life with a 6-week-old

So many people keep telling us how quickly the time goes by with a baby. They look at us holding our little baby and say things like "I can hardly remember when my baby was that small." It always feels a little sad to hear someone say that because these days feel so precious to me. Yes they are filled with crying and diapers and interrupted sleep, but they are also filled with the sweetest snuggles, the most delicious newborn scents, adorable little coos and the tiniest little fingers and toes. So this is my attempt to remember this time – to capture the days. I want to be able to look back and have clear memories of what these moments were like.

I usually think of my days starting at the early morning feeding. Emma is usually up around 5 or 6 a.m. to nurse and as we drift back to sleep, Paul gets up and ready for work. Most days us girls will catch another hour or two of sleep and start our day around 8:30 or 9 a.m.

I'll hop out of bed and try to steal a few moments to brush my teeth and put in my contacts. It's always a race against time to get these things done as Emma is stirring in her moses basket. Then I'll scoop her up and take her to her room for her diaper change and to get her dressed. She'll start to get agitated usually as she realizes how hungry she feels, so I'll hurry to the kitchen to get my water glass and take my probiotics before hitting the couch for her feeding. I thumb through my phone – instagram, emails and any text messages as the Today show plays in the background. Emma usually nurses for about 30-40 minutes. After she eats she dozes on and off and I work hard to get a good burp out of her so I know she'll be comfy the rest of the morning.

We spend time bouncing on the exercise ball – Emma's favorite! We'll do some tummy time and maybe some bicycle legs as long as she's happy. I usually sing her some songs and we'll pray for daddy and for our day. Around 10 or 11 Emma will usually go down for a long nap. She might get 2-3 hours of sleep and I'll buzz around the house grabbing lunch, cleaning the kitchen, taking a shower, doing the laundry or maybe sneaking a little nap myself. It's funny, because I spend a lot of time trying to teach Emma how to go to sleep, and once she is asleep I find that I miss her so much!

I've been planning one outing or social thing each day at least 3-4 times a week. It's really encouraging for me to get out of the house or to have a visitor and I feel like it's good for Emma to have new experiences too. She loves her car seat and a car ride so we'll meet a friend for a walk at the park or maybe just take a long drive on the back roads to one of our doctor appointments. It breaks up the day and is so refreshing for us both. Other days my mom will come down for the day – those are my favorite days! And if we're not visiting with anyone, I'll at least try to get out and take a stroll with her around the neighborhood. I love that the weather is cooler now – 70 and sunny is just perfect for these things.

In the late afternoon, Emma starts to want to nurse a little more frequently. I don't mind because I love her sweet snuggles! We'll sit on the couch and I've been watching shows on Netflix. But I'm thinking about switching to Christmas movies soon :) Sometimes she'll take another nap but not always. If I can, I'll get dinner started but this is usually her fussier time. When Paul gets home she gets to cuddle with her Dad and we catch up on our days. She cries a lot at this time, so I'm happy to have him home for some backup. We eat a late dinner and then start to get Emma ready for bed. She gets her diaper changed, we put her pajamas on and swaddle her up. We settle in for one last feeding and she starts to drift to sleep. If we're lucky, she'll go right to bed in her moses basket in our room, but sometimes we have to rock her a few times before she finally relaxes. Usually between 9-10 p.m. she's down for the night. She's been sleeping 4-6 hours (lucky me!) before waking to eat, and then another 3-4 hours in the early morning. Sometimes I'm up a couple hours at night trying to soothe her if she's upset and can't get back to sleep. But for the most part I don't mind waking with her and I feel pretty rested and able to take on the days.

The Lord has been so kind to me. I love these days with Emma and I'm thankful for the gift she is to our family. I know I'll miss these sweet times with her when I look back on them, so for now I soak them in as best I can!