Some Videos of Our Girl

We've updated a few videos of Calla on our youtube account.

This one is Calla's most recent bath, she is very calm, alert and happy.

This one is of Calla's movements and cuteness after her very first bath.

This is Calla's first video, after birth when she got the eye gunk smeared in her eyes.

These are from the Dodger's game: Video 1 and Video 2.

This is Calla meeting her Grammy.

This is Calla with her Grandpa.

First Father's Day and 30th Birthday!!!

Today is a very special day for Darby. It is his very first Father's Day, with a little one-month old baby girl who he loves dearly. And it is his 30th birthday! I am so proud of him as a daddy -- he started being a great father even before Calla was born. He went to all of her prenatal visits, and took wonderful care of me to make sure I was rested and to help me make it through my work week. He cooked, cleaned, shopped, let me take naps, and all this in addition to working so much and being in school full time. And getting straight A's again!! Then through the labor and delivery, he proved what a good Daddy he was -- by my side, coaching me when the doctor was distracted, and even getting the doctor back on track when needed! Then as soon as she was born, he was in love! He loves holding her, and misses her when he is gone working so hard. He continues to be involved in everything, from doctor's visits to being up late at night, from diaper changes to burping the baby. And he continues to serve us in so many ways. We thank the Lord for such a great Daddy! I posted some Daddy-Daughter pictures in honor of him.

We are blessed yet again with more loving family to help us through days with a newborn. Calla's Grammy -- Darby's dear Mom is here to visit for 2 weeks. How special that she could be here for Darby's big day! We celebrated on Saturday by going to fancy seafood at Pappadeaux and then going to the park.

Oh, on Friday, we surprised Darby with a party for his 30th birthday. He was totally surprised, so trusting and easily deceived by his lying wifey and Mom! The most blatant lie was after we had shopped for all the food and had cake and everything in the car. We knew when we got home that Darby would want to help us carry everything in, but we didn't want him to see everything. So I called him and told him that we were on our way, but his Mom was going to shop at one more place and would drop me off so I could watch the baby and he could leave for his music internship time. So she dropped me off and cruised around the block until he left. He had no idea!

She is One Month Old!

I can't believe that a month has passed since God blessed our lives with little Calla. I am so thankful for this little life entrusted to us. God has made her so sweet, so easy, so adorable. It has been so easy to adjust to life with a newborn when she is that newborn. Here are some pictures of the past month. She has had a full little life, though she slept through most of it!

Grandpa meets Calla for the first time, at the airport. Calla sleeps through her first Dodgers game at the Texas Rangers Ballpark.
Her onesie says, "My first LA game." Daddy made it! Redeemer Church throws a baby shower that Calla gets to attend, since the first one was canceled the day she was born!

Calla visits the Stockyards. Yes, she sleeps through this too!

Calla is able to attend her first photo shoot with an amazing photographer, Ginger Ivey. Thank you, Ginger, for capturing the beauty of our little girl! She is 2 weeks old in these shots.

Baby's First Bath

We gave Calla her first bath on Wednesday after our outing to Central Market. She screamed the entire time, but was very quiet and alert afterwards. This was probably the highlight of my week!

We dressed Calla in her "Daddy's Girl" outfit to sleep in. Yes, she really is Daddy's Girl, he loves her so much!

Sometimes, Daddy has to go to extreme measures to wake Calla up. Here, he is playing her a song from his mandolin and bouncing her up and down. After this, he put her on the hard wood floor and she started to wake up. Poor baby!

We took Calla to her 2nd round of newborn screenings, meaning another blood draw from her little foot. This is her all peaceful and serene before the trauma!

You'd think being a Child Development Specialist, I would have started tummy time and play time earlier, but this is a pic from the first day. She surprised me with how she really scanned the play mat with her eyes and tried to lift her head when on her tummy to turn it to the other side. She accidentally kicked one of the toys and then kept trying to kick it again. Smart girl! We find now that after nursing her, then play time is a perfect way to keep her awake a little longer. We are deciding to go for some sort of routine, because she was up a lot last night due to sleeping too much in the day.

Trip to Central Market

I have been keeping a journal on Calla, so I don't forget some of our special moments later... Here is part of that entry from a few days ago: Calla is such a good, easy baby. We can always tell what she needs by her little sounds, and she remains pretty calm if it takes a while to meet that need. Calla was making some cooing sounds today. She didn’t spend very much time awake at all. I woke up, nursed her, and by the time I was showered and ready to go, she was hungry again. It took forever to gather all of her stuff to leave the house for our first family outing. Now I really understand why people with babies are late to everything! We got the diaper bag ready with diapers, wipes, cameras, a toy, burp cloth, onesie, blanket, etc. We put her in a very cute pink outfit with pink bow on her head. She was ready to eat, and rather than delay leaving another hour to nurse her, Nana gave her a bottle while we were in the car. We drove to Central Market. What a difference having a baby in the car with you as you drive a few miles. I found myself wanting Daddy to slow down and be extra careful driving over speed bumps and making left-hand turns. It is still hard for me to walk, so Nana and Daddy left me with Calla outside while they browsed for lunch. I used the time to hold her while she slept. I was singing in my head the song, “God is so good,” as I thought about my baby. I had tears in my eyes. I was thinking how amazing it is that she is here, so perfectly made right down to her fingernails and the little hairs on her shoulders. Her feet look like her Daddy’s, with the pinky toe curved inward. I love her fingernails that are pretty like mine. I love kissing her nose. I reluctantly let Daddy put her back in her carrier for lunch. I made him sanitize his hands first, thinking about germs all over the store!

The picture below shows that Calla really is like her Mommy!

Our baby is back!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement to us while our baby was sick. We had a visit on Sunday from the home health nurse, who took her blood sample. We got a call a few hours later that her levels had basically been cut in half, and we can take her out from under the lights. I hung up the phone and ran to the light bed, turned it off, took the eye shields off and held my baby! Since then, she's gradually been more and more like a normal baby. No longer sleepy all day, she wakes when she's hungry and cries when she has tummy pains and keeps us up at night for no apparent reason! Yay!! Overall, she's a very easy baby. She is pretty easy to figure out. And I think we're figuring out this nursing thing, too! Here are some pictures of our little girl, in honor of her turning 1 week old yesterday.

Mommy reading Psalm 139 to Calla.