Bath time...

Larkyn likes bath time other than the being cold part! Now that her umbilical cord has fallen off she seems to enjoy her bath tub a little more and her froggy wash cloth helps keep her warm. Her favorite part is when we wash her hair. She just stares at us and is so content. She also loves when we comb her hair!

Visitors, visitors, and more visitors...

We have been blessed by many visits from family and friends over the past couple weeks. Granny Janny and Aunt May May came to stay for a few days while Shea went back to work. They were very helpful with meals, shopping (grocery and "Larkyn must have shopping":)), laundry, changing diapers, and taking care of us all!

Granny Janny

Aunt May May

Molly (Molly and I met at Winona State and lived together in the Church House) She is a nurse and currently living in Rochester, MN.

Kelsi (Kelsi and I also met at Winona State and lived together in the Church House. She was my first friend in Winona! Kelsi is a 2nd grade teacher in the Anoka-Hennipen School district and lives in the northern suburbs.)

4 Generations...Great Grandma Sis, Granny Janny, Shea, and Larkyn!

Great Grandma Sis enjoyed her time with Larkyn! We're not sure who slept more during their visit!

Proud Grandpa Charlie was so excited to see Larkyn. He was very sweet with her and couldn't get enough!

Hailey loves baby Larkyn! Hailey is one of many of Larkyn's new neighbor friends.

Grandpa Art came up for the day to visit Larkyn.

My sister Courtney and my mom came up for a couple days. They helped with Larkyn and cleaned our house. It was nice to have extra help in the first week home. Larkyn took a couple snoozes with Aunt Courtney!

Melissa (Melissa and I teach Kindergarten together at Diamond Path.)

Kellie (Kellie and I met at Winona State. She is also part of the Church House clan! Kellie is a nanny and lives in the northwest suburbs.)

2 week well check...

We went back to the doctor today for Larkyn's 2 week check up. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 13.5 oz! Just 2.5 oz. away from birth weight. Her doctor would like to see her again next week to make sure she has hit 8 lbs! I feel like she is getting bigger every day, so I don't think that should be a problem! Other than weight, Larkyn continues to check out well. She is very alert when she is awake, loves to kick and squirm (like the wiggle worm she was in utero), responds to our voices, and has quite the grip.

Daddy's early birthday celebration...

While Granny Janny and Aunt May May were up for their visit, we celebrated Shea's birthday (not until April 3rd). Larkyn helped decorate her daddy's cake with sprinkles! She was sleeping for most of it though!

Go BADGERS!

Larkyn fit well into her Wisconsin Badger sleeper for the big game. It brought the Badgers luck as they got the first round win over Wofford. She has another outfit for football season this fall. Hopefully her hat will fit a little better by then.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We went in this morning for Larkyn's weight check and she gained almost 2 ounces from yesterday! She is climbing back up! She had a much better night last night and is getting the hang of this eating thing...and so is mama! While we were over by the hospital we stopped in to see Larkyn's new best friend Hannah Brink. Some are already calling them the "future church house girls"! (Hannah's mom Jessi and I went to college together in Winona where many of us girls lived in an old church converted into a house.) Hannah was born on March 16th, just 3 days younger than Larkyn.

Larkyn also celebrated her first St. Patrick's Day in style. The bib was about as big as her body!

At home nurse visit...

The hospital sends a nurse to check in with families after a couple days of being home. Both Larkyn and I checked out very well, with the exception of Larkyn's weight. According to the nurse's scale, Larkyn had dropped down to 7 lbs. 2 oz. which meant she had lost 10% of her body weight from birth. This was obviously a concern, but the nurse said now that my milk has come in her eating would be more consistent and she should not have a problem putting the weight back on. We have an appointment with her pediatrician tomorrow where she will be weighed again.

Great Grandpa and Grandma come to visit...

Today my grandparents came to visit their first Great Grandchild. Larkyn was so excited to see them she slept almost the entire time! We heard many great stories of how each of their five children were born and all the places they would take them and things they use to do. Things have definitely changed over the last 46 years!

Coming home...

On Monday, March 15th Larkyn had a check up with Dr. Mitha and was good to go home!

Larkyn wore her "I love hugs" fleece sleeper for her going home outfit. She received the outfit for Christmas from Aunt May May!

That afternoon, Larkyn was introduced to her new home! Daddy and Larkyn had some "skin time" together and took a little snooze. It was a beautiful day and once we were all rested and settled in, we took her for her first walk around the neighborhood. We barely made it out of the driveway before stopping to see our neighbors who were anxiously awaiting her arrival! We ended up getting around the block eventually, but stopped many times to see and meet all of her new friends.

Larkyn found her new bed to be quite comfy. Although it took her a little while to sleep more than an hour or two at a time:)

Some of Larkyn's FIRSTs in life...

Larkyn's First Visitors

My mom and sister Megan, and Shea's mom and sister Megan were able to make the trip to Minnesota to see Larkyn in her first hours after birth. They were all very excited to see her! They left the hospital for a short time and returned with large Kohl's bags full of clothes for Larkyn. I'm pretty sure she will be set for quite a long time with the way they all shop!

Grandma Debbie
Granny Janny
Aunt May May
Aunt Megan
Cousin Kayce
Cousin Jake
Mike and Katie (Mike and Katie are friends ours that we met through church. They are expecting a little boy in May. Mike and Katie were taking the weekend birthing/parenting class the weekend we were in the hospital. We joked for weeks about them being on their Labor/Delivery tour as we are in the hospital. Sure enough it happend! Their instructor was the same instructor we had for our birthing/parenting class so we were able to see her as well!)

Chris and Jessi (Chris and Jessi are friends from Winona State. They currently live in the cities area and were in a church small group with us this past fall. Jessi is a Spanish teacher at Eagan High School. They are expecting a baby girl on March 22nd.)

Jessi and (Hannah)

(Hannah-was born on March 16th, just three days after Miss Larkyn)

Grandpa Jim

Grandpa Jim made the trip up Sunday morning to spend some time with Larkyn.

Shannon (Shannon and I teach Kindergarten together at Diamond Path. Shannon has also been a great resource for me during pregnancy. She has two little girls and has provided us with great advice, clothes, toys, etc.)

Kelly

The ladies of the neighborhood decided to leave their husbands and children at home to come and visit baby Larkyn. All of them, with the exception of Kate, thought we were having a boy. I wasn't sure if Jess would really believe us or not when we told her we had a girl!

Tanya

Daina

Jess

Kate

Larkyn's First Check-up with the Doctor

She checked out great!

Daddy's First Diaper Change

Larkyn's First Bath
She was getting all cleaned up to snuggle with us!