13 Days Old

Josephine is 13 days old today. We feel very blessed to have had these last two weeks with her. We are beginning to get a routine here at home. The hardest part of the routine to work out has been the night feedings. I think we've got something worked out though. One of us is feeding Josephine at 11 pm and 5 am and the other one of us is feeding her at 2 am and 8 am. This gives each of us at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep. Last night was our first trial run - I did the 11 - 5 schedule, so after I fed Josephine, I got Marian up and ready for school. It seemed to work out pretty well, so we'll try it again tonight.

Jon has been spending his time off getting the house winterized. They've started developing the land behind us, so Jon has worked out a deal with the developer to cut the wood. We had just purchased a woodstove before Josephine was born, so he's been working hard to build up a wood supply for the winter. Jon will also be installing our woodstove this week, and reseal the windows and doors.

Marian is riding the bus to and from school during my leave. She has been very excited. We are so very proud of her and all that she has accomplished in Kindergarten already. Just a little brag... she's in the first grade reading group, and really loves to write and read. She's been a helpful big sister, and loves to sit on the couch holding Josephine.

James has been doing very well being at home with Josephine and me. We've only had one incident.... James was really wanting to hold his baby sister, and she was sitting in her swing. I walked in the living room to find that somehow he had already pulled her blanket out from under her (magician in the making?) and was trying to figure out just how he should go about picking her up. I was able to convince him to let me help him and directed him to the couch where he could safely hold and love on his sister. James has shown no signs of being jealous of Josephine. Many people warned me that he would, but he is so loving towards her. He frets everytime she cries, and has been very interested in her feedings. It's wonderful to see how much he loves her.

I have just been doing the little things around the house - light housework and taking care of Josephine mainly. I'm only taking my ibuprofen twice a day as needed for some tenderness at my incision site. Otherwise, I'm feeling very well.

On Friday, we will be going to the pediatrician for another check up. We're trying to keep a close eye on her weight. I'm thinking it's about time to up the amount we're feeding her. She's started getting fussy as we get close to feeding time, but as soon as we fill her belly, she's happy again.

We are also going to Jeff City to have pictures done on Friday. We were introduced to a service called "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" earlier this week. They are a non-profit organization that works with photographers to provide photographs at no charge to families who lose a child in infancy. They do some amazing work. I've posted their link to the left. Feel free to check them out.

During the last week, we have been very blessed to have women from church providing meals for us. We are very appreciative, and they have been delicious!! So thank you to those who have already brought us meals and an early thank you to those of you who have volunteered to bring meals later. It has been a relief to have one less thing to think about! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!