This week Joanna gifted us with an amazing 8 1/2 hours of sleep!  It hasn't happened again, but it was sure nice. We did get a couple of 7 hour stretches, which are equally amazing. The past few nights, we've been back to a 4 hour schedule or so. Joanna had her one month check up on Thursday last week... she is growing great! She is now 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/2 inches long! I've been worrying if she is getting enough milk because she doesn't nurse very long, but her weight gain is showing us that she's doing just fine! Joanna got to "meet" a few of her baby friends this week. Eliza is 3 months old and she came over with her mom Nicole on Wednesday night. It was nice to have company, since Sean is gone much of Wednesday and the day gets very long. On Thursday, Joey went to her first girls' night. It was lovely to finally paint my nails and have someone else hold her while I just sat and talked. I love my friends! Joey made her first appearance at church this weekend. I've been hesitant to go because I don't want Gia getting sick from all the germs, but I couldn't stand the idea of another morning alone in the house. So it was a nice break up to the monotiny. Gia loved being with her friends and Joanna and I chilled in the cry room with her almost-birthday-buddy, Conrad and little Ailith & her mom. That night, we all went to a Super Bowl party with the youth group. Gia got to go up early with Sean, and she was so cute-- she had blackout under her eyes and was cheering with a pompom and tutu. Joanna slept almost the whole time!


 

I feel like this week has been much of the same as the previous 3 weeks: eat, sleep, poop, poop some more, cry. Joanna is nursing great and as a result, she poops all the time.  Usually right after we change her into a clean diaper. Seriously, I will wait 10 or 15 minutes to see if she is finished, then as asoon as I put on the clean diaper, she explodes. Its no wonder our diapers are going so fast... we are literally using them twice as fast as you should!  Joanna marked the beginning of her 4th week by giving us the longest stretch of sleep to date: almost 6 hours! She slept from 11 pm until 5:45 am one night!!  She slept almost as long the next couple of nights. Now we are back to a more regular 3 hours or so, but those couple of nights were excellent! Its amazing what sleep will do for you. Joey's had a bad diaper rash that we are trying to get under control, and as a result of that (I think), she's been crying a lot. She's awake a little bit more this week, but most of the time she's been awake she's been crying. Except when Sean is holding her. This girl loves her daddy! He makes funny faces at her and sticks his tongue out at her; she will smile back at him and try to stick her tongue out too. Its the cutest thing. We've had sub-polar temperatures outside again this week so we've barely left the house. We're all going a bit stir-crazy... having a winter baby is tough. I'm just ready to go to the park and go for neighborhood walks! I haven't even put Joey's seat on the stroller yet! Looks like this next week will be more of the same. We have her one month check up on Thursday, and I"m excited to see how much she has hopefully grown!! I think we're getting into the swing of things, at least as far as being home with the girls during the day... today was a really good day with them. I know there will be ups and downs, which is why I am so especially thankful for such a good day today!

So I never got around to posting Gianna's birth story, but I wanted to document Joanna's while it was still fresh in my mind. I'm trying to battle this second child syndrome, so maybe getting this done will help stave that off from the beginning!

Well here I am again with our first week by week post for our family's newest addition, Joanna Payton! You might recall that I did a weekly photo project for Gianna, and I love having that book to look back at, so I've decided its worth the time and energy to do it all over again for Joey. She is one week old, and we are so in love with her! She is doing great with nursing, and usually gives us a good two or three hour stretch of sleep, once a night. Its not a lot but hey, we'll take what we can get at this point! She sleeps almost all day long, with a few wakeful moments here and there. She has the cutest "baby smiles" and makes some adorable faces. I'm looking forward to seeing how those funny grimaces now become part of her personality later on down the line. We had a doctor's apointment on Friday, and the doctor just kept saying how perfect she is! That was the word the doctor in the hospital also used to describe her: perfect! She gained about 4 ounces from when we left the hospital, so she's on her way back up to her birth weight! We are counting our blessings and loading up on baby snuggles. A few days after we brought Joanna home, there was a huge snow storm. We've since been snowed in for days on end. Its been really nice to have Sean home with us for those extra days. Nana is here for a few weeks, and big sister Gia is completely in love with Joey. She's a big helper, getting us diapers and putting the pacifier in Joanna's mouth when she cries. Its an adjustment for all of us, but so far, its going pretty well.

My daughter is only 2 and a half, but she already has her selection of favorite characters. One group of such favorites is pirates. I suppose this is largely due to a certain Disney Junior cartoon show, but boy, is Gia adorable when she cries out "Yo ho!"  When I saw the book, Pirates on the Farm was available for review, I couldn't wait to receive it and read it with Gia.