Back to work

Well, Monday I returned to work. I think the anticipation of the event was worse than it actually was. Sunday as I held Elsa, I was sad that I wouldn't just be able to pick her up and cuddle with her whenever I wanted; that she may start preferring the bottle to me; that I would be too exhausted at the end of the day to fully be present with her in the evening; that I will miss out on a lot of her firsts.... But, it wasn't that bad. Fortunately, she has been pretty much sleeping through the night since she was 4 1/2 weeks old. We usually put her down at 10ish and then she sleeps until 5:00 am (like clock work) and I am able to nurse her before heading to work. She immediately goes back to sleep until 8:30. Aaron and my mom brought her into work Monday and I have been able to come home every day during lunch hour to nurse her (a benefit of only living one mile from work). And, when I come home after work, it is all about her (and Aaron). I am 100% devoted to her when I am home, rather than being distracted with household things. That can wait. It does help having my mom her as she often helps with cooking meals!

She has developed such a personality the past two weeks! Although she had her first smile at 3 weeks/4 days, it is a much more frequent event; she even giggled yesterday! It was so cute. She loves being talked to and read to; she loves "You are my Sunshine" and "Yes, Jesus loves me" even though I can't carry a tune. She still hates tummy time, but is tolerating her car seat a bit more each day.

Here are some pics from this week. This one is on my lap. I think I had to take about 10 pictures and she was probably wondering why I kept making silly sounds/noises, but it was fun.

And, after Church today... She is always so well behaved during Church (only exception was Baptism). She loves the music and looking at the lights. Most of the time she falls asleep.

And, after Church, we went to the Knights of Columbus picnic where Aaron was sworn in as one of the officers. It was so cold and started to rain, but otherwise it was a fun afternoon!

Hope everyone has a great week! I will try to post again next weekend!

Baptism 11 July 2009

Elsa received her first sacrament yesterday. Father Max presided over the mass. And, Elsa wore the dress my grandmother, MaryAnn, made from her wedding dress. It was even wore by my mom at her baptism. It was so beautiful and Elsa looked so precious in it.

You can even see the cute rosary bracelet given to her by her Godparents.

She was so tired after a LONG day. Where do I begin. Let's just say that after Mass, I asked Father Max if he was sure he completed the exorcism part of the ceremony. Little Miss Elsa was not having a good day. She was fussy all day and feeding every 1 1/2-2 hours (normally every 3-3 1/2), hadn't napped all day, and hadn't pooped in three days...the making of a perfect storm. I fed her about 3:15 (mass was at 5pm). She had a major melt down at about 4:15 when we changed her into her dress. She was inconsolable for about 20 minutes. Fortunately, she fell asleep in the car seat on the way to mass. She slept through the procession in, the readings and Father Max's homily. As soon as he called us up for the actual Baptism, she woke up. And, the crying began. I put my knuckle in her mouth and I think the congregation could hear her sucking at the back of the church. When he rubbed the Chrism oil on her, her hair was all spikey and her face was bright red and she kept crying...my mom video taped and we couldn't even hear the priest over the screaming. Oh, well, Elsa made it a memorable event in two ways! I joked that the only thing that could have made it worse was that she had a blow out and poop all over me. Which occured when we got home (not the all over me part)...but she was a much more content baby after that. Too bad we couldn't go back to church and repeat the ceremony. Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Sweet Pea

I can't believe our little peanut is 6 weeks old! The past few weeks have flown by. As I was nursing her this morning, it made me sad to think that I am going back to work on Monday. I love spending time with her and seeing her change daily. But, I am savoring every minute of it and am so grateful to be her mommy! This is one of the few pics of just her and I (the tradeoff to taking most of the pics).

My sister, Lindsay, and her husband, Toby, flew in for 10 days. We selected them to be Elsa's Godparents, so they came to celebrate her Baptism (an entirely separate post!).

For those of you who know Lindsay, know how much she LOVES cake (she seriously needs to attend a support group)! So, Elsa wanted to welcome them to England with a special cake. It was their first trip across the Atlantic!
We celebrated the 4th of July at a local military base. It is ironic to be celebrating independence day in a country we were trying to become independent from! I was curious as to what the Brits thought of this. Aaron's boss is British, and he said the Brits are just glad they could give us a holiday to celebrate. Guess it is a good way to think about it. I think they are just in denial that we kicked their butts!
Here is Elsa in her Patriotic attire...GO USA!!!
All tuckered out...
Going for a walk with Grandma, sporting her MN fleece hat.
Wednesday, I took Lindsay and Toby to London. Aaron and my mom stayed back with Elsa since we didn't want to take her on the subway. Aaron ended up needing some help with Elsa since he injured himself at work...he crushed his hand between two kegs and wound up in the emergency room. fortunately, nothing was broken, but he has a finger brace on and can't work for 2-3 weeks since he can't lift anything too heavy.
Thursday, we traveled to the coastal village of Southwold. You can tell from the pics that it was a typical English day...cold, cloudy, and rainy. But, it was fun, nonetheless.

Check out these crazy beach huts. I guess it is their equivalent of an icehouse.

Well, I will post more about the baptism later. I am exhausted. Hopefully she will continue her sleeping trend! Three nights in a row of 7+ hours of straight sleep!! Especially after her LONG day today, I am hoping for another.