Little Miss Six Week Old...

Hannah was six weeks old last Wednesday.

I seriously think that with every child I have had, the time during the first few months flies by more quickly.

And, as a six week birthday gift from Hannah to us, she gave us 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Since then, she has increased her blessing of sleep to us. Most nights I can nurse between 10:30 and 11:30 and she won't wake up until sometime between 6:30 and 7:30. On Sunday, we had to wake her up at 8:00 so that we would get to church on time.

I whispered in her ear that morning that she was my "favorite" child.

Don't worry....I DO NOT have favorites...

but for that short moment she was!

She is simply a delight! She smiles all the time. She only cries when she is hungry, has a wet or dirty diaper, wants a new position, or is tired. She's a very easy baby to read.


She hates being held in the cradle position, except to nurse. She prefers to be upright so she can hold up her head and push up with her feet. She LOVES her daddy, big brother and big sister and loves all the activity in our home. She continually delights the "grandmas" in the nursery and they continually fight over her and tell me of how she smiles and smiles at them.

She is such a joy, and loves to cuddle with mommy and daddy. She is also our first "spit-upy" baby, so we both have several outfit changes per day.


But she is definitely worth it.

Oh, and, have I mentioned she LOVES to smile?

Blessings...

Even though my parents live 6 hours away, they have been very involved with our children's lives. They have watched our kiddos countless times for weekends away, youth and other various retreats, trips to Colorado, and our 10 year anniversary cruise last November. They have watched the kids at their home near Bismarck, ND, and have also driven to Brainerd many times.

They are amazing grandparents!

I remember the first time we left Sammy overnight. Brad and I were headed to a weekend marriage retreat in Duluth, and we left not quite 1 year old Sammy at our house with Grandma and Papa.

I cried the first 10 minutes after we drove away.

I am not kidding.

I also left a 7 page note, that's right folks, 7 pages of detailed notes about Sammy's schedule, food menu, medicine and other bits of information about how to run the furnace and the VCR.

Again, I am not kidding.

My mom told me months later she and dad cracked up when they read my "note."

"As if we haven't raised children or know how to adjust the temperature..." they said to each other while chuckling at my insane details.

Yes, I am a bit of a control freak...but I assure you I have toned down since then. I think my last note for my parents when we left the kiddos with them in February was about a page long.

Either I've toned down or I've realized that any question Grandma would need answered, Sammy is fully capable of answering...or Sammy thinks she is capable of answering.

If you've met Sammy you would know that Sammy knows everything about everything and is not afraid to admit it.

Prayers (and advice) for how to parent "the child who knows everything" would be greatly appreciated!

Anyway, my parents weren't able to come down right away to see Hannah, but did make it down within her first 2 weeks of life.

They simply could not get enough of my sweet baby girl.


My mom just kept crying when she first held Hannah. I know it was a pretty special time for her because she had always wished she would have had more children.


My dad was pretty smitten with her as well. There is nothing my dad likes better than rocking babies...


...well, that and letting my pre-schoolers play doctor with him.


And his broken arm was the perfect excuse for him to need his own doctor and nurse.


Caleb had to put his medical skills to good use too.


I am so grateful for their visit, no matter how short it was. I am also grateful at how they love and grandparent my kids. Sammy, Caleb, and Hannah (and Brad and I) are truly blessed!

Will I ever learn?

I currently am having a love/hate relationship with our new iMac. While I really love how much better, faster, and easier to use it is, I have STILL not figured out iPhoto. I can only access and edit pictures when I'm logged under Brad's account and then I have to export those photos to another folder in our "shared documents" to be able to pull them up under my log in.

And with all the extra time I have, this has not been frustrating at all.

Did you all catch the sarcasm in my voice?

Anywho...I will get it figured out. I just would like the whole process to take me less than a couple of hours to actually do.

Okay, moving on...

Little Miss Hannah was six weeks yesterday. It has completely flown by. She is such a good baby and such a joy. She has now given us 2 nights in a row of 6-7 hours of sleep.

I cannot tell you what it feels like to get that much sleep in a row. You begin to realize how much you were living in a fog...and you start thanking God that nothing happened to your children when you were in that state.

The fact that all of my children are still alive and are being feed daily equates success in my book.

Now I would be posting cute pics of Hannah, but I'm still having trouble getting them from the camera to iPhoto to the shared account to my blog.

Not that it is frustrating or anything...

Okay, I'm really moving on this time.

Near the end of my pregnancy, I began to realize that I was going to be needing some extra help. My parents weren't sure if they were going to be able to come right away, and so I asked Brad's mom to come shortly after my due date. She was a bit leery of doing this since she had flown once before to my sister in laws around her due date with her first child...and missed the actual birth. But I assured her that my doctor would induce me shortly after my due date and since there are only a couple of babies delivered each day in Brainerd, there would be plenty of room for me.

Reason #191 to live in a small town! That and the fact that I know all my doctors and nurses by name and some even have kids in our youth group!

So she flew up from North Carolina 3 days after Hannah arrived, and IT WAS SUCH A BLESSING!


Not only did she get to see Hannah so soon after she was born, but she was such a great help to me during that first 2 weeks.

Betty is a great lady, and I'm so blessed to have her as a mother in law. She is so eager to help and genuinely wants to please me and my sister in laws. And even though I'm a bit of a control freak...

just a little bit...

I eventually took my husband's and my mom's and Betty's advice and actually let her help.

It only took me about 6 or 7 days into her visit to let her do this.

Being a control freak is not that much fun when life is overwhelming you and you STILL think you should being doing everything yourself.

But, that is topic for another time...

So sweet Betty did my dishes...and taught Sammy to wash them as well.


She made homemade shortcake and whip cream with the kids.


She sang songs with the kids at night and taught them some that Grandma Aust only knows.


She played play -do.


She read countless books to eager little ears.


And still she managed to find the time to hold little Hannah.


Thank you Mom for all you did. Thank you for gently reminding me that I couldn't do it all and that it was okay to ask for help.

Back in the saddle again...

Tonight I went on a run.

Well, it was more like a jog, but that's beside the point.

I exercised pretty religiously up until the day...you heard me right....the very day I went into labor.

While that sounds really great, despite my many miles on the treadmill and elliptical machine, I still managed to gain 40 pounds.

But let's not dwell on that little note!

Anyway, Hannah is going to be 6 weeks on Wednesday. SIX WEEKS! I still can't believe it. And aside from an occasional walk here and there, I have not exercised at all since having her. After realizing that I've only lost about 20 of the previously noted 40 pounds, I told Brad this weekend that I HAD to start running again.

So tonight, after putting Sammy and Caleb to bed at 8:00 and nursing Hannah shortly thereafter, I was out the door.

And it was glorious...simply glorious!

I'm not sure what exactly made it glorious. Maybe it was just having my running clothes and shoes on again. Or it could have been listening to my running music on my MP3 player. Maybe it was the cool evening or the crescent moon or feeling the pavement under my feet. Perhaps it was the fact that I had 20 minutes outdoors...alone. Just me, my praise music, the fresh air, and my Savior.

For those of you who don't know, I am NOT a runner. I started running in high school just because it was the best way I felt for me to stay in shape. I don't love running like some people out there.

You know who you are...

But I enjoy what running does for me. It helps me lose weight, makes me feel good, and it gives me some precious time to myself.

I ran about 2 miles, and aside from a really slow pace, it felt just like it did a couple of months ago. I felt rejuvenated, awake and alert, and grateful to have some time to myself on a beautiful May evening.

So tonight I am grateful. Grateful to my husband for holding a fussy baby so I could run. Grateful for the motivation to actually start running again. Grateful that I even have the ability to run for any length of time.

But most of all, I'm grateful for the precious time I had to review my day, time to listen to some encouraging music, and time to praise God for who He is and what He continues to do in my life.

Singing in the rain...

just singing in the rain...


what a glorious feeling...


I'm happy again.

Little Miss Four Week Old...

Hannah Joy is 4 weeks old today.

Seriously, where did the time go?

(Oh, and this picture is a few days old since I'm still having trouble sinking our pics to our Mac...she isn't that yellow anymore!)


We are so grateful for our little Hannah. She is beginning to smile, holds her head up like a pro, and is so very content.

I can count on one hand how many fussy evenings she has had. Her cries are usually very easy to remedy...aside from those few nights.

She usually gives us at least one 4 hour block each night...but it's usually from 10 to 3 a.m. We really need to get our act together and actually go to sleep right after her 10:00 p.m. feeding!

She loves music and any noise in particular.

She loves being held, and rarely cries when she is being held by her siblings.


Aside from her laid back and mellow personality, the thing I love most about her is how she gazes at people. She is able to maintain great eye contact...even though Brad insists that she stares at his hair and not his eyes! Sometimes I feel like she's peering into my soul!

She loves to cuddle, and she is often fought over in the nursery.

She is the perfect little addition to our family. Happy 4 week birthday little girl!