Reese turns four weeks today and I cannot even believe it. Though I can, because she feels immensely heavier to me and has learned a lot of things the past few weeks. This past week she got to meet and spend time with her Papa and Grandma Miller and I think she grew quite fond of them during their stay with us. We were grateful to have them in for a visit and an extra set of hands from Thursday through our goodbyes to them this morning and they were able to witness a few of these firsts:
- First social smile (and its adorable)
- First time to acceptably take a pacifier to soothe her
- First time she found her thumb
- First dinner out to a restaurant
- First time being watched by people other than mom and dad around
- First Sunday at church
Going to PEPS 
Good morning smiles 
And more good morning smiles 
And more 
Playtime
As Reese is growing, so are her parents who continue to learn her cues, wants, and needs and how to manage themselves as parents. For me, I made major headway last week on being a sane mom at home by myself with her while her daddy is at work. From Tuesday on, it was all about routine and sanity for me. I read this hilarious post Tuesday night as I sat on the couch feeding her (my only downtime that day came in the form of feeding her) that literally made me weep tears of laughter because it was so relatable on that particular day. So my mission was to find a way to survive the weeks at home with a baby by myself…and I did.
Wednesday and Thursday meant that I was going to be patient at our times of feeding so that she was well fed but not needing to constantly feed all day long. Good feedings led to good naps that I rely mostly on naps in the wrap. Naps out of the wrap still are short little cat naps that don’t provide this mama a break. And post napping we did a lot of tummy time, walks around the house taking things in and playing on her activity mat. I was feeling like Super Mom by the time that Lon and Trish arrived Thursday morning but was still glad to have loving family members to hand her off to in the morning to shower and let nap on them for hours on end during the day and cook us delicious dinners.
Meeting the Miller grandparents for the first time 
Meeting the Miller grandparents for the first time
Meeting the Miller grandparents for the first time
In the past week with the grandparents Bryan and I were glad to enjoy a few dinners at the dining room table (cue pacifier to the rescue for dinners these days). We also enjoyed a pizza and movie night and our first dinner out of the house with Reese at our favorite Eastlake Bar and Grill. Thanks to the chilly and empty patio we were able to walk her briefly in the Ergobaby before she fell sound asleep for the rest of the dinner and I was able to enjoy a great schnitzel from their Oktoberfest menu. We also successfully took this little girl to church on Sunday to meet some people, be announced in front of the church audience, and only fuss a little just to check out the nursing room in the basement. And the grandparents watched the little girl long enough for me to get out of the house and get a mani-pedi on Tuesday afternoon. This mama is getting her groove back and it felt so good!
Enjoying the sunset at Eastlake Bar and Grill 
Content in the car seat for all of 10 minutes
Bryan and I have continued our bedtime routine with Reese and will continue to do so for the indeterminate future. Reese loves her bath time and no matter how fussy she seems to be becoming at night she quiets down instantly in the bath. Although we have started said bath time anywhere from 7 pm to 9 pm, our little girl seems to fall asleep around 9 pm every night. And this girl is a great sleeper! She has slept for six hours straight the past two nights and I’m learning that is not the norm from my PEPS group mothers. Our PEPS meeting this past Monday was actually discussing sleep, and while my little girl slept the whole two hours through (again), I was really feeling lucky as I was hearing stories from the other moms, many who have yet to string together three hours of sleep at night. Baby girl really has yet to have trouble falling asleep at night, its the daytime hours that sometimes require a little finesse to get her lights out.
This girl loves her Boppy lounger and I think she is just too cute in it 
Reese doesn’t need to talk about sleep in PEPS…she sleeps through PEPS 
And we sleep in bed in the morning
Reese continues to be a beautiful bundle of joy and we still feel like very lucky parents (and grandparents) as the weeks continue.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 