Wow — 3 weeks and 2 days already! Incredible how time went by so slowly when I was waiting for her to arrive and now it seems to be flying by…. it could be the lack of sleep and round the clock schedule though that makes it move quicker 
Things are going really smoothly now… we’re getting closer to a schedule (not that I’m stickler for a schedule, but a having a loose routine is welcome at this point!). She’s FINALLY got her days and nights figured out so we aren’t up all night long – each night it gets a little bit easier – Gary and I are good teammates at night and have a good schedule down which allows both of us to get a longer stretch of sleep. FYI – I’m still getting out of bed 15 times after I put her in her bassinet to check on her… I’ll blame this on being a first time mom. She’s a very calm baby and only really fusses when she’s hungry or has a tummy ache so that it makes it pretty easy for me to calm her down. Speaking of calming her down — it melts my heart when she’s crying and I can take her, comfort her and get her to stop crying by just talking to her and holding her close (sometimes a little bit of Mylicon helps too)…. regardless, it absolutely amazes me and makes me feel so needed. Waking her up is interesting — she really likes to sleep (like her Momma) and so her routine to wake up usually involve yawns, stretching where she reaches her arms way above her head and stretches her long legs out as if she’s trying to grow another inch and then makes a few grunts before falling back to sleep…. I must say it is absolutely adorable.
Another thing I love are the facial expressions she makes when she’s pooping — she goes through a range of expressions — smiling, fishy lips, kissy face, wide-eyes, raised eyebrows, furroughed eyebrows, and finally…. relief. It’s really cute (and stinky sometimes). Her involuntary smiles right now sometimes come at the funniest moments… like the other night when I was changing her and talking to her about how she loaded up that diaper and she just looked at me and grinned. I also love the way she stares at me when I’m talking to her…. like she’s memorizing my face…. she starts with my hair, then locks eyes with me, and then looks at my nose and my smile… I’m embracing every single second and trying to remember all the small moments in our long days. Lastly, I love the way her itty bitty fingers wrap all the way around my thumb and she tightens her grip as if she’s saying “Dont’ let go”… I promise I won’t let go baby girl. I’ll treasure all of these moments forever.
This past week, Gary had to go run some errands and so Lillian and I went along for the ride (I’m getting a little bit of cabin fever being cooped up all day long). We got her fed, bag packed, cute outfit on (even though we weren’t really going anywhere public), and got her put in the car seat. We got 5 miles down the road and she spit up… lots…. I think it was just too much movement after she ate. Luckily I had packed extra outfits and as soon as we had her changed she felt much better and we were back on track. With each outing I gain a little bit more confidence 
So far her favorite things to do are:
1) Sleep
2) Eat
3) Be held by Mommy or Daddy (or anyone for that matter — she LOVES being held)
4) Poop
5) Stare at the window, lamp or ceiling fan
Next week she will be a month old! Everyday is a new journey… I’ll leave you with 3 inspirational quotes and some recent pictures:
A new baby is like the beginning of all things, hope, a dream of possibilities. ~ Anonymous
Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~ Elizabeth Stone
When that kid looks into your eyes and you know it’s yours, you know what it means to be alive. ~ Anonymous
