Anne Elizabeth is 1 month old!

Stats: 9 lbs 5 oz...21 inches long...cute as all get out!!

Annie's first month of life has been a whirlwind. 4 weeks of not being on a schedule makes me a little crazy. I am torn between enjoying these sweet, cuddly newborn days and longing for a schedule where I know exactly when she's going to nap, eat, etc. Knowing that this is our last baby has really put me in the mindset of just enjoying her as she is now.

She has great head control and turns from side to side. She focuses on on my face and I love talking to her and looking at her sweet face! Poor lovey has a bad case of baby acne :( It looks very dry and I'm hoping it clears up soon.

She is taking 3 ounces every 2-3 hours. At night she's going a bit longer. She sleeps in her little bassinet/rocker next to our bed and I'm kind of anxious to get her into her own room. During the day she can be found in her swing, bouncer, or in my arms. We started tummy time earlier this week and the kid is already rolling over! WHAT WHAT!?!?

My body thinks it's feeding multiples! I've started spacing out my pumping sessions 4-6 hours but I still get crazy amounts of milk. I started skipping my 11:30 pm session so I get a better stretch of sleep from about 8:30 until about 1:00 am or later. I plan to wean in the summer so that when I go back to school I don't have to pump and she'll have freezer milk to get her through 1+ year. I hope I can stick it out that long! I'd love to get down to just 3-4 pumping sessions eventually!

She loves to be held. Lately it feels like I can only put her down if she's ready to fall asleep. That can be frustrating, especially if we're trying to get ready to go somewhere. Sometimes she just has to cry for a couple minutes here and there while I dress the older girls, brush their hair, etc. I really hope this passes soon!

She is a lovely little baby and we're all so in love with her!

Bath Time, Tummy Time, Potty Training

Sweet Annie had her first bath last week. She hated AND loved it :)



These are Audrey's bath pics...they look so similar!!



We tried Tummy Time for the first time yesterday. Not for very long. The older girls were pretty excited about "playing" with Annie so it was a bit chaotic, lol...



On Friday she'll be one month old! She has a doctor appointment tomorrow and I'm excited to see how much weight she's gained. She still fits into her NB clothes and diapers, but before we know it we'll be packing those away!

The lovely Abigail has totally rocked potty training. I think it definitely helped that we waited so long...she'll be 2 1/2 next week. A couple days ago after her nap I stripped her naked, put the froggy potty in the living room and she just started using it! There have only been a few accidents. We are very proud of her!

Busy, busy!

Our sweet little Annie is nearly one month old! She is the sweetest thing.

Life around here is busy. In the past few weeks we've visited with lots of friends and family. Abigail and I went with Audrey on her field trip to the pumpkin patch. I took all the girls to see Rapunzel. We've had successful doctor visits, dance classes, and trips to the grocery store. Chris and I got to have a fabulous date night for our 9 year anniversary. We had a great newborn photo shoot. Even the days we spend at home feel super busy, lol.

All About Annie

What can I say? She's a great baby. More wakeful, but still sleeps a lot! She clearly knows night from day. During the day it's crazy loud and bright. Sometimes I have to get onto the girls about being too loud, but for the most part I let them be. At night we dim the lights and keep the tv quiet. She goes back to sleep after her feedings. She has a pretty clear cut night schedule. I feed her around midnight, she sleeps til 2:30-3:00. She feeds and we sleep together until 6-7 am. During the day it's just a cycle of feeding, a bit of wake time, and sleeping.

She eats about 3 ounces every 2-3 hours. I'm producing milk like crazy. I'm pumping over 50 ounces a day and I've frozen over 300! I freeze every other day because I run out of storage containers, lol. I'm going to start spacing my sessions further apart. Pumping every 2-3 hours in the beginning helped a lot, but I think I can afford to scale back a bit now :)

She's surpassed her birth weight and weighed 8 lbs 10 oz at her 2 week wellness check. She does seem to spit up a lot, but she's gaining weight and generally very happy. Sometimes she just wants to be held and will cry if you put her down. I haven't really tried the sling or carrier yet...I love just having her in my arms (it's amazing what I've been able to do one-handed!!) I love cuddling with her. She is a precious little angel and when I look at her I am just in awe of what we've created.

All About Big Sisters

Adorable. That's how they are with Annie! They just want to love on her and "play" with her. Abigail just swoons over her! She loves it when Annie is awake- "Her awake again! Her awake now!" And she continues to say over and over again, "Her so CUTE! So, so CUTE!!" Heart melted :) Audrey will come out of her room just to peek at her and kiss her. She definitely enjoys having Annie around. There is absolutely no jealousy from either one of them. They are even super patient when I'm pumping or feeding Annie. I'd say our only issue is when they fight with each other. It ends up with Abigail running out and crying about something. Luckily she gets over it quickly, especially if Annie is awake and I'm holding her. It's like a switch gets flipped and all of a sudden she just wants to dote on her little sister. I have low tolerance for their drama, and I will say that's probably the most frustrating part of my day.

Audrey still loves school and I always get the sweetest reports from her teachers. After spending time with her and her classmates at the pumpkin patch, it's very clear to me that she's the enthusiastic, outgoing class clown. Luckily she's not obnoxious- just very sweet and in awe of things that are going on. In other words, if she were one of my students, she'd be a favorite :)

Abigail still likes to push limits and is very direct, lol. We're working on listening and following directions (I've started the 1-2-3 count!) She's starting to realize that after 3 comes the fury, lol. She's also getting better with her manners...I love how direct she is, but we're always reminding her to say "please." And she can't tell us "no" it has to be "no, thank you." She's a smart girl and she's catching on quickly! I've learned to pick and choose my battles with her, which has helped a lot! I really wish she had more chances of socialization because it seems like she likes to keep to herself, play by herself. I'm not sure what the arrangement will be for her next year (preschool, daycare, both?) But I have to be honest and say I'm a little nervous that she'll be the exact opposite of Audrey...less social and withdrawn. She sticks to me like glue (at first) when we go somewhere new. I'm going to give her as many chances as possible to get out and socialize and see what I can do to foster her little personality.



We're taking it day by day and I feel great. Having 3 girls has been a dream come true. We love our sweet little Annie so much!

Home with Annie

Annie is 1 week old!


Going home :) Even though she's our third, leaving with her was no less terrifying!


First Family Picture! On our way home from the hospital we went to Grandma's house to pick up the girls. We cut through downtown Fredericksburg and took Princess Anne Street :)



The only way I can think to describe our life is BUSY. There is always something to be done...or someone who needs something! I have to say it's been pretty great so far. Being busy makes the days go by pretty quickly. Weirdly enough, I'm not too exhausted. I go to bed around 8-ish and sleep until 11-ish before getting up to pump. I'm back in bed until Anne wakes around 2-ish. After her feeding we lay together and sleep until 5-6 and then I'm up for the day! Annie is still in the sleepy stage, so during the day she's mostly asleep. I don't really feel the need to nap, but I have a couple times.

At her first appointment on 9/27 she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz. When we took her back on Tuesday she was up to 7 lbs 15 oz, so she's right on track. She's eating between 2-4 ounces. My milk came in and every day I'm pumping more and more. I have a good stash in the fridge and today I was able to freeze 40 ounces! Postpartum healing has been quick! I haven't needed Tylenol in a few days and my bleeding has stopped.

I had no idea the girls would be so welcoming to her! Audrey is in LOVE. She's always looking at Annie, singing to her, wanting to be apart of whatever she's doing. Abigail- oh my goodness!! She loves holding Annie. She gets the most amazed look on her face. Her voice gets all high and she "baby talks" to Annie and I usually make out the word "cute" in there somewhere :)


She's smelling her toes, lol!
This picture is so typical- Abby is doing something she's not supposed to be doing, Audrey looks exasperated by her, lol.

Abby says, "Can I hold 'em?"


First wellness check


3 days new!


First trip to Target!

Welcome home, sweet Annie!