Happy 1 week Caroline!

Caroline is one week old today! I can not believe how fast time is flying. I am trying to soak up every moment as I know that this phrase will be a recurring one throughout her lifetime.

We came home from the hospital on Thursday, October 18th- our original due date. I was so glad we got to stay another night as we felt much more confident taking care of a newborn than if we would have left the day before like we had planned.  Also, I didn't anticipate how incredibly sore I would be so I was thankful to have the help of the nurses for one more night.

Sweet girl the night before we left the hospital. she had lots of visitors so we had to dress her up cute!

Getting ready to go home. The dress Caroline is wearing is the same one I wore home from the hospital 26.5 years ago. 

Car ride home. Mommy sat in the back with C while daddy drove careful as ever.

On Friday, our first full day home with Caroline we went for our first walk in the stroller. We only went to the end of the street and back.

On Saturday we started getting a little cabin fever. We ran to Hobby Lobby, picked up lunch, then headed to the hospital to see our sweet friends Rich and Renee who had just had their new baby girl Vivvie. I love this picture with Rich and Adam holding their new baby girls.

On Saturday afternoon, my cousin Tiffany and her youngest child Avery came to stay with us from Benton. We loved having them here and Tiffany was a HUGE help since she is mommy of 3 and an R.N. Mostly, I enjoyed her company and it meant so much to me that she came to visit.

On Sunday morning, miss Caroline had her newborn portraits taken by Jessica Ritchie.  Here is a sneak preview I took with my phone. I can't wait to see them!

On Monday Caroline had her first doctor's visit.  She is healthy overall but the pediatrician was a little concerned about her weight.  She weighed in at 7 lbs 4 ounces- down from the 7 lbs 10 ounces she weighed at birth. We will go back for a weight check next Monday. I'm not too concerned since I spoke with the lactation specialist after the visit and she thinks that the weight is fine, especially since little C has been nursing great and filling up plenty of diapers. :) That made this new mama feel much better. After the appointment Caroline and I dropped daddy off at work for his first day back. We were very sad to not have him home with us and couldn't wait for him to get home!

On Monday night, my parents came up. Cece is staying all week (PTL!) and Pappy came up and stayed all day Tuesday with us. They took us to lunch at Gusano's with Unkie Lee and Daddy. We couldn't leave without snapping a pic of Caroline and Pappy. I'm sure this will be the first of many lunch dates.

It's been a busy first week for Caroline. The plan for the rest of the week is to lay low at home. I think I overdid it a bit these first few days as I've very sore the last 2 days and the lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with me.  I'm thankful my mom is here this week to help since Adam is back at work. She is good about making my lay down and not do too much. 

Caroline is such a wonderful baby. Not only is she beautiful, cute, and cuddly... she pretty much put herself on a schedule the day we got home. She nurses every 3 hours on the dot, and caught on to nursing very quickly. She sleeps like a rock in between feedings, and overall is a very happy and content baby. We're blessed not to be fighting reflux or anything else at this time.

We're enjoying every moment with our precious blessing. I just can't believe she's actually ours and we get to keep her. God is so, so, good.