Please stop growing!

This is my plea to all three of my children (followed incredibly closely by "please stop getting sick!!"). The past month since Nell was born has flown by so fast and I feel that my children are growing at a super speed. In fact I'm fairly certain Jonas gained at least 20 pounds the day Nell was born - I swear he was smaller! I've discussed this with Devin and am trying to come up with some good alternatives to my kids getting any bigger but he assures me that my solutions would not bring happiness. He is probably right, but Nell is growing so quickly that one is tempted to stop feeding her all together - but then again, I guess that is considered "failure to thrive" and nobody wants that...so at the very least I've been trying to document her progress.

Here is a little update on Nell's first month.

Nell at 5 days old

Week 1

Grandma and Grandpa Morris were here for the first two weeks after Nell was born. This was wonderful since Jonas came down with a fever and cough the day after Nell was born. So Grandma Morris became his servant and did anything he asked - including wipe his nose - and I was able to focus on Nell and try to keep everyone else healthy. Doesn't he look so sad?


Unable to touch Nell, I walked into the guest room to find Jonas admiring Nell from afar. It was so sweet to see him just sitting there looking at her.


Each baby we've had has been born with some amazingly dry skin. Nell was no exception. Previously I had used things like Aquaphor and a whole lot of other products to try and help my babies but the midwife here recommended using olive oil. So...when Nell got her first bath it felt oddly like I was basting a turkey.


Nell is by far our best sleeper. Not that it's a full night, but she isn't too hard on us and only gets up a couple of times a night. She is also eating so well and by 5 days old had just about regained her birth weight and weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces. Way to go, Nell!!


Her one week birthday just happened to fall on one of my favorites - St. Patricks Day. We enjoyed celebrating with a green dinner and Nell on the sidelines while we ate.


Week 2

With only one weekend more before my parents left, we decided to please Jonas and take a steam train ride (we all know my Dad was just as excited but uses Jonas as his excuse). We arrived ONE minute after the train left so we spent an hour wandering around the town...mostly in a toy store. I then fed Nell in the car and with a few minutes to spare, Nell decided to poop through her diaper and all over her clothes. After getting her changed, we head down with Jonas just to see the train disappear around the corner. Apparently Devin's Ipod is TWO minutes slow!!! Clara, Grandma and Grandpa were on the train - the last one of the day and we had one very sad Jonas and one hormonally upset Mom. Devin suggested we pile in the car and race the train (not hard when it is a steam train vs. Devin - those that have ridden with him know what I mean...) to the end of the line and Jonas and I could ride it back while Devin drove back down to the station to meet us. The plan worked and Jonas got to ride his train afterall.

You'd think I was happy but two minutes after sitting down on the train, relieved to have made it, I looked down at my sweet boy sitting happily on my lap to discover one of my biggest nightmares...LICE!!!!!!!!! We had just had a letter sent home about an outbreak in his class at school and apparently my child who likes to hug every girl in class fell victim. It was an excruciating hour spent in the car on the way home as Devin and I tried desperately not to itch our heads. My head has never itched so badly in my life. Lets just say that night was spent disinfecting the house, bedding, car seat, stroller and meticulously treating and combing through every family member's hair - whether there was a case of lice or not, I didn't care. We got very little sleep that night and it had nothing to do with Nell. It turns out nobody else ever had it and we have so far managed to effectively eradicate lice from our house. I have no pictures to document this day because as far as I'm concerned I want to pretend it never happened! So, moving on...

With my parents still in town, we decided to have Nell blessed at church so that at least some family was present.

Devin gave her a lovely blessing. We then spent the remainder of the day relaxing and enjoying this sweet little baby - well, that is after she was fed since she was clearly unhappy here.


Sadly, Clara was next to fall prey to the fever/cough bug and spent the next week home from school. I am not sure she was as sad as she should have been since Grandpa made daily trips to Bettys to bring her a bear cookie and her days were filled with tea parties...


bubble blowing...
building forts in the front room...


and the occasional nap.


Hmm...not the usual when home sick but at least she got some quality time in with her grandparents.

At least Nell was thriving and at two weeks old, Nell weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces.

Week 3

Nobody was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa leave, especially me since I now had to unload my own dishwasher! :( Thankfully my dear friend Mayka came a few hours after my parents left to brighten our moods...and that she did! We met her in York and had a fabulous day eating crepes and wandering the charming streets.


Mayka brought her adorable son who has the cutest smile. We had the best time together and managed to have a relaxing time mixed with some sightseeing. Jonas picked right back up with Mayka, he loves to attack her and then laugh about it. :)


She also brought a suitcase full of thoughtful gifts from friends back home and boy was Jonas excited. As you can see, he doesn't try to hide his emotions.


After opening everything, he then had to try it on - whether or not it was his. Here you'll find him modeling Clara's new neck pillow and Nell's adorable owl hat (on backwards).


We then spent an afternoon driving through the Yorkshire Dales and stopped off at Bolton Abbey where we took some pictures.


We cruelly forced Clara to take off her coat even though it wasn't exactly warm but that is just how vain I am!! I really wanted her cute dress in the picture. Can you blame me? (Don't answer that out loud. please.)

A visit to Harrogate wouldn't be complete without a stop at Betty's after which we spent some time at Castle Howard where we [carefully] pranced through their beautiful daffodils


After touring the castle, Jonas found some unknown reason to grace us with his newly invented pouty face. It makes me laugh every time...especially because if you look closely, you can see his eyes looking up at us - what a character!!


This visit made me miss living near Mayka and her family so much!!!


And here is what we would look like if we continued to consume sticky toffee pudding at the rate we did that weekend...


Once she left we all had to adjust to the new normal. I consoled myself by taking pictures of Nell on her 3 week birthday in this adorable outfit made by Megan. It really did cheer me up.


It just may have had the opposite affect on Nell - she was crying by the time I finished...poor, tolerant girl. Oh, the price of beauty.




A sunny Saturday at the park was another method used to make us feel better after everyone had gone.


It worked better for the kids than it did Devin. He was a very good dad and took Jonas on the zip line that was far too small for him. While it was so cute to watch them, it was a bit tricky (albeit funny) getting off - let's just say I don't think it was too comfortable.


Week 4

This was my week to adjust to getting the kids up and ready for school and somehow work around Nell's feeding schedule.

Nell is so patient and flexible. Not that she has a whole lot of choice, but she goes with the flow happily and I really appreciate that. She is dealing with reflux issues but after trying a medication and having it worsen her problem, the doctor decided to hold off on any other treatment. It causes quit a bit of discomfort at night but she actually sleeps through it while the two of us are wide awake listening to her many noises and grunts. At four weeks, she weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces so it is amazing to me how much noise a baby that size can make.

Nell has spent this month growing out a little mo-hawk which is only happy standing straight up in the air. I find it quite cute and so unique for our family whose children have typically not grown hair for months or even years.

She also tolerated being strapped in a carrier while we went on a hike near our house. Jonas also loved being in his backpack carrier even with a few run-ins with tree branches.


And if you ever can't find Clara, locate Nell and there is a good chance she'll be there. I often find them together looking just like this:



And this is my personal favorite.


The same could be said for Jonas, although I am a bit less trusting of him "cuddling" Nell.



And this is my favorite of Jonas with Nell, where he is trying to see Nell's toes that are completely hidden by her stylin' leg warmers.


Actually, this may be my favorite...when she ignores him (which is more often than not) he pulls out all the stops to get her attention. I mean really, who wouldn't look?


Nell has also been working on a heart melting smile. Case in point:


The more I get to know Nell and see her learning to smile and observe her little world, I realize I just need to be okay with her getting bigger since she is continually bringing so much happiness to our family. It is funny how the second Nell was born, I suddenly couldn't picture life without her anymore.