Beach Bums

This past week has been pretty good. Lilliana and I settled back in to our normal routine at home after we got back from the beach. On Saturday my Aunt Jeanne(dads sister) and Uncle John came to visit us. We had a really nice, relaxing evening with them and ordered in sushi(yum). My aunt bought me a coach diaper bag, which I am in love with!! And also a Coach key chain/picture holder, and Coach purse mirror..all matching the diaper bag.

Lilliana's Aunt Rachael(my best friend) sent her a bean bag chair with her name on it. She looks so cute on it!

And my dad's old boss, Dave Brandon, sent her a University of Michigan cheer leading outfit, teddy bear, pom pom, and shoes. (He is the athletic director at U of M).


She has been very fussy during the day but we are getting through it. I am definitely learning patience. But then again it is very easy to be patient with such a beautiful daughter!



Every day I fall more and more in love with her sweet face.
I can't believe she is 3 1/2 weeks old already. Although being pregnant seems like a distant memory, it is still hard to believe that she is 3 weeks old already. Time is going by way too fast!
Lilliana weighs over 9 pounds now and I am sure has grown a little taller as well. We go back to the pediatrician in 2 weeks so we will find out then how tall she is.

She is becoming more and more alert everyday and I love it! She has the most gorgeous big eyes, and I love staring in to them and just wondering what she is thinking : ) She is very observant of her surroundings. As much as I am wishing time would slow down and she would stop growing :) I am loving that she is becoming more alert and growing out of the newborn faze.

She recognizes me and my voice and I absolutely love that. It is such a great feeling to know that when she is upset and nothing seems to make her happy, that sometimes just being held by her mommy is all she needs! Being a mom is truly amazing!!!

Today Lilly and I made the drive to the beach. What would normally be a 4 hour drive took us almost 6 hours, lol. We had to stop for an hour and a half to eat, burp, cry, change a diaper, cry some more, and oh ya cry some more! haha. But we made it. It is so good to be here but we miss Nick VERY much already. He is coming down on Friday after work and will stay through Monday.


I am so excited for all of my family to get here in the next two days and to spend time with them. 4th of July has become one of my favorite holidays because it means family and good times at the beach.
We will be taking lots of pictures of Lilliana's first 4th of July on Topsail Island. She has some very cute outfits for the day, yes there is more than one, lol.

My sister in law Lauren, who took the pictures of me when I was pregnant has offered to take some pictures of Lilliana so hopefully we can get those done while I am here. I'm staying for 11 days, so I am sure we can find some time to do it.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July.

God Bless America!

Meeting new people

Life has been pretty great for us lately. Lilliana and I have gotten in to a pretty decent routine being home alone and we spend all day anxiously awaiting Nick's arrival home from work! We miss him very much while he is gone during the day at work and I know he misses us too. : )

Our little girl has met some new people in the past week. Her Aunt Carol and Uncle Ed came to visit over Fathers day weekend. We had a great time with them, and I am so happy they got to meet their niece and spend some quality time with her!

She also got to meet her Uncle Darvy and Aunt Gracie this past weekend. Darvy was over the moon for her and would kiss her every time he walked by her, so sweet! She is so lucky to have so many amazing aunts and uncles. What a blessing!







We spent Fathers day weekend at the beach with my family and Carol and Ed. It was a little chaotic trying to get settled in to a new environment with the baby, and I think she got a little over stimulated with all of the different people holding her. But overall it was a great trip. It was so nice to be back at the beach. We hadn't been there since Christmas.




This was Nick's first fathers day and he spent it cutting down a tree and fixing the boat with my Dad. And yes, this is what he wanted to do..his choice, lol. Since the men were busy doing guy stuff, my mom and I spend the afternoon sitting on the back porch enjoying the view while Lilliana napped in the house.


I can't wait to get back to the beach for 4th of July. Lilliana will get to meet her Uncle Joey for the furst time, and we will also get to spend time with Kelly, Aunt Bev, Uncle Joe and hopefully Courtney!
I am a little nervous about how Lilliana will handle all of the chaos and new environment again, but I know we will make it through it.

My little angel is about to wake up for some food, so back to mommy mode I go.

One week old

Our little Lilliana turned one week old on sdaturday! I can hardly beleive it has already been a week. Before I know it, I am going to be going back to work. So I am soaking up every minute with our beautiful girl.
This past week at home has been eventful to say the least. We have had our share of ups and downs, but it is all worth it when I look in to her eyes.


Kelly(my cousin in law and Lilliana's godmother) and her friend Vickie came to visit on friday. We just spent the night relaxing and staring at Lilliana.


They left on Saturday afternoon and Nick and I spent the rest fo the day relaxing. That was our first time being alone as a family at home without any visitors. After we all took an afternoon nap we took our first family trip to Target. It was a very quick trip, but it was very successful!





Sunday was our one year wedding anniversary!!! Nick spent the whole day taking care of me, not letting me lift a finger. He made breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaned the apartment, and let me take a very long shower and have some quiet time away from the baby. It was a perfect day. Especially since we spent it as a new family of 3!!




I can't believe it has been a year already.
We have come so far since our wedding, and our relationship has grown so much stronger. I didn't think it was possible, but I love him so much more now than on our wedding day. This past year has been absolutely amazing and brought so many changes(all good). I am eagerly looking forward to many many more years with my wonderful husband!!


Today is my first day all alone with Lilliana since Nick is back at work. I was very nervous all day yesterday thinking about it, knwoing I have absolutely no help and no one close by to come over if I need them. I know I will be able to handle it, but it is still a little nerve wrecking. Last night was kind of rough, neither Lilliana or I got much sleep, but thankfully she is sound asleep right now in her swing. So on that note, I am going to wrap this up and go take a nap myself.

She is here!!!!

That's right, our beautiful daughter made her debut on June 5 at 9:09 am. She was 8 lbs and 20 inches of pure joy.



I was set to be induced on friday morning, the 4th. But when I called the hospital to confrim that I was coming in, they told me they were too busy and I would have to reschedule my induction. Needless to say I was quite upset. I was already up and showered and ready to meet our daughter. I was so bummed, but very determined to have her anyways. Sop i decided we would just spend all day walking around our neighborhood in the hopes that I would go in to labor naturally.
My Aunt Bev and cousin Kelly drove in to be here for the birth, and brought a great surprise with them..my cousin Courtney! When they pulled up and I saw her I was so happy. Them being here anticipating the birth just made me even more determined. I wanted to amke sure they were here when Lilliana came in to the world. Espcially since Kelly is her god mother.
So we spent the whole day walking, doing a little shopping, and just spending quality family time together. We spent the evening at home with my parents, brother James, and aunt and cousins. I have never laughed so hard or so much in my life. We had a great time!

When I went to bed around 11 I had a feeling I would be going in to labor by the next day. I was a little off...after about 10 minutes in bed my water broke and I started haivng contractions. I let the contractions get regualr for about an hour then woke nick up and called the dr. We were obviously told to go straight to the hospital!

Once we got there I was 3cm dialated and immediately sent to our room and hooked up to monitors. Labor had begun!!! The whole labor went pretty fast. Within a few hours of getting my epduaral and starting the pitocin I was ready start pushing. I ended up pushing for about 45 minutes and she was born at 9:09 am. I instantly started crying the momnent I saw her face. It is truly amazing how much you can love someone you have never met. Giving birth was the most amazing, rewarding, and slef enriching experiece. I came up with strength I never knew I had in me. Anyone who knows me knows that my pain tolerance is very low and I can be quite a baby, lol. But somehow God gave me the strngth to make it through and my mom and Nick were quite impressed with how strong I was.





We came home on Monday monring, which was the best feeling ever to have our whole family at home together. The first 24 hours were a little rough, just trying to get her on a schedule and we had some feeding and gas issues with her. We went and saw her pediatrician on Tuesday morning though adn she got a clean bill of helath, besides a bit of jaundice.



Last night went great. We slept together in our room as a family. It was such a great feeling to wake up in the morning all together as a family. She ended up sleeping for over 5 hours straght adn woke up so peacefully. She then spent over an hour in her swing just looking around and observing her new world.


She also got her first bath today(at home) and did not enjoy it too much. We have discovered she does not like being naked at all! But she absolutely loved having her hair washed(I see salon days in our future, lol).



Nick and I are absolutely loving being parents. It is so rewarding and peaceful. We find ourselves just staring at her and oohing and awing at every little movement she makes. She is such a blessing and a miracle from God. We could not be happier and are so blessed to have her in our lives.




That is all for now, baby is sound asleep in Gigi's arms(my mom) so I am going to take advantage and get my shower!!

We have a date!

Well we went to the doctor today and I still have not made any progress since we were in the hospital on Saturday night. Since I am so miserable and my blood pressure was up a little bit my doctor (thankfully) decided it was time to induce. I know he really didn't want to, but I am so grateful that he is. I am so ready to be done being pregnant..and to meet our daughter : )
So I am scheduled to be induced Friday morning at 6:45. I have to say I am a little nervous. It is nice to know that I have an end in sight, but I am also getting very fearful of the unknown and nervous about how long the actual induction will take. But I know everything will be fine and God will get me through it.

I can't believe that in just a few short days I will be a mommy, and Nick will be a Daddy : ) What an amazing journey this has been. We are so ready to meet our sweet angel and see who she looks like, if she has hair, etc. Friday will no doubt be the best day of our lives!!

My mom is still here with me, keeping me sane..and my dad is headed back to Michigan to pack up their house and come back with my brothers and sister so they can all be here for the arrival of their niece/granddaughter.
Nick's parents will be here this weekend, and Kelly(my cousins wife and Lilliana's godmother) along with my aunt will be coming in on Friday.
Hopefully my brother and his wife will be able to make it here as well and we will be completely surrounded by people we love for the arrival of our daughter.

So for now, I am going to (try) and relax and enjoy our last few days as a family of 2. : )
So keep the Baker family in your prayers on Friday!!!!!