Unc-Dude Ty drops in

Lilah meets her first Unc-Man!  And she LOVED it!  One down, three to go!

Tyler very sweetly (that's probably not quite the right adjective for Ty but I did think it was sweet!) drove from Pittsburgh thru the night just to see his new niece.  He might've been a pretty big fan of this little one.    They instantly bonded in the recliner and she was uber happy to relax in her uncle's arms.  They spent the rest of the afternoon mostly making faces at each other and drinking Ben's homebrew selection.   Ty was in Pittsburgh for business and is a traveling man right now for his job.  We are SO excited that we got to see him (and that there was no Husker loss involved in this visit... the last visit still stings)!!  Sadly, the unc-man couldn't stay long- but Lilah will practice some more funny faces for the next visit.  

This lady is relaxed.  Good work, Uncle Ty!

Tyler embraced his uncle duties... all except for the diaper changing.  He firmly believes it's not an uncle's duty to change diapers.  I quote from Tyler, "My job description doesn't include diapers.  It includes making funny faces and cuddling on a slightly oversized stomach, but it stops there."  We'll work on it... :)

"Kickin' it with Lilah", Otto style.  Like father, like son.  They both think alike when snuggling a Lilah.  Of note, Rooney is terrified of this recliner.  But thank you, Tyler, Roo seems to be "ok" with it after your visit.  Did you leave peanut butter on the springs by chance?

No resemblence, at all.  Like father, like son :)

Grandpa Otto with Lilah

The REAL Newborn Pics!

My sad effort at newborn photography is lacking in every category.  (Megan, hurry out here!  We need a real photo shoot to go down at our house!)   But luckily you can pay people for that.  Here are the photos that Lilah didn't scream through.  I have to say... they turned out pretty darn cute!  I do hope the photographer is able to re-use the props seeing that Lilah graciously left pee and poop on all of them, also her carpet.  Lilah  thinks getting photos taken of her is utterly exhausting... my poor sweet little chica.  Tip for baby #2 (which is no where in the pipeline just in case you think that's a hint towards something)... we will get newborn photos at the hospital. Done.

This one is secretly my favorite :)

3 Weeks- Trouble with the 3 P's

Week 3 has been a bit more taxing on our psyche than the previous few weeks.  We felt in a teeny, tiny way that we were somewhat getting into a routine and figuring out this parenting a baby thing... but then came this week.
3 P's- Psychological breakdown, puking, and pooping!  And here they are...

1. Psychological Breakdown~-~ We had one night where everything just seemed to crash and burn.  I had been kicked out of my gym earlier that day for bringing a car seat in, apparently the gym day care had closed a few months earlier... :(  Ben came home late from work, sick with a sore throat and cold.  Lilah decided to demand attention with her tiny baby lungs for the next 3 hours.  I was in the middle of 5 loads of laundry (containing no less than TWELVE outfits of Lilah's from a busy 2 days of baby spit up), when our washer motor went out.  Our comforter was soaking wet in the middle of the spin cycle... yuck!  Our upstairs toilet broke earlier that day, my breast pump stopped working and to top it all off we both had big presentations for work we were scrambling to get ready to present in the next few days.  You'd think some alien spaceship was hovering over our house disabling all our appliances and laughing.  But no, this was just a night with a cherry on top for us!  Lilah nearly ended up spending the entire next day naked since we were out of clothes for her- but we scrounged up an outfit that was giant and baggy on her for a trip to Lowe's to buy a new washer!  I made sure to point out the oversized clothing the baby was wearing to the Lowe's guy helping us so that he knew speedy delivery of the washer was a top priority!

3 weeks!

Relaxing

2. Puking!  She was only projectile puking on us (when I say us- I mean me) about once a day.  I was eating my cereal one morning with her in my arms and right there in my cereal!  Needless to say, breakfast was over for everyone.  My personal favorite was projectile puke all over me from my face to my toes one night.  Ben brought me a single burp cloth and said, "That was awesome! It was a ton!"  Since then, he's figured out that if we're going to stay married he needs to bring more reinforcements for the clean up.  He's learned quickly and is now super-puke-cleaner-upper dad and dumps her right in her bath tub for a scrub before I even have myself cleaned up!  What a guy!

George and Lilah hanging out

Binkie is a big hit around here

3.  Pooping~-~  There are moments of sheer pride in the first weeks at this beautiful baby you've brought into the world.  There are also moments of shattering realizations that your world has been rocked when you have spit-up on all items of your outfit, you ate a cookie for breakfast, forgot to feed the dog, yet spend all your free time staring at a sleeping baby.  As teeny tiny babies grow... so do their diapers.  And we had a particular series of days where I was convinced that Lilah, had already outgrown her newborn diapers. Sniff, sniff... I hated that she was growing up so fast, but I really wanted these up the back blowouts to cease.  I put size 1 diapers on my grocery list for the week.  My pride (keep in mind I call myself a pediatrician and babysat for years prior) came crashing down that morning when Ben informed me that I was putting on diapers incorrectly.  Not possible.  He noted that the "baggy, saggy" part wasn't big enough when I put it on... huh?!  We had a diaper demonstration and I laughed at him the entire time telling him how wrong he was about this little matter.  Secretly, I put Lilah's diapers on his way just to prove to him she would still have blowouts... but not-a-one since.  I can't believe it.  The uber-dad was right.  Unbelievable.  Well, another reason I love my husband :)

This is for you, Trevor!  Aviator bear vs. Lilah

Tummy time is not so popular with this one

A little cuddle bear

Our little precious bundle is such a joy.  It's amazing what miracles babies are.  And Lilah truly is a miracle in our lives.  She has brought us such happiness in just a short amount of time.  We just stare at her most of the minutes of the day and kiss her head and cheeks no less than a hundred times.

Watch dog... although usually he's quite jealous...

She has been so lucky to have been born into such a loving circle of family and friends. They all have showered her with affection and love.  Lilah has had lots of special visitors from close by and will have many more to meet when she travels back to Nebraska soon.

Lilah's "Auntie" Jenna and "Uncle" Jake

Her "Auntie" Nam

Our neighbor Henry (my almost birthing partner!) meeting our little one

Hopefully, she hasn't scared any of friends off from having children soon... but her "poop face", as Ben has named it, is quite frightening!

It has been interesting being a pediatrician and thinking I kind of know what I'm doing and then actually having no clue when she came home from the hospital.  Like how impossible it is to actually count the number of wet/poopy diapers or times she fed in a day... or the impractical part of starting "tummy" time in the first few days of life... or how to actually give a vitamin to a newborn... or not taking a newborn anywhere in the first month (this girl is a good little errand runner!).   I know I should be using my maternity leave to study more, but the real life learning has been more than I could have ever imagined!

Already 2 weeks!

In her jammies... thanks to the grandmas for more pairs of jammies

Just sweet :)

I've been incredibly lucky that she was born in spring and have loved our walks in the Museum of Art gardens in Indianapolis (I will have to post pictures soon... they're stunning!)

1 week old with our Little Peaches

We are loving up every moment of being a family.  Things have not slowed down much since our families left and we are now feeling the full cumulative effect of sleep deprivation.  We thought residency was good preparation (which it is!) but there is still a sleep toll we didn't expect. Ben had to go back to work after 1 week, but he checked in with his girls everyday while at work.  Mostly, we spent the week talking to and cuddling with this adorable addition to our lives.  Laughing at many new adventures- most of them involving Lilah's bodily functions, but mostly just loving our new little family.

1 week old!

Sweet blanket from Craig and Audrey Dye

Beautiful quilt made by Great Grandma D!

Lilah bombed her newborn pictures.  A pretty penny down the drain in Ben's mind.  I can only think about the countless hours I put into making them "perfect"- crafting tutus, going to Michael's nearly every week to pick out flowers/bows/props, choosing blankets/baskets and other items to go into shots.  Lilah didn't realize she was expected to perform that day- instead she insisted on traumatizing the photographer and her parents.  The photographer didn't realize Lilah has a thing for being warm- not digging the naked phase yet.  So she spent 2 hours (yes- all 120 minutes) of the session crying and with a quivering lower lip until we would cover her back up in a blanket.  For the 2 poses that the photographer swaddled her- Lilah was a gem.  Well, a gem in that she slept.  But I suppose I should mention that she did poop and pee on both of the photographer's swaddles and gave a little pee pee to my hand made tutu also.  Guess she showed us!  I just hope the photographer didn't realize she got the carpet too... At the end of the session, the photographer looked thru her camera and announced she probably had about 3-5 good shots, she usually tries for about 12.  Yikes.  That's a wrap!

So, in all of my finer logic... I decided that I would do a full-scale newborn photo shoot on my own.  It only took all of the blankets in our house ( a few had to travel straight to the washer following the photo shoot), a bright window and a lot of Rooney's patience as we tried to pose Lilah.  There are a few good shots... but many many more are just hilarious and awkward.  Some ideas just don't go the way you think they will!  But for your enjoyment... here are some of both.

So sweet and cuddly!

Tutu attempt #2

And the awkwards ones...

"poop face"

"I spy" spit up!

Good idea gone wrong...

hot mess

where to start with this one...

National Baby Magazine offered to purchase this photo... but I thought I would hold out for a higher price