My favorite thing about being home (besides that we aren't stuck in the hospital anymore) is seeing Benjamin loving his sister sooo much! I was unsure of this would all go, since I have a feeling Ben didn't really have any clue what was about to happen. But ever since we have been home, he is constantly giving her hugs and kisses and saying "hi". His little face lights up when I bring her down stairs in the morning and he reaches his arms out to her to give hugs! So sweet!!! There are still some times when he grabs at her face or squeezes her. He's not trying to hurt her, he just doesn't fully grasp the whole "gentle" concept. But he's getting there! :)
Here's a little video clip I got of him giving hugs and kisses just a day or two after being home.
http://youtu.be/gG_gM-CvE6k
And my new favorite picture
Ben "holding" Julia for the first time
I love how sweet he looks as he tries to gently touch her eyes.
Smiling at daddy..."Look what I have!"
Me and my two babies....it's going to be an interesting few years!
Daddy with his two sleeping beauties! (I have to admit, I kind of staged this one. Ben had fallen asleep on Eric, and Julia was fast asleep -she likes to sleep! - and I layed her with the boys! But it's so sweet and I am sure the first of many moments where both these kids are sleeping on daddy's chest!)
So, last year on our first full day home with Benjamin, we took him to Stickboy - our favorite bakery. The nice girl there who knew us because we came in so often, gave Ben a free cookie because it was his first visit! We then took a family photo out front. Then for Ben's first birthday we took him back there and he got to eat his very own scone! We then took another family photo to compare. In keeping with tradition, we took Julia to Stickboy the day after we got home from the hospital. The nice girl doesn't work there anymore, and the girl that was working was training someone, so Julia didn't get a free cookie, but I took her picture with my cookie! Then we took a new family photo out front. I hope to take the kids there each year for their birthday and it would be cool to take a family photo each year and watch them grow! :)
Here are my babies with their cookies!
And here is our family photo from last year, and our new family of four this year! And I promise we did not plan to wear very similar outfits! It just kind of happened that way. And while you can't see it well, last year Ben's outfit was ocean themed with an octopus on it and Julia had whales! Guess it was just meant to be! :)
And keeping with tradition once again, I will be taking Julia's picture each month to chart her growth with a stuffed animal. My mom, sister, and I found this super cute owl pillow (and Ben got a cool dinosaur one!). Later my mom found the second owl. It's bigger, but I kind of like the pillow more. Not sure yet, which one I will use - let me know your thoughts! So for now, we took a picture with each one and we will decide later! :)
Miss Julia - 4 days old - owl pillow
Miss Julia - 4 days old - big owl
Before going to Stickboy, we took Julia to the doctor (routine) and she looked great. In the hospital, there was a little bit of concern with jaundice, but we pumped her full of milk and had no more worries. She had actually gained 2 1/2 oz from Wednesday night to Friday morning and the doctor was impressed! We go back next Monday for her 2 week appt. and hope she continues to gain well!
So far, she is a great baby! She loves to be held and cuddled, so the first couple of nights were a little rough in that she did not want to sleep in her cradle - so daddy let her sleep on his chest until she needed to eat again. However, she is getting better. Last night, I fed her around 11:30pm, then she slept until about 3:30. I fed her and put her back down, and she slept until about 8:30am! (Ben slept great last night too, not waking up until almost 9am! ) So I have hope that she will continue to be a great sleeper like her brother - they definitely got that skill from their mama! :)
Julia has already been to the mall, to Kohl's, JoAnn's, a few restaurants, and some other small shops. She does great in the car - pretty much sleeping the whole time. We have learned that she can be stubborn! One example: I tried to wake her up this afternoon to feed her, and she just had her lips sealed shut! If she doesn't want to eat, she's not going to eat! :) Uh-oh! I hope the next 12 years go by slowly, because the teens years might be rough! LOL!
I took Julia to our friend Erica's house earlier this week, and she took some amazing newborn photos of our baby girl. My sister and I took a few at home as well. Here are just a couple. I think Julia was all photographed out by the time we got home, so we didn't get a ton. But I wanted to share these!
"Reading" Sleeping Beauty - she was supposed to be sleeping...making it really sweet, however, I kind of like the fact that her eyes are open, like she is reading the book!
Julia Violet...surrounded in purple! Again, wide awake!
Sweet grumpy face in the beautiful dress from Teresa!
There's a sweet smile...the dress is growing on her!
Well, that's all for now...Julia's hungry again! And then it's bedtime for this mama! I'm sure we are going to be quite busy with two little ones, but I promise to update as often as I can! :) Thanks for reading!
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