We have a BABY!

Oh my goodness, we have a baby and she is already over TWO MONTHS old...what!

Little Sadie was born almost two weeks early and we were NOT ready for an early baby! I had just finished work, and had big plans for getting our house/baby stuff organized. And then very early Sunday morning, contractions started, and 22 hours later, we had a kid.

Sadie was born late Sunday night- at 11:50pm...the midwife asked if we had a birthday preference since we were getting so close to midnight. We liked the sound of 10/12/14. She was a tiny little bean, at 6 lbs, 6 ounces and 18.5 inches long.

We stayed in the hospital for two nights, and then they sent us home with our new little human. That's a weird thing...putting this little girl into a big ol carseat, and then driving home. I went in to the house first and said hello to the cats, gave them some pets. Then Brian brought Sadie in and set her carseat down on the floor so the cats could check her out. Millie's tail puffed out immediately...she knew something was up. They both sniffed around her a bit, and then went on with their lives.

 We spent the first two weeks living on the couch. It was exhausting, and I really don't remember much of it, other than I was sleeping 2-4 hours in a 24 hour period. Eesh. We had a few friends bring meals over for us, my mom brought some frozen food from Costco, and we had pagliacci a few times. The food thing was amazing...it was the last thing on my mind, but so so necessary. Thank you, thank you, thank you for thinking of us!!

At this point, Sadie is an easy baby. She doesn't cry very often, and can always be consoled with some bounces on the exercise ball. She has become a pretty great night time sleeper- she usually gives us a stretch of 4-5 hours, wakes up to eat, goes back to sleep immediately (no rocking or anything needed) for another 2-3 hours. So while it isn't my pre-baby 8-10 hours of sleep a night, it is definitely enough to keep me feeling pretty good. She had one night at about three and a half weeks that she slept 7 hours straight. I woke up feeling better than I had my entire life. Seriously. A good sleeper was something I prayed and prayed about. Happy baby? Eh, how about a good sleeper. :)

 She is pretty smiley after she wakes up from her naps. Everything changed once she started smiling...she was suddenly interacting with us...which is so so awesome. Her first smile came while I was singing Disney songs to her- Bare Necessities to be exact. Brian plays his guitar and sings to her pretty much every night. Some days she could care less, and then sometimes she is totally engaged and adds her own 'singing'- so cute.

The cats have been awesome. They haven't done anything to show they are upset or jealous toward her- no peeing, no scratching...Millie sometimes walks over her in bed, like she doesn't exist, but that's all. Frank is very patient...he will sit next to me and let her touch him. She had bare feet the other day and was using him to keep them warm, kicking and squirming...he just sat there, occasionally giving me a 'really?' look.

We left her with Brian's parents once so we could see a movie. And my mom is coming to babysit one day this week so we can see the Hobbit. It's weird going out without her- I don't feel upset, but I constantly feel like I'm forgetting something. It's really, really nice to have grandparents nearby that love her so much and are willing to take care of her occasionally so Brian and I can go out. It's definitely a bigger ordeal to go out with her, but we have taken her to a few parties (holiday times!), and we have taken her to Young Life club...she does great.

I know it is cliche and everything...but good grief, I didn't know how much you can love something. When I was pregnant, I commented to someone that I was anxious about having her in the winter, because it would be cold and rainy and we would be stuck in the house, and I was afraid of feeling isolated....and this woman told me I would be too busy staring at her to even notice. I kind of rolled my eyes at that. But it is absolutely true. I am so thrilled to sit at home and talk to her all day.