baby rolls & smiles at six weeks

I woke up today and my baby had rolls and was full of smiles. Her smiles lately are coming more frequently and bring me to tears sometimes (of happiness!) I'm so happy when she is happy. Those moments are like tender mercies when I feel like I'm doing an okay job as a mother (although I'm fully aware that children being happy/unhappy is not always an indicator of success as a parent, so maybe I should reframe that). Nonetheless, they are sweet moments.

My view 

Ball of cuteness, right there

Superbaby!

She loves to suck on her hands these days. Also, her thigh rolls get me every time.

And sticking out her little tongue :)

 I want to capture my mornings with her. My bed head, lack of makeup, and tired eyes but time with just me and her that I've really just come to love. She is pretty smiley in the morning, usually wakes up wriggling and alive and wanting food NOW. I love her little hands that curl around her face or pull on my shirt as she is feeding, all the squeaks and snorts that she makes, and her body snuggled up next to mine, feet kicking or bent up all baby-like.

Her face in this one makes me laugh.

I've been getting out more lately and it is refreshing. I took her on a hike the other day for an hour and she slept the whole time in the carrier. There were lots of hills and it felt good to get my heart rate up somewhat. Yesterday I went running for the first time and my pace was so slow, I might as well be pregnant again. My hips, knees, and back also hurt so I only ran 1.5 miles. It was nice to smell the fresh air and have some "me time," though. Something I'm going to take everyday. The doctor cleared me for exercise but he hasn't actually checked to see if everything is healed...so I'm still hesitant to do anything intense.

We've been going on more outings like visits (I'm in the relief society presidency- church organization for women), hikes, grocery store trips, rides, bike rides, etc. Annalise is getting used to sleeping in the car seat, carrier, and bike chariot and does a pretty good job. We are traveling to Chicago soon for my bestie's wedding. I was initially worried about the trip but not so much anymore. Nursing in public was a struggle until I problem-solved with positioning and coverage and now it is getting a lot better.

Annalise still spits up a bit but it's gotten so much better, so that is nice (knock on wood). Her normal sleep schedule is sleeping from 7 or 8 pm until 3 or 4 am, and then waking up again between 6 and 8 am. We recently moved her into her crib room and us back into our bedroom across the house with a monitor that sounds when she cries loudly. I have slept so much better, only waking up to the monitor instead of to EVERY sound she makes (which is a lot including grunts, whimpers, squeaks, coughs, etc). She seems to wake up happy, so I don't think I'm traumatizing her too much by moving across the house. Although sometimes I catch myself half-asleep muttering to Samuel or to myself, "Is she okay? Is she crying?"