Lily's Friends

There were a surprising number of babies born within a few months of Lily. Lily and I have been hanging out quite a bit with other moms with babies around Lily's age. It's is fun for all! Lily loves to grab her friends, although I'm not sure how much they love it, and I enjoy hanging out with other people who get peed on and constantly have spit up somewhere on their clothing! :)

One of my favorite things about hanging out with other moms is the affirmation that we offer each other. You can read about what to do in books. Your husband can even offer his two cents. But there is just something about another mom with a happy baby who affirms that it is ok to only wash bottles in hot soapy water and not sanitize them, or to only bathe your baby every third day.

Of course all of our babies are different. Some babies poop every day while others blow out diapers every three days. Some love being on their tummies, others their backs. Some nurse for fifteen minutes, some for thirty. At one point, this would all have concerned me and I would wonder why my baby isn't like theirs, but I'm slowly learning that it is what makes each baby unique and special, not a sign that anything is wrong with any baby.

I can't wait to watch all of these little ones grow up and develop into their own little people. Lily is a lucky girl to have so many friends!

*Pictures are of Lily and Elorie Minter and Noah & Abby Stephens respectfully. Laurel and Christine...send me pics of Hud and Autumn with Lily and I'll add them!

Support Group

It is amazing how therapeutic it can be to hang out with other new moms. Today Lily and I spent most of the day with a friend who's baby boy is a week younger than Lily and another friend who has a two and a half year old and is expecting her second child in about two months. Yes, we spent a lot of the time talking about our babies, but none of us seemed to mind. Hilariously at one point, during Lily's diaper change, we were all comparing baby poops!

This is awesome since a lot of my friends, especially the ones who don't have babies, probably get tired of me talking about Lily all the time. I really try to not talk about her exclusively, but it's hard since she is really what takes up most of my time. I'm learning that I need both types of support groups. I need people that I can talk to about things other than Lily, because, even though she is the center of my world, if I never talk about anything else I'll go crazy. But, I also need people who don't mind discussing breastfeeding, diapers, and sleep patterns.

As you can expect, all of our children are different and we all have different successes and different struggles, but it was just so rejuvenating to hang out. I could openly nurse Lily and not worry if she cries. Stopping for a mid-conversation diaper change was no big deal. There was no pressure to have a "good" baby because they all understand. It was truly lovely, and I'm going to make an effort to make this type of support group a regular thing.

Shower the People you Love with Love!

This weekend Josh and I had our second baby shower for baby girl Hall! My sister, with the help of more family, planned a lovely event for all of our friends and family in Pulaski. It was wonderful to be "home" and surrounded by the people who have known and loved Josh and I for most if not all of our lives and celebrate our joy. I continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by how generous our friends and family are. I'm beginning to be a bit afraid that this little girl will be quite spoiled!

This is the stack of bags and boxes sitting in her room waiting to be sorted and put away!and this is her closet, already filled with adorable outfits. At this point I hope she really is a girl :)!And we still have two more showers scheduled! We really need to get a dresser and some more closet storage for all of her things.
Thank you so much to all of you who are helping us be very prepared for our little one!