Day 30

Day 30! We have gotten to know this sweet girl, and after a month we are head over heels in love! :) Luciana has been sleeping a little better at night, but we're still up quite a bit-- fewer times, but for longer. I just try my best to calm her, obviously nurse her, and get her back to sleep. We are still co-sleeping, her in her little bed in our bed, and it's still convenient & working for us all. I wonder how long we'll continue? :)

We put up our Christmas tree today, and Luciana was in the Baby Bjorn next to me the whole time-- she slept so well & loved it. :) 

Here's a pic of our pretty tree... Goodnight!

Day 29

Ah! Catchin' up! Feels good. So! Today was a cold, rainy and windy day. The kind of day we like to be cuddled up together, so we really missed Papa. We all slept in until 7:30. Sleeping in these days is 7:30... Good Lord. :/ Penelope usually beats on her wall and that wakes Mama up! :) I leave Luciana in bed, and she sleeps real well in the morning, usually because she's been up from, oh let's just say 2:30-4am. Yep, she kept Mama up last night for sure!! Bless her little heart, she has no idea she's driving me nuts! ;)

Later, she hung in there super well through our errands: picking up our Christmas tree & grocery store. She sat in her carrier and slept, or in her car seat. What a good little baby during the day!!!! Just kidding, she's awesome, and we can't complain, she's doing so well. 

Here's another pic of Luciana & I cuddling, it's our favorite pastime. Goodnight!

Day 28

Well, I guess we'll go back to posting at the end of each day... Hee hee. :)

Yesterday was Daddy's first day of a two day shift back at work. We had a few things to do, and so after breakfast, morning naps, packing & getting us all dressed, we were off! We went over to JC Penny to grab our photo CD from a sitting we did a week or so ago. I put Luciana in her carrier, right next to me under a blanket, and P was in her stroller. I love how many comments we get when I'm out with the girls like this! "Wow, you sure are busy!", and "You guys sure didn't wait to have another, did you?! Yep, total strangers say these things. After, we hit Target where I got the girls stockings, and a few other Christmas things-- we are getting in the holiday mood!! :) Luciana was a complete angel for our whole outing-- she kind I started to whine at the very end, when I was pretty much done, but I was so proud of how she hung in there. :) The key is feeding Miss Lu verrrrrry well before we leave to go anywhere. Then she's fat & happy & sleepy. 

We made it through another day, just us girls, and I'm proud of that. I'm also proud of my beautiful girls-- they make my life full, and the hard job worth all the sweat & tears! 

Here is Luciana and Mama relaxing after Penelope went to bed.

Day 27

Luciana is getting better, sleeping at night!!! I'm not saying we're sleeping through the night-- gosh no, but we are getting longer blocks of uninterrupted sleep. My goodness, and it's beautiful! I understand now why some torture methods include sleep deprivation. It's no joke!! :/ Luciana woke up after some good sleep and was awake more, too. We ran a few errands yesterday, and our baby girl did pretty well sleeping in her stroller, but did have to nurse in the parking lot of Rite Aid. :/ What are you gonna do? When my baby's hungry, she gets fed. Luciana is nursing really well now, and each day I can truly see her gaining weight. I put her in a newborn (not preemie) outfit, and it was still pretty big, but not as big. We love out big girl so so much!

Here is a pic Daddy took of Luciana last night.....

Day 26

So, I'm trying something new with this blog-- instead of posting at night when I can barely keep my eyes open, I'll post the following morning about the previous day's happenings. :) Daddy's idea, once he saw how tired I was last night.

So, yesterday was great-- Luciana was awake more, which helps a ton for sleeping at night. We try to keep her in the living room with us and the light and noise, and I think it helps. Penelope is always trying to pet her head now (yikes!!), but it's super cute how much she's interested in her baby sister now. :)

Tonight after Papa came home from class, he captured this beautiful smile on his camera.... Melts my heart!!!

Day 25

Luciana and Mama had a loooong and frustrating night! I should add Daddy, too, because even though I have to nurse her, Daddy is woken by the screaming, and all the movement that comes from diaper changes, nursing, swaddling, and shushing baby girl to sleep. He is a sweet Daddy to stay with us in bed when (on work nights) he should be on the couch! :) We hope Luciana is sleeping as well as her big sister soon. 

Today we had a bit of quiet time while Mana took Penelope to the park to play. Those mornings when Daddy or Gayle have P are nice for us, we usually need the extra sleep on rough nights. Sometimes (while Luciana sleeps) I'll do some embroidery, catch up on trashy reality shows or clean the nonstop mess in the house. :) We also ran over to Albertson's & TJ Maxx this afternoon, and here's how we maneuvered around the shops:

Penelope in front, and Luciana in back (in her Carseat) all snug and covered with a blanket. Not bad! :)

Tonight we are hoping for a couple 2-3 hour blocks of sleep... Fingers crossed! Here a pic of our angel halfway asleep in her basket while P ran around this evening... Basically, she's oblivious to that noise, thank goodness! Goodnight. 

:)

Day 24

What a hot winter day it was today! :/ We had a bit of rain and cold mornings recently, but today was straight out HOT. Makes it a little hard to get in the Christmas spirit! :) Luciana had a bit of a rough day today... She cried a whole lot during the day, which she really never does. We think she must've had gas. :/ It's difficult, even though its probably nothing serious, we can never tell and worry all the same. It's part of being a parent, I guess, worrying! We took a nice walk to a park today, and that seemed to calm her, and while Penelope played on the jungle gym, she napped finally. :)

Our baby girl is definitely growing, and I can see it from week to week. She is still struggling at nighttime, but I'm sure she'll get it soon. (And by "get it", I mean realize that night is when she's supposed to sleep and day is awake time!!) She's only 3 weeks old, we're still cutting her slack!

Here's Luciana hangin' out right now while Mama blogs and Daddy reads.... Goodnight! (Goodness, hopefully goodnight for me tonight!!)