6 month check up

Lucy had her 6 month check up yesterday. She weighed in at 15 lbs, 1 oz. and 26 inches long. She is growing right along her curve - still a little smaller than average, but just perfect for her! The circumference of her head has actually grown a little larger than expected . . . probably thanks to her band! :) Dr. Bernstein seemed very pleased with the growth she has made with her band and didn't think she would need it for much longer! Everything else looked great and she is right where a 6 month old should be.

Lucy also got four shots and an oral vaccination. She did so well, and hardly cried. She slept for a few hours when we got home, then went to bed about 9:30 and has slept soundly since then. (It's 8:00 AM and she's still snoozing!) Hopefully, when she wakes up, she'll be feeling good.

Lucy also has been sitting up by herself this week. She can sit on her own for a few minutes, unless she is reaching for something!! The first time she sat there on her own, I just teared up . . . .she is growing so quickly! This past 1/2 a year has flown by and she has come so far from that tiny little baby we brought home. That tiny baby has now become a little girl full of joy, laughter, and personality. Next thing I know, she'll be all grown up!

Gingerbread Houses

Gramma, Pappy, Aunt Lauren and Uncle Joe got here on Monday to celebrate Christmas! We had a great dinner on Monday night followed by lots of wonderful presents. Lucy wasn't sure what to think with all the excitement, so she just went to sleep! :) Oh well - next year I imagine that Lucy will join her Uncle Joe in prowling around the tree, trying to guess which ones are for her!

Today we took a Flack/Hout family trip to the Grove Park Inn to see the Gingerbread houses. We had wanted to take Lucy earlier, but it was nice to get to go with everyone. Here are a few of our favorites . . .




Make sure to look in the 6 month folder for more pictures from our holiday fun!

Christmas time

We wanted to get a picture of Lucy in front of the Christmas tree. . . This was the first or second one we took . . . it went downhill from there. :) You can see all of our tries in the Lucy - 6 month folder. Oh well, we'll try again another day!

It's snowing!!!

It has been snowing here in Mills River since around 8 AM this morning. The snow is falling very steadily now and is supposed to continue throughout the evening. We had to go outside and get Lucy's picture in her first snow. . . . who knows when it will snow like this again??

Wearing a "Crown"

Last Thursday, we went to Charlotte where Lucy received her DOC band. ( Or "Crown" as many other DOC parents like to call it!) We had postponed getting it a while ago, but after realizing that it wasn't going to get better on its own, we decided to go for it. Lucy will wear this band 23 hours a day, hopefully for no more than 8 weeks. It's purpose is to correct her plagiocephaly - a big fancy word for "flat spots." Because she was born a month early, her head was still very soft and she spent most of her first month sleeping. Those factors along with her stubborn need to sleep on the right side of her head have caused a flat spot to form. This flatness causes the rest of the bones on the right side to shift forward. Many people say that it isn't obvious to them, but if you were to study her head, you would notice. Our biggest concern was that she might have jaw alignment issues down the road. This condition is easily fixed at her young age - after she reaches a year old, it becomes almost impossible.

We will drive to and from Charlotte once a week to see our friends at Cranial Tech to adjust the band as needed. At this age, her head grows rapidly so with the band applying pressure to certain points and allowing other areas room to grow, the plagiocephaly should quickly correct itself. Lucy doesn't seem bothered by wearing it at all. She has done very well with it so far and she loves Miss Shalon, her therapist! :) Hopefully we will have time in the next week or so to decorate her band so it looks more exciting then just white plastic!

Baptism

In the craziness that is the Christmas season, I forgot to mention Lucy's baptism on November 29th. It was a wonderful day with lots of family. Lucy's Great Granddaddy, Great Aunt Cheryl, Great Uncle Phillip and Great Aunt Bindy, Mamaw, Grammy, Poppa, and Uncle David were there from my side of the family and then Mimi, Asa, Mama Mae, Great Great Uncle Jerry and Great Great Aunt Linda, Great Aunt Tanya, Cousin David, Gramma, Pappy, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Lauren were there from Michael's side of the family. Erin and Melissa drove up for the day also. Michael preached that day so it was nice that so many family members got to hear him. Lucy behaved very well during the whole thing. She was a little fussy in the beginning because she wasn't a fan of having her legs tangled up in a long dress, but once Paul took her she was fine. After church and lots of pictures, we all had a nice lunch at Frankie Bones - it was a wonderful day!

Lucy's dress (Which is difficult to see in the picture above because she's blocking it!) was made by Joyce Gorgas, a member of Mills River UMC. This was her gift to us and to Lucy and we are so amazed at her talent. We met with her about a month before to discuss the dress - we wanted to keep it simple, but there is a beautifully embroidered cross on the front of the dress with the vine and branches wrapped around it. The slip underneath the dress was embroidered with Lucy's name, date of baptism, the church, parents' names, and grandparents' names. What a special gift that we will treasure always and hopefully, will one day be able to use again with the next one!

The sacrament of baptism is something beautiful. It was a great reminder to me that while this is my little girl, ultimately she belongs to her Heavenly Father. In the Methodist church, we believe that baptism, as a means of grace, signifies God’s initiative in the process of salvation. John Wesley preached “prevenient grace,” the grace that works in our lives before we are aware of it, bringing us to faith. By having Lucy baptized, we gratefully acknowledge God's gift of her to us. We recognize that He is present in her life, even now - He knows what each day holds for her and will help us to meet her needs; we are called as her parents to nurture her in this love, helping her to grow until she can one day confirm this truth for herself. Baptism reminds us to look forward to how God will use this precious little girl to change lives for His kingdom. A great responsibility has been given to me and Michael to "raise up a child in the way she should go" - what an awesome task that I am only worthy of because of the grace He has given to me.

You can see more pictures from Lucy's special day in the 5 month folder. I will have more once I get pictures from Pappy and Uncle Phillip.

Christmas Pictures!

I love Christmas time - the lights, the decorations, the music, the time with family and friends, and the celebration of Christ's birth. I remember thinking last year how fun it was going to be to get to share these things with Lucy this year. Well, it's only December 1st, but so far, Christmas as a parent has been so much fun!

Yesterday we took Lucy to the mall to meet Santa Claus. She didn't cry at all and is even laughing in her picture. She also didn't seem to pay any attention to him. I sat her down on his lap and she looked at him and then back at me like, "What's the big deal about this guy?" Oh well, she will learn soon enough.

It was also about time for 6 month pictures of Lucy, so we decided to get a family Christmas photo as well as some pictures of just her. If you look in the Christmas portraits album, you'll see that they were all so good! Lucy LOVED the photographer and she smiled and flirted and talked to him the whole time we were there. It was so hard to choose which photos to order, and I will probably end up ordering more . . . .

We have started to decorate the house for Christmas, and hopefully will get our tree today or tomorrow. Uncle David walked Lucy around the house on Sunday evening, showing her the different decorations. Her face lights up with each thing she sees and you can tell she is thinking to herself, "How can I get a hold of that?" I guess next year, we will have to be a little more careful about how we decorate. I can't wait to see what she thinks of the tree! :)

If Michael feels up to it (He has a sinus infection), we are going to the Grove Park Inn tonight to see the Gingerbread houses. Check back for pictures from there!

Giggles!

This is the best sound in the world!!

Talking up a storm!

Lucy love to talk . . .loudly! Now that she has found her voice, it is rarely ever quiet in our house!

New Computer

Yay! We got our new computer yesterday so now you can finally see all of Lucy's pictures! They are in the four month folder - photos from Halloween, of eating our first cereal, and playing around the house. Hope you enjoy!!

We were in High Point this weekend for the youth choir retreat. Lucy got to spend time with her grandparents while her Mom and Dad were busy with other crazy kids! It went well and we got a lot accomplished. We're off to Atlanta this weekend for Michael's Youth Specialties conference, so Lucy will get to experience another weekend on the road! And then comes Thanksgiving . . . .we'll be looking forward to a quiet weekend at home after all this travel!

Cereal Eater

We started eating Rice cereal this week!! Lucy has been sitting so well in her high chair and seemed very interested whenever we were eating . . .. so we decided to try it. The first attempt was, well, a mess. I don't know if Lucy actually swallowed any cereal! She was definitely enjoying herself - she kept smiling and laughing, as the cereal spilled out of her mouth. I was going to wait a few days before trying again (since she didn't seem to be able to swallow any of it!) , but as I sat and ate some Jello the next day, she protested so loudly that she wouldn't be satisfied until I fed her something. She did much better the second time, and even better the next day so we seem to be figuring it out. :)

I can't believe that she will be five months old next week. It's so hard to believe as I look at this 13 + lb. little girl that she used to be my tiny little 5 lb baby. She is such a happy little girl and loves to laugh and talk and play. . . but if she is no longer happy, she will let you know! This little girl has quite a set of lungs!! She can show so many emotions now. When we play, she's happy and silly. She makes it very clear when she is tired but she likes to fight sleep because she doesn't want to miss anything. Her sad face just breaks my heart with her big crocodile tears. And when I leave her in the nursery at church, she is MAD . . . . which is a whole different cry. I feel so bad when I have to leave her there, but she will have to learn to love the nursery because as a preacher's kid, she's going to spend a lot of time there on Wednesdays and Sundays!

These months at home with her have just been Heaven on earth - can it really already be the middle of November? How in the world will I walk out the door on January 4th without her?

Computer Issues

Sorry there have been no Halloween pictures posted yet. My computer is slowly dying and we are in the process of backing up all the pictures/music/papers that are currently on the computer. So, all our new pictures . . . .well, they are still sitting on the camera!

We met Uncle David the other week in Brevard to get a pumpkin for Lucy. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a lot of fun. It rained on the actual day of Halloween so our Trick or Trunk was indoors at church. Lucy was a monkey for Halloween and Baxter was a banana. They looked so cute but we didn't stay long because it was way too crowded! We had fun at home though, taking pictures. (Which you will hopefully see soon!)

Lucy rolled from her stomach to her back last night while we were playing for the first time! I was very surprised and she was too! We have been playing and I have been "helping" her roll back and forth. Then last night while she was playing on her stomach, she just sort of fell to her side, and kicked her feet until she got to her back and then looked at me like, "What am I doing here?" After cheering, I put her back on her stomach to see if she would do it again. She looked at me and then got her head going one way with her legs going the other. She got frustrated because she couldn't figure out how to do it again! :) Today when I put her on her stomach, she tried again, but then her stomach started bothering her, so we had to stop playing. She'll get it again though. If you've ever watched this little girl move around, you know that she will be going as soon as she can figure out how to get there! :)

We are getting ready to have a busy month! This weekend we are going to Statesville for Kate's wedding. We're looking forward to a good time and for Lucy to be able to meet some family members who haven't gotten to see her yet. Then next weekend we'll be in High Point for youth choir retreat. Lucy will get to spend lots of time with grandparents while Mommy and Daddy are busy with those crazy youth! Then the following weekend . .. .Lucy's first trip to Atlanta! Michael has a youth specialties conference so we are going along to have some fun. We are planning to take Lucy to the aquarium and maybe some other fun things too! Yes, we are going to be busy and the fun doesn't stop there! After that, we have so many things coming up: Thanksgiving, Lucy's baptism, all the church holiday activities and Lucy's first Christmas season. So much to do in the next eight weeks!!

Four Months Old!

Lucy had her four month check up last Friday. She weighed 12 lbs, 11 oz. and is 24 1/2 inches long! Dr. Bernstein said she looks great and that she'll be ready to start solid foods in the next month or so. We went back to Cranial Tech last Monday and they felt like she has made great progress. They recommended getting the DOC band, but after looking at her pictures, we feel that it might be best to just wait a while. Our main concern was Lucy's jaw alignment, but that has corrected itself and her eye symmetry is better as well. There is still a small flat spot on the right back side of her head, but once she grows hair, I don't think you'll notice! If she gets to be 6 months old and it looks like it's getting worse, we'll look into it.

We've been having lots of fun. Lucy sits up well now with a little support and she loves to put toys and her hands in her mouth. She's doing better with her tummy time and starting to figure out that she can use her arms to help her! She's working on rolling over and gets to her side but then stops. When we play together, she likes you to help her roll back and forth, but she's not ready to give herself that extra push. Instead of rolling to reach a toy she wants, she uses her legs to scoot herself around on her back until she gets it.

Make sure to look at the new pictures in her 3 month album and a few new ones in the 4 month album. It seems like we hardly take pictures anymore but I guess that's because we're too busy playing to stop! :) If it stops raining soon, we're going to take a trip to the library and as soon as we have a nice day we'll go get Lucy's 1st pumpkin. Check back soon for new pictures!

Little Ham

If you are ever looking for some entertainment, come and spend some time with Miss Lucy! She has been "talking" up a storm, laughing, making faces, wiggling her eyebrows, and so much more. We have the best time playing together (except for when she decides she wants to play at 4:45 in the morning!)

We have had a good week just hanging out at home. On Monday, we went to HES and BDS to visit with everyone since it was a workday. Wednesday afternoon and evening was spent at church, but Lucy enjoyed staying in the nursery with Mrs. Sue. She watched the other boys and girls play, talked to everyone, and smiled at everyone that came by. She knows how to charm everyone she meets! :) Grammy and Poppa will be up here on Saturday to visit Uncle David but I think they're excited to see Lucy too! :)

Make sure to look at her three month pictures. Unfortunately there aren't many, but most of the time while we're playing, we are having such a good time that I forget to pick up the camera!

Pictures!

We went and had pictures made for fall. Since Lucy is 3 months old now, I thought we might be able to get pictures with her eyes open!(Wow - 3 months old! I can't believe it!) We got a couple of cute ones, but the photographer wasn't the best. She just wanted to point the camera and take pictures, so it was left up to me to try and get her to smile. Last time when we went, the photographer we had worked really hard to get Lucy's attention . . .even though she was sound asleep! Oh well, in the album to the right are the good ones from the session. Hope you enjoy!

Getting so big!

Where has all the time gone? It seems like we have been so busy! We had a great time at the beach. Lots of lazy down time with no ringing phones and no where to be . . . it was wonderful! Lucy had her first experience with the ocean and the pool. She didn't seem so impressed, but whenever you ask her if she had fun at the beach, she grins widely! I guess Daddy will just have to get used to the sand and the sun - we might have a beach babe on our hands!

On Monday we took Lucy back to Charlotte. A month ago we had taken her to see a specialist at CranialTech. It seems that Lucy has plagiocephaly, which is just a big fancy word meaning she has a flat spot on her head. Since she was born early, she slept so much for the first month of her life and her skull bones were still soft. This flat spot causes her head to have an abnormal shape as well as asymmetrical features. If the issue were to progress too far, it can cause issues later in life. At CranialTech, they gave us some ideas for head repositioning and some neck exercises to use. Now a month has gone by and these interventions seem to be helping. Her head shape is improving and while there is still growth to be made, we are hopeful that this will make a difference. They still may recommend a DOC Band for her head when we go back next month, but even if they do, she shouldn't have to wear it for long because of the progress she's made. We were really pleased to hear this news and hope improvements will continue to be made.

Lucy is growing leaps and bounds all the time. We have such fun playing together, and she is a happy, smiling little girl. She laughs a little now and we can tell that she is so close to a big belly laugh! She loves staring at faces and even talks a little bit to you when you look at her. We have fun little "conversations". The only time she is ever upset is when her stomach is bothering her. . . I guess she inherits that from her Mommy!
Make sure to look in the two month pictures album to see photos from the beach!

Ready for the beach!

We are leaving tomorrow to head to Litchfield beach for a week. We are so looking forward to some time away from Mills River! Life has been so busy lately and it will be nice to just relax and spend some time together. Grammy and Poppa will be down there for a few days, and Mommy is looking forward to some shopping with Grammy! :) Hopefully we'll also get to see Cy and Carissa while we're there. Make sure to check back next week to read all about our fun time and see our pictures!

If this doesn't make you smile . . .

Isn't she cute?? And I get to spend all day looking at this face! :)

How will I ever be able to say no to this face??

Another busy week!

There is no slowing down at the Flack house! Last week we took Lucy home to High Point to spend time with her grandparents and aunt and uncles. We had a great time and Lucy enjoyed all the attention! :) Then on the way home, we stopped at River Landing to meet Mrs. Judy and then in Statesville to meet her Great-Granddaddy and Great-Grandmommy. Lucy is an excellent traveler . . .now we are just trying to get back into our routine at home - whatever that might be!
Lucy got to experience a busy Sunday at church. The choir sang at both services so Lucy stayed in the nursery with Mrs. Sue during the 8:15. Taylor played with Lucy until Mommy was finished playing the piano at the 11:00 service and then we went and sat in the nursery with our friends, Kamden and Merret. After that was a luncheon for school personnel, so our day wasn't done yet! Lucy did such a good job all morning but was too tired to go back for youth group that night. We'll have to work our way up to that!
Make sure to look at our new pictures in her one month album and her two month album! Lucy is changing every day! :)

A busy little girl!

We have been so busy the past few weeks here at the Flack house. Grammy and Poppa were here last weekend to take care of Lucy so that Mommy and Daddy could focus on youth Sunday at church. Then on Monday, Lucy had her two month doctor's visit and first shots. She did so well at the doctor's office but we had a difficult afternoon and evening. She wanted to be held the whole day but would scream with even the slightest movement. Needless to say, Monday was a LONG day!!
We took it easy on Tuesday but on Wednesday we went to staff meeting at church, followed by lunch with Uncle David. After that we went to HES for a baby shower. It was nice to get to see everyone and even after a busy morning, Lucy was still in a good mood. Then it was home for a quick dinner followed by choir practice.

Thursday was an easy day filled with lots of play time. Lucy is working on holding her head up more but she quickly gets frustrated with herself and starts to cry. She will try and try . . .and then get upset that she can't do something. . . hmm, wonder where she gets that from? We also did a lot of dancing. She really seems to enjoy moving and dancing to classical music. She has a CD of Mozart selections that she likes right now. If we start the CD during her diaper change, she wiggles and smiles instead of crying! :)
This weekend we traveled to Lake Lure with the MRUMC youth council. She did a great job of traveling, even when things took a little longer than expected. So far she is proving to be a pretty "go with the flow" baby; it's almost like she knows how busy things stay at the Flack house!! We are going to High Point next week to visit grandparents and then stopping in Statesville to see great-grandparents.
Oh, and the best news of all - we have been sleeping through the night this week! On Wednesday, she ate at 12:30 and slept 'til 7:45! She slept for another 7 hours on Thursday night and then for 6 last night. Here's hoping that this is going to be our new normal . . . it has been so nice to have these long periods of sleep at night!! :)

We went and had one month portraits taken last week. Isn't she beautiful?? The dress Lucy is wearing in this picture is the one that I wore in my one month picture. :) You can see some of the other pictures in the link on the side.
I'm glad we went and had these pictures taken, but it took forever. Our appointment time was 12:20 and we finally left JC Penney's around 2:30. Lucy was wide awake until they were finally ready to take her picture so that was a litte sad. The photographers were very apologetic though for running behind and were very helpful and did a great job. Lucy was so well behaved the whole time which was very impressive. Next time we get pictures though, we will make sure to go during a school day so hopefully they won't be so busy!

Look what we can do!

Every day Lucy is doing something new. This evening while we were playing she reached out and grabbed one of her toys!! This video is taken towards the end of the playing session, but she spent about 5 minutes batting and grabbing at the rattle. :) It is so amazing to watch Lucy have these new experiences and watch her brain work as she learns new things.

What happened to afternoon naps?

For the past two afternoons, Lucy has wanted to be fussy. Maybe it's her tummy, maybe she just wants to be held, but if you leave her in her crib, she just cries until you come and get her! On Sunday afternoon, when she just couldn't be consoled, I sat her in her swing and turned it on. Previous experiences with the swing have ended in tears because it moved so quickly. However, now that she has packed on a few pounds (She was 7 lbs, 10 oz at the doctor's on Friday!), it moves slower and she really seems to enjoy it.


She likes the movement and it relaxes her so that she can rest . . .and so that Mom and Dad can have a few minutes to fix dinner, or do laundry . . . you know, all those things that get in the way of playing with Lucy!Hopefully, this won't be an every afternoon experience. . . but it's nice to know there is something that will soothe her. :)

Other than our fussy moments, she is doing so well. Everything looked good at the doctor's office. She is much more alert these days and we have had lots of play time. (Although play time is not always during the day!) She is sleeping four and five hour stretches at night and so Mom and Dad are able to get a little rest.

Hopefully this week, we will be able to take her to get one month old pictures. We went to Olan Mills last Thursday, but have nothing to show for it. It is a long story, but I will just tell you that we will not be going there again! It was not a good experience!! Maybe we'll try Walmart . . . .any one know any other options in the Hendersonville/Asheville area?

One month already

Time is flying by. It has already been five weeks since Lucy arrived - can you believe it? She is growing and changing everyday and it so amazing! We have been busy with lots of visitors. In the past two weeks, we've had a week with Gramma and Pappy and gotten to meet Mama Mae, Papa Louis, Kaelyn, Luke, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Linda and Lindy, Sarah and Matt Lawing, Kevin, Karen, and Kamden Robinson, and Uncle Joe and Aunt Lauren. Everyone loves Lucy, but then again, how could you not?
Here are two pictures of Lucy in the same pajamas. The first one is from her first week home and the second one is from this past week. See if you can tell how much she's changed!

Lucy at one week old

Lucy at 4 weeks old

And this one is just funny! :)

Story Time!

One of our favorite activities with Lucy is storytime. Whether it is reading an old favorite like Dr. Seuss' ABC's (Thanks, Grammy!!) or new books like our VeggieTales "Peas and Thank You", we love to read! Lucy especially loves to listen to her Daddy read books. Every night, we read a book to her and she watches and listens with great intensity!


We have had a very busy week! On Monday, we went to both Hendersonville Elementary and Bruce Drysdale so that everyone could meet Lucy. On Tuesday, we went to visit the WNC Breastfeeding Center to make sure that things were going ok. Lucy is doing much better, but still has a ways to go. Of course, technically, she shouldn't quite be here yet! (Even though we're so happy that she is!) Everything looked good and Lucy has worked her way up to 5 lbs, 13 oz. They seem to think that when she reaches her 40 - 41 week gestational age, she will be doing great! Then on Wednesday, we had a visit from Mimi, Asa, and Aunt Tanya. It was so good to see them, but Lucy slept through almost the entire visit! Of course, today, she has been wide awake and playing for most of the day! Today she followed Mommy's finger with her eyes and then her frog rattle! Tomorrow Uncle Latimer and Uncle David will be here, and then Gramma and Pappy will be here for a week starting on Saturday. Needless to say, Lucy has had no shortage of attention!! :)

We had our first Big Girl bath tonight! While Lucy hasn't been a fan of the sponge bath, she loved laying in the tub!!! She kicked her feet and splashed a bit and then just layed there, looking very content.
Lucy also went to her first party tonight. Mac and Kelly had a 4th of July pool party so we went by to let everyone meet Lucy. Needless to say, she was the hit of the party! :) Everyone thought she was so pretty, which her Mommy and Daddy already knew! We didn't stay at the party long though . . . it was hot outside, even in the shade!
We also went for a walk through the neighborhood in her stroller. She seemed to enjoy it but we didn't walk for long because of all the mosquitoes. Any ideas of how to keep mosquitoes away without using bug spray??
Make sure to look at all the new pictures of Lucy so you can see her cute fourth of July outfit!!

We went back to the doctor's office for a weight check today. Last Friday, Lucy was 5 lbs, 1 oz. and they were a little concerned that she hadn't put on more weight. Well, today Miss Lucy tipped the scales at 5 lbs, 8 oz! Even though she hasn't quite figured out the nursing thing, she is definitely getting enough to eat from the bottle! Everything else about her is healthy and looks like she's doing really well - the doctor (and mommy) was very pleased!!!
After her appointment, we made her first quick visit to the mall. She slept through everything and I didn't find what I was looking for, but it was a nice visit to the outside world. Uncle David and Great-Aunt Nae are coming tomorrow so we're looking forward to getting to see them!

Here we are having Tummy time!! :)

Who would have thought?

In all my thoughts about how having a baby would change things, I didn't imagine that I would have a baby that likes to sleep too much!! One of the challenges of bringing Miss Lucy home has been having to wake her so that she will eat! There are times where she would probably sleep for six or seven hours if we let her! She's getting better at eating and sleeping though and we are beginning to develop some kind of pattern. Her eating is also much better than it was last week. She had only gotten back to 5 lbs, 1 oz at the doctor on Friday. . . hopefully on Wednesday, she will show a lot of improvement.
She's such a funny little girl. She loves to make faces and play on her tummy. She is a happy baby and doesn't cry too often. When she does cry, she'll often fade away in the middle and settle down as if to say "Oh, it's not worth it!"
Michael is gone this week with our senior high kids to Frakes, KY for a mission trip. Hopefully he will be able to make it all week without Lucy . . . but he took his car just in case! :)

For those who I haven't talked to . . .

I realized that there are some of you that I haven't had a chance to talk with since we got home with Lucy so I thought I'd give you a brief rundown of how Lucy came to be with us! Thursday morning, June 18th at 1:30 am, my water broke. Lucy Elaine graced us with her presence at 2:25 PM. She was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed 5 lbs, 6 oz. For arriving a month before her due date, everything about her seemed to be healthy . .. just on the small side. Because she is a preemie, she had trouble in the beginning with eating so she lost a good bit of weight. Her billiruben levels (I don't think that's spelled right, but oh well!)were on the high side so we spent two extra days at the hospital so that Lucy could be under the "blue light" to prevent her from becoming too jaundiced. We also worked really hard to help her eat. When we left the hospital on Monday, she was back up to 4 lbs, 13 oz. It has been so good to be at home - Lucy has done so much better without nurses bothering her every hour or so and without having to have blood drawn every 12 hours!! Her weight was back up to 5 lbs at the doctor yesterday and she has finally seemed to figure out this nursing thing. She has been a sleepy baby, due to being born early, and that has made feedings difficult because we have to wake her up every two to three hours . . . and that is not easy to do!
So that's the quick version of how Lucy got here . . . .we can hardly believe it's almost been a week. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy little girl. We can already tell that she is a stubborn, determined little girl and are looking forward to all the adventures that are ahead of us!

I gave in and created a blog

We wanted to have a way for friends and family to see our pictures of Lucy, so here we are creating a blog! We hope that you enjoy looking at the pictures of our precious little girl!!
It is day 2 of being home from the hospital. Lucy is doing great - she is gaining back the weight she lost after birth and having more and more time of being awake and alert. Being at home has been so good for all of us and we are enjoying our time together as a family.