A December To Remember

Susannah is changing so much!  Her little cheeks are filling out, her little belly isn't so little, she's grown at least 2 inches since birth, and she's so expressive!  I've noticed the last few nights that when I put her back to bed after our 3AM-ish feeding, she "talks" in her sleep for a while before drifting off to the deep sleep - it is so stinkin cute.  Even at 4:00 in the morning, I love listening to her little noises.

She really has the best expressions ever!

In my last post, I forgot to mention that Susie had her first babysitter earlier this month!  Pete wanted to take me out to eat for my birthday, so our dear friend and neighbor Angie hung out with Susannah for a couple hours while we went to dinner.  It is a blessing to have someone we can trust nearby to watch our girl from time to time, even though we're not quite at the point yet of "just needing a break."  I'm sure those days will come eventually, so I'm very thankful for Angie.

One of Susannah's favorite spots

Figgy came in town the week before Christmas, which has been so much fun!  Susannah loved all the songs Figgy sang to her and all the time they got to spend together.  Just like when my mom stayed with us for a while, it was SO NICE to have an extra set of hands to help with daily tasks -- things like vacuuming and other super fun chores don't exactly make it to the top of my list when I have this adorable baby to stare at all day.  It was also really nice having someone to hang out with during the day while Pete was at work who can actually talk back to me!

Girl time

We enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of 3 in Harrisonburg with Pete's family.  Harrisonburg is a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house, so this was going to be our first long-ish trip with a baby in a carseat.  Susannah has always done pretty well in the car for short trips here and there, so we were optimistic.  Suffice it to say, Susannah prefers to NOT be in a carseat for over, say, an hour.

Oh gosh...

It was a long 4 hours!  (30 minutes added because we had to stop TWENTY MINUTES out of Harrisonburg so I could nurse the poor, inconsolable baby.)  Hopefully she'll eventually be okay with the carseat for longer trips, or I'm not going anywhere without Pete to drive so I can down some wine before leaving...

We had a great time once we got to Harrisonburg, seeing family and eating good food.  Susannah's Gilbert cousins - Charis, Hannah, and Bethany - adore her, and I know they'll be fast friends once she's old enough to play.  Unfortunately, the Gilbert girls had colds, so I didn't get any pics of them together, but I know there will be plenty of opportunities for that in the future!

Snuggling with Figgy

Christmas dinner.  Brae, Uncle Steve, and Ben

She was so excited about Christmas, she fell asleep being carried like this

This baby LOVES getting her diaper changed!  In all seriousness, she is the happiest on her changing table (or changing mat, as pictured).

Snuggling with my sleeping babies

Hannah and Charis are excited about Christmas!

So Many New Faces!

And so many new sounds!  I swear, Susannah is changing literally everyday.  She is 5 weeks old today, and it is truly hard to believe we've had her for that long -- while at the same time, it is truly hard to believe that we haven't always had her.  I'm beginning to forget what life was like without that little nugget!  I do have one fond, though quite vague, memory of what a full-night's sleep felt like...it seems so long ago...  But, oh, the privilege of being the only one the Lord made able to provide nourishment for our sweet girl!  I am so happy to spend those moments in the wee hours of the night nursing her, looking at her, loving her, and praying for her.  Seriously, what a privilege.

Here are a few of her adorable faces:

I could just eat her up.  Couldn't you?  She's making lots of fun little noises now, too, which provide even more endless entertainment for Pete and me.  She's also figuring out how many decibels her cry can reach.  It's quite impressive.

Susannah is over 9 pounds now!  We had her one-month checkup last week, and what we suspected was yet again confirmed: she is one amazing baby!  Her head circumference has also increased since her 2-week checkup, putting her now in the NINETY-FIFTH percentile for that measurement... just another piece of tangible evidence that she is her father's daughter.  She also impressed everyone with how totally awesome and super chilled out she is while there:

I may have fed her in the parking lot before entering the office to induce a milk coma to make sure she kept her cool, but we can just keep that between us.  I also chose to not worry her with the details of what was going to happen during this appointment: a SHOT.  To be specific, the Hepatitis B shot.  If I could have captured that baby's face when the needle went in, we'd all be crying right now.  Though I didn't snap a pic at the time of the prick, I had to document the sweet bandaid they gave her:

BARBIE!  It may not have made her feel better since she hasn't been introduced to Barbie yet nor can she read, but it made her mommy feel better (a little, anyway).  She really only cried for about 10 seconds, so it wasn't too awful; but it seriously warms my heart that the second I picked her up off the table, she calmed down.  That made me want to cry more than the shot did.  I love that just holding that girl comforts her.  I hope that effect never subsides.  

A Week of Introductions

Susannah was introduced to several fun and very important things this past week. First of all, her Aunt KK and Uncle Bear (Katie and Brian) came all the way from Denver to meet her, which was so much fun!

Best of friends

Pals

Aunt KK was able to come for 8 whole days (Uncle Bear came later in the week), which was awesome for both Susannah and me.  Poor Pete had to put up with our twin antics for more days than he ever has before, but he was a good sport and seemed to dismiss our weird ways relatively easily.  PopPop and SuSu also came in town this week to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  We had an amazing time hosting the four of them, though we were definitely missing Eric, Lauren, and the boys, as well as our Acker family.

Susannah also experienced her first Iron Bowl! 

Ready to cheer on the Auburn Tigers

And what a game it was!  Our sweet girl didn't last too long, though -- the excitement and anticipation must have been too much for her to handle because she was asleep by the 2nd quarter.  She didn't even wake up when I was literally jumping in the air with her in my arms in jubilation as Auburn won the game with no time left on the clock.  One day, I'm sure, she will know and appreciate the 2013 victory over Alabama...

Passed out on the couch

And in celebration of Auburn's win over Alabama, Susannah got to celebrate around her first bonfire.  It was chilly outside, so I, of course, bundled our girl up in preparation for sub-zero temperature.

"Seriously, Mom?"

Pete's got crazy eyes, I've got tired eyes, and Susannah's fast asleep

Pete and Brian built the bonfire in our backyard, and it turned out great.  It also offered a nice change of scenery for Baby and me, seeing as we pretty much just hang out inside all day now that it's chilly out!

Today, I pulled out the Moby wrap that Brae gave me to try out, and it works pretty well!

Susannah fussed a little bit when Pete and I were figuring out how to get her in there, but as soon as she was settled, that girl CONKED OUT!  Hands-free cuddling was great!  After about 20 minutes of wearing her and her still being fast asleep, I unstrapped that precious bundle and transferred her to her swing, where she continued to sleep for another half hour.  This may very well come in handy for us!  

And lastly, if you don't think Susannah looks like her daddy in the below picture, you're crazy.

Definitely an Acker!