4 Weeks of Life

Scarlet is 4 weeks today, can you believe it? Here are some pictures through out her little life.

Week 2:

The day that Daddy came home from the Academy- FOREVER!!!! Yea!!!!

This was after her first sponge bath. I'd given her one before, but it was a pretty wimpy attempt, so I don't count it.

Nice and clean.

First Night Out.

I pumped and Pat and Randy came over to watch Scarlet. When Greg first mentioned the thought of going out I instantly thought, "Oh no, " and didn't want to. I was all freaked out to be without her, but that reaction told me, "It's time and you need to for this very reason." My Mom really stressed that we needed to go out without her soon, so we realized we COULD. Well, I started crying in the car before we even left the street. I was fine by the time we got to the restaurant, but even cried there a LITTLE bit. Who knew I'd be just like everyone else. I have definitely eaten my words a little bit since I had Scarlet. We went for sushi- YUM!

And then Baskin Robbins.

Then we went to Winco, ha ha.

Some Daddy Daughter Time.

In the swing.

The swing is a marvelous invention. It doesn't ALWAYS settle her down, but when it DOES it's just the BEST! It's like a free little babysitter. Ours is used and makes the most horrible sound. The first time or two we put her in it at night, while we tried to sleep, I couldn't because it was so loud and creaky. Not anymore. It's amazing how you can get used to things.

She looks so small in her car seat.

Week 3

Snuggling with Daddy after another sponge bath.

Everyone finally got to meet Scarlet at the Jentzsch's. I was a little resistant and made everyone wait 2 weeks because I REALLY didn't want her to get sick while she was still so small. And I just wanted more time with her. This is Matthias, our 2nd cousin. I just thought it was the cutest thing ever when I saw him holding her! A little child holding my own! I don't know, it was just the sweetest thing I ever saw!

Sportin' a bit of a mullet.

I'm starting to realize there are never any pictures of me and Scarlet. Mainly because I'm the one behind the camera, and half the time I'm in my garments or just plain looking like crap.

Scarlet really likes to move her arms. Well, I don't know if she LIKES to, but her arms definitely get out of control sometimes. The first 2 weeks of her life we ALWAYS had her swaddled to keep them under control! I couldn't even nurse her without her being swaddled 'cause they'd just get in the way! They've calmed down quite a bit and she can sleep peacefully, now, with just a blanket on top (instead of wrapping her up like a mummy!)

Week 4: I never realized how difficult taking pictures of a newborn is. It is near impossible sometimes! Now I know a lot of these are the same, forgive me. It's just hard to decide what to edit out!

I love this one. I just think she looks like a little princess.

Got milk?

We've had some woes in the eating department. At Scarlet's 3 week appointment she was supposed to have gotten back up to her birth weight but had lost over a pound!!! YIKES! That is not a good thing. We weren't sure what was wrong, so the doc told me to pump and feed her by bottle so we'd know exactly how much she was eating. That way we'd know if she wasn't growing 'cause she wasn't eating enough, or if it was because of something else. Well, all the stress made my milk sort of disappear, and I had to supplement with formula, but by day 5 I got it back up again. We took her in again and she gained almost a pound! I did NOT expect her to gain so much! I was so relieved! So now I'm back to nursing and I HOPE it's enough. I'm probably going to bring her in for a weight check in a few days or so to make sure she's still gaining. A couple times I've had to give her a LITTLE formula. I have such a love/hate relationship with formula. I couldn't stop crying when I thought I didn't have enough milk to feed her- I mean for HOURS. At my breast feeding class I learned all about breast milk and how amazing it is, so when I mixed the formula I felt like I was feeding her poison, but at the same I knew it wasn't and was so grateful I had it because she clearly wasn't getting enough from me. It's still a love/hate relationship. We've been back to nursing for a couple days now and I THINK it's going to work out. I really hope so. Speaking of pumping- anyone know you can get blisters on your nipples? Yeah, you can and it just makes me think my life is never going to stop having SOME kind of extreme pain in it. I know it will be over SOME time, but I just can't help thinking, "When will it ever end?"

The many faces of Scarlet . . .

My favorite.

Just hangin' out.

This was a particularly smiley morning.

We just love her.