2nd week...with her BB family!:)

On the same day that we said byebye to Lola, we picked up Lux's Aunt Kate (Ryan's sister) from the same airport about an hour later.

This was Lux's first exposure to the outside world (which I was somewhat hesitant about exposing her so early, but we wanted to be at the airport to say bye and hi). 

Meeting her Aunt Kate in the parking garage at the airport!

Lux got some good Aunt and Niece time-they like to talk to each other.

I think Lux was telling her how much she liked being spoiled by her...Aunt Kate hadn't wasted any time in showering Lux with gifts-toys, blankets, clothes, things to use as Lux gets older...Lux is never going to have a shortage of cool things that her Aunt makes.

hahah, she totally looks asian in this pic...with teeny tiny legs.

quiet time with Aunt Kate.

Our first walk as a family. Katie took control of Alexio who hadn't had much walking action til this point.

Katie tried to coax Alexio deeper into the water with this big stick.

He totally was not having it.

She claimed, "He's swimming, he's swimming!" (But he looked like he was frantically trying not to drown;) lol)

This is when Grandma first walked into the house. 

Alexio totally knows who she is and decided HE needed some attention before she met Lux. 

He was so excited to see his Grandma.

Meeting her first granddaughter for the very first time!

and of course, Alexio had to get in on the grandma loving action too.

He just could not handle the thought of Lux taking his grandma.

4th of July grilling:)

Grandma and Lux cuddle at every chance they had:)

I think they're telling each other secrets...they seem to have these quiet conversations together quite often:)

Alexio loved having his Aunt Kate here. She is one of his very favorite persons in the world.

They played together, walked together, napped together...yep, they're best buds.

Lux and Alexio both practicing tummy time.

See? They're talking to each other again!:) 

sweet sweet moments.

Here are some family photos after they went to church. 

I took the pics and didn't want to be in them (still sporting the post prego belly and I was in sweats while everyone else was dressed up:))

I don't know how, because they all chose their church outfits in three different states, but they all ended up picking clothes that matched each other!

Must be related;)

I love these pics.

They're vibrant and beautiful and the first family ones with the newest brandenberger generation:)

These sibling shots are really too cute.

They make me smile just looking at them.

And Aunt and her first niece.

Daddy, Grandma, and Lux.

we tried to get a pic of Grandma with her "grandkids."

She's probably thinking, "yeah...all this fuss is about me:))

I love when I catch my husband kissing his little girl. 

Precious moments.

Grandma and Lux spending the last bit of cuddle time before Grandma had to leave:(

It was a fun week with the Brandenberger side of the family.

We really didn't do too much, as I was still healing and slowly getting back to normal.

We hung around the house mostly and soaked in time with Lux.

It was probably one of the best visits we've ever had!

It was also really nice to have the extra hands to help out around the house...I was so thankful as I was really worn out all day long and to have help with the dishes and laundry was such a blessing!

It's really pretty sweet to see Lux being loved on so much by her Grandma and Aunt...She's quite a special little girl to have so much love in her life!

It was sad seeing them go and we also got hit with this huge reality check that we have a BABY...and she's ours to take care of.

When they left, it was the first time the three of us had ever been home alone...and it was kinda scary and exciting at the same time. 

and then it began!

Parenthood on our own...

First week with Lux...and her Lola, the Baby whisperer.

We got home in the evening on Sunday (they almost made me stay overnight again because of my fever during delivery...but I pleaded with them to let me go home, since my family was leaving really really early that Monday morning.)

So we got home and tried to soak up the remaining time with the family.

I was so thrilled though, because my mom and dad decided mom would stay a whole week with us as I got the hang of the whole being a mom thing:)

Here are the aunties chilling with the niece:)

the dogs weren't quite sure of what that teeny tiny thing that made noise was:) they were a little concerned that they couldn't lick her:)

My mom was a Godsend during this week.

I don't know how we could have done it without her.

She is an expert MOM, i must say, because she seemed to know every trick in the book.

She is also a Baby Whisperer-putting Lux to sleep just by singing and dancing with her.

The first few days home, Lux had to be at the hospital each day because she was at risk for jaundice, and they kept doing tests (HATED it-something about pricking a baby for blood over and over again is heartbreaking), and when we'd return home, my superwoman mom in the short time we had been gone had already, made an incredible meal, vacuumed, tidied up the whole house, washed the dishes, had done laundry, AND had gotten herself ready. 

and she'd be sitting on the couch with Alexio reading her Kindle.

Amazing. Yep, that's my mom:)

We LOVED the meals mom prepared. It was a whole week of not worrying about cooking or cleaning or doing any dishes; my mom took great care of all that. Ryan and I agree that mom makes the best breakfast in the world...for some reason every single things she makes for breakfast tasted ten times better than when I cook it.

When we'd return home from the hospital after Lux's checkups, mom always made it such a cozy and welcoming home environment...with worship music playing and the smells of a fresh cooked meal in the air. It gave me the same feeling that I get when I go home to SC. Mom's really good at that. Makes things just a welcoming and comfortable environment.

We found that Lux loved to sit in the bouncer to sleep, so that's where she slept the first week...and we'd place her on the table so she could join us while we ate and could look at her cute face.

Mom and Lux did alot of dancing and singing that first week.

And as sleep deprived as I was, having my mom here was a blessing, cuz she'd send me back to bed in the morning and love on Lux while I tried to get some sleep.

I love footsie pajamas...they're so cute:) 

Ryan was really cute each time he held Lux. It would be late and Lux would be asleep in his arms, and we would talk about how amazing it was that she was here.

We'd stare at her for the longest time just amazed with her teeny tiny being:)

Alexio still wasn't too sure about her. He would keep inching closer and closer to her trying to smell her and see what she'd do. 

And if she all of a sudden flailed her arms, he'd jump back startled. it was pretty funny.

Here's her first spongebath.

Alexio trying to get in on the action since daddy was paying attention to the baby.

One of those dreaded hospital visits where they'd prick her heel and draw blood and she'd scream and grab whomever was with her.

Here she is singing and dancing with her Lola. She looks like she's trying to decide what song to sing next.

Middle of the night feeding:) This is the face she made as she tried to eat her fist.

She seemed to love snuggling with Lola even more than she did with her mommy and daddy. 

My mom could get her to sleep anytime anywhere.

here she is snuggling with her daddy. Daddy was determined for Lux to enjoy napping with him as much as she did with her Lola:)

This was her first real bath. When the nurses said a real bath wouldn't hurt her umbilical cord, then we went ahead and gave her a real bath:)

and her daddy thought he should style her hair to look like elvis:)

And here we are at the end of the week of having the best Lola in the world stay with us:(

Here we are saying bye in the airport.

You know how you're supposed to be overly emotional after having a baby?

Well, the only thing that seemed to make me cry was thinking about when my mom would leave.

And then after she left, thinking about my mom leaving made me cry.

and thinking about how much she did for us this week made me cry.

and then just thinking about my mom and how much i loved her made me cry.

So, basically, I cried with any thought of my mom:)

But that's what happens when your mom is as wonderful as this...and to think my daughter has my mom as her grandmother...how awesome is that?!

So this was Lux's first week of life.

We were really blessed to have gotten to share it with my mom/her Lola and will always cherish those memories of Lola being there for her birth and through her first week.

I think the minute my mom left i was instantly overwhelmed with the thought of having a new born and I got really really tired instantly. 

And even though I was a mom now, all I wanted was my mom to come back.

But thankfully, Ryan and I learned alot from her.

And He was and still is a great support and help as we've been raising this new little girl.

a month later, and we've survived:) 

Soon, in the next couple of weeks, we'll get to reunite this little girl with her Lola.

Can't wait!:)