Happy 4 week Birthday, MJ!

Statements I made today, that I've probably never said, and that are probably only the tip of the iceberg:
1. Claire, please don't spit on your sister.
2. Claire, please don't draw on Mama's phone with your toothbrush.
3. Claire, your sister doesn't have teeth. Let's not try to brush them.
4. Claire, Mary Jane doesn't eat chips.

Things Claire is saying lately that totally melt my heart:
1. Hold you, Mama (pick me up)
2. Hold it!!!! (I want to hold MJ! This is usually said along with her patting her lap.)
3. Yardins! (The Backyardigans- her favorite show)
4. NOSE!!! (snow)
5. Yights! (Christmas lights)
6. Merry Christmas
7. Baby Jesus

Claire has also gotten a bit bossy when it comes to Mary Jane. Throughout the morning she would say, "Baby hungry!" and "Baby night-night". She's transitioning from being horribly jealous of MJ to wanting to take care of her and being concerned. It's very sweet.

Things you will always find in our kitchen

1. Sweet Baby Ray's BQ sauce
2. Peter Pan peanut butter
3. sweet tea in the fridge
4. York peppermint patties in the freezer
5. frozen peas
6. string cheese
7. milk (skim and whole)
8. cereal bars
9. Rold Gold tiny twist pretzels
10. coffee
11. baby carrots

Picture update

"Lights!"
Claire says this a lot. Very cute.

Mary Jane already defending herself from Claire.
Claire loves to "help" change MJ.

How Mary Jane spent the 1st couple days at home:
wrapped in a bili-blanket.
AKA: our Cylon baby

I think Claire was so excited for MJ to sit in the bouncy seat-
which is what she uses as her doll bed.
This was also the 1st time I put MJ down at C's level.
They both survived :)

What I'm thankful for... in no particular order

1. Being redeemed in Christ
2. my two sweet daughters- they're unbelievable to me
3. Jeremy- I couldn't imagine a better husband for me
4. My family in town for Thanksgiving
5. Good health for me and my family
6. a job I love
7. a church I love
8. friends who really are amazing
9. sleep- even though I don't get a lot of it there days
10. a warm house

One week old

Mary Jane's officially one week old!!! We're starting to settle in and things are starting to feel more normal. Claire loves to give MJ kisses and loves to watch her. Claire has also been playing better on her own and is a little bit more forgiving of MJ taking up a lot of her Mama's time. Eventually I'm going to have to figure out how to do housework in the midst of the craziness... but I'm so not worried about that right now!

Week 1 almost down

Things I've learned this week-Things I had forgotten about newborns- Things I love right now:

1. Newborns sleep a lot
2. Newborns eat a lot
3. I'm going to have to get used to spit up in my hair if it's long
4. Claire would kiss MJ all day long if we let her
5. Claire has moved from being horribly jealous to being obsessed by her sister
6. Claire has stopped calling Mary Jane, "Emma" for the most part
7. Claire has learned to say, "Bless you" when you sneeze
8. When Claire burps, she says, "burp" right after
9. Claire rocks her baby doll and sings, "Rocky, rocky, rocky..." over and over again. She's now attempting that with MJ in her bouncy seat...
10. Mary Jane is such a cuddly little girl... I love it. And I love it that Claire is wanting to cuddle now more because of that!

Seriously?!

This may have been one of the craziest experiences ever. Because it was so normal.

On Monday I went to the doctor. She told me that MJ had dropped very low and that she thought I would go into labor in a week or two.

At 2am THAT NIGHT my water broke. Yes, like in the movies. I woke up Jeremy and we headed to the hospital. It was that simple.

13 hours later, we met our sweet, little Mary Jane. Everything was so textbook and simple. COMPLETELY different from the days leading up to meeting Claire. I'm thankful for my sweet girls, and for the great and opposite birth stories I have with each.

Btw, MJ is "glowing" in the first picture from a bili-blanket we had for about 24 hours because she's a little bit jaundice. She gets checked again in the morning and, hopefully, it won't be an issue anymore!