October

October has been a big month for us!  First of all...Brandon passed the bar!!!  Not that anyone really questioned it, but it was so great to see his name on the list and feel like it is officially over (for now).  He was sworn in on Thursday and is now officially licensed to practice law in the state of Louisiana.  I'm so proud of him.

Earlier this month we went to North Carolina for Adrienne's wedding.  I was a bit of a crazy new mom at the airport, wiping EVERYTHING down with sanitizing and disinfecting wipes...it was all I could do not to wipe down the guy sitting next to me!  Airports are so disgusting.  Anyway, it was a fun, but very short trip.  Genni had a hard time being in new places with so many people at only 3 weeks old, but she did great.  She slept on both flights there and most of the way back as well.  Adrienne's wedding was really nice (from what I saw in the back trying to keep the baby quiet).  Brandon doesn't like putting head bands on her, I guess he thinks they look better on him...

After Adrienne's wedding.

Genni with her Grandma Zeller.

And with her Aunt Danielle.

With Brandon's grandma.

And the three of us with Gabe and Alejandra and the twins (Gabriella was sick of sitting still for pictures).

 Genevieve is growing so fast!  I love it and hate it all at the same time.  The last of the umbilical cord fell off on Wednesday which was exciting, but also really sad.  It's like the last part of her "newborness" (not a word, I know) and the part of her that connected her to me for nine months of pregnancy.  She only has one or two newborn sleepers left that she fits into and she has officially moved into size 1 diapers.   She had her one month check up on Wednesday and she is just perfect!  She now weighs 10 lbs 6 oz and is 22 5/8 inches long...which is about the 75th percentile for both weight and height.  She is growing and changing so fast, I'm having a hard time keeping up.  She now has great eye contact and will turn when Brandon or I talk to her,

this was an especially cute instance when she followed his voice with her eyes.  She is starting to find her voice which has resulted in more cooing, and yes, my heart almost explodes every time (and also some stronger crying...which is less adorable).  She had a few really bad days last week after I had eaten dairy products with each meal one day, so I finally gave up dairy and we have already seen a huge improvement.  And it actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be to give up, as it turns out, I like sleep more than cheese, and ice cream.  She has gone from only sleeping an hour or two at a time during the day to taking real naps and more frequently, which makes for a much happier baby when she wakes up.  She has also gone from sleeping 4-5 hours with a feeding in between at night to actually sleeping through the night for the past two nights, which has been incredible.  This isn't something we expect to be a permanent change, but we are happy to have it for now.  And by sleeping through the night, I mean that she has slept 5-6 hours, woken up for a feeding and then gone back to sleep for about 2 hours.  I haven't had this much sleep in months!  She is an incredible little baby and we couldn't possibly love her more.  She makes the cutest faces!  Here are A LOT of pictures for proof.

 This is her preferred way of sleeping, but unfortunately it puts some limitations on what I can do while she's napping, so she doesn't get to stay here for long. 

Genni's First 2 Weeks

I love being a mom!  I had no idea I could be this happy on so little sleep!  And when I say "so little sleep", I mean VERY little.  I've never been one to be able to sleep during the day, but at some point I think these 3-4 hour nights are going to force my body to sleep at any time I can.  At least I'm hoping.  Also, I love not being pregnant, really love it (who knew that being able to see my toes again would bring so much happiness).  The midwife gave me two weeks before I start doing anything and made it very clear that I needed to start slow.  Well, Genni turned 2 weeks old last Thursday and it has felt SO good to start doing things around the house again.  I also get to start going on walks this week (just around the block, but who cares, we get to get out).

Our lives have completely changed since bringing Genni home from the hospital, and we couldn't be happier.  My mom stayed until Tuesday and was an enormous help and my sister Lisa arrived on Sunday afternoon and stayed for a week.  It was so great having Lisa around.  Unfortunately she got sick and so did Brandon, so Lisa didn't get a lot of bonding time with Genni before she left, but it was wonderful having her here and she was still very helpful (especially because I would burst into tears any time I was alone).  We've had amazing help and support so far and are so grateful to our friends and family both close by and far away.

Notice the blurred arms and legs in this picture...this is the part of my baby I most recognize as the child I carried in my womb for nine months.  She had very strong kicks and punches from the beginning and her arms and legs are blurred in most of the pictures we have of her when she's awake.

Rita and Tricia, joining us for a celebratory dinner the day we came home from the hospital.

Genevieve is the sweetest baby in the world, really truly.  She's such a snuggler and always wants to be curled up against one of us.  The other night Brandon took her between feedings so that I could get some sleep and when I woke up, Brandon was kneeling by the side of the bed looking at her.  I asked him what he was doing and he responded that she had pushed him out of the bed....what?  I thought he was crazy, but no, he was right.  She may be tiny, but if she's not snuggled up next to someone, she'll wiggle and inch her way toward the closest warm body until she makes contact.  Then the other night we were lying in bed and her hand was on my arm.  As cute as it was, she's like a little furnace (now I know why my summer was so miserable in this heat), so I moved her hand and scooted her a few inches further away from me.  After a few minutes, I felt her little fingers on my arm again, we did this a couple of times until I gave up and just moved my arm next to her so she could hold onto it.  We have an arm's reach bassinet right next to the bed, which will be a great solution to this in a week or two.  But for now, I love having her close, even if it means getting almost no sleep, and she doesn't sleep well on her own anyway, so it really benefits both of us.  And if I'm honest, I don't really sleep well regardless of where she is because I worry too much about her.

I could go on and on about how adorable she is and how much we love her, but instead I'm just going to post some pictures of her first 2 weeks and then take advantage of her nap and get some things done...or try take a nap too.

She doesn't take a pacifier very often, but when she does, she holds it in her mouth with both hands...it's so funny.  Also, before I found the courage to clip her fingernails, we had to cover her hands because she was scratching her face.

She has this expression on her face a lot, it's usually followed with a smile, but that is nearly impossible to catch on camera.

She LOVES her dad, especially when he sings to her.

And he's pretty crazy about her too.  Every time I would finish feeding her yesterday, he would come take her away from me and remind me that I get to be with her all day during the week.

Doesn't this picture make you want to hug her?  She's so sweet!

Evidence of the sleep deprivation we're all experiencing.