So that Elizabeth does not take any flak for not posting enough, I will step in and make an interim post on her behalf. As you might expect, we have a lot of action currently. We were released from the hospital Monday around midday. After getting everything loaded up in the van (much thanks to Tom (aka Grandpa)!!), we headed downtown for the condo. It's an interesting experience being released from the hospital with your first kid - the nurses so zealously look after your baby for three days only to turn her over to parents who don't really even know what they are doing!
We got back to the condo and Elizabeth crashed for an hour or two on the couch, trying to catch up on some much needed shuteye. We then trekked down south to see the dogs and to try and let Elizabeth take a shower. The dogs were so cute with Elise. We let them inside one at a time so that we could more easily control them. They were soooooo excited to see their mom! Lucy was wagging her tail and whining and so ready to sniff Elizabeth. After catching up with mom, Lucy got to walk over and sniff Elise - after 10-20 seconds of sniffing, Lucy was no longer interested and walked back to the porch. One down, one to go! Brie, meanwhile, was going nuts on the porch as she had to wait for Lucy to finish - Brie just always wants to play and be near you. She was barking and whimpering and crying that she couldn't see her mom! Finally, after what must have seemed an eternity, Brie got let in (on a leash) to see Elizabeth - she licked and whined with happiness.
A quick flashback: before we brought Elise home, I had brought her original hospital blanket to the house for the dogs to sniff. Lucy, similar to the above, sniffed for a few seconds and went about her day. Brie was quite scared of the blanket - she sniffed and immediately backed up. She was then confused and started barking. Chris and I were laughing so hard we couldn't focus. After about 10 minutes, Brie was able to come up and sniff the blanket calmly and without too much trepidation.
Back to "live" action: Brie then got to go sniff the baby. She again sniffed and acted startled and tried to start barking but eventually calmed down and sniffed Elise for awhile. It was quite cute. I can already tell Brie has taken to Elise. We set the car seat on the kitchen table and Brie (in her best "counter surfing" imitation), had her paws on the table to sniff the seat. The dogs are going to be so protective of their new little sister! We are so grateful that my parents are willing to watch the dogs for awhile. They have been down there for almost a whole week already! The dogs are in heaven with the yard and porch to play and sunbathe in, and Elizabeth and I can try to learn this whole "parenting" thing.
Back to Monday night - Bryan and Chris were most helpful and took the initiative to cook us some dinner. Elise also got to watch her first Yankees game - a monumental first!! We then were settling in for the dreaded "first night". As with most new parents, the first night was rough, albeit much more for Elizabeth than me. I took no notice of the random noises coming from the crib (what's that? child neglect you say? hogwash!). Elizabeth, however, was an alert new mommy that was concerned for her baby girl. In addition, the feedings were not yet going smoothly, and Elise was being much more fussy than usual. Elizabeth can fill you all in with more details later if she so desires. The dawn came, as it always does, and we persevered and made it to Tuesday morning. Elizabeth has been quite the trooper through the whole experience - I am always amazed at how much she can handle. She can be running on empty, with little to no sleep for days, in a lot of discomfort, unsure on what to do or what to expect, and still only thinks of the needs of others and how she can serve them, acts with patience and kindness, and "puts her hand to the plow" (i.e. gets things done). What a great Christlike model she will set for baby Elise.
On Tuesday, I was able to get my first bike ride in since the baby came, although it was cut short. 11 miles into the ride, Grandpa DeWitt and Sue called and said they were 30 minutes away as their doctor's appointment ended early (lest you chide them, we were expecting them Tuesday afternoon, just thought they would be a little later). So, I raced home and pulled up just as they were parking. Sue sat and held Elise for an hour and didn't say a word - just had a big smile on her face. Grandpa (or, as he said when I called him grandpa on the phone, "that's GREAT-grandpa to you buster!") unfortunately was recovering from poison ivy and couldn't touch the baby. But I was so happy to see him meet his first great-grandchild. Bryan, Philip, and I have been so blessed to have such awesome grandparents - on both the Chapman side and the DeWitt side. I am so thankful that GREAT-grandpa DeWitt is still around to see Elise.
Tuesday afternoon, Elizabeth and I heard a knock on the door and went to answer it. We opened the door and the "knocker" was gone! However, they had left a care package for us - the cutest baby socks and a LOT of food - a whole plate of cupcakes and two big containes of soup (just in time for lunch today as Chris complained all day on Tuesday that we had not fed him lunch :) ). We opened up the card and found that all this was from Carlton and Rachel - our upstairs neighbors. A really big thanks to Carlton and Rachel for their generosity. We are thankful to have such great neighbors and appreciate you taking the time to serve us - we are quite humbled!
Ok, enough rambling. Elise is done eating and is back sleeping soundly, so I can return to bed! Besides, you all only want to see pictures anyway. With no further ado, here are a few more. We will be getting all of our picture onto the web soon, so look for that later this week.
Isn't she cute?
Oh my word, she is so beautiful---seriously. I can't wait to see her again!
ReplyDeletePeter, thank you for posting, but tell Elizabeth she is under no pressure whatsoever to post for awhile. We all totally understand!
Praying for you guys.
Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love the first picture of her, very cute. Hopefully nights will get a bit easier.
ReplyDeleteI want to hold her!!! Perfect!! She is so stinking gorgeous!!!!
ReplyDeleteShe's so beautiful...what a blessing!
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