Bunny ears and belly aches

Here are Darla's "bunny ears" that keep her head straight in her bouncer. :)

Belly aches! :(


More bunny ears...happier times.

Relief!!!

Relief! We had a peaceful night! Darla slept from 4am until 8am and hardly had any crying fits. She was uncomfortable and had a belly ache from 2am until 4am, but we sang and danced and rocked and I let her sleep in my arms until it passed. It never got to the horrible screaming phase, Amen! I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock this morning and it had been four hours. Marsha called yesterday and promised to pray for us....well, Great-aunt Marsha, it's from your mouth to God's ear! That prayer was answered for sure. And Darla is still peaceful now, which is why I have a chance to update. :)

Spring has sprung!

The weather has been beautiful since Wednesday! We were SO happy that Mark was able to stay home on Tuesday and Wednesday (the office power was still out) so we could clean out the refrig and freezer, get all of the laundry caught up, and recover from the storm. We decided to get a little sun and so we took Darla for a stroll in the afternoon. It was so much fun! She loves her stroller and we made our first trip to the chocolate shop. It was exactly what we needed after being up all night before! We are enjoying our sweet baby so much!

Thank you, Shorter family, for the outfit!

Our sweet baby!

Great-Grandma Virginia and Uncle Nick visit

We had a wonderful visit with Great-Grandma Virginia and Uncle Nick, who took the train to meet Darla for the first time. Darla loved being held by them and listening to Uncle Nick play the guitar. Great-Grandma had a "chat" with Darla about sleeping through the night and said, "Now, Darla, raise your hand if you understand..." and Darla did! And even more amazing...she slept really well that night! Come back, Great-Grandma, please!

Great-Grandma Virginia and Darla

Uncle Nick and Darla

The Storm!

While Uncle Nick and Great-Grandma Virginia were visiting, we had a terrible storm! Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, all of the area rivers flooded, cars and homes were destroyed by trees, and there is destruction all over. We lost power on Sunday morning and spent the day "camping out," eating dry food from the cupboard, and taking turns holding Darla to keep her warm. Eventually, we had to go to a hotel because it got too cold. Poor Nick and Grandma came all the way here only to have to check into a hotel! We certainly didn't plan to take Darla for her first night away from home so soon. Notice the mountain of stuff we packed for one night! We were SO glad to come home again to a warm apartment on Monday night.

Our camp-out picnic lunch from the pantry...applesauce, crackers, and peanut butter sandwiches.

Uncle Nick keeps Darla warm.

Daddy keeps Darla warm...notice the SMILE!!!

Mommy keeps Darla warm in bed.

Here is all the stuff for one night in the hotel...pack 'n play, bouncer, and tons of blankets, burp clothes, diapers, wipes, and on and on....we packed a lot because 1.) we didn't know how long we would have to stay...they were saying it could be days and 2.) we had to go 45 minutes from home in order to find a hotel with a vacancy; all area hotels were booked!

Uncle Nick entertains Darla at the hotel.

Mommy and Daddy and Darla (in stroller) getting settled at the hotel. Mommy had to clorox everything!

Us laughing at all of the stuff

COLIC.

Colic. Wow, it's tough. The important thing is that she is healthy, she will outgrow the colic, and she does have restful days in between spells. Which means we have time to rest, too. And I am learning that she is, at times, inconsolable and she just has to cry it out. (And often I cry it out at the same time!) We're learning her cues and trying different ways of calming to see what works. She loves to be rinsed in warm water and (we discovered last night) swaddled with a rolled towel wrapped up behind her back. Thanks again, Dr. Mick for helping us yesterday! Oh, and she loves the sound of her great-grandmother's voice. When Grandma and Nick were here, she was golden. Can you guys come back?

Now the sun is shining, she is asleep peacefully, and I AM going to take a shower today. The storm (literally and figuratively) has passed. Time for a nap...

P.S. Mothers of colicky babies, please send me advice about how to keep her comfortable and how to help her pass all of that gas! Thanks for any suggestions! And forgive me for not returning phone and emails at times! We have been up all night for several nights now.

Bouncer Seat!

Our new bouncer seat is worth its weight in gold! Thank you, Mick and Angie for recommending this...I don't know how we lived without it. Darla especially loves to bounce at 3am.

The Red Carpet

It's Oscar night, and what has baby Darla chosen for the big night? She's wearing a vibrant animal-themed sleep 'n play by Circo with custom lamb feet. Thank you, Heather! Her stuffed panda and pacifier complete the ensemble...a girl's got to have accessories. :)

Got Milk?!?

Baby Darla has too much milk! The doc says our little piggie is overeating and doesn't know when she's full. We've had a tough week and been up all night for several nights in a row. Darla wants to be held upright ALL of the time...even when sleeping! She's spitting up like crazy. So now we're trying to regulate and slow down her milk intake (which involves some complicated breastfeeding maneuvers), keep her upright after eating, and put her to sleep on her side. First I had not enough milk....now too much. But too much is better than not enough! Thanks Mick and Angie for the advice and help!

Stroller time!

"Come on already, let's get strollin'!"

Mommy and Darla

Test drive...wheeling around the apartment

Daddy and Darla

Darla had her first outing in the stroller and it was a SUCCESS! She loves it!

Four week check-up

Darla weighed in at 8 lbs 15 ounces and 21 3/4 inches. Hurray! The doc thinks she's looking great and doing well. :)

Growing Baby, 3 weeks

Darla loves looking at Daddy! As soon as he gets home, she looks in the direction of his voice.

Mamee Sallie mailed me some of the dresses I wore as a 6-week old...Darla (at 3 weeks) is getting too big for this one already! Not enough room to button the collar because of those chubby cheeks. :)

Because of all of my concerns about breastfeeding (and whether she's getting enough), Daddy went out in the snowstorm on Saturday and bought us an infant scale. She's growing, thank goodness!!! And now crazy Mommy can check her every day. :)

Darla's first time enjoying her swing.

Darla loves to look at her aquarium (from Marie) every morning.

Here she is in an outfit that she has grown into that was a gift from Chris & his family. She is growing out of the newborn outfits already!