Weigh In

Today started with an interesting turn of events.  Jenna woke up this morning crying at 6:30.  I got up with her and all she wanted to do was cuddle.  That is NOT my Jenna.  She is usually happiest in the morning and a VERY independent little girl.  She had an extremely runny nose and a pretty good cough.  I decided to take her to the doctor, because I didn't want her getting me or Shelby sick. 

We headed off to the doctor's office.  Jenna weighed in at 21 pounds fully dressed, diapered, and shoed.  We saw Dr. Best and sure enough something was wrong... an ear infection in the right ear.  So we got some medicine to help clear it up.

While at the doctor's office my mom (who works there) weighed Shelby too.  In only a onesie (no diaper) Shelby weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces.  That's 2 ounces shy of a 2 pound gain 4 weeks.  She is definately a growin' girl! 

Mommy has been bad and not taken many pictures of the girls in the last few days, so there are none to share with this post.  I will try to post some pictures next time!

Hi Shelby

Jenna has started saying the cutest thing.  "Hi Shelby"  I comes out more as a "Hi Delby" but you can clearly understand that she is trying to say hi to her baby sister.  She commonly says it when Shelby cries or fusses, or when Jenna wonders where the baby is.  It's cute, she will walk around the house and say hi Shelby, hi Shelby, until she figures out where in the house Shelby is.  I guess you might say Jenna is a very caring big sister!

Lately

It seems like I haven't given an update on everyone lately.  Things have been rather quiet, as we are starting to find a routine and schedule for the family. 

Jenna got a new tooth over the weekend, which makes #10 (a bottom molar).  She has started saying mine, bye bye, baby, nummy nummy, and answering questions by shaking her head (usually she responds yes even if she doesn't mean it).  She is adjusting to Shelby rather well and has only had one rough day with her. 

Shelby's umbilical cord fell off and the belly button looks really good.  She has starting taking baby-tub bathes and loves them (unlike Jenna at this age).  She is starting to have some awake time during the day and has slept 5 hour stretches the last several nights.  Her neck is definately getting stronger as she is starting to lift her head and look around a bit. 

Christa is starting to feel much better.  I am adjusting well to having 2 kids, though I am still a bit nervous to go out in public much with no other adults and both girls. 

Lance has been very helpful around the house and with both of the girls.  He has really been helping with outside chores, food preparation, and keeping the kids occupied while mommy tries to get things done. 

On Saturday, we had the Rentchler Family over to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday.  We had a nice time visiting with Poppy, Grammy, Carla and Ciara.  Today, we spent the day a home enjoying each other's company.  It was a rather low key day, which was very nice.  Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there!

John Deere

It all started with a friend of ours sending Jenna a 12 month pink John Deere onesie as a baby shower gift.

Then Lance got Jenna toys at the Louisville Farm Machinery Show when she was only a week and a half old.  She has finally started playing with them in the last couple of months.

Then Lance saw our nephew Kent's John Deere teether, and he just had to get Jenna one of those too!

Almost a year ago, Lance took a job with Vincennes Tractor, a John Deere dealer.  Since then, the girls collection of green and yellow gear has grown leaps and bounds.  Recently, we added Take and Toss cups....

because Theresa (the babysitter) was raving about John Deere sippy cups.  The cups she was talking about were made by One Step Up and are insulated.  She said they were the best sippy cups ever, so Lance decided we had to have some of those, too!  That ended up being quite a challenge, because the sippy cups were discontinued a while back.  No worries, he found them and purchased several packages.

I must admit, they are nice cups.

Next, Lance decided Jenna had to have a big sister gift from Daddy.  He got Jenna a Wave & Go Tractor.  This tractor senses motion and moves on it's own.

Neither Jenna, nor her mommy, are huge fans of the tractor.  It's hard to get used to a toy moving everytime you walk past it.

It does have one really neat feature.  When it runs into something, it automatically reverses itself! 

Lance doesn't only take care of the little girls, he takes care of the bigger one too!  Momma got a gift, one that he requested not be used for a while.  Momma got a dumping utility cart to pull behind the lawn mower.  Lance and Jenna had to give it a spin, to make sure the mower could pull it!

Yep, mower did a good job pulling the cart and its precious cargo!

Lance asked if I liked it.  I told him I liked the cart, but not all the work that goes along with it!  I do look forward to it assisting me in some of the yard and landscape work that needs to be done.

Shelby's First at Home Photo Shoot!

I took lots of pictures (something like 141) of Shelby for her birth announcement.  I will share a few of my favorites.  For those of you who have seen them already, I have another post below.

Tiny little hands

 Tiny little feet

A precious

baby girl

is ohhh....

sooooo sweet!

....most of the time

 

I FORGOT...

It's amazing how much you forget, and how quickly you forget it.  As a mother of a toddler, I forgot...
...how small a newborn baby is
...how much a newborn baby sleeps
...how easy it is to change the diaper of someone who barely moves
...how hard it is to dress a newborn
...how easy it is to dress someone who doesn't fight you
...how burping often produces spit-up
...how hard it is to give a bath to a newborn
...how easy it is to give a bath to a newborn
...how much your heart grows when your family grows

I am sure there are more things I have forgotten... feel free to help me add to the list!

8 days, 1st Dr Visit

Dr. Best had requested to see Shelby when she was one week old.  Today, at 8 days old, we went to visit Grammy at work and see Dr. Best.  Shelby is doing very well and the doctor said she checked out perfect!  She is up to 7 lbs 9 ounces, one ounce shy of her birth weight of 7 lbs 10 ozs and 7 ounces of growth since we left the hospital.  She measured 21 inches, growth of a half inch (maybe she has just had a little room to stretch out)!

Shelby has grown accustomed to a 3 hour schedule for nursing.  It's not an exact science yet, but she is becoming pretty regular.  Last night we actually went 2 blocks of 4 hours between feedings.  She has had her first couple of bathes at home and didn't cry or even fuss for them.  Overall, she has been a very good and pretty easy baby.

Big Sister Gifts

Jenna has received several "big sister" gifts.  At the hospital she received a picture frame from Matt, Carla, and Ciara.  The other gifts are mostly hoping to provide her with entertainment while she is at home with mommy and Shelby on maternity leave.  Mommy and Daddy purchased Jenna a little swimming pool and some bubble supplies on Memorial Day Monday (we haven't broken into the bubbles yet).  The pool made it to the deck just before it rain Monday.  We did not get it filled the rest of the way up on Monday and then ended up in the hospital very early Tuesday morning.  On Saturday, we finally got around to filling up the pool.  Jenna was very interested in the pool and watching the water hose fill it up; however, she did not like getting sprayed!

If I use the watering can, will it get full faster?

As I mentioned in my previous post, Stanley and Janet came to visit Saturday.  Jenna recieved a package of board puzzles as a big sister gift.

 While we were visiting the pool water had a chance to warm up a little before we made our maiden voyage to the swimming pool.  At first Jenna didn't know what to think.

She was very surprised (we have started seeing this face a lot lately).

I think she liked the water, but she was very nervous about getting in.

 So she played pool-side for a while... and talked things over with Daddy.

Then she decided it was time to get in...

and splash, splash, splash, play, giggle, and have fun!

Sunday, brought a few more new things for Jenna, including a new Elmo book, Elmo plush....

and Elmo cell phone from Ivan, Angel, Kaity and Kent.

I am not sure she has stopped babbling on the phone since Daddy opened it!

Thank you everyone for the presents for Jenna and helping include her in all the newness going on around here!

Hofmann Family Visits

We were blessed to have visitors over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Stanley and Janet came down to visit Jenna and meet Shelby.

Janet holds Shelby...

... while Stanley plays with Jenna

then Stanley got some time with his new Granddaughter.

who was completely knocked out!

I believe Jenna and Shelby both really enjoyed spending time with their Grandparents!

Sunday brought more company and more visits for the girls!  Ivan, Angel, Kaity, and Kent came to visit.  Jenna really enjoyed playing with her cousins.  

She did a wonderful job sharing her toys...

Kaity really enjoyed holding Shelby

Kent was excited about his new cousin, too!

 and we even got a couple shots of the Hofmann Cousins

 We are greatful for the time spent with family over the weekend, for all their kindness and thoughfulness!  We hope they all made it home safely and look forward to seeing them again soon!

Homeward Bound

We decided to snap a few pictures while we were waiting for the 2pm blood draw that would finish off our time in the hospital.  Shelby's personality is already shining through....

I'm getting tired of waiting....

 Posing for the camera

A little after 2pm she got her last blood draw / heel prick and didn't even cry!  She is such a brave little girl!  We got all packed up and headed for home.

We would like to say a special thank you to my mom and dad (aka Grammy and Poppy Rentchler).  They have been a tremendous help to Lance, Shelby and I!  They took Jenna to daycare each day we were were in the hospital and kept her over night throughout the week.  I believe they had a good time together and we really appreciate the help they provided.  We love you and thank you Grammy and Poppy Rentchler.

Day 1

First of all, I would like to thank Carla for updating our blog last night to share pictures and news of Miss Shelby with all of you.  We are all getting along well and hope to get released from the hospital tomorrow afternoon.  Today, we got to spend some time with Shelby and then with both the girls before we had some evening visitors.

Lance treated me to a nice "new mommy" or I love you gift.  A beautiful carousel picture frame. 

He had it engraved.

If you can't read the engraving (because of the glare) it reads "Family Is Life's Greatest Blessing   The Hofmanns"

He also got me some Bath and Body Works smelly lotions.

While I fed Shelby, Lance went and got Jenna from the babysitters and we spent some time together, just the four of us.  I am not sure that Jenna knew what to think of Shelby or that Shelby knew what to think of Jenna.  Overall, the interactions were very good.  Jenna held Shelby and even gave her several kisses.

Mommy and her girls

Daddy holding Shelby.

Until next time.... good night.

A Family of 3...

...became a family of 4 today when Miss Jenna May became the

to Miss Shelby Leigh at 2:01pm. Shelby weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and is 20 1/2" long.

Mommy and Shelby are doing great!

Daddy is too, but Miss Jenna isn't really sure what to think.

This introduction was brought to you by proud Aunt Carla.