1 Month Old Sweet P

Taylor called this her Chinese weight-lifting picture

AGH!!! I can't believe we have a baby! It's so crazy! It seems like our life has just been in double speed lately. It's unbelievable that the first month has already flown by! We are just amazed with how different she seems every day. Jeff came home from work one day and said, "I think she's grown since this morning!" I wouldn't put it past her! That girl can eat!

Paisley is such an alert, wide-eyed baby. She has a head FULL of hair - it's funny because it parts and waves just like Jeff's. She has a slight dimple in her chin and on one cheek. It's the yummiest part of her to kiss! I just love it.

Nana, Jeff, Jamie, Paisley, and Kelsey Cowling

Lisa Zimmerman and Paisley

This has been a busy first month for Sweet P. A Few Hours Old - Met her Nana, Kelsey, and Lisa Lis, my beloved red-head. 1 Day Old - Met Lauren and headed home to meet Adam and Kendra. 2 Days Old - Met all of the crazy Giddens family. 3 Days Old - Took pictures after Uncle Thomas's wedding.  8 Days Old - Photoshoot with Christina Stephens! Then, we had some time to relax and try to catch up on some much needed sleep at home. Jeff even got to stay home with us for a week or so.

Lauren Angle - BFF from 7th grade

Kendra and Adam Hardin and Paisley

We had tons of visitors come and meet P. Her Aunt April even came and stayed with us for a couple of days and took Paisley on her first adventure to Piedmont Park. I don't know why I agreed to that because I was NOT ready for all the walking involved. April acted like the baby just appeared - like I didn't just push her out of me or anything!

Katherine Niles, Brittany White, Nicole Flores (GSU friends) and Paisley

We also had so many sweet friends (and a few people we hadn't met from church) bring us tons of delicious food. It was so nice to not have to worry about that!

My cousins, Mary Newberry and the McMillans, and my other family, the Bonners

In this first month Paisley was a very calm baby. She did have a tendency to not want to sleep between about 9 and 11 pm (which was when I was just about beyond exhausted). This was pretty much the only time she cried. She was super congested those first few weeks and even got an eye infection from a clogged tear duct! It was pitiful and looked like she was the loser in a baby boxing match (which you know she would have really won because... well, just look at her!)

She also came home sleeping like a pro - about 7 hours at night. But then the doctor told me to wake her up and feed her so she could gain back the weight she had lost (She was down to about 8 lbs. 6 oz. - I think). I'm pretty sure she would have gained it back just from eating during the day... Next time I don't think I'll be waking a baby in the middle of the night. She dropped that feeding pretty quickly, though - I think around 4 weeks.

Laney was so excited to meet her new cousin!

Cousin Time!

She also smiled A TON! People kept telling us it was gas, but these weren't little gassy smiles. They were wide, happy smiles. She smiled at the doctor when we went for a check-up and she said, "She just smiled at me, an intentional smile! Most of my babies don't smile intentionally until they are at least two months." She also grabbed a fist full of the doctor's hair and her arm jerked back and the doctor said she was a feisty little one. She said she only ever has to worry about six month and older babies pulling her hair. She's never had a newborn grab it before.

Nana and Sweet P

I was beginning to think maybe Paisley was born a bit later than we thought she was. My brother had shown a picture of Paisley to one of his coworkers and asked how old he thought she was. He said 6 months! Ha! He thought a newborn baby was 6 months old. Obviously he had no concept of infant age, but she really does look older than she is. I'm pretty sure she's going to be 6 feet tall in middle school!

Anyways, we love our smiling, happy, calm baby and couldn't be more thankful or blessed!

Big, Bellied 1 Month Old