It's a Stella-bration

I know it's cliche to go on about how I don't know where the time has gone.  But really, I have no idea where the time has gone.

A whole entire year of Stella has flashed by in the blink of an eye.




She went from this snuggly little bundle of love...

2 weeks

... to a lovely little lady...

9 months

 ... to a birthday cake eating machine.

 
Stella was a bit baffled by the birthday festivities. She enjoyed the streamers and balloons and endless singing of Happy Birthday (from her brothers), but she enjoyed it all with a look of amused bewilderment. She did, however, show zero signs of confusion when it came to the cake. She LOVES herself some chocolate cake with caramel icing.

Especially the icing. A girl after my own heart.

Happy Birthday ShtellyWelly! May the next year of your life be as delightful as the first.

the latest on Stella

 Stella is now 6 1/2 months old and just as delightful as ever. She always has a big grin ready for anybody who'll glance her way. Daniel is particularly good at getting her to laugh and giggle.

She can sit on her own now, and grabs at everything within reach. Gone are the days of reading or knitting while I nursed her, unless I want pages torn out of my books or a tangle of baby and yarn. She's a great sleeper, usually sleeping from 7:00 to 11:00, when she wakes up to nurse before we go to bed, and then going strong until 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning; and napping 4 solid hours during the day.

She got her first tooth two weeks ago, and seems like she might be adding another one soon (lots of drooling and gnawing, and a chronic runny nose). We've been having a go at solid foods, which she seems to enjoy as long as we keep both of her hands busy with a couple of spoons for her to hold.

She sits on her own now for short periods of time, and loves to push up with her arms when she lays on her tummy. She's been toying with the idea of pushing up onto her knees too, but usually just ends up high-centered on her belly.

She is very much our little miss sunshine.

Respectably chunky

 

 Mama's sweet pea-in-a-pod. The baby sling is a life-saver.

Sitting Pretty

Smile!

Sweet Stella

Stella turned three months old yesterday. I'm tempted to say that I can't believe how the time has flown, but it's not true. Thanks to her three big brothers, I know all too well just how fast time slips through our fingers and speeds away. Which leaves me feeling particularly anxious to slow things down as much as I can.

So, please enjoy these pictures of our sweet three month old girl, while I go sit and watch her sleep. Because the next thing I know, she'll be all grown.

I'm a unicorn! {hee hee}

Stella-brate!

We've all-- even Lincoln and Daniel-- had that "Celebrate" song (by Kool and the Gang) stuck in our heads lately. Only our version goes something like this:

"Stella-brate good times, come on!" and "It's a Stella-bration."

You should see Jack shake his little booty when we pull the music up and all get to singing. It's awesome.

And Stella? She acts like she's too cool (or Kool?) to know that she's the reason for the par-tay. Meh.

the poop factory...

...or "why I picked the wrong day to switch back to cloth diapers".

Jack really likes his sister

Aren't these two cute? So adorable and sweet that you just want to smother them with kisses, no?

Well, there just happens to be a somewhat insidious side to this delightful duo. Namely: poop.

Yesterday, I changed 19 diapers between the two of them, most of them #2, if you know what I mean. And it didn't just stay in the diapers; we had 6 costume changes between the two of them because of blowouts (5 for Jack, 1 for Stella). To be fair, Jack accidentally got a little milk earlier in the week, which he is allergic/intolerant of/highly sensitive to, so life in the diaper arena is normally much calmer (and cleaner!).

Yesterday was also incidentally the day that I decided we were ready to switch back to cloth diapers. In only a few hours, we blew through a stash that's supposed to last us a couple of days. Ha!

(in other news, Stella had her 2 week check-up yesterday and she was declared fit as a fiddle. She now weighs 10 lbs 13 oz and is 22 1/4 inches long)

Stella's first photo shoot

These last few days have left me wishing that I could slow down time and keep our sweet Stella little for longer. I'm not ready to lose that newborn deliciousness: how downy her hair is, the way she blinks slowly as she falls asleep, the satisfied noises she makes when she's nursing, the look of extreme contentedness and the way the milk dribbles out of her mouth when she's finished a feeding.

I love to bury my nose in her neck and inhale that sweet newborn smell and feel the velvety softness of her skin. I love her floppy ears, her ever-so-slightly crooked nose, and the dimple in her chin. I love the way her tiny little bottom fits perfectly in my cupped hand, and how she folds her body into such a tiny little package.

Today we are all thankful for Stella.

there's someone we'd like you to meet

Stella Jan Hadfield made her grand appearance this morning at 7:00 am (11 days overdue!). She weighed 9 lbs 14 oz and measured 22 inches long. We think she looks just like Daniel did at this stage. She's been charming everyone so far with her calm and alert nature and her stinking cuteness. (the brothers are all absolutely smitten)

The birth was wonderful. I did end up with excessive postpartum bleeding, so we decided to make a non-emergency transfer to the hospital about three hours after the birth. We got a wonderful doctor and nurse who treated me competently and respectfully and sent us home about two hours later when it was clear that my bleeding was under control and I was doing well.

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers.