River's second week.

We continued to do some lounging but things definitely got busier in week two. We all love to hold her and stare at her. As several of my cousins and aunts have pointed out, she has the famous Madison cheeks. We are so proud. :) (That would be big, round lower cheeks that sag creating jowls. Lining up several of my cousins and family members is truly something to behold when it comes to those cheeks. Grandpa Madison can be thanked for those.) I am actually quite happy to have inherited my mom's higher cheekbones and face shape rather then my dad's. River also seems to have the same squinty left eye that I share with my dad and sister. The lid is a little saggier and tends to have a natural squint. ;)


We've also had fun dressing her up in cute little clothes.
We love the bassinet Sara!

Saturday the 29th we put up the Christmas tree and decorations. KG and I worked our fannies off all weekend. He worked on the bus(we discovered we had a fuel leak and with Walters help, it's all fixed!) and cleaned out the garage and I went through boxes and boxes of clothes that we've been given from my sister since Flower came home. Julie also gave us a box of smaller clothes for River. I separated them all into separate boxes for each size condensing about 10 bags and small boxes into 7 bins. KG got the garage so well organized that now we can walk in it instead of climbing over things to get to the back. It's needed to be done since we moved in. He made a couple of trips to the Youth Ranch as well and we have a buyer for a sectional. Sweet!
I love this time of year and all the decorations that go long with it! Really beautiful and it makes me happy to walk in and see the tree all lit up.


River's stocking is on order. We also had to get new hooks. We had separate letters: J O Y that each had a hook. Now we have a train, each box car separate with a hook. RaeAunne stopped by that night with a very festive dessert of Peppermint ice cream and oreos! Yum!

Sunday was such a great day. I took the girls to church by myself so KG could get back on his schedule. That night my parents came over with dinner. I love my mom's shepherds pie! I also made a yummy snob salad...mixed greens, strawberries, feta, pecans, and blush wine dressing. It was yummy! We rounded out the meal with the homemade rolls from the Twin Falls Thanksgiving. :)
Then my mom helped Flower fill the advent calendar with candy canes. My mom made that calendar many moons ago and I am so grateful I inherited it. It really means a lot to me!
Finally we kicked off the season with our first Christmas movie by watching Polar Express and finishing off the Peppermint ice cream. It was so fun to have them over and was the perfect night.
After they left we gave River her first bath. We were both a little nervous about it and kept putting it off. But dang she was stinky so it was over due. We did it in the bathroom sink. We thought she'd scream because she doesn't like to be naked but as soon as her bum hit the warm water she slumped over in relaxation.


The towel says, "my daddy is my best friend". We got it when Flower came home.

On Monday, December 1st the Francis' brought us dinner. There was some confusion involved so we actually made other plans which was going to dinner at Cracker Barrel with Lynnette, Tex, Tristan and Lisa. That was very enjoyable. KG ended up taking the Francis meal to work. It was so hard to send him back to work after such a nice long break. He was exhausted too.
On Tuesday the 2nd, River got to be Flower's 'show and tell' item at preschool. All her little friends thought River was so cool.
In the afternoon I did a little 'naked baby' photo shoot with Riv. They are mandatory, in my opinion, with newborns because their skin is so cute and wrinkly! I'll show those in a separate post. Ruth Stephens came that night with pizza and root beer! :)
Grandma J also stopped by with a boppy and real baby bathtub! We so appreciated it!

Wednesday the 3rd River loved on that boppy all day. At first she wasn't too sure but as you an see, she relaxed quickly. There are so many positions she can be in and we are loving it! Flower seems to think it's a birds nest? Weird.




That night Kris and Jer came over with the Oriental Express in hand! They are the best. They made miss Flower's night too. They brought her a little present. A Cinderella carriage! I really appreciate them thinking of her because she is feeling left out. I could also see the difference in how she behaved while they were here. She wasn't as hyper since she had a fun toy to distract her. She also had a total meltdown when it was time for them to go. She was so sad that they couldn't stay here forever. :(


And that brings us to today, Thursday. River is two weeks old. It was a busy day too. We all left the house by 8:30 to get Flower to preschool and then River and I went to hang out at the karate studio with dad. Once at home dad went to bed and she and I went to pick up Flower. We went straight to Madeline's house after that. Sara got a chance to see River and then so willingly allowed Flower to stay while I went to some doc appointments. I had one in Eagle. My doctor is moving to Oregon and wanted a last visit with each of her patients to make sure all is well and introduce her replacement. All is well and I'm fine with her replacement. :) Then we went to River's two week check-up. She is thriving. She gained 11 ounces since last week. :) She sleeps well, usually about 4 hours stints. Let's hope it lasts. She stays awake a bit longer between feedings. She is a super relaxed chill little baby and only cries when she's hungry. The doc also checked out her umbilical cord which is about the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. It smells of something fierce and I can hardly hold her without gagging. And I'm not just being dramatic. Sara took one look and validated me. I was happy when the doc said it wasn't exactly normal and is rather large, therefore taking longer to fall off and causing a lot more drainage. Seriously people, it's offensive! Blech.
We got Flower picked up and she had a great time. Thanks Sara.

Thanks again to everyone who brought us meals and gifts and helped with Flower this week. It really means so much to us that we have such an amazing support group around us and we feel so loved!