Perry is ONE month!

Perry Frances is one month old!

Perry is wearing her Auntie B's bubble. :)

A few things about our girl:

• Perry loves being snuggled, and I don't mind one bit!  She is happiest when she is laying on John or me.  She particularly loves "tree-frogging" her daddy (laying on her tummy on his tummy with her arms and legs spread around his belly).  It's adorable!
• Perry is super alert!  She gets very focused on things and loves staring at her mommy and daddy.
• Perry is definitely a spitter upper.  This can be slightly frustrating, but I don't think it really bothers her much.  
• Perry does not like her bathtime.  But she sure does look cute in the hooded towels!
• Perry loves bottles!  We started giving her a bottle in the evenings before bed, and she guzzles them down.  John gives her the bottles, so it's a sweet bonding time for them.
• Perry does not like tummy time.  She usually spits up as soon as we put her down on her tummy. ;)
• Perry is eating about every 3 hours, give or take half an hour.  
• Perry usually sleeps for a good 6 hour stretch at night (from about 9-3), but not always.  We are thankful for the nights that she does though!  We are trying to start making her bedtime consistent around 8:00.
• Perry has been sleeping in the rock-n-play next to our bed up to this point.  Tonight we are attempting to transition her to the pack-n-play.  We may regret this decision!

Perry is absolutely perfect in every way!  Happy one month birthday (a day late), baby girl!!!

Perry's first few weeks!

We have a 4 week old!  Parenthood has been the most amazing and the most challenging thing we have ever done.  What an incredible adventure!  Here is a glimpse into Perry's first 4 weeks of life:

Perry's first bath!

Perry's first doctor's visit!  She has been to the pediatrician four times already, partially because mommy is a worrier. :)

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a week!  It was so special introducing them to their granddaughter.  They were incredibly helpful while they were here - cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes, and of course holding and snuggling our precious Perry!  We are so grateful for them and can't wait to go visit Milwaukee in a few weeks!!

I love this picture of Perry with all four of her grandparents! It will be rare occurrence that she gets to be around all of them at the same time, which makes it extra special!

We ventured off to Surfside for the 20th Preston family reunion!  This year we just went for the day so Perry could meet everyone and we could visit for a few hours.  On the way home, we stopped at an Arby's to change Perry and grab a quick bite.  When John came back out to the car, he casually let me know that I had poop on my face.  Welcome to motherhood!  It was kind of hilarious!

We went to Mumsie and Popsie's house for the first time to celebrate Georgia Kate's 3rd birthday!

We've also done a lot of snuggling :) Here are some of my favorite pictures of our girl from the last few weeks:

Perry may or may not have her mommy's gigantic feet!

This girl LOVES her daddy!

Perry meeting her Guinny for the first time. She is lucky enough to have three great-grandmothers!

We love you, sweet Pear Bear!

Going home

After two days in the hospital, we got to bring our Perry home on Saturday, July 2nd!  It was such a special day!

Mumsie and Popsie came to the hospital to help us gather up to go home.  Mumsie made Perry a BEAUTIFUL going home gown, bonnet, and blanket!  My mom is incredibly talented, and we are so lucky she makes such special pieces for our babies!  Perry looked so beautiful! :)

My mom and dad decorated our front yard with pink bows and balloons and an "It's a girl!" sign on the front door.  It was so cute!

My mom and dad stayed with us for a couple of nights when we got home, which was SO helpful as we adjusted to our new normal.  We loved having them here with us, and goodness knows we needed them! 

Perry, you are one incredibly loved little girl. I pray that you grow up knowing how beautiful, loved, and special you are!

Perry Frances

It's a GIRL!

Perry Frances Lodde

June 30, 2016

8 pounds, 11 ounces

21 inches

We checked into the hospital on the night of June 29th to be induced on June 30th.  I was so nervous, excited, and purposefully uninformed about what was going to happen in the next 24 hours.  Since I had about 243 contraptions/monitors attached to me, had to pee every 30 minutes because of the IV, and the excitement of knowing we were about to meet our baby, I hardly slept! 

No big deal, just heading to the hospital to have a baby. :)

Last picture of "the bump"!

Last picture as a family of 2!

Chris brought John breakfast and coffee the next morning to fuel him up for what we thought would be a long day ahead.  They broke my water and started the Pitocin around 7:30-8am.  I had predicted we would have lots of downtime to read magazines, watch HGTV, and chill while waiting for the medicine to work its magic.  Who was I kidding!  Little did I know how quickly the process would go!  The contractions were much stronger than I anticipated, so I requested the epidural around 9am.  Well, they did not give me the drugs until around 10:30 or 11, at which time I had already progressed to 9 cm!  No wonder labor was so painful!!  Before I knew it, it was time to push.  It is not like the movies, as in, there is a lot of quiet downtime between pushes.  I could go into much more detail about the entire process, but here is what really matters...

At 2:07pm, after an hour and a half of pushing, I heard John utter the words "It's a girl"!  I cried tears of relief and joy and held my daughter for the first time! :)

Staring at her mommy :) Perry's eyes were open from the second she was born!

We had about a hour and a half alone with our girl (and all the nurses and doctors in the room - hah).  We called John's dad and FaceTimed with his mom to tell them that they had a granddaughter! :)  Mumsie, Popsie, Auntie Brittany, Uncle Chris, and Rhett had been very patient, so now it was their turn to find out who Perry was!! The Myers family was also there, but I didn't get a picture.

Later that evening, Uncle Pete, Uncle Thomas, and Rebecca came to meet Perry!

The next day, Reid and Georgia Kate came to meet their cousin!

Mumsie and Popsie with their 4 grandchildren! :)

A few more pictures from the hospital...

Perry Frances, we are so in love with you!!!