fullness of grace: ellery's first week

i am so so thankful kyle was able to take paternity leave for e's first week. it was so great to adjust to being at home all 3 of us. and i quickly realized though i felt great, my body still had healing to do. and kyle was (and always is!) such a sweet husband, serving me and ellery with so much help and love. when it comes to being a daddy, he's a natural. even in the hospital, he changed 99% of the diapers - and before that, he had never changed one in his life! he has such a natural way of holding, soothing, and loving ellery, it really melts my heart when i see the two of them together. and then i can't help but smile when i see the two of them with their matching spiked dark hair. love it :)

daddy summed up ellery's first week for her like this: "you slept a ton, pooped a ton, and ate like a champ!" and it's true! as soon as they put ellery on my chest at the hospital, she latched right on and ate so so well. and she hasn't stopped since! we also received a breastfeeding log where we were supposed to keep track of wet & dirty diapers - well, we ran out of room to mark down her poopy diapers! we also discovered she likes sleeping in her swaddler sleep sack in her swing, but her favorite is cuddling & sleeping on us :)

that first week, friday december 2nd (her due date!) we had our first pediatrician appointment. at the first appt, ellery was already back up (and passed) her birth weight - 7 lbs 6oz - which dr. stabelfeldt normally allows 2 weeks for newborns to do so - e did it in 2 days! told ya she was a good eater :) and, the nurse thought she was a total cutie!

ellery continued to sleep really well that first week - again waking 2-3 times overnight to feed. also, it was nice the three of us could all stay in bed until 10 or 11 am :) dr. stabelfeldt recommended starting tummy time as soon as possible, so we started giving e some tummy workouts. she actually didn't mind too much, and did a great job rolling onto her side or picking up her head to work those muscles!

some of ellery's "firsts" her first week home:

first trip to target!

first bath at home! (the picture below cracks me up!)

we had plenty of visitors come meet our sweet girl her first week here. again, thank you so much for making our family feel so loved with your visits, cards, gifts, texts, calls, and even meals!! your kindness means so much to our family :)

our small group came over the night we brought her home. josh brought his camera and the night turned into a mini photo shoot! he is so very talented and we are so very blessed for the AMAZING pictures he took of our family! if you haven't seen them, check them out by clicking here.

more amazing young life ladies. love you girls! (and ellery does too!)

jenny & jason stopped by after volleyball!

giacomo, his parents, and grandma stopped by to say hello! g wasn't so sure about ellery - maybe he has mixed feelings about us arranging his marriage for him :)