Feeling the LOVE in February

Our first full month with our new little bundle certainly was full!  Full of firsts, full of visitors (friends AND family!!!), and full of love. :) While our sweet Lilee has sadly been dealing with some frequent tummy issues after she eats, and consequently a bit of fussiness (!), she is still such a joy.  We feel beyond blessed that she continues to be a dream sleeper at night, and as long as she is feeling ok, she is a pretty chill little girl.  And a total cuddler- there's nothing like having that little bundle bunched up on your chest!

Maelee gives us some tough days as usual with her non-stop energy that can either be enthusiastic and cheerful or incredibly strong-willed, defiant, and rather unkind, but we can not be happier with how she has handled being a big sister.  She's apparently been a bit less than enthusiastic with other people who ask about her baby sister (we think she's tired of that being the focus whenever people see her), but at home she is as lovey-dovey can be.  Lots of "I love you, Lilee!" with many sweet hugs and kisses.  We are thankful for that!!! And again, just praying it lasts...

But, let's get to some pictures! 

  Special Mommy & Maelee time with a yummy treat after an afternoon at the Art Farm

Lilee's first "tummy time-" definitely easier to tolerate on daddy's tummy!

First nap in crib

First bath

Sister Love!

Another Mommy & Maelee date for a sweet treat on Valentine's Day

Our Two Little Loves!

Then, the third weekend of February, Nana & Pop-Pop and Uncle Dan came up.  Meeting her Uncle Dan from Japan was one of the most special of Lilee's "firsts!" And Maelee was thrilled to see him again after so many video chats of silly faces and giggles.  She has talked about him everyday since and LOVES going through the books from Japan he brought for her.  Definitely a lot of love that weekend!

First restaurant visit!

The special first introductions continued the following weekend with Mee-Maw & Grandpa's visit. We enjoyed our time together and it was great to introduce Lilee to Steve's parents. Maelee sure had a blast seeing them again!

 

More pics from our visits with family:

February sure was special with those two visits!  We also enjoyed getting to know our sweet new addition better and spend precious time together.  

One of my favorite activities :)

Special daddy/daughter time with the introduction of the bottle

Happy girl!

Another happy girl- eating cake with blue icing, with a princess painted face, at a Spiderman birthday party!

Our sweet girls :)

We loved seeing Lilee's first smiles this past month and hearing her first adorable "coos." She's becoming more and more aware of what's around her and is becoming stronger each day.  We are really hoping March will bring some warmer weather with it so we can start getting outside more regularly but at least it's provided some sweet times inside! 

More pics from February:

Our Lovely Little Lilee

She's here!!!

Lilee Terethia Mason

7 lbs 2.3 oz, 20 inches long

1/23/14

Our second sweet girl arrived right on time on her due date last Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 at 7:52pm.  And what a precious, little blessing she is. Can't believe she is already a week old!

What's in a name?

Well, like Maelee, we wanted our second daughter's name to have special meaning, taken from the wonderful women of her family.  We went back and forth between two  options (Lindee and Lina)until a couple months ago when I realized Lilee (pronounced like the flower and traditional name, Lily) could combine the best of both- "Li" from Linda (my mom's name), "lee" from Atheleen (Steve's mom's middle name), a name that we both thought was cute for a baby/little girl, but pretty for an adult.  We also love the biblical meaning of the lily flower and how it represents God's deep care for His children.  It was a win/win for us! Terethia was my Nana-bug's first name, my grandmother on my mom's side who will always be so special and dear to me (Marguerite, Maelee's midde name, was her middle name).  So there we had it- Lilee Terethia. While we called her "Lil' L" until she was born, Maelee had decided on Lilee pretty much as soon as she first heard it :)

The big day!

Labor was both very different and very similar this time around- it began around 1am on the morning of the 23rd, lasting much longer than Maelee's, and the contractions were much more intense. But that good old "thigh labor" reared it's ugly head once again and I was so thankful for Steve's support, along with our awesome doula, Jill.  I was just a half cm shy of being fully dilated when we arrived at the hospital (my parents got to our place a couple hrs before we left so praise the Lord they drove and I didn't have to take a cab!) and little Lilee was born just a couple hours later. God is good!!!

 

 

More pics right after our little sweetie's arrival:

Seriously???

Our short stay in the hospital went well with wonderful nurses and staff, and easier recovery the second time around, but I couldn't believe what my roommate had to say to me the first night there when she passed by my side and saw Lilee sleeping next to me.  After I responded that yes, my newborn would be "rooming in" with me, she says, "well, let's hope she behaves!"  No, I'm not kidding.  I was too stunned to even respond, no words...

BUT, other than that, all went well our first couple nights with our little bundle. The second morning we were there, a professional photographer was coming around taking photos of all the little arrivals so here's a slew of sweet pics she got:

http://x.co/gagababy
When you go to the website, 1. Register with your name and e-mail address, 2. Enter in the access code: c9b1021a

 Some more shots of our sweet girl and her adoring family...

 So excited to meet her baby sister!!!

 

 

 

More pics from our hospital stay:

Our first week home has been pretty great.  We are so enjoying this sweet girl's calm demeanor and night time sleeping!!! Especially knowing that could change at any moment... :) But for now, we are counting and enjoying our blessings.  Maelee has been a champ as a big sister so far, wanting to hold Lilee multiple times a day and giving her lots of hugs and kisses.  She is still our feisty girl though, so we are finding we need extra patience and grace when she gets wound up! So thankful for how she's done so far with her baby sister though.  And again, just enjoying that while it lasts!!!

 

My girl (s) - check out the background :)

And more pics from that first week home:

And finally, because this post doesn't have enough pictures as is, we got around to a precious little "photo shoot" of our one week old.  She was quite cooperative!  It's been a very special week and we feel so blessed to have Lilee in our family!!!

Last slideshow of the rest of the "photo shoot:"

Matthew 6:27-29, 34

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

³⁴ Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.