Tuesday, October 21, 2008

audrey's 3rd week

oct 14: 15 days old

i gave audrey her second bath at home with diedre watching on adoringly

my plan was to do audrey's photoshoot for her baby announcement, but the pictures/lighting were not turning out great.

diedre looked great though!

oct 17: 18 days old

a bit of smile on the ol' changepad

tummy time, what a strong girl!

oct 18: 19 days old

my dad came for a visit from vancouver island


oct 19: 20 days old

sadly, diedre got the flu. she was so tired. her favorite kitty, hattie, was cuddling at her feet.

baby audrey looking so serene (i think i took this at church with my iphone ;P).

later on sunday, we went to visit grandma and pepere gagne. pepere enjoyed some baby cuddles.

such a beautiful girl!!!

oct 20: 3 weeks old!

a little time in the swing

and a cuddle with her mama!

more pics from audrey's 3rd week

audrey is doing so well (other than catching a cold last week that has gotten worse and worse. its starting to affect her night sleeping because she can't breathe that well. i have the cool mist humidifier going and that seems to help). she is pretty consistent at going to bed around 10pm or 11pm and sleeping for 4 to 5 hours. its AWESOME! she only wakes once per night (as far as my night goes: i'm up with the big kids after her second waking at 6.30/7am). she is very easily pacified/settled. she still loves to nurse alot, but i really try to nurse her on the same side twice in a row (20 minutes, take a short break, then that side again--if she's asking for it) so that she gets hindmilk and i think that is what's making things work so well.

life with 3 is going great. i still have my "i need coffee NOW" moments when i'm starting to lose my temper with the bigger kids, but i just try to keep my schedule low-key and stay chill. thats my plan, keep it cool, dont freak out. haha. so far, its working.

other points of my strategy of coping with 3 are:
-to stay positive
-to enlist help (sadly the ENTIRE family is sick other than me (so derek was pretty out of commission over the weekend), so i've been hiring our babysitter to come over on days when derek is not going to be right home in the evening (which is great, around 3.30pm for a couple hours), or on saturday when he worked. also, my mom has made herself very available to me and the kids, either popping by when she's in the area or planning visits, taking one or both kids out to play, she even took ezekiel for a sleepover on the day diedre had the flu so that we could try to keep him from getting sick. so BIG thanks to her for all that!)
-cuddle the big kids when audrey is sleeping on me (one on each side, its very sweet) while we watch a show.
-get housework done when audrey is still sleeping in the morning (usually until 9am).
-visit, cuddle the bigger kids during audrey's midday naptime (which often extends until 2.30 or even 3.30pm most days).
-let diedre watch her movies if that makes her happy (and sit down with her/cuddle as much as i can, maybe while also doing laundry).
-try not to slack on discipline with the big kids and i'll be working on cutting down on my yelling...i get pretty exasperated by their lack of listening (read: blank stares, total inaction to my requests) and find that its ask once, twice, yell then there's action. not a trait i want to see in them or in me. not a healthy home habit. so pray for me on that one!!

okay, off to the park now!

2 comments:

mellenger said...

sounds good amanda! sorry to hear the kids (and derek) have been sick. hope you are feeling well.

Sue said...

hey !!
your family looks so joyful and sweet!!
we are adjusting well to 3, but MAN does it ever feel busy some days!! usually school days and other times when there are deadlines we havve to meet. but life is sooooo good, i love my little family!! :)

i feel totally recovered. people were praying hard for my recovery, b/c the whole family was in a wedding 6 days after mercy was born, and their pleas were answered.:)sooo besides being tired....i feel great! how about you?? isn't it ten times better to have these sweet babies OUT rather than IN??? hahaha.
God bless you and your fam!!