Smiles!

At one week, Cora was already smiling! I think Eli's first smile was around 3 or 4 weeks. She gave her first smile to Eli, then Brandon, then me! Now when I talk to her she'll usually give me a little smile. I feel guilty she's so wonderful and easy!

Success!

I have almost survived an entire week with two kids. It almost feels like I've been doing this forever. We've fallen into a groove and everything is going great! I don't know how I'm so lucky but both kids take naps at the same time and go to bed at the same time. My hardest part of the day is lunch time because Cora is always tired and ready for a nap right as Eli is hungry. I've still managed to make Eli some healthy lunches this week, so I'm considering that a success! I'm SO excited for Saturday because I'm taking Cora down to Tulsa with my Mom and brother to meet my new nieces and nephew. They are having a shower for the kids, so we're going down for that as well. My sister hasn't been able to see Cora yet, so I'm pumped!

Eli and Cora comparison...

Here's both kids "fish faces". Eli at one month, Cora at 2 weeks!

My wonderful two weeks of having Brandon home to help is coming to a close. Luckily I feel fully recovered and up to the challenge of parenting two children....people do it all the time right? Eli has picked the WORST possible time to start getting his two year old molars. He was being absolutely horrible on Friday night and we were really concerned that it was just terrible two's, but Saturday morning I discovered one of his molars had come in. I've been trying to give him Tylenol and teething tablets, but I'm not sure it's helping that much. He keeps gnawing on things and acting out. Yesterday, was the first time in history he didn't take a nap. He laid in his bed just talking to himself and playing with his stuffed animals but never fell asleep. Today, he went down fine after I gave him some Tylenol. Poor kid! I'm just relieved there's a reason for the madness. We went to a barbeque at the Racchini's last night and Eli had fun playing with all the kids. I enjoyed showing Cora off to all our friends and it felt great to socialize a little bit. Same with church this morning. I haven't been to church in a long time because of sickness and the baby, so it felt wonderful to get back to worshiping and the fellowship. Eli was excited to be back at Sunday school and Cora and I spent the sermon in the nursing mother's room with a few other friends with babies. Now that we have two kids I definitely have been feeling double the prayer responsibility. I feel I have so much to pray for and praise God for. I always pray for health, safety, and that they'll choose to follow Christ throughout their lives. I also pray for their spouses. My mom always prayed for our spouses, and I figure that's the only way I snagged Brandon :-) So much to pray for so little time!

Pure cuteness!

Bath Time!

I asked Eli if he wanted to help me give Cora a bath, and he ran to the closet and brought back the dog shampoo. Only the best for his sister! He wanted to snuggle her on his bed and wouldn't let me be a part of it, yesterday. Today we hit up the Botanical Gardens at the end of our street for a nice family outing. Eli loved walking the paths through the forest and smelling the flowers. I'm feeling so good! I think it mostly has to do with the fact I'm actually getting sleep!

1 Week Appt.

We survived our first outing with both kids! It was interesting taking them both to the doctor's office for Cora's one week appt. We made it out of the house only forgetting our cell phones and my wallet. Cora is doing great! She weighs 7 lbs 14.2 oz (which is the 75th percentile...HOLY COW). She is already up past her birth weight and almost eight pounds. She eats a ton, so no surprise there. My mom was mentioning to Eli how all Cora does is eat and eat and eat and he said, "POOP!". We started cracking up. That's right...she eats AND poops! When we do Cora's "tummy time" Eli lays beside her on his stomach doing it too and today when we went in to get him from his nap he wanted her to join him in bed for a snuggle. He wouldn't let me join them. It's amazing to watch this love relationship unfold. I know once the newness wears off and Brandon goes back to work in a week things might change, but I'm going to try to remember these beautiful moments.