Christmas and more

What a crazy couple of weeks! Time seems to be flying by and I realized it's been awhile since I blogged and put up any new photos of Lily. Lily will be 4 weeks old tomorrow...I can't believe it! She is such a good baby and very laid back so far. She only really cries when she is hungry, dirty or when you first put her in the car seat. She is fine once in the car but she does NOT like to get strapped in! On her list of accomplishments so far....holding her head up on her own ( I can't believe how strong she is), smiling at me, starting to coo. She loves to lay on the floor on her blanket in the evenings and kick and "talk" to a little stuffed poodle or baby doll that Santa brought her. At her two week visit she weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz so she had gained a pound since being discharged from the hospital. She is a great eater so I am sure she is over 10 pounds at this point. She still looks so tiny to me but it seems like I can see her growing every night. Poor little thing is afflicted with the same reflux problems that Joshua had. Luckily I am better able to recognize it this time around. The pediatrician has already had to start her on Prevacid like we did with Joshua. In the first two weeks she sprayed me down 6-7 times in full reflux mode. The Prevacid helps but she still spits up a lot. I guess I am destined for a wash and wear wardrobe and lots of burp cloths until she outgrows the problem. Seems like Joshua was around 9 months when he finally stopped.



Lily 2 weeks Hanging out with Joshua and Grandma




Christmas was wonderful and white! I haven't had a white Christmas since I was a kid in Colorado and it brought back lots of fun memories and much nostalgia for my family. There is always something magical about snow for me and we so rarely get it. Joshua loved watching it come down although was not too thrilled when the bitter wind kept blowing the hood off his head on the way to the car after the Christmas Eve service.

White Christmas

Sylvester enjoyed Christmas too!


Joshua had a Christmas program with his preschool on the 15th that I have a video for but haven't been able to get it to upload to the site. I will have to work on that, it's too cute for words! They sang Feliz Navidad and Santa Claus is Coming To Town with all sorts of gestures...it really is priceless and speaks for itself if I can ever get the darn thing to load! He had a wonderful Christmas and got more toys than any kid could ever need! I have been attempting the daunting task of finding homes for everything ever since!!

Tired Daddy, Hershey and Lily



My parents left yesterday after being here for 5 weeks. My dad traveled back and forth to Midland but my Mom had been here since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to help out. It sure is quiet and lonely in the house! Especially during the week when Eric is at work and Joshua is at preschool. I am off work until the 22 of February and am enjoying every minute with my sweet little girl. We are working on getting into a routine now that all our company has left town. Joshua is still adjusting to being a big brother. He largely ignores Lily but is getting more curious as the days go by. I will see him talk to her or try to tickle her toes if he thinks no one is watching. He's not mean or ugly to her, unfortunately the dogs and cat have been chased around a lot. The cat even got to the point of scratching Joshua's face one night....it's a work in progress.


Lily at 3 weeks with Grandma

New addition

I can't believe that Lily is already 10 days old...time has really flown by. All in all our transition to a family of four has been pretty easy. Lily's birth seems so much easier than Joshua's in every way. Of course it helps that I am more relaxed and know what I'm doing this time around....there is nothing like the learning curve of a first time mother. I must say that recovering from a c-section minus the labor part of things has been night and day difference. I was able to sleep in my own bed the night before...not that I slept much but that's beside the point. We arrived at the hospital at a very early 5:15, by 7:15 I was anesthetized and in the OR, they started at 7:20 amidst comments of the snow coming down outside and Lillian Rose Millner was born at 7:29. I was out of surgery and back in recovery with her in my arms by 7:50. They had me feed her before they took her to the newborn nursery and I was in my room by 9:30. We came home from the hospital on Friday and have been home for a week now.

Lillian weighed in at 8 lbs 1 0z and is 20 inches long. She is smaller than Joshua was at birth but the difference seems gigantic instead of just half and inch and 3/4 of a pound. It's easy to forget just how tiny they are, and I tend to have larger babies! Breast feeding the second time around is so much better! I haven't had many of the problems that Joshua and I had starting off and I'm not nearly as sore this time around. I remember everything getting much easier around 3 weeks last time and am looking forward to that effortless point again.




Big brother Joshua is starting to come around on the transition. He's getting curious in spite of himself and I often find him looking in on Lily while she's asleep in the bassinet. Joshua came up to the hospital the first night to see us and it may have been a mistake. I was still numb from the epidural, still had my iv and hadn't gotten out of bed yet. Poor little guy didn't understand why he couldn't get in bed with me and had lots of questions for grandma and grandpa when they left. The second night was better. I made sure I was out of bed and moving around when they came up and let Joshua sit on the bed next to me. We even held Lily together. He looks utterly bewildered in the pictures! Since we've been home he's asked to hold her twice. The first time, she immediately spit up all over him! It took a couple of days for him to try again, and this time he needed her on a blanket so he didn't get all wet. He's been sweet to Lily but is acting out in other ways at school. I know it will take time, we've rocked his little world upside down and backwards. I'm sure it will help when I can do regular things again. I am moving around pretty well after surgery but I still can't drive and I can't lift anything heavier than Lily. We've done some special things for just him and that's helped a bunch. I'm sure in a couple of weeks we will be back to the status quo.