1 Month

Darcy is one month old today! I know everyone says it, but it really has gone by so fast. Most people count four weeks but Drew said if she was born on the 30th her month birthday is the 30th. So I am honoring his wishes and making a post today. :)

Things we want to remember about Darcy's first month:

- 10 lbs. 15 oz.! 22 inches. Not having any trouble eating or packing on the pounds.

- We have to scrub the creases of her neck rolls because spit-up sits in them and it stinks.

- Grown out of some of her newborn clothes.

- Car rides always put her to sleep.

- We have had some rough crying episodes because of gas, especially at night. Week 3 was pretty hard because of it. Mylicon drops are our new best friend.

- Blonde is starting to show up at her the roots of her hair.

- People stop us in the stores to tell us how beautiful she is. The cheeks and hair are a big hit. We love it.

- She looks almost exactly like pictures of her mom as a baby.

- She is a noisy eater!

- Follows us around the room with her eyes, holds her head up quite a bit, and smiles on accident.
Close up.
Hanging out with Drew.
I had to post this one. Check out those dance moves!


Not really much going on, just some cute baby noises.

Ode to the In-Laws!

This post has been a long time coming...way too long!! As I have mentioned a few times before, within 9 days of each other we had a baby and moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, two major things that by themselves would have been overwhelming. How did we manage to get all of our things from Washington to Pittsburgh when we were living in Philadelphia? Drew's amazing parents!! Almost no one else in the whole world would have volunteered to drive an uncomfortable moving truck all the way across the country for someone else. When they told us they were going to do that I was in shock. What a huge gift! Not only did they drive across the country with our things, but they helped us search for housing after I pulled a fast one on everyone, they unloaded the truck and unpacked boxes (Becky even insisted that I sit down and not lift a finger), fed us, helped take care of the baby, and a bunch of other things that are all so amazing.

Drew is so lucky to have them for parents, I am so lucky to have them as in-laws, and now Darcy is so lucky to have them for grandparents. Thank you so much Neil and Becky! We love you.

P.S. I have been kicking myself for not taking any pictures of Darcy with them when they were here. They got Darcy this cute onsie that says, "someone at Carnegie Mellon loves me", so that was going to be the picture for this post. I tried to make this post a few days ago but when we went to take the picture she spit-up all down the front of her shirt. Sad! So that was the reason for the delay.
Out of all the pictures we took this was the best one. I tried to make it so you could see the words on her shirt better, but it just wasn't working out. If you zoom in you can see much better.

Ta-Dah!

Here are the tutu pictures you all have been waiting for! I chose a bad time for a photo shoot, and I was really lucky to get two pretty good pictures of her. It wasn't her happiest moment. After we tried the tutu pictures she fell asleep and I wrapped her up in this super soft pink blanket and took some more pictures. I need something new for a background, but really all I have is this black one. My sister Haley (for all you sad souls who don't know her) is really a photoshop genius and I sent my pictures to her and she fixed them all up and played around with the colors. I love how they turned out! The secret about the second tutu picture was that right as I snapped the picture she spit up big time and there was a white pool of spit of by her mouth, but Haley took that out and voila! Thanks Haley!

My Mom!

It has been a week since my mom went home and it's hard for me to believe I have survived without her! I seriously can't see how anyone survives having a baby (especially their first baby) without their mom. It was so great to have her here. Not only did I have a baby, but I had to move, and I barely lifted a finger. She and Drew packed our whole apartment. She stayed up with the baby when she cried and let me get some extra sleep (I'm especially missing that part!) and we ate like kings for those two weeks (oh wait I'm especially missing that part too)! When we got to Pittsburgh we thought we had an apartment all lined up, but when we actually saw it and found out it was in the middle of the ghetto it was back to the drawing board which was almost more stressful than I could handle. My mom paid for a hotel for us and helped us search for a different apartment and helped lower my stress level significantly, something she has been having to deal with my entire life unfortunately :). My kitchen and a lot of the other places in my apartment are put together and organized thanks to her too. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but the last thing I will mention is that she helped me figure out how to take care of Darcy in a million little ways.

I am so grateful for my mom and that she was so willing to come and help us and have fun with us for those two weeks. We couldn't have done it without her. Love you Mom!
My mom and Darcy hanging out on the couch.

My mom and Darcy at the APX pool party. Darcy was six days old.

My mom's specialties are breads and pies. I wish I had a better picture of this one. The crust was perfectly golden and flaky. The best chicken pot pie ever!

Waffles with peaches and whipped cream for breakfast...delectable! (Another morning we had waffles with some delicious mixed berry sauce my mom made up.)
Seriously the best apple pie ever! (My mom said because I was nursing I was extra hungry and all the food was more exciting to me than normal, but it really was just delicious.)

One of the many fabulous batches of banana muffins.

Photo Shoot!

I just barely took these pictures but I was so excited about the outcome I couldn't wait to post them. I have seen lots of pictures lately of babies in baskets and loved them. I really was wanting someone who knows what they're doing to take some pictures of Darcy, but I don't know anyone here in Pittsburgh and I don't really have any money to spare at the moment either. Anyway, today since Drew is home I had him help me put together a little set and we took some pictures. I just can't help but be soo proud of myself for how they turned out!! :) Isn't my baby the cutest thing in the whole world!? She was so good for the whole thing. Enjoy!

Also, yesterday I took Darcy for her first checkup. We went to a one week checkup in Philadelphia, but when we walked into the pediatricians office (in the ghetto...I did not realize this was the place I had chosen) I got a huge pit in my stomach because it was nasty in there and it was filled with some sketchy people. I honestly felt like crying at the thought of taking my new baby to see a doctor there. There was a man guarding the door to the back rooms...do people try to rush the doctors or something?! After sitting there for a minute my mom leaned over to me and said, "You don't have to stay here you know." What a thought! I jumped right up and headed out the door. Scary! So we ended up having her first checkup at two weeks instead. That was a long story to get to the point....At two weeks and one day old she weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 inches long. She has gained over a pound! The doctor said that was phenomenal, so we'll keep stuffing her face I guess. :)

P.S. The first one is our favorite. We're going to have it blown up. Click on it for a better look.

Even More Pictures

I am having requests from a couple people to post more pictures. I don't have a lot to say about them, but here they are. Isn't she the sweetest thing ever!

Hanging out on the balcony with mom in the fresh air.


First outing to the pool. Lounging with Grandma Jenne.


A close up. You can see in this picture how tiny she is compared to my mom's hand.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures from yesterday for those who are wanting to see more! We love her more and more every minute!


In her car seat ready to leave the hospital.


Drew ended up going to work yesterday morning so my mom helped us get home from the hospital. Here are the three of us about to hop in the car.


Here she is all bundled up in her swaddling blanket that Sarah and Dean gave us. We love it.


A close up.