One month old.

She's THRILLED to be one month old

Baby Linna is already one month old!  Time is sure flying by, and I am learning so much as a new mom.  One of the biggest lessons I've learned in the last month, is how important sleep is.  I think I was running on adrenaline during the first few weeks after Linna was born, and she and I were always on the go.  Well, that finally caught up to me after running on just a couple hours of sleep every night.
Up until last night, I have primarily been the only one getting up with Linna at night.  AJ works, and I felt like since I'm home with the baby, I should be able to do it.  I've always felt like stay-at-home moms should be able to "do it all" (laundry, take care of baby, keep the house clean, run errands, make dinner, etc.), and I always wondered how stay-at-home moms get so tired.  Well, now I get it!  I've been working so hard to be "super mom" that I ran myself into exhaustion.  I hit a wall this week.  I became so emotional about everything, and realized I can't do it all without help.

I'm learning how important it is to ask for help.  I've had major anxiety about letting AJ (or anyone else) wake up with Linna at night, thinking he's going to accidentally roll over on top of her, fall asleep and drop her, etc.  I've also had anxiety about letting other people hold Linna, watch her for a few hours so I can sleep, feed her, etc.  I'm quickly learning to get over this, and this may be the best lesson I've learned in the last month.  Last night, AJ woke up with Linna so I could get some much-needed sleep.  I slept downstairs in the guest bedroom, so I couldn't hear Linna cry, and I got about seven hours of rest.  This was a HUGE step for me, but AJ did such a good job, which really help put my fears aside!  I'm so thankful and lucky so have such a supportive husband.

New hat from Nana Beanie

While I'm working on getting more "me" time, Linna is growing up SO fast!  She's definetly found her lungs, and lets us know when it's time to eat, change her diaper, or when she's just tired.  I'm learning how to distinguish between her different cries.  She's eating three ounces about every three hours, and I'm still pumping and bottle feeding.  She's a great eater and burper too!  She wakes herself (and us) up every three hours to eat at night.  We don't wake her up to eat if she's sleeping.  She's kind of making her own schedule.

I love watching her eyes try to focus on our faces when we talk to her.  When Grandpa Specken talks to her and says, "where's grandpa's smile?", she actually smiles (well, she's done it once).  I can't wait until she starts reacting to our voices:)  Although I still think she looks a lot like me, I'm seeing more and more of AJ in her face.  I think we have a perfect mixture of the two of us in this little baby!