Little Angel

I can hardly believe it's been two months since our beautiful little lady joined our family. What a whirlwind of an adventure it's been already. Being parents is such an incredible blessing. She has turned our lives upside down in the best way and we couldn't be happier. Who would've thought so many messy diapers could come from such a small little body. I swear the bag of diapers we take out to the garbage every day weighs more than she does. :) 

Part of me still feels like she's just this little stranger that I love more than I could've ever imagined, but I do feel like we're finally starting to get to know each other a little better. Everyone told me to just "trust my motherly instinct," but I think my "instinct" took a little while to develop. Maybe that's the case for everyone but they just forgot to tell me that part? I was really discouraged at the beginning when I couldn't tell if she was hungry or tired or gassy or crying just to get some energy out. I'm happy to say that 2 months has made a world of difference though. That instinct has kicked in so much I have to be careful not to be bossy when other people are holding her or watching her. I'm not worried about getting her on a schedule right now, but we have settled into somewhat of a pattern. She eats, we play a little, and then she goes to sleep. She is such a sweetheart, we really are so blessed. Her cute little personality is showing more and more each day and it is adorable! She smiles at us and coos and gurgles and is just so fun. 

Here's a quick recap of the past 2 months: 

The birth :) Everyone told me I was crazy for wanting to do a natural, drug-free birth, but honestly I am so glad I did. It went exactly how I dreamed that it would. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but for me it was so worth it! There is absolutely no way that I could've done it without Jeremy's amazing coaching and support during the whole process. He was worried he wouldn't be able to hold up through it all. I knew he would do better than he was giving himself credit for, but he far surpassed my expectations. He was incredible. It was an amazing day and I have zero regrets. It was the perfect way for us to bring our perfect daughter into the world.

We spent the first several hours snuggling with our sweet little bundle of joy before our families came to visit that evening. 

Since she was 5 days past her due date, my Dad's theory was that my Mom was up there in heaven hanging onto her as long as she could, not quite ready to let her go just yet. Then when Brielle was born with an angel kiss/ salmon patch/ whatever you want to call it on her forehead, my dad added to his theory saying that it was a little hickey from my mom's goodbye kiss to her. That sweet idea makes me love that little mark on her forehead.

Even though we were so sleep deprived and still completely clueless as to how to care for a newborn, it really was amazing having this new little spirit with us for Christmas. It's amazing how babies just have a way of bringing heaven so much closer. Such a special gift. 

We had her baby blessing 2 days after Christmas on Jeremy's birthday. We wanted to do it while my parents were still in town, but there was no way we were going to take her into public that soon so we just did it at our home. It was very special. I was praying all day that she would be calm during the blessing. She slept right through it and was such an angel. The second we all said amen, there was a minor spit-up incident, but her timing couldn't have been better! Both mine and Jeremy's families were there and it was a wonderful evening. Jeremy's mom crocheted her beautiful little dress for us.

Most of January we've just been taking it easy, spending most of our time at home, with the occasional outing to family members' houses when we need a change of scenery. I usually love winter, but because of flu season and risk of RSV, we're not taking her in public until probably April. I'm dying to even just take her for a walk to at least get some fresh air, so the warm weather cannot come soon enough this year! 

Two of her favorite activities are

• Sitting on Jeremy's lap when he plays the piano. It mesmerizes her. She just watches his hands and loves the music. It'll calm her down without fail, and usually she falls asleep. So adorable.
• Dancing with me. I prop her up on my shoulder, turn on my Sara Bareilles Pandora station and twirl and bounce and sway around the room. It always ends with her asleep on my shoulder, which I love. I would snuggle her there forever if I could.

We are so grateful for this little girl! We wonder all the time what we even did before we had her. We're making sure to enjoy every second as she's growing so quickly. We just can't get enough of her and probably spend way too much time snuggling her! If that's possible... :)


Here are a few more pictures, just because I'm a proud mama :)