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| Alina at one-week-old - she's our little baby doll! |
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| Sleepy baby, tiny footsies |
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| Bonding with mommy, plus her very first birthday cake |
The past week has been an indescribably wonderful experience. We feel the most immense joy and happiness that our beautiful and healthy newborn daughter, Alina, is now here with us. Alina is such a little doll! She rarely cries, sleeps most of the day, and makes the sweetest little baby faces that draw plenty of smiles from us. She's awake maybe 2-3 hours during the course of a day and when she is I make sure to have the camera ready. Of course, I've taken tons of photos. Alina is a super photogenic little one. I have so many favorites from her first week, that it was hard to choose which to post. We are just so in love with her!
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| Cutie pie Alina - already posing for photos |
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| Showered with love and enjoying her first week |
Even though it was just two short years ago that we brought home our first newborn, it's amazing how much we've forgotten what it was like and also how easy it is the second time around. With Elise, I remember feeling overwhelmed by my emotions and on top of that constantly critiquing everything I did. It was all new to me, and while it was exciting it was also a bit much to process. Having a newborn again, I find myself calm and at ease in everything I do. I'm more relaxed and taking time to just enjoy her and shower her with love. Right now, I feed her every two-three hours, change a few non-messy and non-stinky diapers, clean up after spit-up, take tons of photos/videos, cuddle with her, and that's about all I have to do to make her happy. I also find myself in awe of just how tiny she is! I've been carrying Elise around for the past couple years and she is now over 30lbs. Holding our fragile little 8 pound Alina has really put things in perspective. It's like holding a little baby doll and I absolutely do not want to put her down.
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Proud big sister Elise! She loves her so much
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| Alina's first bath - big sister helped out |
Elise has been an absolute ANGEL around her new baby sister! She has been so interested and helpful in taking care of Alina. She even helped give Alina her first bath. I can tell that they are going to be the best of friends. Elise has already taken on such a nurturing role. The cutest thing is when Elise tries to calm Alina from crying by patting her head and saying, "It's ok baby sissy, don't cry". The first time she said that, my eyes welled up with tears of happiness. It was just the sweetest thing ever to see how much empathy and love Elise has for her baby sister. I know that Elise will take the best care of her and set a great example for her to follow!
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| Newborn Alina doing what she does best; sleeping :) |
