Project 365 {Days 15-21}

This post is going to be much more than pictures.  There is just way too much to share for photos alone.  This past week has been one of the most memorable weeks to date.  I hope I will always remember bringing Luke home from the hospital and the week following that day.  Here we are as a family of four, in the midst of the most beautiful weather that Florida provides, spending each hour together as a family.  This was suppose to be a time of recovery & stress; but instead it was a week of relaxation, rejuvenation & bliss.  Paternity/maternity leave? No. It was most certainly a Staycation.

Day 15: We get discharged from the hospital a day early because this mama wanted to get home to her little girlie and felt much too good to be laying in a hospital bed.  Brian and Carly pulled the car around while Luke & I were wheeled out of the hospital.  Carly started crying the minute she saw me and begged me to pick her up.  We were the first of cars in a long line blocking the drive up lane, so I hopped over her car seat so I could sit next to her for the half-hour drive home.  Luke also started crying as he was set down for the first time in his life & we didn't think to bring a paci...so my arms criss-crossed over my lap and my right hand served as a paci for Luke while my left hand was stroked gently by my Carly.  I felt excited to be the mama of two very precious kiddos, and felt empowered that I could get them both to stop crying at the same time!  Upon our arrival at home, Carly threw up all over herself & me.  So...it was off the shower for us while daddy & Luke got the car unpacked.  It was late, but we managed to snap a photo of our two snuggling their daddy. 

Carly pretending to be sleeping like baby Luke

Day 16:  We gave it our best effort trying to get Luke to sleep on his own.  Remember, I read EVERY baby sleep book ever written after bringing Carly home from the hospital, so I'm no foreigner to getting your babe to sleep.  However, I wasn't willing to fight it and after the swing, car seat, swaddle & paci wouldn't work...in my arms he went.  Brian laughed as he watched me snuggle into bed with my 2-day old son.  He commented about how strict I was with Carly and here we were day 1 home and I had already "given up" the sleep battle.  He said,  "Guess it's different the second time around, huh?"  Right he is!  I don't think I could have stirred up 2 more different experiences...from conception to labor, delivery, nursing & the adjustment of bringing the baby home...our two experiences have not been at all alike.  Our first night was quite treacherous, but we all got up on Day 16 and began our life as a family of four.  Between Carly being sick and up screaming nearly every hour, to Luke thinking he needed to feed every hour & a half, we had our hands full that night.  The morning is a complete blur...and Carly only took a 45 minute nap that day...but I do remember once she got up we decided to...are you ready for this...go out to eat! What?!  Yes, we were crazy. However, it was an incredibly delightful experience.  We dined at our favorite Floridian Mexican restaurant, Abuelos, then walked across the street to do some shopping at BabiesRUs.  I was feeling fabulous and couldn't believe how well I was moving around!  I think I sat on my tush the first day week home with Carly.  I snapped this photo of Luke on his boppy pillow so I could have a comparison photo of my two kids on their first day home.  We all hit the hay that evening and all slept quite well!

Day 17:  Let's see...at this point Luke is 4 days old, it's Friday and we need something to do.  What shall we do?  Let's go to Animal Kingdom! So...off we went...two kids in tow...and had a fabulous time.  People thought we were literally crazy for bringing our newborn to Disney....but hey...we gotta keep our toddler occupied and it wasn't fair in our eyes to keep her cooped up in the house.  I'm sure we did other things that day...but I cant remember details.  If I was a betting woman, I'd say the day probably consisted of lots of snuggles & feeding our kiddos.  Those two things seem to absorb the majority of our time these days. ;)

Day 18:  I can't seem to remember what we did on this day, either!  I know that by the time dinner arrived I was still in sweat pants and a jacket...so I'm fairly certain we didn't even start the car engine.  I believe we took a nice walk to the park, played some basketball, watched some basketball, watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and once again participated in much snuggling (at least with the little man).  I captured this sweet photo of my girlie loving on her little brother, who she refers to exclusively as "baby ooke"

Day 19:  I should add that at this point we are all sleeping quite well.  Due to the co-sleeping, sir Luke is quite happy, as he assumes he has an all night buffet sleeping next to his food source.  Co-sleeping will end very soon, but it's sure been nice sleep well at night, only having to sit up every couple of hours so my baby can graze then laying right back down.  Day 19 was a Sunday, so of course we were NOT going to miss a day that our entire family could attend church!  Carly was more than thrilled to hear we were going to church to play & Luke slept on me during the service.  I even got my first chance at nursing in public.  Glad to have started that, again. ;)  I took a photo of C on her first Sunday, so naturally I had to do the same with Luke.  We set the camera on timer & were actually quite pleased with the result!  Here's another comparison photo + a few fun family pics!  After church we decided that we'd red box a movie for Carly's nap and ended up doing so the next 3 days! We watched "White House Down" on Sunday, "Lincoln" on Monday & "The Internship" on Tuesday.  We had to split them all up between nap and after C had gone to bed, but it was really nice to just sit on the couch and watch a movie together!

Day 20:  The day was fairly chil and yet productive.  We ran errands in the morning, including our first family Target trip & played at the park in the afternoon.  We had a delicious meal of lasagna, fruit, salad & bread delivered and had a feast!  Can you ask for anything more than two healthy & happy kiddos cuddled up on the couch in their fuzzy sleepers after a hot bath in the middle of January?  Nope, you cant. :)

Day 21: Happy Birthday to ME!  I fully expected to be pregnant on my 26th birthday, but instead I got to snuggle both of my babes!  We had a fun & full day, spending the morning at Magic Kingdom and having our second meal out as a family of four in the evening.  Carly went on the Philharmagic attraction for the first time which was a big deal since it's my favorite attraction at Magic Kingdom!  She really enjoyed the 3D and all the music!  For dinner we chose to eat at Logan's Roadhouse, as it was the restaurant we ate at right after finding out Luke was a boy! C took a two hour nap which allowed for some great movie watching and was a gift of rest to me! She was more than thrilled to help her daddy bake brownies (per my request), place candles on them, sing me "happy birthday" and blow them out!  All day long she kept saying, "happy choo-choo, mommy!"  What a sweetie & a wonderful day!

Ive never seen C more enthused...