Settling In

We've had a fun and exhausting first few weeks with our newest little one. She is absolutely amazing in every way, and we are all so in love with her. It's never easy to bring a new baby home, and I always forget how hard it is at first due to the extreme lack of sleep, but we are all adjusting just fine. In fact, I have to say that adding a fourth so far has been easier than adding a third. I think our family became so accustomed to chaos after having three kids that we are just used to the busyness and constant go go go. I remember feeling really overwhelmed with three--I wasn't used to having one always crying, one always needing something, one always unaccounted for, etc. But we have all gotten used to it by now, and even though there have definitely been some moments in the past few weeks when I've felt overwhelmed and overloaded, for the most part it hasn't been too crazy. The big brothers are really good about letting me tend to Miss E when she needs me, and I'm happy they have each other to play with when I can't give them the attention they want. Plus, they all want to take turns holding her, so that is nice, too!

I took Emmeline in for her two week check-up this week, and she is growing perfectly.  She weighed in at 9 pounds, 1 oz (75th percentile) and measured 21 1/4 inches (90th percentile.) She is definitely long! She still fits comfortably in newborn clothes but a couple of things are already getting too short. It has been so much fun to play dress up with her at home, and I could probably go a bit crazy if I let myself. So many cute outfits, accessories, shoes, etc. for little girls!

Although my sleep is definitely lacking these days, it's nursing that is always the hardest part for me at the beginning. Breastfeeding is tough, and I don't think many people are really aware of that unless you've been through it. For me, it is SO painful at first, each and every time, and that takes a lot of patience and perseverance to get through. Thankfully, I learned with Leyton that if I just get through the first 2-3 weeks, the pain eventually subsides and then it's smooth sailing. We're nearly there. But, that's not all. It's also really time consuming and you kind of have to plan your days in small increments based on when the next feeding might be. I don't want to be stuck in Target with three boys and a screaming baby when the next feeding is due, whereas if I was bottle feeding I could just stick that thing in her mouth and keep shopping. Plus, you never know for sure how much they are actually getting and you really just have to trust your body to take care of it. That is hard for this controlling perfectionist mama and causes me to worry when I shouldn't. It is SO worth it to put in the effort it takes, but it is definitely not easy.

We've had a steady stream of visitors and more delicious meals than we can count delivered to our door! What a gift! We cannot adequately express our gratitude for all the fabulous food that has been showered on us over the past few weeks. It has been so nice to not have to worry about making dinner along with getting homework done, baths, bedtime, and a hungry baby thrown in the mix. Thank you to our wonderful friends here who have helped make this transition easier and helped us welcome our sweet little girl.

emmeline meeting her cousins ansel & izzy for the first time

The one thing I did not anticipate was how many people would mispronounce my sweet baby's name. I thought it was a no brainer, but apparently that is not the case. We get "Emma-LEEN" instead of "Emma-LINE" all the time! When we chose her name, we were aware that there are two acceptable pronunciations out there (Emma-LEEN being one of them,) but we chose the one that we liked best and that follows English grammar rules. I don't want to sound too snarky, but since I was an elementary teacher and taught this for many years, I just have to say that a silent e at the end of a word makes the vowel say it's name--think Caroline, Adeline, Clementine, etc. Emma-LEEN would be perfectly acceptable if we lived in France, but I'm from the south, ya'll. So, just for clarification, our baby's name is Emmeline, pronounced Emma-LINE! :) There, just had to get that off my chest.

It's so much fun having a baby girl. I didn't realize how much I would love it until she was here. :)