what we've learned in four weeks (and 18 photos)

What we’ve learned in four weeks:

that we have a passionate eater, who as of today weighs 8lbs. 13oz.
she loves her baths
is very happy in the morning, always flashing us a big gummy smile
is a big fan of her swing!
tolerates her bouncy seat for brief moments
does great on car rides, as long as she is asleep…
loves her paci
we have learned her fussy spell is between 8-9 pm every. night.
is very serious and quite often gives us “the brow”
eats every 2-3 hours
is a great nap taker, has one 4 hour stretch at night too!
she is going to have an outtie belly button, just like her brother
she is still wearing all size newborn clothing
and while she may keep us on our toes, she has filled a spot in our heart that we never knew was empty with her sweet spirit.
we simply can’t imagine this world without her in it.

two weeks old:

3 weeks old:

our sweet babies

miss bright eyes

i bought so many photography props, not sure i'll ever get to use them all. *love* this little tassel cap

one of the many cocoon wraps

smiles for daddy

relaxing on the hammock

4 weeks old:

two more from yesterday:

our week in review

this past week has been a mixture of emotions ranging from pure happiness to sadness beyond description. last wednesday we were on cloud nine as we arrived home with luciana. However within minutes of arriving home we discovered that our beloved pediatrician was involved in a horrific car accident about one hour after he discharged luciana. the grief we felt was numbing. then two days later the next crashing moment came as we learned that he had passed away from results of his injuries. i wish i could describe the void that has been left in our hearts for this man that our family trusted and admired so much. he was only 50 years old, and left behind a wife and four sons. please keep their family in your prayers.

Our little angel is doing fabulous. She is 9 days old today and at her appointment this morning she weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces!! She is in the 25% for weight and height.

here are a few photos from our week. greyson holding his baby sister after we arrived home:

first morning home, 8:20 am both kids "sleeping in"

on the way to luciana's doctor appointment:

two days old:

three days old:

nana visits, day four:

these photos were taken on sunday (my 33rd birthday). we were just about to run a quick errand to the mall so i could pick up more nursing tanks. jim of course stayed in the car with luciana while i went inside. it felt SO strange leaving her for just a few moments!

and here is the sleeping beauty at one week old. taken from another mini photo shoot i attempted. :)

Ava Luciana

We want to introduce you to our girl, Luciana. She was born tuesday morning at 2:34 am, weighing 6 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 18 3/4 inches long (the exact same as her brother). Our hearts are so full and greyson is simply taken with his baby sister.
Sorry for the quick post, we have lots more pictures to share! For now we wanted to leave you with a few leaving the hospital yesterday evening. Our first night and day home has been absolutely wonderful! Jim and I set our alarm and woke her every 2-3 hours to eat last night, she is a super little breast feeder and my milk has already come in! This morning both of our kids woke up around 8:30 am!! She seems to love the bassinet and is such a sweet little girl, we just can't get enough of her! From our family to yours thank-you for all your prayers and well wishes!

nursery tour

welcome to our little princess's room!
i know i promised everyone pictures a few days ago. sorry i have been so busy using these last few days purchasing last minute items and making returns. i feel like every minute/day could be the last. LOL! i will take more pictures and views, these are just a few quick ones. i know baby blue isn't the girlest color for a nursery (and no that wasn't the color when this room was greyson's nursery). however it was the perfect touch to match the fabric we bought to have her bumper made from. enjoy these sneak peeks and i'll take more in the morning when the light is better and post then.

next to the bumper fabric, this is my next favorite part of her room! i think i want a glass chandelier for every room in our house now! :) each time i walk pass, i just look up and smile. it's really pretty at night when we use the dimmer too. luciana's trash can. i bought a plain white plastic one from walmart, covered it in fabric and hot glued silk roses around the edge. i still need to buy about 8 more to finish the back edge. but, wow! even with micheals coupon, 8 will be almost $30. i don't think luciana will notice if i wait a bit....

her first friends!! :) the doll on the left was left in her Easter basket when we were only 23 weeks pregnant, the middle doll was a gift from nana & boppie (bought while vacationing in mexico), and the gap teddy bear was greyson's. who never seemed interested in, until i recently placed it in her chair along with a tutu and bowband....... hmmmm :)

hoping it won't be long before we can whisper these words into her ear as she drifts off into a sweet slumber.....

40 weeks

honestly i never imagined that we would really make it to our due date and beyond...
thursday morning we had another appointment, apparently i'm STILL 2 cm and still
about 60% effaced. for those keeping track of the expansion, i've also gained a total so
far of 21 pounds. we did receive some exciting news.... they want to see me on monday and
have set up induction for first thing wednesday morning. so if little missy doesn't make her
appearance by then, she just might have an august 5th birthday (or share an august 6th
birthday with her nana).
these past few days especially we can't help but wonder how she will be similar or different
to her brother. he was one week early exactly (ok- so we already know she likes to take her
sweet time) ha! he was born at 6:47 am, weighed 6 lbs. 10.5 oz., was 18 3/4 inches long, breastfed immediately, had blond hair (but very little of it), blue eyes (don't all newborn babies?) and was completely perfect in every way.
Greyson was and has been the joy of our lives, just as i know her arrival will be as well. we
are just SO anxious to meet her and have our family feel instantly completed.
jim took these pictures of the belly last night in our backyard, i tweaked in photoshop. :)
ever since that russian sage started blooming, i knew i wanted to get a few pictures beside it. i absolutely love to garden and watch my plants bloom and grow, but being pregnant this summer
has really taken it's toll on my flowers. hoping to make it up next summer, by devoting a little more time to them. it's hard to imagine this time next year i will have a tiny one year old helping with the watering. i bet she will like spraying the hose just as much as greyson did. those two will probably have me soaked! :)
please keep our luciana, and her delivery in your prayers. we can't thank-you enough!!

while i wait

for luciana to make her debut, i've decided to bake! a super easy blueberry cobbler. this recipe originally called for fresh blackberries, but since i recently picked 16 cups of blueberries i substituted. i'm sure any of this summer's fresh fruit would work nicely though. sorry i forgot to take a photo of the finished product, but here are the big beautiful berries that i used!

blueberry cobbler

1 cup of self rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 stick of butter (melted)

1 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

Blend together flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk in melted butter, mixing well. Pour mixture into a buttered tart or casserole dish. Rinse berries and sprinkle evenly over top cobbler. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. enjoy!

check back later today if i haven't gone into labor, i will be revealing nursery pictures finally!! :)for those keeping track, we are TWO days away from our due date. for the first time, i seriously think luciana & i might be sharing an august birthday month.....

6 days until D-day and pregnancy portraits!!!

well, maybe not D-day, as in delivery day. but six more until our DUE date! hoping we don't have to wait until next friday to meet her. :) everyone is shocked we've made it this far with all the contractions. guessing luciana is just really comfy in there.....
we've been keeping busy with greyson and cooling off alot in the pool! i love our pool, but for the first summer i think i'm officially done with it. i'm just ready to spend some long days inside cuddling with and getting to know our daughter.
i'm SO excited to share a few of our pregnancy portraits. we had these taken three days ago and our photographer just posted this sampling on her blog. we used a small local beach for the location. on the drive there, we spotted this really cool old house that we both knew would be awesome for some shots. the house was rough. there was no dry wall, boards and broken glass was scattered everywhere, and did i mention poison ivy? but, it couldn't have been more perfect! almost as much as our photographer laura. thank-you alison for introducing us, she made us feel so relaxed and was absolutely wonderful with g-man! enjoy!

it's really hard to choose because i'm partial to them all, but i think this is one of my favorites. i think because she captured how i'm feeling right now. excited yet relaxed. just anticipating amazing days ahead as we welcome our baby girl into our little family of three.

this spot was SO gorgeous!!

better late than never....

well hello there! do you remember me? i don't blame you if you don't ..... after all i have unexpectedly gone missing for most of the summer so far. we are currently TWO weeks away (or less) from luciana's arrival! she and mommy are hanging in there! i've been contracting daily for the last two months, have had several trips to labor & delivery, and have been dialated 2cm for the last three appointments! but, the end is near! we just can't wait to lay our eyes on our sweet girl.
I've received several emails from fellow bloggers wondering how we're doing and reminders from family to please update. so for anybody out there still reading here is a quick summer update in photos:
we completed our second season of t-ball. greyson absolutely had the best time playing this year and he has gotten SO good! just look at those grass stains to prove it. lol!

greyson's very first trophy!!

after dinner out one evening. have i mentioned our boy loves to eat out?

yeah, about every other night he makes a request that goes something like this....

"how 'bout we go out to eat tonight?" followed by at least 3-4 of his favorite places to eat! lol

a little bumper car action at a local carnival. pretty sure a sticky yummy ice cream cone quickly followed this ride.

on the boardwalk at the beach and hitching a ride on daddy's back, love that smile!

I have been a complete mess lately over "our time" coming to an end soon. every wednesday we have had a special greyson & mommy morning to the movies. this week i found myself looking over and staring at him, while he watched alvin and the chipmunks while tears slowing ran down my cheeks. it's hard to imagine the days ahead where it's no longer just him and me. four and a half years is a long time for an "only" and it really saddens me that time & love will be divided, although i truly know with my whole heart that this is one of the best gifts we can give him. the gift of a sibling. hormones, right?

I have wanted to take a shot like this for awhile now and had jim take several yesterday. i ran some actions on it in photo shop and absolutely love how it turned out. thinking i may frame this in our master bath.

and last but not least, here's a belly shot taken this morning at a ripe 38 weeks 1 day!

OMgoodness, can we really be that close? :)