Ada-1 Month Old

Ok... Now that I've actually gotten my 2 Week Post posted, time to catch up on my 1 Month Post :-)





Things have gone well in the last two weeks. We're starting to figure out who Ada is, her likes and dislikes, etc. Granted, I will say, she isn't proving to be the easiest going girl ever, but, well, I guess that isn't 100% surprising.
Michelle (Hada Madrina) and Alex sent Ada this tiny tie dye t. I decided to take a pic of her with Q in his tie dye from Gigi and Cuncle. Unfortunately, someone had an attitude and kept lapsing into hysterical screaming fits, which kept freaking Quinn out so that he would take his arm away at which point she'd slide over onto her side, so this is the best picture I got... I'm starting to realize what a miracle a good family picture will be in the future. I'm pretty sure that managing to get all four of us to look good at the same time will border on impossible.

Ada has proven to be a very active girl when she is awake (which is mostly when she should be sleeping). She has really good head and neck control, rocks tummy time, and actually managed to roll herself over on her tummy time mat already. (I'm planning to ask her pediatrician if that actually counts as her first time rolling over as she does have a pillow on the mat). Crazy, busy girl.





She also has a LOT of strong opinions for someone so small. She believes in being held almost all the time, but it is critical that she is being held in the manner in which she chooses to be held and you better figure out what that is as quickly as possible as she'll tell you about it. Even when she is content, she is VERY vocal and constatly grunts, warbles and snorts (sounds cute, eh?). In truth, it kind of is....though I have a hard time sleeping with all her "chatter" as I worry something might actually be wrong.

Giga/Gaga (Quinn calls her both as she used to be Giga, but Lyla, Pressley and Kru have a gaga, so he now uses them interchangeably) came into town to meet Ada and spend time with all of us. She was in town for my birthday and we went out with all of our family and most of our friends to Papas and Beer. It was a great night for all of us, except that they made me fried ice cream and put some whipped cream on my nose which really freaked Quinn out as he thought they had hurt me... Ada, on the other hand, was blissfully oblivious as she was enjoying her favorite activity of being passed from one person to the next and being admired!


Note that in this family shot, though Turner, Q and I look reasonably ok, Ada looks annoyed thus proving my previous point. To my credit, though, right before this picture was taken, Q reared back and accidentally slammed his big, hard noggin into my cheekbone. However, since I had already realized the relative impossibility of a decent family photo, I pushed through the pain and smiled.... What a trooper!

The Saturday after my birthday, we had what I can only assume will be our last baby shower. Candice hosted it for us at the church. It was a ton of fun and we were so glad that as well as most of our Greenville family, my mom was also able to attend.

Sweet (looking) baby girl!

I hate that this picture didn't come out very cleanly as it is the first time I've managed to capture her sweet, goofy baby smile.

Q LOVED Giga/Gaga's visit as he got some (much needed by him) extra attention!

The boys (Darwin and Garcia) are adjusting well to their new baby. And, I have to say, on her part, she never really seems to mind their big hairy faces when they lean in to check on her.

A new baby didn't keep Daddy, Quinn and Giga from enjoying a late night jam session!

I really think that a second child has matured Michael a great deal!

Ada was very content to have an extra set of arms in town for a few weeks!

Rockin' her tummy time.

Ada also got to hang out poolside with Gaga while Q got in his first swim of the season (which he has been itching to do for months) at Great-Mother and Great-Daddy's.

Q also got his first bike while Gaga was here... Did I mention that Quinn enjoyed Gaga's visit? :-) I think he may think a new baby sister is a little like Christmas. On Friday, he was scared to get on his new bike. By Sunday, he was riding it around in circles both forwards and backwards!

We also made cookies with Gaga with every kind of sprinkle we had. Good times!

We had quite a cookie making team, really!

Quinn is very proud of being a big brother! The first week we were home he requested to wear one of his big brother shirts every day. Thankfully, for me who was doing lots of laundry, he has slowed down on that a bit, but he really is proud of his little sister. And she really seems enamoured with him. He spends a decent amount of time invading her personal space (apparently toddlers don't really respect that), but she never gets fussy with him.

Last week, Ada found her hands. She spent quite some time admiring them while she was swinging one day!

Ada's One Month (At Home) Photo Shoot

I thought it was only right to include one photo of her crying so everyone could see just what tiny rage looks like! She really does get good and agitated. Grandmother said at one point that it sounded a little like a cat howling. I've decided she sounds more like 2 wet male cats fighting in a burlap sack...

But, crazy cat cries or no, she's a pretty girl and sometimes a sweet girl!

And a strong and inquisitive girl!

And smart!

And did I mention how ridiculously cute she is?

:-)

So, that's the update for now. Hope everyone is well!

Love to all,

J

Ada-2 Week Update

So, in a completely bizarro turn of events (which I blame on sleep deprivation), I thought I'd published this post 2 weeks ago. Even worse, though the pictures were saved in the draft, all the text was gone, so I'm giving it another go (in part because I anticipate this will be the closest thing Ada gets to a baby book)... So, with a sense of deja vu, here goes:

I decided to do these posts around pictures as frankly, I can't help but share lots of these pictures as I love them so much. Hope that's okay with everyone!

Ada Katherine Turner was born on April 27th at 11:53 am (not bad for a planned c-section at noon-the doctor and everyone was there early so we just went for it!...Maybe she will break the curse of our particular part of the Turner family being consistently late :-) We'll see...).

She was 5 lbs, 13 oz and 18 inches long.

After she was born, her daddy and she stayed with me in recovery and when we headed to our room, the first person she got to meet was her big brother, Quinn.

At first he was a little apprehensive, but he jumped right in to his role as Big Bro!

I love this picture of Auntie Joelle meeting Ada for the first time. I think she's pretty taken with her. Granted, they should have been pretty comfortable with one another as they spent a lot of time together when Ada was in the womb... Joelle even got Ada addicted to her chocolate chip-marshmallow cookies before she was on the outside

:-)

Grandmother and Grandaddy decided they were wild for Ada right away (which is great as she LOVES to be held, so the more arms the merrier).

Gigi was a rockstar throughout the time we were in the hospital. She and Cuncle stayed with Q (and the dogs) and she even managed to get him to the hospital on time to meet his new baby sister (which, let's be honest, I would have failed to do). And though Great Granddaddy won't hold Ada, he has exclaimed over her beauty each and every time he sees her, so I think he's smitten, too.





We were actually pretty intimidated by having the baby at St. Francis as they didn't have a nursery which is what we were used to in Nashville, but it ended up being a wonderful experience. On top of a great staff, etc, they offered a Family Celebration which was basically a party for older siblings. It came complete with "happy cake" (which is what Q calls any cake-he picked it up from Lyla and Pressley and I must admit it makes sense, as who isn't happy to have cake). I believe he ate at least 2 servings of icing only while we were at the hospital.

I have to admit I just put the ribbon on her to take her picture. I think with the headdress and the leopard print, she kind of is rocking a Bea Arthur look!

Once we got home, we started trying to establish a more normal routine. Q was pretty unsettled and has had some issues with sleeping since we got home. He also seemed to be testing his boundaries the first few days with me in particular. However, he never took it out on his baby sister... Mostly he seemed to blame mama :-) He does have a hard time understanding why she cries, but tries to comfort her by saying "It's ok, Eee-ah" (which is how he says Ada).

She's already had several outtings to the park and the zoo and the like (though I've avoided confined indoor spaces), since her big bro likes to go!

I took this picture shortly after she came h0me. I have to admit, we'd watched America's Next Top Model the might before I took this picture. I think she may have taken it to heart.
For a little bitty girl, she's an eating machine. We were trying to call her "biscuit" as we call Q a "bean", but I have to say that "tapeworm" seems more appropriate most of the time. She is eating 4 oz in one sitting (which is a lot for her age) and still won't go more than 3 hours between feedings. When we went to her one week check up, she was back up to 6 lbs, 2 oz (she'd dropped down to 5 lb, 9 oz in the hospital...most babies lose weight after birth). And, she'd grown a whole 1/2 inch :-) Though she seems to be considering a modeling career, I'm not 100% sure her height is cooperating yet!

All in all, things are going relatively well. It's funny as we felt totally prepared for this going in, and though in a lot of ways, it is easier as we kind of know what we are doing, I'm amazed at how different the experience is with Ada. Partly, I'm sure, cause we're juggling two kids, but also just because she is so much her own person already (though I have to say, that doesn't mean I can predict who she'll grow up to be or even what kind of toddler she'll become). In truth, though we're tired and I'm hormonal and a bit overwhelmed at times, I'm also so thankful for her and the incredible addition she is making to our already mostly amazing journey!

Until next time,

Love to all,

J