Adjusting

Adjusting to life at home with a newborn can pretty much be summarized by saying that it was adjusting to life without much sleep and with lots of amazement. The first night home was rough. I remember at some odd hour in the night, Eleanor had been crying and I tried feeding her, rocking her, swinging her...I couldn't get her to calm down at all. Then Sam asked if I had checked her diaper and I started bawling. I had forgotten about the diaper (which Sam changed and she calmed right down). I was so out of it which consequently also made me very emotional. Luckily, I can look back now and say A LOT has improved since then.

When we weren't trying to catch up on sleep, Sam and I would just stare in amazement at our little wonder. What a miraculous thing it is to have your own child and welcome her into this world! Sam and I still feel so blessed that we have Eleanor in our lives. In her first week, all we could talk about was her little nose, big eyes, tiny fingers and toes, hairy ears, dark hair... If Elle was taking a nap, I would often find Sam leaning over her, just staring. One of the best things of having our baby was seeing Sam in a "father" role. He is obsessed with our little girl! It literally warms my heart to see the two of them together. Aren't they just perfect?

 These jammies were so baggy on her at first and now she doesn't even fit them anymore!

 I also began taking a million pics on my phone every day, because everything Elle did was picture worthy, even just looking up at me from the portable crib:

I think I mentioned in a post below that the week Elle was born was career fair week for Sam. Poor guy had to dress to impress and be his best at school while meeting with recruiters after minimal sleep (this ended up paying off big time because someone has a JOB...more on that later). He would come home and crash, but not without his favorite little lady by his side...

 Elle was a little jaundice at first so we had to take her to a lab to be tested again when she was just a few days old. That headband is barely staying on her tiny head, her outfit drowned her and she looks like a miniature doll to me in the carset.

 We were spoiled by lots of visitors in Elle's first few days at home. So many sweet ward members, friends, neighbors and family came to meet Eleanor and also often brought us meals or treats. My Uncle Brent, Aunt Teri and cousin Kevin were in town and were some of Eleanor's first visitors...

My Uncle Brad, Aunt Nanette, and cousins Ava, Reese and Raegan also came to meet our angel...

One of my favorite things to watch since Elle was born is the stretches she does after each nap. I just love them. I caught this "superman" stretch. We later sent the photo to our nephew, Oliver, who is OBSESSED with all Avengers. Sam told his mom to ask Oliver which Avenger Eleanor was, his response, "Superman, but he is a super hero not an Avenger." Duh!

Besides a few little adventures in her first day at home, Elle and I pretty much stayed in my bedroom all day and changed from one pair of pajamas to the next. I was still really sore so we didn't even make it far from the bed. As I mentioned before, my sister, Jen, came to help shortly thereafter and it was such a blessing to have her! I think I'll owe her for a looong time. Elle loved having her with us too...

And the support didn't end there! In the following weeks we had more visitors and help while our little girl continued to amaze us. Sam's mom, Sallee, came out right after Jen left. She was another blessing that brought love, support, help and motherly knowledge. I am so grateful that I have such wonderful in-laws who I am close to. With both Sallee and G around, I don't think five seconds went by without Elle being in some loving arms. We were able to snap a four generation shot one evening...

As you can see, our little girl was spoiled in her first week, as were we! There are still adjustments being made in our home, but we are definitely getting more used to and loving our family of three!