Week 4 - October 16-22, 2011

Week 4 brought many visitors to our house. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family that are willing to travel to come and see us (and by us, I mean Hazel)!

Sunday we had the day mostly to ourselves. Grandma Karen came for a sort visit in the afternoon, but we spent the rest of the day relaxing and cooking for ourselves - so exciting! We are trying to figure out places for Hazel to sleep that allow us to to use one or both of our hands! 

Sunday, October 16, 2011 - Hazel slept in this chair for about 15 minutes! But she did much better in the sling and we were able to get some cooking done. 

Erin got sick and had to lay low for a couple of days. Fortunately Hazel stayed healthy and by Wednesday we were up for visitors again. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - Aunt Whitney and Uncle Kevin came to visit!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - And Katie came to visit too! We had a great lunch together with Hazel in the swing, so we could have some adult conversation. Then Hazel woke up and gave Katie some quality time. 

Wednesday was a sad day in the Jordan family. We had to put Luce, our family dog, to sleep. She was a wonderful dog and we will miss her immensely! Grandma and Granddad Jordan missed Monday dinner because Erin was sick, but they came over on Wednesday night instead. Luce's passing reminds us that while our newest addition is the apple of our eye, we cherish and love Bristol and are happy she is a part of our family.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - Snuggles on the couch with grandma!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Erin and Hazel spend much of their days exploring the wonders of daytime chores. We discovered a second sling that we can use so Erin can have at least one hand free. Hip hip hooray! Laundry is a bit of a challenge still, but we are figuring out how to live in harmony (and still get SOMETHING done around the house) a little better every day!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011 - Coffee with papa in the morning is a wonderful time!

Saturday was another day full of excitement! We started off the day right with a bath and a massage. We've started bathing Hazel in the claw foot tub with us, so no more pictures! She just loves bath time so much more when there is nursing involved...go figure! We do have pictures of her massage, which she LOVES, especially when we rub her back!

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - Massage time!

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - Hazel melts into the changing table when you massage her back.

We spent a good portion of the day running errands as a family. Erin is so excited to get out of the house that errands are a special event! Then Sam, Lacey, Allison, and Kim arrived for a visit from Chicago! Hazel was awake and happy for their whole visit - what fun!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - Sam was sick, so Lacey had to snuggle for them both!

Week 3 - October 9-15, 2011

Week 3 started off with a bang - grape harvesting at the Jordan's! Hazel mostly ate, slept, and cuddled with her aunts and uncles, but the rest of us worked pretty hard harvesting hundreds of pounds of grapes!

Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Hazel sleeping.

Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Hanging out on the porch while everyone else works!

Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Uncle Joe gets some quality time with Hazel.

Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Who gave the Hazel and Bristol those wine glasses?!?!

Sunday, October 9, 2011 - Hazel sleeping the day away!

We spent most afternoons this week lounging in the hammock in the side yard. The weather was soooo gorgeous! Hazel and I mastered our sling and walked to Hardings on Monday, bought a couple of groceries, and walked all the way home. That outing gave me an important sense of freedom....at least my freedom includes anything within a 1 mile walk!

Monday, October 10, 2011 - Reading with Papa in the hammock!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011 - Napping with Mama in the hammock. That walk really tired us out!

Monday, October 10, 2011 - We started using cloth diapers today! They are so much softer and nicer than those "green" disposables... think green tp and tissue... environmentally friendly, yes, but not the most comfortable against your skin!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - Relaxing in bed!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - Back in the hammock!

Friday, October 14, 2011 - More lounging in bed. Starting to get a picture of our days together?

Friday was a big day! We took our first family road trip to visit Rob's cousins Mike, Aubri, and Rilyn in Canton. Hazel has a love/hate relationship with the car (or maybe its the car seat). She slept for the first hour and then woke up screaming. We stopped at a rest area to nurse, but she still wasn't big on riding in the car for another hour. I pulled out the secret weapon... the pacifier! I was all excited to try it for the first time and watch the magic happen.....but, she wouldn't take it!!! So we suffered her screaming for about 20 minutes before she fell back to sleep.

We had such a great time visiting with Mike, Aubri, and Rilyn. Rilyn is almost three and was enamored with Hazel. She tried to hold her, but Hazel was "too heavy," so Rilyn was glued to my side on the couch rubbing Hazel's head and ears! Rilyn is the most gentle 3-year old I've ever met!

And the photo shoot was fun too. Aubri has a fantastic eye and her photos are so beautiful! She manages to capture the angelic newborn, even though we all know that newborns can be difficult creatures that don't understand and almost never cooperate with our (very reasonable) wishes! Seriously, check Aubri out at www.pinkskyphoto.com!

The drive home was much better. Hazel is starting to get the hang of riding in the car. She slept most of the way, waking up about 20 minutes from home.

Friday, October 14, 2011 - All kinds of credit to Aubri Graybeal and Pink Sky Photography

Saturday we moved our lounging to the couch for some college football! But first Uncle Dave came by for a quick visit. It was the first time Hazel wasn't nursing or sleeping during Dave's visit, so he scooped her up!

Saturday, October 15, 2011 - Football on the couch with both my babies!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011 - Uncle Dave and Hazel.

Week 2 - October 2-8, 2011

Week 2 was a busy week. We started (barely!) to get the hang of having a newborn baby around the house. After spending much of Week 1 driving to the lab/doctor's office, we were very excited to spend some time relaxing around the house. We spent time trying to discover Hazel's rhythms and gently trying to guide them to match our own!

 Hazel was eating up a storm so we started weighing her to see if she was back to birth weight yet.  On October 2nd she weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Still so tiny, but almost back to birth weight!  

Sunday, October 2, 2011 - Computer time with mama 

Sunday, October 2, 2011 - Sleeping on the computer!

Sunday, October 2, 2011 - Weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces! 

Sunday, October 2, 2011 - Sweet snuggle time with mama

On Monday, October 3rd (day 9 of Hazel's life), Uncle Evan and Aunt Erika came to visit. They were on their way home from a looooong weekend of traveling, but couldn't wait any longer to meet little miss Hazel! In true newborn fashion, Hazel wanted to nurse the entire time they were here! Evan got a few minutes to hold her, but she cried the whole time. And Erika was sick, so she just got to peek at Hazel!

Monday, October 3, 2011 - We finally get some warm weather and can hang out in the yard! And Uncle Evan and Aunt Erika come to visit!

Monday, October 3, 2011 - Sadly, Hazel cried the ENTIRE time Uncle Evan tried to hold her. It's not his fault, she was hungry and he just doesn't have the goods. 

Monday, October 3, 2011 - And Aunt Erika was sick, so she didn't even get a chance to try her way with the screaming Hazel. 

Rob worked a bit on Monday, but stayed home with us on Tuesday. It was so wonderful! We made pancakes and gave Hazel a bath! And we discovered how wonderful it was to go for a family walk in the evening. We loaded Hazel into her pram and headed down the road (just a bit, mama is still getting her walking legs back!). Sadly, we forgot to take pictures of the walk!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - Hazel starts getting massage time after her bath! And we get time to admire her perfect arms, legs, tummy, and back!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - Papa and Hazel make pancakes!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - The Augustine family will always cook together!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday flew by in a haze of nursing, snuggling, and walks. No photos of Hazel in her cute little pram or the ergo carrier (maybe the best invention ever!). We promise to remedy that!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

And our anniversary! On Friday, October 7th, Rob and I celebrated 5 years of marriage with a glass of sparkling wine and a lovely dinner on the porch at Karen and Mike's house.

And of course, Saturday was opening day of duck season. So Rob, Ken, and Josh spent the morning hunting while Hazel and I napped in the sunshine and researched fabulous mediterranean salads for the upcoming Family Smackdown.

Saturday, October 8, 2011 - Papa went duck hunting! Hazel's camo outfit has not yet arrived in the mail, but soon she will be able to dress just like papa!

Saturday, October 8, 2011 - We missed papa while he was gone, but had a great time sleeping in the sunshine!

Day 7 - October 1, 2011

Grandma and Grampa Augustine came to visit! Grampa and Maureen are Hazel's great-grandparents! We are so lucky that they are close enough (and willing to make the drive!) to come and visit for the day. We had a wonderful visit with Grampa and Maureen, lots of time to snuggle by the fire. And we went for a walk! Erin and Hazel's first real walk since coming home from the hospital. We only went a couple of blocks, but the fresh air was so wonderful! And the walk put Hazel right to sleep. I think a daily walk is a must from here on out!

And Grandma and Grampa Hart brought over dinner! We had some more great visiting time around the dinner table (with Hazel in and out of the swing, someone's arms, etc) and the fire before everyone (at least everyone in our house) collapsed into bed around 9:30pm! 

Morning is the absolute best time to snuggle a baby!

Grampa Augustine

Spoiling Hazel already!

How does she smell?

That just might be a perfect picture!

Grandma Maureen got some time to hold Hazel too.

Grampa would hold Hazel until she was just about ready to wake up and then hand her to Maureen for the tough few minutes! Good thing Maureen was up for the challenge!