YAWN! and other pictures of a sleepy, sleepy baby

Snuggling with Nana

If she didn't have hearts on her shirt, one would think this was a picture of Bo as a baby.

Once you have a baby, you learn to NEVER put socks on their feet because everyone wants to look at their tiny toes.

I'm noticing that all of the pictures that I have taken are of Molly sleeping. I'll work on getting more of her awake so you can see her beautiful eyes! :)

Blessing

Ever since Molly and I have been home from the hospital, Bo's blessing for our meals has been, "God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Thanks to Mommy and baby Molly. Amen." Last night, he even added a "and Daddy" to the end. So sweet!

On a more humorous note, we have been trying to sell our house and have recently had a few more showings in the last three weeks or so. Obviously Tyler and I have been trying to straighten up the house when we can and apparently Bo has taken notice of that. The other day he started picking up pillows off the floor and putting them on the couch saying, "We gotta sell this house!"

Look out Phelps...here comes Boykin

Bo just started going to swim lessons this week. He cried almost the entire time on the first day, but the second lesson went a lot better. Of all the things that he is learning, the main thing that he does not like to do is float/swim on his back. His teachers are helping him to learn how to "stream line" in the water so that he does not grab on to their neck/shoulders so much in the water. Bo is getting better about being more willing to "straight line" (which is what Bo calls it).

2 Weeks Old/New

Little miss Molly is growing right along. She was up to 7 pounds at her checkup on Wednesday which means that we are able to start letting her sleep up to 4 1/2 hours at night before waking her up to eat. She still doesn't fit into 0-3 months clothes but she will before too long because she likes to eat! She does a lot of sleeping, eating and snuggling at this point, but she is starting to stay awake a little longer at times during the day which has been fun too because we get to see a little of her personality developing. She definitely has preferences for some toys and books, particularly those with the colors red, black and white.
This video shows one of my favorite things that she does several times during the day. After about 15 seconds of the video, you'll see how she smiles as she's drifting off to sleep. I can't wait until she starts smiling when she sees us!

I took a few pictures of her while she was awake so you could see how expressive she can be.

A Tale of Two Children

It was the best of times (with Molly),...it was the worst of times (with Bo). Molly has been a super easy baby so far. If we didn't have to wake her up every three hours to eat, she would probably sleep for five or six hour stretches of time. When she is awake, she is alert and happy. You can tell that she is taking everything in, and she has such a calm and content personality. She went to her first visit at the doctor the day after we left the hospital, and she had already gained back an ounce bringing her back up to 6 pounds and 5 ounces. Because we are feeding her every two to three hours, we have a feeling she'll be back to her initial birth weight in no time.
Bo has been amazing around Molly. He adores her, and he has learned how to give her gentle hugs and kisses. Sometimes he'll even say "Gotcha!" after he leans in to give her a kiss. Every morning he wakes up ready to hold his baby sister, and he acts as if she has always been a part of the family. That being said, this week has still been a challenge for him. He has definitely been more emotional at school and at home. We haven't seen any regression in his behavior (he hasn't been acting like a baby), but little changes in his routine are affecting him more. Even things that he is excited about have caused him to get upset. He also fell at school this week and cut the side of his head. Fortunately, he did not need stitches from it though. All things considered, we really think he's doing as well as he can to deal with all of the changes that he has gone through this week. We're having to be much more patient with him and remind ourselves that the transition from being an only child to having a new sibling is something that he is going to need some time to get used to.
I go to the doctor on Monday to be sure that I'm healing from my surgery. Tyler and my mom have done so much to be sure that I am resting, and they have taken over basically every part of the housework so that I am not on my feet too much. Tyler is taking off another week of school to be home with Molly and me, and my mom will return to stay with us during the week when Tyler goes back to work. Hopefully, things will continue to go well and I'll have no complications from the surgery this time. I'm definitely counting my blessings this Mother's Day!

These are some pictures and videos from her first week:

Home at last!

Some of the visitors from this week:

(This is Bo and Molly's babysitter Kayley)
Pictures and a video with her big brother:

Snuggling with daddy:

A couple photo shoots from the week:

Molly's many expressions:

Day 2 with Molly

Molly enjoyed seeing all of her visitors today, and she did really well today with her feedings and naps. We were so excited that we were able to get some pictures taken of Molly by a photography company that is contracted by the hospital to take pictures of brand new babies. We ended up with some amazing pictures of our sweet little girl. You can see the pictures by going to www.bellababyphotography.com/login. Use the password 0430molly to see the pictures which will be available to view on the website for the next 2 weeks.
Although these don't even slightly compare to how good the professional pictures are, we did manage to get a few pictures of Molly with our camera today too.
We're looking forward to going home tomorrow. Bo is so excited that Molly and I will finally be home from the hospital. However, he has enjoyed getting his big brother presents at the hospital each day from Molly and all of our thoughtful visitors.

"May"be not...

Yesterday, little Molly decided that emerald was not her preferred choice for her birthstone---our little girl wanted the DIAMONDS of April.
I had been having contractions off and on for a few weeks, but when they became very regular in the afternoon on Saturday, we started to wonder whether or not we would make it to our May 4th due date. At 9:30pm we were at the hospital being admitted for observation with my contractions coming every 3-4 minutes. My doctor decided that it would be best to go ahead and deliver Molly early, so with only 9 minutes to spare in the month, Molly Elizabeth made her way into the world weighing in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 19 1/2 inches. Although she came a week earlier than her official due date, she measured the same length as her big brother and outweighed him by a whole ounce.
So far, Molly is a great little sleeper and eater. She has seen so many visitors already and has won their hearts. We may be a little biased, but we think she is perfect and her big brother thinks so too. We look forward to bringing her home on Tuesday afternoon.