The Saturday 7

1. Good news, everyone! Levi slept so much better at night this week! I'm wising up and have learned just to scoop him out of bed, feed him, attempt a couple quick burps, then toss him back in bed. No unswaddling. No diaper changing. No giving him time to wake up. It seems to be working.

2. More good news: we got free newborn pictures taken! I have a photographer friend who messaged me this week offering to take free pictures in exchange for more "boy newborns" for her portfolio. I wasn't about to pass that up! I think newborn photos are so adorable, but have never been able to justify the price. Levi is actually a little old for newborn photos. He was awake a little too often, but Amy did an amazing job of calming him down and getting him to sleep. And she got some awesome shots!

He loved this nest thing. I need to get one for at home!

Old man forehead wrinkles!

She captured the dimples!

The grin!!

Thank you so much, Amy! Check out her website here.

3. Lucy is my major attitude/drama queen child, but she has such a sweet heart. Last week she insisted on making me breakfast in bed. And then one day this week, she buttered my bagel for me (quite excessively - lol) then said, "I'll hold the baby so you can eat." She held him for a good 15 minutes while I ate, then said, "Are you having a good morning? I helped make your breakfast and held the baby!" She's really good with Levi, but she also makes me a little nervous. She's so [over] confident about sitting him up and laying him down and standing him up and bouncing him. She doesn't support his head very well. And you know how newborns jerk around. #nervous

4. We had some exciting firsts in our house this week. Levi finally lost his umbilical stump (at 24 stinkin' days old!) and had his first real bath. And Lucy finally lost her first tooth. It's been loose for at least a month, and just hanging by a thread for the past couple of days, but she was so paranoid about it hurting that she refused to pull it. This morning, though, she realized it was almost out, so she just yanked it out. It didn't even bleed. It was seriously just sitting there. Haha.

I think it makes her look so old!!

5. Every Easter, I listen to the Michael Card songs God Will Provide a Lamb and This Must Be The Lamb. I know Michael Card is a little dated. Haha. But his songs are the music of my childhood. And I love the rich theological lyrics. This year, I was thinking about Abraham and Isaac and somehow my brain made this connection . . . Every Good Friday, I think about how grateful I am that Jesus died for me, but this year, I suddenly started to think about how grateful I am that he died for my kids. I want to save them myself but I obviously can't. I'm so thankful that Jesus made a way for them, and I pray daily that they'll accept that amazing gift. We've been talking about it a lot lately. They both know the answers (What is Easter about? Jesus died and rose again! Why did Jesus die? For our sins!), but I pray as they grow that they'll understand it at a heart level as well.  

6. So bad news: I'm starting to think Levi might have reflux. He is such a puker. At first, it didn't seem to bother him very much and I figured he was just going to be a "happy spitter," but this week he has gotten more and more irritable. Unless he falls asleep after nursing, he generally screams, cries and pukes for 1-2 hours after eating. He is inconsolable no matter what I do - especially if he's on his back. He settles down for short moments if he's being held upright or I put him on his belly, but then he'll start screaming again. He usually pukes 6 or 7 times before he starts to calm down. It's rarely projectile puke anymore, but it's enough to soak his clothes/hair/me.

Lucy was a puker, but never cranky about it. And Lena was colicky, but not much of a puker. Poor Levi has the worst of both. Gas drops and gripe water always helped Lena, but it doesn't seem to do anything for Levi. It's getting to the point that he's rarely happy anymore. If he's awake, he's usually crying. :-( And I'm worried that it's affecting his weight gain. He was 6 lbs. 15 oz. at our WIC appt. two weeks ago. Yesterday, I weighed myself on the scale, then weighed myself holding him. The difference was 7.6 lbs. So he's still not even 8 lbs. He nurses every 3 hours around the clock, so I feel like he should be gaining more than that. He has his one month dr. appt. on April 4, but I think I might see if he can get in before that. This is miserable for all of us.

7. My friend Lisa shared this with me on facebook. How very true it is! The resemblance between this monkey and me upon my first sip is uncanny! (I'm so afraid the doctor is going to tell me to cut out caffeine and see if that helps Levi!)