Lots of "firsts"

Lena turned 6 weeks old last Tuesday, which meant it was ok to take her out in public places.  Our pediatrician recommended waiting 6 weeks, so we followed her advice (except for a few doctors visits and 2 outings to church).  I enjoyed our lazy days at home and looked forward to our daily walks (our outing for the day).  But I was so excited to be able to get out and about with her to go do things that I wanted and needed to do.  And we didn't waste any time... in that first week we went to First Colony Mall, Katy Mills Mall, The Mad Potter (a place where you can paint pottery for special occasions - we made a mother's day gift for Mimi and Honey), Target, WalMart, Babies R Us, ... We had so much fun!

We also decided that it was probably time for her to start sleeping in her room in her crib.  She has been sleeping in our room in a pack and play.  We loved having her there so we could keep an eye on her.  She makes all kinds of noises and sounds during the night, so it gave us a chance to figure out what all those sounds mean up close and personal.  So now when I hear it over the monitor, I don't rush in to see what's going on.  She has always been a great sleeper, but now she is doing even better.  She usually sleeps for about 7-8 hours, then I feed her and put her back in bed for another 3-4 hours or so.  So I'm getting great sleep at night and have some time in the morning to get ready and take care of things.  The best thing is that she is sooo happy when she wakes up.  She cries to let me know she's ready, but when I go into her room to get her up she just smiles and is so happy.  I look forward to it every morning.    

Then on Friday, Mimi and Poppa came to stay the night.  They watched Lena (with the help of Aunt Beth) so Cory and I could go to a fundraising dinner.  It was our first time to have a "get-away" together.  She did great, and we had a fun time knowing she was in good hands.  But she decided to wake up at about 10:30 so she could welcome us home.  What a funny girl!  I was happy to be able to rock her to sleep though :)

The next morning, we celebrated Mother's Day early with a nice breakfast.  Cory had some pictures printed and put in some frames, and he got me a beautiful necklace with Lena's birthstone - Aquamarine.  He also made the sweetest card listing the Top Ten Reasons why Lena loves her Mommy.  It was precious!!  After our nice morning together, Mimi, Poppa, Cory, Lena and I headed to El Campo for a wedding.  We were excited to take Lena to her first wedding.  She slept during the whole ceremony, and everyone oohed and aahed over her at the reception.  We had a nice time.

We spent the night with Honey and Pappy and celebrated Mother's Day with them and Brady, Holly, Ryan, Collin, Cooper, and Chloe the next day.  We had a nice morning together, and then we all went to Courtney and Shawn's for Maverick's 3rd birthday party.  It was Lena's first birthday party to attend (besides the one we had for Aunt Beth at our house of course).  Lena was sweet and happy as always.

You can see we had a a special and fun, but very busy weekend.  So it's no surprise that Miss Lena slept for 9 hours last night and then for another 3 and a half hours this morning after eating.  I think we wore that girl out, and I'm sure she was just so happy to be back at home and sleeping in her crib.

Lena is really smiling a lot.  She smiles at people and is definitely doing it as a response.  She is even starting to "talk" a little.  She moves her mouth when we talk to her and seems to be trying so hard.  You can tell in her eyes that she has so much to say but just can't get it out.  It's so sweet.  I can't wait to hear all the funny and sweet things she is going to say one day.

We have a lot to look forward to this weekend.  Aunt Claire is coming to visit all the way from Wisconsin.  This will be her first time to meet Lena, so it will be a special visit.  She's coming by herself this time, but she'll be coming back in June with Christian.  I cannot wait to see him, and I know it's going to be fun to see his reaction to Baby Lena.  On Sunday we will be baptizing Lena.  We are so happy to celebrate our precious blessing in such a special way.