Wednesday...

It was another cold day outside, so we stayed inside. Just Daisy and I hanging out all day... it involved me catching up on some television while feeding Daisy and holding her during naps. She still won't sleep unless she is being held, so that means that she spends most of the day in my arms and on my lap. It definitely makes getting things done a little challenging... it's tough to fold laundry or make a meal with one hand, but I'm making progress.

Our friends Mike and Sarah had a baby last Thursday, and after a few complications, they finally were released from the hospital today. We went over tonight and introduced Daisy and met Nathaniel. I should have taken some blog pics of the babies together, but I forgot... oh well -- they'll hang out a lot in the future, I'm sure, so there is plenty of time for pictures.

A few pics from the day...

Daisy just being Daisy.
Here's Daisy in her new "Miracle Blanket" (from Grammy Rose). This is supposed to help her sleep while she's swaddled up. We'll see how it works!

Cold Tuesday

The wind is howling outside, but we're all bundled up inside!

Meetin' New People

Sunday morning, we got up and headed from Fredricksburg down route 17 towards Tappahannock. We went to Mema & Papa's house and saw a bunch of my family who all wanted to meet Daisy. Daisy got to meet her great grandparents Mema & Papa Carpenter, her great grandmother Granny Rose, her Great Aunt Mary Kay, her Great Great Aunt Margaret, and a handful of cousins Merlyn, Lorrie, Beckie, Jamie, Wyatt and Kate. She also saw her Grammy & Grandpa Rose, Aunt Cheri, and cousins Jonas & Asher.

Here is Daisy with Grammy Rose, Great Great Aunt Margaret & cousin Merlyn.


After leaving Tappahannock, we drove towards Blacksburg and made it as far as Charlottesville before Daisy needed to eat. We stopped at Aunt Lisa's place and fed Daisy and ate some dinner ourselves. (We also caught a few minutes of the Bears game on TV.) We then made the rest of the trip back to Blacksburg to complete the road trip. Daisy did great on the trip back, minus the last 20 minutes when she was hungry again and got a little fussy. But all in all, she did great for being almost 3 weeks old!

Today (Monday), Daisy got to meet some friends at New River Community College. I went in to show her off and she met all kinds of folks. For some reason, I didn't think to take pics while at NRCC. But she did get to meet Hilda, Mark, Joyce, Brenda, Bonnie, Peggy (x2), Ben, and I'm not sure who all else. Hilda walked her around while I met with some other folks at the college. It was great to see everyone and show Daisy off. :)

Here's the pic of the day for Monday...

A Weekend of Firsts..

So I mentioned yesterday that we were on Daisy's first road trip. The past 24 hours have included more "firsts" for Daisy.

She went to that town we don't speak of (Charlottesville) and we ate lunch at our friends Ben & Anna's place. Aunt Lisa, who lives just down the road, also stopped by to say hi.

Yesterday, she attended her first wedding rehearsal and wore her first dress. Everyone thought she was adorable! :)


Back at the hotel, she wore her first pair of pajamas to bed. (Thanks Merlyn!)

Today, she went to the store for the first time (we had to pick up some items at Target off our registry). It was also her first experience as a fan of Hokie football to experience beating Miami! (HOW AWESOME WAS THAT FOOTBALL GAME!)

She wore another dress today, as she attended her first wedding. (This is a dress mommy wore when she was a kid.)

She also had her first dance (with daddy, of course).

Speaking of Daddy, he did a great job officiating Ben & Amy's wedding! (that was a first for him)

Wow - weddings are tiring.


She got to meet a lot of people this weekend for the first time -- too many to name. So many that it wore her out! Here she is snoozing through the reception.

Back at the hotel, it was finally time to relax!

Road Trip!

The time has come for Daisy's first road trip.

David is a part of a wedding this weekend in Fredericksburg. We rolled out of town this morning (in the rain) and are on I-81 as I type this. (Aren't iPhones amazing!)

Daisy was a little fussy at first but mommy got her settled down and she slept about 45 minutes. Now she's just looking out the window...

On Our Own

So my parents left before daylight on Wednesday so they could head back to Richmond. (My mom did hold Daisy for about 4+ hours while she slept, allowing me to get a solid "night's" sleep.)


We really appreciated them coming up--it was huge to have extra hands the first few days David was back at work.

Yesterday, though, was day one of Daisy and I being on our own. We managed pretty well. I'm learning how to master using the laptop with one hand while I hold her in the other. So far, she will only sleep being held. The moment you lay her down, she'll wake up crying. I figure that will change as she grows, and although it's a little overwhelming to always have to hold her, it is great to know she needs the warmth of our human attachment to feel secure and safe. She is still so little and I do cherish her need for me as I know 15 years from now she'll be mad at me for saying no to something. :)

She must be going through another growth spurt, because staring yesterday after lunch, she began feeding every hour, and some feedings would last 20-30 minutes. I'll admit it was quite tiring and 5:00 couldn't have come sooner. It was a relief when David came home and could hold her for the 30 minutes between feedings. (He also came home for lunch which was a great relief!)

Today we start day two of being on our own -- I will be glad when the growth spurt ends, as I think that will make the days easier to manage.

Here we are yesterday:





(you can tell she was not happy for this pic -- she was ready to eat again)



I did successfully put her down for five minutes, allowing me to have a bathroom break and a chance to grab a snack!

(p.s. Daisy met Beth on Tuesday night. Daisy agrees Beth is funnier than David!)

Out to Lunch

Daisy was getting a little stir crazy being cooped up indoors... okay, that's a lie. Mommy was getting stir crazy. Since today is Grammy & Grandpa's last day here, we thought we'd pick up David at work and have a lunch date. We decided to come to Our Daily Bread since we figured it's nice and tucked away and we could avoid a large crowd of people. This was Daisy's first official time in public, and at just two weeks and a day, we wanted to steer clear of large crowds. We walked in and Bud Foster (VT's defensive coordinator for those who don't know) was inside eating lunch and talking with folks. So much for avoiding crowds...there were lots of folks buzzing around! We settled into a table outside, though, and enjoyed a nice and mostly quiet lunch. It was great to get outside and to be able to join David for lunch. He was glad to see both his girls, and his in-laws, during the day!

Some pics:
Daisy sleeping while everyone else was eating...

Waking up...

Snuggling with Daddy before he says goodbye for the afternoon...

Darlins win...

Good thing the photo "mascot" for DaddyDavid's Darlins is a picture of Daisy... that allows me to be excited that I lost by only ~60 points in our fantasy football matchup today. :)

The Bears had an exciting win at the last minute, although not quite as dramatic as the Hokies yesterday. Still, big win over the Steelers!

Daisy met Suzanne & Joe today, and Callie for the first time. I forgot to mention yesterday that Daisy also met the whole Losse clan (Jim, EJ, Jefferson and Jesse & JD).

Today, we tried a pacifier for the first time. Daisy seemed to like it okay.


David goes back to work tomorrow so my parents came up for two days to help me get used to a new schedule and to give me a hand. We'll see how this week goes. :)

Cheesers vs. Darlins

First: Daisy seems to be doing better. She has eaten well this morning and is currently napping. Her slight fever seems to have disappeared and she seems more comfy. We think she may have just been "backed up" with her inconsistent feedings through the growth spurt...at least that's what we hope.

Second: Today is the big day. It's fantasy football week #2 and David and I play each other. This is for marriage bragging rights! (At least until we play again in 6 weeks.)

Bears play at 4pm...Daisy is of course wearing some Bears gear, again.

Go Cheesers! Beat the Darlins! :)

Under the Weather?

What an exciting finish to the VT-Nebraska game! I still cannot believe it... we won the game!!! Unbelievable.

Daisy slept through the excited screams, which was clue #1 she wasn't feeling her tops. (This was after her daddy jumped so high he hit his hand on the basement ceiling and scraped it!) It's been a fussy evening and it seems like she's a little under the weather. Pray for sleep and that we'll be able to figure out what's bothering her soon.

Go Hokies!

Daisy met new friends this morning: Nate & Ashley, Jason & Katie, and Luke & Mandy.

After hanging with the Piouses, Daisy is taking a nap to rest up for game time!

Friday...

Daisy continues her growth spurt and has been eating just about every hour today. That has definitely made it an exhausting day!

She got to meet more new friends tonight: Gary & Allison (who brought Daisy some sweet VT socks) and Joel.

Earlier, mommy was taking a shower and daddy wanted to use his hands in the kitchen. Therefore, daddy the engineer used some pillows to create a secure holding spot for Daisy.

This is life with an engineer. :)

One more pic of daddy & daughter:

Tomorrow is another gameday and Daisy will be meeting more friends...better rest up!

Thursday

Daisy has hit a growth spurt-- which means more frequent feedings and she's a bit fussier.
But life with Daisy is still wonderful. Today she got packages from Gramma Chinn and Heather & Joshua. She also got to meet Evan for the first time.

Pics of the day:

Pic of the day

**Correction to yesterday's blog post: I said nothing exciting happened but it was brought to my attention that Daisy met new people. That means something exciting did happen after all. :)

Today, Daisy met Rehana and Kristen for the first time. She also got a package from great aunt Elaine, uncle Terry, and cousins Troy and Aly. :)

Pics of the day:

Daily Life

Today was a "regular" day in the life of Daisy. She spent most of the day sleeping and eating. We changed some dirty diapers. She met some people for the first time. Nothing too exciting to share.

Here are a few pics from the day:

Daisy in her first "swing" ride (which put her right to sleep...thanks for loaning us the swing, Dom & Kristen)

Daisy sleeping in her Moses basket

Daisy just looking super cute




Daisy with Pambo

Mommy holding Daisy before bedtime

1 Week Old

Not only did the Bears lose last night, their miserable offensive performance cost the Grilled Cheesers a possible fantasy football win. It looked like I was a lock to win week 1 until Jay Cutler threw four interceptions. At least David's team (named the Daddy Darlins) looks like it will pull out a win. Oh well, maybe the Cheesers will turn it around next week...onto happier news!

Today Daisy is one week old! What a week it has been. :)

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post who Daisy met for the first time: Lane, Dongbo, Susy, and Aunt Bertie.

This morning, Aunt Bertie held Daisy for a few hours while mommy slept.

Here's a picture of balloons and ribbon on the mailbox from Kati. There were two balloons but the wind must have taken one away. :(

We had another doctor's appointment today and Daisy did better. She weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz which is just about back to birth weight. She also grew 1/2 inch in length.

Here she is in the car seat with her new soft pink blankie from Aunt Cheri.

Isn't she sweet? Here are a few other pics from recently...

Gameday: part two

So folks that know us know we usually take Sundays as sabbath days. Our typical schedule is to head to church, then settle in on the couch and spend the day watching football and following our fantasy football teams. We have a special package that allows us to watch Bears games (and all the NFL games). It's our way of relaxing in the fall and having fun. :)

Today, we skipped church since Daisy is so small, but it's opening day of the NFL so it was definitely gameday. In addition, the Bears open up tonight against the hated Packers.

You can see Daisy is ready for her first Bears game!

Here's mommy and Daisy together in their Bears outfits.


Bear down, Chicago Bears!