Life at Home with Kate

We are all having fun getting to know this special little spirit. So far, this is what we have learned...

Kate LOVES her hands.  She loves to suck on her fingers, and hates it when we bundle her with her arms in the blanket.  She wants to have her arms loose to keep them up by her face.

Kate is a great sleeper during the day when there are people around to hold her.

At night when it's just Mommy, Kate is not such a great sleeper.  To say that I'm a bit sleep deprived would be a huge understatement.  And she won't sleep anywhere but right next to me in my bed.  And she likes to eat all night long.  Here she is the first morning home, trying to wake up.

There is always someone willing to hold Kate.

Kate has a powerful set of lungs on her, and she uses them whenever she isn't happy.

Kate has the same sensitive milk protein intolerance that her brothers had.  Kate's mom is not enjoying the very strict no dairy diet.  On the bright side, it forces me to eliminate eating chocolate, ice cream, pizza, cake, cookies, butter, and everything else good, which should help me lose the baby weight quickly.  On the down side, we've had a pretty fussy baby this week while dairy works it's way out of my system. 

99% of our time revolves around Kate, but the other 1% is spent doing fun things like dressing up like a cowboy.

Owen is not a Kate fan.  The first few days home, he refused to have anything to do with me if I was holding Kate.  Each morning he would wake up, and come out to see me feeding Kate on the couch.  He would throw himself onto the floor crying, as if to say, "She's still here?!"  Finally this week he's warming up to her.  My parents went home on Monday and Scott went back to work on Monday.  Tuesday morning Nate went to preschool, which left just me, Kate and Owen at home together.  He finally sat on the couch next to me while I fed Kate, and snuggled with me.  I think he finally decided that Kate was here to stay, so he might as well get used to it.

Kate likes her bouncy seat in moderation.  It buys me a 10 minute break to change Owen's diaper or feed the boys lunch, when I need two arms.   But most of the time, I do everything one handed with Kate in my arms.

And the biggest thing I've learned this week with Kate, is that I am extremely blessed.  I have amazing kids, every single one of them.  And I have an awesome husband who goes above and beyond when it comes to helping out around here.  He's such a great dad and a thoughtful husband.  I'm truly lucky to have married him.  On the third or fourth day after Kate was born, I was complaining that I had nothing to wear that fit me.  So, when he went grocery shopping, he bought me clothes--a couple of shirts and a couple pairs of capris (he didn't know for sure what size I was, so he bought two sizes).  I was so grateful the next day to have something to put on that fit.  He's such a great man.

And the last thing this week has taught me...babies grow too fast.  A week went by in a flash.  I'm trying to hold her and cherish her every minute, knowing that this newborn stage is so short and fleeting.  If only I could freeze time and just enjoy this a bit longer.