week 5 and counting

While we've been working on this little blog for weeks, it's amazing how much time this little 9 pound human can take to maintain:) So, instead of a well-planned blog (which I would typically preach to clients), I decided this is how we'll kick this thing off... haphazardly and without much direction. I mean, we're under Nora's command anyway, right?

So, in true Letterman style, here are the top 10 things we've learned about parenthood in the past 5 weeks…

10. Little babies are actually pretty pliable. Not that we've had any close calls, but neither of us had held a newborn. After watching the nurses just toss her around, you get really brave, really fast.

9. It's amazing how quickly you learn to do things with just one hand.

8. Navigating your house in the pitch black without running in to doors or stepping on things is common practice.

7. Escalators are no longer an option when at the mall with a stroller. Do you know how hard elevators are to find? 

6. She truly is a product of us... so, the moment you look at her and see yourself, and you're only thought is, "man, I've really done it this time... everything I've ever done is coming back to me 10-fold."

5. Sleep. That word has an all new meaning.

4. No matter how stupid you think the thing you’re googling is, enough people will have previously googled it for it to auto complete.

3. Apparently, moms with newborns, infants, toddlers or any offspring that isn't in school shops at Target between the hours of 8a and 11a, Monday-Friday. 

2. Getting pee'd, poop'd and thrown up on and you're okay with it.

1. This chick poops A LOT! 8-12 diapers a day, my butt… she's on at least 20-25. I can't imagine cloth diapers, we'd be washing clothes twice a day just to keep up with her digestive system.

To wrap up our first 5 weeks, find some of our favorite pictures of the little tike below:

Day of Birth
As you can imagine, the day she arrived was a blur. A happy blur, but a blur nonetheless. To say that we feel blessed is an understatement.

Top photos: Getting my APGAR score - I checked out a-okay!
Bottom left: skin to skin with mom.
Bottom right: first Farmer family portrait.

Week 1
Learning to live with a newborn was like nothing we knew. There were no schedules, no guidelines or user manuals. Again... such a blur.

Top left: a sample of the hospital photo shoot that the parents did

Top right: meeting Pawpaw and Gram

Middle left: second family portrait

Middle right: getting ready to bust out of the hospital

Bottom: first bath

Week 2

We started getting the hang of things. Nora started coming a live... as you can see, she has many many faces!!

The Ferg really became protective. She tried to attack a poor half blind pug for getting too close. We think they'll will be the best of friends.

Week 3

Mom's first week being a mom by herself. Had lots of time to experiment with the new camera and just try to get the hang of things. Nights were still rough, but we found that Nora liked sleeping in her Mama Roo - so, we moved it into our room and have it there still.

Top: playing around with the new camera

Bottom left: first pizza Sunday

Bottom right: enjoying time on the play mat

Dedication at church happened on Mother's Day and Farmer's birthday. Marge helped modify the dress I was christened in, to make it shorter so it was a little less formal.

Week 4

After a visit from Grandma, we were back on our own for week 4. Nora's nightly schedule has improved drastically - only waking us 2-3 times a night. We've developed a good tag team system for Farmer to give her a bottle, while I pump. It cuts the time awake by 30 minutes, at least. So far, she's become quite the little joiner, we've been out to eat several times, Target is a weekly visit, she's been to the mall a few times and has been a guest at several parties. She usually sleeps through everything, which probably won't last forever.

Left: heading out on one of our daily walks

Right: Ready to cheer on the Thunder!

Week 5

As of week 5 (which was yesterday), Nora has found her thumb and hand. She cries when she's hungry, when she's gassy and when she's fighting the urge to go to sleep.  3 of the past 4 nights we've only gotten up twice in the night (insert HUGE applause - Momma's not a night person). She's officially out of newborn clothes, so we've already started passing clothes on to friends. Although it's still gas, she's got a really cute smile - can't wait to capture it in a picture. Overall, she's an awesome little creature.