1 month

Lily May is 1 month old today which seems totally impossible. It's amazing to watch her literally grow before your eyes.

She is such a content baby. She is incredibly observant, looks much more like her daddy than me at this point, sleeps essentially through the night (9 or 10pm to 5 or 6am), has shown us her first smile, has begun to coo and respond when we talk to her, loves to be outside, loves to have her hands up by her face or behind her head, peaks at us with one eye when it's bright out or she's just waking up, loves to snuggle, and so much more.

I do think she will have my round face (sorry Lily) and my big eyes - although they are looking as if they will be blue like dad's instead of brown like mine. Her nose shape is still undetermined in terms of who it resembles but she definitely has Jimmy's mouth. She has grown out of her newborn clothes, for the most part and is now wearing primarily 0-3 months.

 

Her last doctor's appointment was her 2 week appointment and she weighed in at 9lbs 2oz, which is almost 2 lbs more than her birth weight! and she measured 20.75 inches long, which was the same as at the hospital but they told us they measure it different ways so most times that doesn't mean she hasn't grown it's just a different method of measuring. And I definitely think she's grown length wise as many of her pants and dresses are too short! We had a bit of a scare at her 2 week appointment as well. Our doctor heard a heart murmur and told us she'd like to have an echo done with a pediatric cardiologist just to be safe. Since we were planning on hitting the road to Iowa directly after her appointment she said she'd like us to go to the cardiologist immediately that same day. So, from the doctor's office we headed over to another office and had an echo done. The cardiologist found a 4-5mm hole in her heart, which all babies actually have it's just that most close by the time of their birth or shortly after, and hers had not. In short, it's nothing serious - more than likely it will close on its own. We will have to bring her back to a cardiologist when she's 6 months for another check up and hopeful it will have begun to close up by then. I was surprisingly calm throughout this whole ordeal as my close friend had just experienced the same thing with her daughter that was born a few months before Lily. So for now we will pray that she will continue to grow healthy and her little heart will close up on its own, as it should.

Lily is so much more than I ever expected or dreamed. How you can love someone so instantly is so unbelievable and something you just have to experience on your own to comprehend. My love for her was stronger than any love I've ever felt before from the moment they laid her on my belly in the hospital and it continues to grow every single day. It's crazy how much your life can change in a single moment and how quickly you can't imagine life without someone else. When I fell in love and married Jimmy it was a love I had never experienced before - to love someone with every bit of your heart and know that you'd give your very life for their safety is something incredible. And now with Lily I've experienced the same sort of feelings but in a different sense. That deep unconditional life was so instant and something I don't think you can experience until you are a parent. What a miracle and blessing a child is and what an amazing thing God lets us experience!

My favorite time with Lily is in the morning when its just her and I. I love to watch her sleep, then wake up slowly as she snuggles into my arms. She curls her feet up tight against me and I can feel her little breathe against my chest - so precious! Another favorite is when I look down at her and watch her as I'm feeding her and she looks up at me with her big eyes - that is one of the only times I see alot of myself in her.

Baby girl - your daddy and I love you more than you will ever know or understand until you have a child of your own! You have changed our lives in so many ways and we truly cannot imagine our life without you. This last month has been a whirlwind as we have so many other things going on in our life as well but we have paused so many times to simply look at you, thank God for the incredible gift He gave us with you, and love you to pieces. May you always always know how much we love you and how we pray for you every single day! Our hope is that you will be healthy, strong, kind, and love Jesus with all your heart! We love you baby girl!

attempting to sit her up:)

this is one of her large and in charge bows:)