Week 3: All by ourselves

Week 3 was our first taste of our new routine since we spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday on our own. We spent our time like most parents with newborns would (I imagine anyway...), sleeping whenever the baby slept, eating leftovers from Rob's parents or ordering take out, and lounging in our pajamas most of the day. Robbie's favorite part of the day was cudding with Bella when she was waking up in the morning. She makes the funniest (surprisingly loud!) grunting noises in the morning while trying to wake up. It's usually a 30 minute process of grunting, stretching, and sighing for her to wake up...must be her daddy's daughter :) Here are a few photos from our time at home:

Napping with daddy

Funny faces

Tiny baby feet

On Friday night my brother, Neal, and his fiance, Ashley drove in from Washington, D.C. where they live. They spent the weekend with us (although Robbie had to work most of it) lounging, watching football, making lunch/dinner runs for us, and going on a 10 mile run (Neal and Ashley, not me and Bella...haha!). We got to chat about us adjusting to life as new parents and them adjusting to engaged life...They are having a July 7, 2012 wedding and have a lot planned already! We had tons of fun taking photos of baby Annabelle with her uncle and aunt:

Neal, Ashley, and Annabelle

So precious!

Neal was so excited to meet his neice! I walked into the living room on Saturday to find Neal sitting next to Bella explaining, "I'm your uncle and you're my niece. Yeah! That means your mommy is my little sister." I think he explained the whole family tree to her and Annabelle was looking up at him intently as though she somehow understood this detailed explanation. So cute! 

All five of us! Ashley impressed me with her ability to get us all in the shot of the first attempt!

Week 2: Meet the (grand)parents

Week two was filled with even more introductions for baby Annabelle. We started off the with Bella’s first doctor’s appointment on November 2^nd. She weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz. up from 8 lbs. 7 oz. when she left the hospital. Dr. Gipson said she could not eat for the next month and still be in the 50^th percentile…haha! So we scheduled her next appointment for November 30^th. She was in the 75^th percentile for length, the 80^th for head circumference, and the 97^th for weight gain! While at the doctor her umbilical cord stump came off so we could then give her the first bath!

Also on Wednesday, my friend Katie happened to be in Cleveland for business. Katie is one of my best college friends, was the maid of honor in our wedding, and is also Annabelle’s godmother so I was really happy she got to meet Annabelle so soon after her birth. Katie was able to spend Wednesday night hanging out with my family before they left on Thursday morning and also spent the morning with me and Annabelle before I dropped her off for her afternoon flight back to Chicago. One of the most positive and adventurous people I know, Katie had just returned from a trip to Asia and had lots to share. I know she is going to teach Bella to be adventurous and spontaneous and to do everything with your own unique sense of style. I’m also counting on Katie, Jolie, and Shelly to teach this little girl fashion since she will not get that from me! We broke out Bella’s “Little Black Dress” for Katie’s arrival:

She was not happy at first

Katie with Bella

That's better!

Little black dress!

I dropped Katie off at the airport on Thursday while Robbie watched Bella. We knew it was close to a feeding time but thought I had plenty of time to make it there and back before she got too hungry. While driving back home Robbie called me and I could hear Annabelle crying in the background. I had to laugh when he sent me this picture and a text that said, “Where’s my milk??”

Thursday night we decided to give Bella her first bath. She liked it at first but she is so strong she turned her head to the side and swallowed some water. Robbie had one unhappy baby on his hands!

Where's my diaper??

Not sure how I feel about this...

Daddy is doing a great job!

Yes, she was screaming as loud as this looks!

Drying off in my hooded towel

Rob’s parents came in to meet their first granddaughter on Saturday and stayed until Monday afternoon. They helped us out so much by cooking, raking leaves, and helping around the house. It was a really nice visit even though Robbie had to work quite a bit of the time. They just loved meeting little Annabelle and we took lots of photos.

During their time in Cleveland they also took Bella for her first grandparent walk at Metro parks. The trees still had a few pretty leaves left and the weather was perfect for our three mile walk.

Here are a few other cute photos from week 2: 

Just like daddy...

Little animal :)