No Worries

It’s amazing the difference that one week can make.

I don’t think that Brooklyn has really been that much less fussy lately than she was last couple of weeks, but we are definitely handling it better. Travis and I were just talking about that last night. It’s still frustrating when she cries and we can’t figure out why, but we don’t get mad at her. For the first few weeks, the crying really got under our skin, and we definitely got angry…at her and each other. I think the lack of sleep plus being rookies at this whole parenting thing will do that to you. But, we’re doing better! I haven’t cried in several days (success!), and we don’t feel so overwhelmed like we did at first.

That’s not to say that Brooklyn hasn’t been doing better…because she has! She’s slept in her crib the past several nights and done really well. Last night, Travis even put her in the crib at 10:15 PM still awake, and she went to sleep on her own! She slept in the crib all night long (in between feedings) until 7:45 AM this morning! We sleep so much better when she’s in her own room, so it will be huge if she keeps this up. She also let us put her in her swing last night while we ate supper, and she didn’t cry at all. Another success! She is still wanting to be held a lot, but I’m getting used to doing things one-handed. It’s amazing what you can learn to do while holding a baby. (Although I did manage to break part of Travis’s coffee grinder yesterday when I knocked it on the floor because I was trying to move it while holding B…oops.)

Yesterday around lunchtime, Brooklyn was asleep in my arms, but I needed to get ready and eat because we had somewhere to be at 1 PM. I decided I would try to lay her in the crib…a risky move since most of the time she wakes up and starts crying when I set her down. This time, to my surprise, she woke up briefly but went right back to sleep! I didn’t know what to do with my new freedom. I knew better than to try to take a shower because that would be a surefire way to guarantee she woke up. Instead, as fast as I could, I washed my face, brushed my teeth and hair, put on makeup, got dressed, made the bed…and she was still asleep! Wow! My next move was even more bold. I decided to heat up soup for lunch…and eat it at the kitchen table! While I was getting lunch ready, I called my mom to let her know of my good fortune. We talked for a few minutes, and I put my bowl on the table. I sat down in the chair, was about to take my first bite, and WAAAAAAAAH! She has impeccable timing :) I still ate my soup at the table….I just had to hold B while doing it. Oh well…we’re getting there!

By the way, Brooklyn is officially in the double digits now! We had her weighed on Friday, and she was 10 lbs, 3.1 oz. No wonder she’s starting to outgrow some of her clothes!

Mom and Dad came on Saturday, so we all enjoyed that. Dad hadn’t seen B since she was a day old! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of them…

I haven’t mentioned much lately about anything non-Brooklyn going on…mostly because there isn’t much! :) Actually, Travis is still training for a full marathon. It’s a month from tomorrow in Nashville! You want to talk about crazy? How crazy were we to think it would be a good idea for him to train for a marathon with a newborn baby at home?? Obviously, we had no idea what we were in for, but I’m so proud of him for sticking with it. He runs 4 days a week, and 3 of those days are after working all day! Last night, he ran 9 miles when he got home. His longest run so far was 18 miles on Saturday in the cold and rain, but he did great. He’s got a lot of willpower and dedication, that’s for sure. So proud!

We’re also preparing for Travis to be furloughed starting in another month or so. Unfortunately, we get to pay the price because our government can’t stick to a budget. Yippee. There’s never a good time for a 20% pay cut, but it’s ironic that it would happen when I’m not working AND we have a new baby at home. Luckily, we have money saved for a “rainy day fund”, so we’re trying not to get too worried about it. Hopefully, the furlough will only last through September, and then things will go back to normal. In the meantime, we’re choosing to look on the bright side. At least, Travis will have one more day at home each week with B! After all, she won’t be this little for long :)

Words to remember…

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” ~ Matthew 6:25-31