Updates...

Well since I have now missed the 1 month post and the 5 weeks, this is a 5 week and 2 days update! Carrie is doing well and starting to understand that day is day and night is night so that is helping! Last night was her first 5 hour stretch! hooray! And true confession, I did buy a baby scale so I weighed her today and she is up to 9 lbs 13 oz! A chunk for sure, but we wouldn't have it any other way! Also, as you can see in the pictures below, Carrie has a blanket that we can measure her on and as of Tuesday when she was 5 weeks, she was just over 24 inches! She is long just as we expected! And last week she started giving response smile which I am of course loving. So here are just a few of her latest pictures when she is awake and active.





On another note, Elliott (Graham's brother) was in the US Navy news! He is pictured below and I attached the link to the page. Uncle E, we are so proud of you and Carrie can't wait to meet you in 2010!

http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=77978

Happy Halloween Indeed!

Well it was a good Halloween weekend at the Young household. It started out well for me because Friday night Graham gave Carrie a bottle at 11 and at 2:30 so I was able to sleep from 11-5:30 which is the longest stretch I have slept since Carrie was born! It felt amazing. I think it will be a weekend tradition. So Saturday morning I actually felt rested enough to go to the grocery store. alone. and I liked it. Another first since Carrie's birth! And the sad thing is, I was secretly excited to be buying diapers and wipes. Sounds stupid, but for like 10 months now I have passed that aisle in the store excited for the day when it would actually apply to me. And now it does! I had no idea that my first trip down that aisle I would feel like a completely sleep deprived zombie, but it was still a small thrill. Later on Saturday, we went over to Leigh and Morgan Hillenmeyers house for a Halloween get together with newborns! It was so fun and so funny. We did not get to stay long because we wanted to be back for our trick our treaters, but we had fun in our short stay. Carrie got to meet some of her new friends and she loved it! Here she is in her pumpkin outfit Mimi gave her ready to go to the party with her mom...
And here are a million pumpkin pictures her mom decided were necessary to take...



And below is a picture of the dads with their babies. It was a new kind of cocktail party for them! I loved all the women in the kitchen talking and then looking in the living room and seeing all the guys holding their little ones in their costumes and just talking like nothing was different. It was too cute!
Above from left to right: Andy with Mils (a ghost), Morgan with Reiling (a lobster), Spence with John (a hotdog), Graham and Carrie who is looking right at the camera! haha, and Peter with Caroline (a ballerina). Too cute!

After that, we went home to welcome our trick or treaters...we only had about 15-20 groups, but they were still all really cute! And the Mulloys came over to watch the UT USC game which was a disappointing one and to eat tacos so we had fun getting some more adult interaction! I wish I had a picture of the pumpkin Graham carved to add to this post because it said "It's a girl!" It was cute. So to finish off the Halloween post...here is 1 more pic...too much Halloween!
Happy Halloween!

A few new pics...

Well I missed the 3 week update but these pics are from week 3. On Thursday the 15th, she lost her umbilical cord stub so we got to give her her first bath!
She actually really liked it! It is amazing how much lighter her hair looks right after a bath. I loved it dark, but think it may be slowly getting lighter. We shall see!
She likes to sleep with her hands over her head when she is in her bassinet.
And here she is in her milk coma! She has to stay upright after meals due to a little reflux (which equals lots of spitting up!) So she likes to ball up on her tummy and then her mouth just hangs open. It cracks me up.

Other than that, things are going well. Minus major exhaustion that is! We have had a couple 4 hour stretches at night, but not many! Hoping for more in the very near future. Also, at her 2 week appointment, she weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and since then, I have bought a baby scale (yes, I know I am a psycho, but I need to make sure she is gaining weight!) So we weighed her on Wednesday and she weighed 8 lbs 6 1/2 oz!! So 1 lb in a week...what a chunk! But great news and definitely makes me feel like all the hard work with constant feedings is paying off! She is also awake more every day and she is stimulated by light toys and peoples faces and is also doing very well lifting her head in tummy time. Sorry for all the random facts...just trying to make sure I have everything documented!

Newborn shoot...

Zach Goodyear is taking Carrie's pictures for her first year and today we got her newborn pictures back! I put a couple here, but then put the link to his blog where you can see more or click the link to see them all :) (which probably only I want to do!)





http://zachgoodyear.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome-carrie-newborn-photos.html

2 Weeks!

Well we made it another week! I tell ya what, I am exhausted, but looking at her when she is sleeping or smiling or whatever she does (besides cry) makes it all worth it. We took Carrie in for her 2 week check up this morning and she had not only gotten back to birth weight, but had gained a few ounces and is now up to 7 lbs 6 oz! We were all very excited. She is now 21 inches. It puts her 75% in height and 20% in weight...a beanpole go figure! Everything else checked out well and he said she looked perfectly healthy so what else can we ask for? A longer stretch of sleep at night? Maybe. Maybe not. Other than that, things are going along as well as we can hope for. A couple new pics...

Lovin my Wubbanub
Waking up more and more...
Lovin on my daddy
Sorry for all the facts, but I want to remember everything!

Happy 2 weeks, Carebear!

1 Week!

In some ways I cannot believe a week has passed since we had Carrie and in other ways, I feel like it has been longer! Last week at this time we were in the hospital awaiting her arrival and now we have already been blessed by a week of life in love! It is amazing how much she changes every day...she is starting to be awake more, she has started tummy time, she has had baths and she has changed our lives in so many ways we could never have expected. Everyone tells you how much your life will change and how much of an adjustment a baby is and they also tell you how you can never imagine how much you will love them, but until they are here and your own, you really cannot believe it. She is just amazing and even though I am exhausted beyond belief, I wake up every day thanking the Lord above for this miracle and looking forward to another day with her. Here are a few pictures of some of her firsts...

1st bath
1st tummy time!
Waking up more...
And lovin my Boppy seat...

Yay for 1 week!

Our Cup Overfloweth...

Well, I know I am slow to post again since Carrie got here, but as you can imagine, the free time is limited! Also, I am still struggling a little with blood pressure so trying to take it easy and get that under control. But, everything else is going great! Graham and I cannot even get over how blessed we feel. We knew we would love her, but until we held her, had no idea just how much. She is the light of our life and such a sweet and wonderful baby. We have been settling in at home and the dogs have been loving their new sister...maybe a little too much even! They want to kiss her all the time! Carrie is a great sleeper and once you get her all swaddled up, she is out! It is almost impossible to get to see her eyes. I get to since she opens them when she eats, but she sleeps all the time other than that! So I have posted just a few pictures since the first few and hopefully will be better about blogging from here on out...
Going home from the hospital...
Swinging with my paci...so happy.
Bundled up for our first walk!

More to come!