Elise is 1 Month Old

Elise is 1 Month!
She is quite the contented baby - and for that we're so grateful. I've managed on my own here at home for the past several days, and it's been going really well. On Monday I took her out and we ran a few quick errands to Michaels, Wal-Mart & the post office, and she was so good the whole trip. (Of course, timing it right after a feeding helped to ensure an easier time of it as well.) I came home after this and thought, "This went smoothly - I feel like I'm getting the hang of it!" Tomorrow we have another baby massage class. I signed up at the hospital for this course, and I think it's something we will work into a routine for her. Right now she can only handle a small amount of stimulation (2-3 minutes for each week of life), but we'll get down the routine after a while. The instructor said that massage has so many benefits for the baby & parents: great bonding time to show them love, babies sleep better and have better digestion after routine massages. I know what I feel like after having a massage - can you imagine getting this kind of treatment each night before bed?

We are expecting Oma & Opa Brandenburg (German names for grandma & grandpa) this week on Thursday - and the following weekend aunt Toni & uncle Ben are coming to visit. It'll be nice to have family meet Elise and get to know her, and John and I are looking forward to having babysitters so that we can go out for dinner to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary next week as well.

Until next time...