One down, Nine Hundred and Thirty Eight to Go...

I think the hardest part about blogging isn't finding something to write about, it's coming up with these stupid catchy post titles...

Annaliese is 1 week old today, which means that, God willing, there are 938 more until her 18th birthday and she is officially an adult.  I like to think we started strong.  Erin is a great mother, and you can see her love for Annaliese in numerous ways, but mostly by how she looks at her during the late at night feedings.  I know it's only been a week, but it's not a "I have to be up again" type of attitude, it's an "I get to be up and spend time with my daughter".  Breast feeding is going well, with some minor difficulties, but, and this is a good indicator, Annaliese (born 8lbs 9oz) weighed in at 8lbs 14oz at her 5 day weight check... already an overachiever (gets that from her mom).

I wanted to mention something about my view of relationships in this post, and of my feeling of stewardship (skip this paragraph if you only want to read about the baby).  I feel that every relationship, whether with family, friends, acquaintances, or even short interactions with complete strangers, are God ordained for a set amount of time, either seconds, days, or years.  When Erin and I got married, I knew that our relationship was temporary.  Several things separate people - I like to think that death will be the only thing that will separate Erin and I.  I don't know if that will be today, or when we're both 120 years old.  It's the same with Annaliese.  I don't know how long we have with her, but God put her in our lives, for a set period of time.  He did not give her to us, and she is not ours.  She is his, and it is now our responsibility to be good stewards of her, to raise her in hopefully Godly ways, and put her above ourselves (the same way we do in our marriage), as long as that period of time lasts.  And hopefully, the only thing that will separate us will be death, whether today, or 100 years from now.  I know that my time here with them is limited, and hopefully I will see them again in eternity.  I could go several directions from here, but I'll leave it at that.

Now that that's over, back to Annaliese.  She's been sleeping pretty good at night, as long as we make some effort not to let her sleep all day.  She generally enjoys being on her belly during the day and has no trouble lifting her head.  Over the last couple of days, she has had the strong desire to suck after breastfeeding, and hence, she has won the first parent-daughter battle - she got the pacifier.  We didn't want to break it out for 3-4 weeks, but trust me, it was worth it.  She's still breastfeeding fine, and I would rather her suck on a pacifier than her thumb or fingers (you can't just take those away later on).  She is otherwise a very content baby.  She rarely cries unless she is ready to eat.  She just kind of hangs out, which is cool.  She does smile some, more and more each day, and she's starting to get ticklish, which is cool.  Anyway, enough with the words - everyone wants pictures.

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Cindy were in town - needless to say she didn't spend much time not being held.  Grandma Cindy did a great job of keeping Annaliese warm.

Mom studying for finals with Annaliese, which she finishes tomorrow!
Annaliese's first bath at home - she survived.

One of my favorite pics of her so far (although I have several) - and I guess I'm ok with the bow...