raising redheads

Tomorrow Mabel Audrine will be 5 weeks old. Really? Ugh.

Where has the time gone, seriously?

Daniel & I can both agree that we feel we have been able to truly enjoy this little girl. We have bonded with her and the adjustment of bringing her home has been one of ease, comfort, and normalcy.

Mabel only cries if she has a belly ache or is hungry. She is still a very good baby, but now that she is 'waking up' a bit more, we hear her voice a little more as well. There are some things that I said before having her that I should never have said...
"I will not sit around and hold this baby all the time like I did with Nora. I just don't have the time. I have 2 other babes to care for too..."
And yet I do. I sit around and I hold her. Alot.
Because she's pretty holdable.
She doesn't like it much when Mama isn't holding her. She gives me this sweet little cry or vicious scream and yet the second I pick her up and put her next to me she calms.
And is the gentle babe that we all love.
So if a 5 week old can be spoiled...mine just might be.
I mean, really, if I'm in her plain sight, she better be in my arms. Quick.

I also recall saying, "I dont know if I'll be able to nurse this baby very long. If it takes up too much time or if she doesn't handle it well I will stop..."

Yet it does take up alot of time. It's all she wants to do. All the time. I am officially a human pacifier. I've also become very good at multitasking while feeding.

Walking, Eating. And as of today...

Blogging.

But I could never stop. She is a great eater. I'm enjoying this time with her.

She still sleeps through the night with the exception of a 4 am feeding. After which she falls asleep in bed with us.
Yes.

We have once again become co-sleeping parents. And we're ok with that.

She still gets the hiccups alot.

And they make her really, really, really angry.

She gets bedhead. It's way cute.

She loves it when Nora talks to her.

She has the cutest dimple (like daddy) on the right side of her face.

She curls her toes delightfully when she eats.

She has the WORST gas I have ever smelled in my life; and everyone can vouch for that.

She still won't take a binky. I'd give anything so that she would.

She loves to be in the car with worship playing loud.

She is still a sling baby and enjoys it about 50% of the time I wear her.

When I nurse her and the 'let down' begins, I become overwhelmingly sad for about a minute.

I became overwhelmingly sad for another reason this past week...

...one that I'm just not ready to share...

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To date, I have lost 34 of the 50 pounds that I gained during pregnancy.

It's a tricky journey this time around.

My leg hurts when I walk.

My tailbone hurts when I bike.

So I'm walking and pushing through the pain--

and buying new shoes that I hope will help even a little.

Weight Watchers is amazing and I swear by it as my lifestyle.

I'll have a bunch of weight loss posts coming in the near future, so I hope you're prepared for that Ramee again.

Tips. Recipes. Encouragement.

It feels good to be energetic and active again.

And to hug my husband without a huge belly.

That feels good too.

Speaking of my tailbone, I had X-rays taken last week that didn't shed much light on the reason for my intense pain. I'm looking into some specialists in the area that I hope can help.

I'm trying to just play catch up on here for a couple days, writing down things that I may otherwise forget about the past 2 weeks. It feels good to have an outlet again. Oh and I missed you all too;)