7 weeks and counting

Over the past couple of weeks, we've enjoyed seeing the subtle changes in Brielle. She's starting to smile every once in a while(Aubyn thinks only at her). She's sleeping better most of the time anyway. There have been a few times where she's slept from 11:00 at night until around 5:00. Of course Aubyn woke up and checked on her every half hour after 3:00 so her sleep is still limited but we're making progress. The next night she slept 2 and a half hours at at time. It's been a continued challenge finding time for our normal life activities such as cleaning the house, working out, talking with each other and just relaxing. We're surviving but sometimes it feels like just barely. It's an adventure that's for sure. Luckily we like adventures.
Over this past weekend, our friends Nick and Amy came to visit with their girls Kate and Brooke. It was a fun weekend seeing them. They are very good friends of ours and we basically consider them family.
Tomorrow we have to take Brielle in to get her shots. That might be interesting.

Missouri trip

Are we crazy? Probably. Do we care? No. After nearly 5 weeks of only heading at furthest 12 miles away to Walmart, we decided to take a trip to southern Missouri to see my cousin Robby coach in the final 8 of his class. Only minutes into the game I could see that his basketball experience, and overall care for the kids makes him an outstanding coach. He coached a very good game, the kids played a good game and they ended up losing a heartbreaker when the other team scored with less than 2 seconds left to put them up 2. Afterwards we spent time with Robby and Erin in Springfield, as well as the next day in Bolivar. Those two are quite a pair and enjoy spending time with them. Sunday we drove to Des Moines where we stayed at Curt and Nancy's home. On Monday we watched Nick Harthoorn(college roommate) coach his team to a victory at the state tournament. After that we stopped in Elk Horn to stay at my parents' place. It was a very long and challenging learning experience traveling with the little one. We stayed in Kansas City the first night, Springfield the second, Des Moines the third, Elk Horn the 4th. Through it all, it was very much worth it to see everyone that we did including Robby, Erin, Susan, Rod, Curt, Nancy, Jake, Nick, Amy, Joel, Kurt, Arloa, Reggie, Daira, Mom, Dad, Jerome and Jacey.

4th week(more pics)

Well this week went by pretty fast. She'll be in school before we know it. Actually this week Aubyn's sister Lynnae came back and is staying with us. She is great with Brielle. This probably because she's a neonatal intensive care nurse. Two nights this week Bri slept pretty good in the night, on one night sleeping from 10:30 until 3! Not bad. The other nights weren't quite as good. Either way Aubyn is doing a great job of handling it and Lynnae has helped alot. Some of the pictures in this post are of my cousin Owen's 7th grade game that I got to watch him coach. Also, Jerome's final game as a Red Raider, which is sad. Jerome's had a great attitude through it all and really didn't want the season to end. The next morning I got to help out at Owen's 7th grade practice. The Kid's love Owen and he does a great job with them. I had a lot of fun. Right now I'm just watching Brielle sleep. She's doing good now but the last couple of days she's been sleeping for what seems like an hour at a time at most. Regardless of what she's doing, she's a cute baby. Take note of my sweatshirt in the first picture, it's wet but not from the bath. Good times!

Thanks Grandmas!

This past week we are able to have both grandmas help out on a pretty much full time basis. Tuesday and Wednesday Elaine spent each day here helping out around the house. Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday, my mom was able to stay here. We really appreciate both of them giving there time to help us out, especially as Brielle has been a handful at times. Regardless of how tough she's been to figure out, the whole experience has been great. Of course, that's me speaking. Aubyn is the one who has to get up with her in the night. Luckily there have been some times I've been able to share in some of the duties at night. Aubyn has done a great job with it all though and takes most of the workload. We got to attend the NWC senior night on saturday. Jerome is the only senior and when they spoke about him the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He'll be missed by his teammates for sure and he's so well liked around campus that everyone enjoys when he gets in. It was good to see him get in and contribute even though the team came up one point short in the end. His 2nd grade class that he student teaches came to the game to surprise him and then lit up with excitement when he talked to them afterwards. We're awefully proud of Jerome for being Jerome.

It's been a while

It's almost been a week since my last post and I think too much has happened to recall. To start, on Sunday Brielle threw a super bowl party and invited my cousin Owen, his wife Leah and two girls Clara and Elsie as well as my cousin Lisa all from Sioux Falls. It was alot of fun to see them and them see Brielle. They are some awesome family that we enjoy spending time with. Unfortunately no pics were taken...my bad! Wednesday my parents came up early for Jerome and Jacey's game(both played=we won;). Aubyn and Brielle even made it to the game. It's alot of fun for us and Grandma and Grandpa to spend some time with Brielle, we look forward to more of them. There have been a couple rough nights and one tough day especially for Aubyn as Brielle doesn't clean her room and go to bed when she's asked. For now we'd settle for her to simply fall asleep and keep sleeping at 3:00am. No allowance for her this week. We've gotten meals and gifts from friends, neighbors and family. We appreciate everything and most of all enjoy them all sharing in our happiness. I hope to include some pictures of those gifts at some point. Here are some random pictures mostly from this week.

Going Home

On Thursday we left the wonderful staff at the hospital and headed home. It was an emotional day but a very good day as we got to introduce Brielle into her home. We are very grateful for the hospital staff especially Dr. Shepard who performed the C-section and Gwen Starkweather as well as the entire nursing staff who took care of us and our new little one. We are also very thankful for each of our friends and family who stopped by or sent packages. I know there have been several times where Aubyn has commented that many of her friends have had such encouraging advice. We do appreciate each of you. Above are some pictures from the past few days at home. Little Bri is sleeping good for the most part although at times is like her father and refuses to go to bed right after a meal as we'd like. Unfortunately there is no nurse to help us now. When Tina, one of the nurses asked us if she could do anything else for us, we told her she could come help at home. She laughed, but we were serious:)

Is she changing already???

Question: Am I over the top with the pictures and posts on the blog and am I overly obsessed? Answer: Debatable but probable. Question: Do I care and will I apologize for that? Not a chance. We can't stop watching her every movement and smiling at her little faces. Things are going good, Aubyn is getting more and more attached with that motherly instinct kicking in. I'm very proud of her for already taking such good care of little Brielle. Feedings are going much better and she has dad's appetite which is good. After one day she was down to 6 lbs 15oz. After two day she's back to 7lbs 2oz. Hopefully nothing but up from here. Pictures above include the first time we bathed her and washed her hair. And yes, I think I'll continue being obsessed:)

Visitors for Brielle

Brielle has been introduced to alot of people in her less than 24 hour lifetime. Aubyn's mom Elaine was the on-call nurse who wasn't allowed to be in the surgery room during the process but was able to be there shortly after to see us and of course little Bri. Aubyn's sister Kalie as well as my brothers Jerome and Jacey were all able to stop by a few hours later. It's great to have all of them so close by. My mom and dad along with sister Jaime drove up this morning and will be back again in a couple days. Aubyn's sister Elise drove from Minneapolis last night with her daughter Addison. Addison is two and is excited to share her toys with "cousin Brielle". Each family member has enjoyed holding her and are reluctant to give up their time once they've got her. It was so good to see each one of them meet her and react to seeing the miracle that God has blessed us with.