Hip Hip

Hooray for baby Hallie being here!
Hooray for a safe and healthy labor and delivery!
Hooray for a healthy, happy and thriving little girl!
Hooray for family coming to visit!
Hooray for cute little outfits and bows and lots of pink!

And maybe.... just maybe... most of all....

HOORAY for not being pregnant anymore :) (But really...)

Well, little Hallie Grace Hillam has been here with us for 5 days now. Oh my gosh. Who knew a newborn baby could bring you so much joy!

Labor and Delivery will go in a post of it's own (mainly because I don't remember any of the details and Eric isn't here to fill me in). This post is just about what it's been like to be parents to an angel for the past 5 days.

We've learned a lot about baby care these past few days, Hallie has been an excellent teacher. She's incredibly patient with us and doesn't mind too much when we do these wrong, but she lets us know so we can fix it.

We've learned that Hallie likes to eat about 20 minutes after she wakes up. Do it too early and she'll just pretend to eat. Do it too late, and she's too tired and won't stay awake long enough to eat.

We've learned that Hallie loves tummy time! The first time we did it (Day 2) she just lifted up her head and turned it from side to side. The next time we did it, she kept her head down and focused on getting her knees up underneath her. She looked like she was ready to take off.

We've learned that Hallie sleeps amazingly when she's swaddled tight. (I'm not talking muslin blanket swaddled, I'm talking those awesome velcro swaddle pod things. LIFE SAVER!) The first time we swaddled her in that, she slept from 11 pm til 5 am! It was incredible! Last night, we did it again and she slept from 2 am until 8 am. Those are 6 hour intervals you guys. So lucky. Hopefully this keeps up, cause we are loving getting 6 + hours of sleep every night.

We've learned that little Rock n' Play sleepers are incredible. We don't have a Fischer Price one, but we bought something similar from Ingenuity (cheaper and more awesome, get it at Walmart!). It vibrates and rocks, puts stars on the celing and plays music, we love it and she loves it.

We've learned that Hallie only really gets fussy when she's gassy. If she's hungry, she won't cry, she'll just stick her toungue out or suck on her fingers and wait patiently to be fed.

We learned that Hallie loves to hear her Mom and Dad's voices. If someone else is holding her and she gets fussy, all she needs to hear is a few words of affirmation from her Daddy. She quiets right down and turns her head to whatever direction she can hear them from. She also knows instantly when she is in her mom's arms and will settle down right away. I love finally being  "the mom" the only one that can make that baby settle down no problem simply because I'm her mom. I've been around little kids my whole life and have ALWAYS thought about how great that would be one day.

Hallie has been talking/singing in her sleep from day one. It melts my heart. She will be sound asleep,  but go on for ever just cooing and humming and singing. It's adorable.

So far Hallie loves riding in the car. It kind of confuses her I think because the second the car turns on, she freezes! She'll stay completely still and just take it all in. It's so cute!

Something Eric and I have yet to figure out, is the proper time to change Hallie's diaper. We'll check and see that she has a dirty diaper, so we'll start to change her. About 50% of the time, we are unsuccesful. We'll start cleaning her up, and then out of no where, she'll start going potty in the middle of her diaper change. Poor Eric has been dirtied up quite badly several times. One time, in effort to keep her from making a huge mess, he just cupped his hand and caught everything.... that was still in her Meconium days... so it wasn't pretty.

Oh man, I could go on and on. We've learned so much and have had so much fun doing it. Last night, Eric, Hallie and I all just laid on the bed together for an hour and just soaked each other in. I love those moments. No rush, no fuss, just loving being together.