. This has been our first "home" together, where we got married & where Alexa was born. Columbia will always have special meaning to us & we know we will be back many times to visit. Tonight is our first "Going away dinner," I love having meals with our friends, I just hate that its because we will be saying good-bye. I hope that Alexa finds friends as great as the ones we have & if she were to move away from us for schooling or a career that she finds a family like the Dieckmann's who will make her feel like one of their own. The made us feel like we had family in town & people we could always depend on. OK, I need to stop or the hormones are going to kick in.

Happy 3 Weeks Alexa!