Not Just for Babies

It seems that the Boppy pillow is not the only baby item that our cats love...
Lucky (as well as Ludo) have taken a liking to Amelia's "donut". It is an oval pillow, open in the middle (hence, "donut"), with a fleece cover on it that my mom got for us at a craft fair. We have found both Ludo and Lucky in it severl times. In an effort to deter them from using it we stand it upright when she is not in it. Lucky did not seem to have a problem with that, as you can plainly see in this picture:


Ludo has taken a liking to her bouncer:


In other news, I had my second day back at work this afternoon. I was late! I had some car issues. GM has a theft-deterrent system called Passlock and it works strangely sometimes. In both my Ion and my previous car, an Alero, I have been deemed a "thief" and unable to start my car. It always seems to happen at the worst times too! I am thinking seriously about finding a way to disable the Passlock system since it seems to cause me more trouble than necessary. I have googled the problem and it seems I am not alone. Others have disabled the system, that is where I got the idea! We will see what happens.

Jason has been enjoying his time at home with Amelia it seems. They have a good time hanging out. Friday he was the one to get her dressed and he chose a onesie that he made for her (he has a matching black t-shirt):

OOPS!

During the afternoon when Amelia naps, I rarely zip her crib tent up. I don't do it because I am in and out of there checking on her often and I keep an eye on her door to make sure one of the cats hasn't nudged his way in...today I did not keep a very close eye on her door and this is what I found...



LUCKY! I am so thankful that this didnt end badly...Lucky really does love his baby which means I will have to keep a closer eye on him sometimes (or zip her tent for each and every nap!).

Pictures from Grandma Fronczek's Camera (finally)!

Since my parents decided to visit suddenly, I remembered to put some pictures from my mom's camera on my computer!


"Three Men and a Baby" (visiting Great-Grandpa Fronczek in the hospital)



Hanging out with Grandpa after his nap :)


All decked out in some Classic Pooh this afternoon to run errands with Mom and her Grandma and Grandpa Fronczek!

A Busy Week!

I don't know where this week went! I cannot believe that it is already Saturday and almost April. We had Amelia's one month appointment on Thursday and got some not so great news...she had lost a few ounces instead of gaining a couple pounds! So, today we had to go in and meet with a lactation specialist at the hospital to see what is going on. We have good technique during our feedings so what is the problem? It seems that she is not getting enough of the "hind" milk (similar to whole milk), which is what helps her gain weight. She is likely only getting "fore" milk, which is the millk that collects near the front and therefore the first stuff she gets when feeding. I have some new things to try during our feedings from now on that will hopefully help move the "hind" milk forward and help her gain weight. We go back in on Friday to have her weight re-checked.

My parents decided last night, spur of the moment, to drive to Milwaukee to see us. So, tonight we will have company...maybe I will the house cleaned with an extra set of hands?!

We also bought the rights to Amelia's hospital newborn photos and the CD arrived today, here is a favorite photo:


I will try and post some more pictures in the next couple of days!

Weekend...

We had a somewhat busy past few days. My sister Kim is visiting us so that she could spend her birthday with her niece this year. We have been running errands and having lots of outings, it has been tiring! Today we went to the Olive Garden for Kim's birthday lunch. Amelia behaved very well!
Amelia is now having some formula here and there. Sometimes we run into a problem where she is hungry and for some reason I just don't seem to satisfy her :( So, every couple of days she has a couple of ounces of formula. It satisfies her for longer and Jason and I don't have to listen to her cry for hours while I keep trying to feed her with her satisfaction only lasting about 20 or 30 minutes at a time. I was really hesitant to use it the first time but it really has made a difference in our daily lives...we are all happier :)

Smiles :)

This afternoon Amelia was all smiles! They started in her sleep during a nap in my lap (she fell asleep mid-feeding) and when she woke up she was smiling still! I tried to get a good picture but it was hard since she was in my lap and I had to hold the camera above my head and hope that I was getting her in it instead of the top of my head! I did alright...see for yourself:


This is one I got during her nap.



Hopefully we get better at this as the time goes on and I can get some really good pictures of that smile!

Some Pictures :)

Not much is new around here this week. We are taking it day by day and learning as we go.
I did take some cute pictures yesterday and they are worth sharing:


Waiting for Mommy to dress her.


A super cute outfit to run errands in!


Hanging out with Lucky on the bed.

A Day of Firsts!

Today we had a day of many firsts for Amelia!
This morning we woke up and got ourselves ready and took Amelia to Epikos for the first time. She got pretty fussy about halfway through the sermon and Jason wisked her downstairs and canged her diaper and entertained her. She was pretty hungry and wanted her Mom to feed her asap!
After church, we picked up our friend Dawn and headed home where Amelia got her first bottle feeding from Daddy! She took to it right away. The doctor told us it could take a while for her to accept a bottle since she is used to me feeding her but she took it right away and guzzled the 4 ounces of milk! Here is a photo of her and Daddy sharing the new experience:


After Daddy left for work I realized that I had a LOT of things to get out in the mail. So, Dawn and I took Amelia on her first walk in her stroller! I pushed Amelia and Dawn was nice enough to push the pet stroller so that Poopy could join us on our walk outside. The weather has been so nice this weekend and we hope it continues for the rest of the week :)

Infant Acne and Car Troubles...

Our week came to quite a frustrating end! My car would not start, again. I have not been driving since mid-January and my car has recently not been wanting to start when we go to move it (we have to park on odd/even sides of the street all year round here in Milwaukee). Usually we just jump it and all is well in the world. This time however, the battery is so dead that it would not even electronically unlock the doors, Jason had to put the key in the door and unlock it himself. Then he tried to start it and the ignition locked and the key is stuck in the car. My car's battery is in the trunk and "funny" thing, I have no manual trunk release and the battery is so dead that the trunk won't open electronically and the key is stuck in the ignition. A locksmith came out today and could not get the key out of the ignition or manage to get the trunk popped, so now our only hope is to get my spare keys. My spare keys are at my parents in MN, well, now they are en route to Milwaukee via the mail. As we wait for the keys to arrive I will likely rack up multiple parking tickets as half of the nights I will be on the wrong side of the road for overnight parking :( Just not a nice end to our otherwise pretty great week!
Amelia has infant acne, which is more common than we thought. It looks like it hurts her little face sometimes and all we can do is wash her face with water once or twice a day and wait for it to clear up!


We had some more visitors this week, Marie and Lisa came down :) We didn't do anything too exciting, just hung around the house etc. It was so nice to see them! I wish that we could see each other more often. I'm bummed too, I didn't manage to get a picture of the three of us with Amelia like I had hoped! Next time, right?
This upcoming week I am hoping to get our house cleaned up and organized again! It may or may not happen :)

What a Day!

Yesterday and today have been really challenging. Amelia gets really fussy in the late afternoon and it lasts until late into the evening. Jason has been at work the past few nights so I am here alone to deal with it alone and it is trying! We are starting to think that she might have colic. I read that it usually starts in the second or third week of life, which is where we are, and she also fits a few of the other symptoms. I am hoping that she is not colicky and going to see where tomorrow takes us before truly deciding that that might be the problem. I just try and remember that she is likely crying for a reason and I just need to figure out what that reason is.
Before Daddy left for work we tried out her rainforest swing for the first time:


Our cats usually have no interest in Amelia. We were really worried that they would have huge issues with her but it seems all they are interested in are her things, as shown by this:


Yet another use for the Boppy pillow!

On Our Own

Well, it is officially my first time alone with Amelia. My parents left this morning after being here a week to help out. Things around here a mess still, even with having the extra help! Everyone was so tired all week and getting used to having a baby around! I have some friends coming in on Wednesday and I hope that we can get this place in order by then :)
Our visit to Indiana went well. I have pictures, but they are on my mom's camera and she is gone! I can't believe I forgot to upload them to my computer before she left!
Now I have to get back to paying some bills and addressing envelopes for birth announcements. Hopefully something exciting happens soon so I have more news to share!

One Week Old Already!

We went in for another doctor appointment today and things are turning around! She is back to the weight she was when she left the hospital :) Dr. Hing told us that once a baby starts to gain weight and their bilirubin levels are going down that they rarely reverse and get worse.
Things are getting better around here. She is settling into a pattern of sleeping and eating and Jason and I are able to get a little more sleep now than we did the first few nights home. We are still tired, but not as tired.
Here is a picture of her that we took today, one week old!


Tomorrow we are headed to Indiana to visit Great-Grandpa Fronczek and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Mickles.

Our First Days at Home

Things have been really hectic around here! I have been having a LOT of trouble with the Internet, or the computer, or both I suppose. It is moving at a pace slower than a snail the past few days and I have no idea why. I have run scans to check for viruses that could be slowing things down, but there are none. I have also done cleaning on the computer, hoping to speed it up, but have had no luck. I run into the most problems when trying to upload photos. It just seems to freeze up and never actually finalize the upload and it is frustrating, especially for a new mom!
Amelia has newborn jaundice, as most do, but hers got higher than they expected. We have been going in for bloodwork every day since we left the hospital and her bilirubin levels (a cause of jaundice) are going down now, yay! We needed to start home phototherapy but the doctor called 3 distributors to find a kit, but was unable to find one. Instead, we have to put her in sunny windows in just her diaper so that she could soak up UV rays from the sun. Here are some pictures of her in the sun:



Today Dad will be home with us all night instead of working and we are going to give Amelia her first bath...with the help of Grandma Fronczek since we have never done this before!