Blessed Beyond Measure: A2H 2019.03: Let Her Sleep...

...for when she wakes, she will move mountains.

With all of our visitors gone and Eric back at work, this week was a quiet week for Hazel and I to rest up and get to know each other. It was mother-daughter bonding at its best...with some time with our boys thrown in...

Monday: Hazel & I stayed in bed ALL day. We snuggled, nursed, slept and watched a little TV. It was a perfect way to spend our first day alone together. <3

FB Post: 💕Girls’ Day In

Tuesday: Today Avery stayed home with us girls. It was not nearly as relaxing as the day before. The morning went well despite my exhaustion. The afternoon was not so great as Avery was being quite the stinker, but we survived.

Avery's snack creation: Salami wrapped cheese.

(2) Videos: Avery Dances His Arms and Eyebrows

FB Post: All sorts of craziness going on here today!! #amazingtalentsofavery

Wednesday: Today Hazel and I were on our own again, and since the one week photos I tried to take on Sunday didn't go so well we did another photoshop this afternoon.

...and of course there were more snuggles...

Wednesday was also my due date...

Today was my due date. Instead of 10 extra days of pregnancy we were able to spend 10 extra days with our sweet little Hazel. I had plans of all I would accomplish before the baby arrived, but she had plans of her own (literally changing our plans just 20 minutes after I’d told Eric I was glad to have more time before the baby arrived to prepare and spend with the boys).

We were given 10 extra days and in that time so much has happened...
-We found out we have a girl
-We’ve gone through 60+ diapers
-We’ve watched our boys fall madly in love with their baby sister.
-We’ve corrected Avery countless times that the baby is a ‘she’ and not a ‘he’ (Apparently my incorrect assumption that we were having another boy has greatly confused him)
-I’ve already lost almost 40 pounds...pregnancy swelling/water weight is seriously NO JOKE!
-Our washing machine broke and Hazel is no determined to dirty as many clothes as possible before we can get it fixed.
-We have been greatly blessed by friends and family with an abundance of clothing (both new and gently used) for our little girl...so much pink! 💕
-I started sleeping in our bed again!! No more couch time for me!
-We’ve lost sleep but gained sleepy snuggles💤
-I’ve taken hundreds of pictures
-I’ve watched the immediate bond between father and daughter form and grow
-I cannot stop counting how unmeasurably blessed I am 😍
-I cannot wait to see what the next 10 days will bring!

Thursday: Another perfect day of just me and my girl. We enjoyed more snuggles and our first mother-daughter shopping trip to Target. :)

Hanging out with Daddy at night time.

Friday: Today Hazel and I hung out with the boys. She also got her first bow. When I sent the picture to Eric the conversation went like this:

Eric: "A BOW!?!?!"

Me: "I couldn't resist when I was shopping yesterday. She looks adorable!"

Eric: "Yep."

LOL. Eric and I are still both getting used to the whole having a girl thing, but watching him get wrapped around her adorable little fingers is precious. She is definitely Daddy's Girl. He is smitten.

FB Post: Sweet Sleepy Smiles

Can you see how long her nails are? She was born with super long (and pointy) finger nails. I joke that we should call her Wolverine. They grow fast, pointy and SHARP!

This guy CANNOT get enough of her!

Asher brought this home from school today. At first I thought it was funny because I have a hard time picturing him as a cop, but then Eric and I agreed that he does have a penchant for trying to enforce rules. :P

That night we went to Cheddars for our first solo dinner out. It went off without a hitch and was quite enjoyable. All three kiddos were VERY well behaved!

On the way from dinner...

Riding in the car and listening to a song on the radio..
Avery: “Mom, what are they saying?”
Me: “Just give me Jesus”
Avery: “Oh. I thought they were saying ‘Just give me Cheez-its’”

Saturday: The boys let me get some extra sleep while they took care of Hazel for me.

Watching cartoons with her big brothers.

Later that morning, they all headed outside to deal with the snow we'd received during the night, while Hazel and I stayed inside cozy and warm.

Saturday morning, my mom (who had arrived late the night before but left for my brother's that morning) gave Hazel this pillow and a matching blanket...a little something girly for Hazel's Owl Nursery.

On Saturday afternoon, Eric and I took the kids up to Burlington to do something I never would have thought we'd do just a couple weeks after bringing home a newborn. We went to Burlington RV to check out a pop-up camper that Eric had found online and we ended up buying it! It is MUCH larger than the one we had from Eric's parents, so hopefully it works out better for us and allows me to like camping more. ...otherwise it might go up for sale again in a few years.

FB Post: Contemplating a new (to us) camper purchase 🤔 #amiacamper#campingwithkidsishard #terribleatmakingdecisions

The boys trying out their future camping bed.

Video: Sleepy Girl

Neither Eric nor I can get enough of watching our little girl sleep. She is such a happy girl. Her most relaxed position seems to be with a smile on her face, so it is quite easy to catch the gummy grin on her face while she dreams or even hear an adorable little giggle.

Sunday: Our lazy week ended a bit hectic. Hazel attended church for the first time, where we also met up with both of my parents. My mom was about to join us for the coming week and my dad was seeing us briefly before heading back home with my uncle after a family party they'd attended. At church I began to not feel well and for the rest of the day I felt pretty crummy with post-pregnancy ailments. We left church immediately after and headed back home. There my aunt and uncle picked up my dad and met Hazel while we tried to quickly straighten up the house. Then, at 3pm we had a photographer come to our home to take some family photos with Hazel. While we were wrapping up the shoot, my Aunt Bonnie and cousin Rachel also stopped by on their way home from the same party to meet our little girl, and after they left my friend Richenda stopped by as well. Like I said it was a hectic day to close out the week but we survived and shortly after a new week began.