First Weeks as a Family of Four!

Our first weeks at home have flown by! Life is definitely much busier with a new baby in the house, especially when taking care of a 2 year old. But it has been quite easy, and our family seems to be adjusting wonderfully to our new addition. Granted, Grace has been a very easy baby, and Bella has been an awesome big sister. :)

The day we arrived home from the hospital- the first of many many pictures of our two girls! Bella was feeding her baby of course. :) That baby was an excellent gift choice- it has been well loved and gives Bella something to do when Mommy is busy with Grace!
We gave Grace her first bath the night we arrived home from the hospital- obviously it didn't go over well. :) But we tried again a couple days later, and she was fine then! Same with Bella- hated the first bath, loved the rest!
Chilling on her boppy with a very sleepy look.
One of my favorite pictures thus far! Bella has so much love for her little sister, especially when she's awake! She is not as interested in her when she's sleeping- apparently that's boring. But the second she is awake, Bella is laying by her and talking to her in this little sing-song voice- "Hi baby Grace!" We love it. :)
Mommy taking a few pictures of Miss Grace when she is awake- her first week, I swear she slept about 95% of the day. She was such a sleepy baby! The hardest thing about taking care of her was waking her up every 2-3 hours to eat. Who knows how long she would've slept otherwise!
Bella often thinks that Grace needs to have a bottle in her mouth. :) The poor girl used to have that bottle near her mouth about 10 times a day! I am nursing Grace, which was interesting to have Bella witness. We had read about in books how babies eat bottles, but I definitely didn't want to explain how Grace would be eating. The first time she saw us, she was a little freaked out and confused. But we explained that babies eat from Mommy when they are little, and she was fine with it. It doesn't faze her anymore, and she refers to it in quite a precious way- "eating from Mommy's belly." :) And yes, Bella has fed her baby Bella from her belly as well. Just as I thought she would!
Bella giving Grace some love again-
Grace showing her big pretty eyes! We of course get asked a lot if Grace looks like Bella- and they definitely do. Their head shape is different, but their facial features and eyes look so much alike. Derek and I think the older Grace gets, the more she looks like Bella.
One week old! Obviously Grace was quite sleepy here. :)
My parents gave us a new bouncy seat as part of her present, and it has been very loved thus far! Grace spends much of the daytime sleeping there.
I caught a sweet little smile on camera when she was sleeping- happy dreams apparently!
She was actually laying on our hardwood floor on a blanket when I took these pictures. Proof that this girl can sleep through anything! She was OUT.
Our two pretty girls in their first color coordinating outfits. :) I had fun buying for ONE girl, and it's been even better buying for two!
Oh so sleepy....
My little pumpkins sporting their pumpkin shirts on a day we went to get pumpkins. Bella wanted to hold Grace's hand. :)
Mommy snuggled up with my two little girls- and baby Bella of course.
Daddy with his two ladies on his birthday! And Henry the Horse had to be in this picture. I was glad that Grace was born in September- she gets to share her birthday month with Daddy, just like Bella does with Mommy!
As I said, Bella has been such a great big sister. She adapted without any issues at all, despite being super attached to her mommy- no regression, no jealousy- just lots of love for Grace! We have been so proud of how she has handled this change. Can't wait to watch these two grow in love for each other and become friends as they get older- and of course have occasional battles along the way. :)And we can't wait to continue to watch this little lady grow and develop! Grace has been a very easy baby so far. Obviously, she sleeps like a champ, and she's also eating awesome. I weighed her at home when she was around 3 weeks old, and I think she is a little over 9 lbs now. She was down to 6 lb 13 oz when we left the hospital, so she is definitely gaining weight well! She is such a blessing to us. :)