My heart skips a beat!

When I look at her sweet little face and she looks up and me and then gives one of her big grins my heart just skips a beat. She is so adorable. Does every mother think that or is she just that precious? She has gotten to where she smiles a lot now, not just when she is full, but when you are holding her, or sing to her, or just randomly when you are playing with her. Her new thing is to stop in the middle of eating and look up and me and give me a big grin. It is so beautiful. I'm going to miss the toothless grin when she gets bigger.

Camp out.

Well we ventured forth at 6 1/2 weeks and took Matilda on her first camping trip. Camping here in Australia is a bit different from back home, at least from most of the camping that I have done, the main difference being that you can't have camp fires and that they have gas BBQ's around for everyone to use. I do miss the campfires, they are great at night and who doesn't like roasting marshmellows ;).

We traveled up Friday afternoon and Matilda slept the whole way which was wonderful. There were about 24 of us there so never had a problem finding someone wanting to hold her, she has such a wonderful disposition so people like watching her. We set up the tents and just enjoyed being together. She did absolutely wonderful. To save on space we didnt' take a porta cot or anything she just slept on the mattress with us. She was such a trooper and hardly fussed at all. Saturday was warm, sunny, and very windy and little Mattie got some pink cheeks. (So we had to be careful about her wearing a hat to keep the sun and wind off). Sunday we all worshiped together then headed home. She is a great little camper and I can't wait to take her again.

Bath Time

Mattie's bath time is one of my favorite times each day, one of her favorites too. Ed and I work together for her bath's, he holds her and I was her. She is so cute and relaxed when she is in the bath tub. As we put her down in she does her arms all the way out and then as soon as she hits the water she has a total look of relaxation on her face. She just stretches her little arms and legs out all the way and looks totally blissful. Afterwards I get to cuddler her in her little towels then we get her dressed. Her hair is always a little curly fro like her daddies.

The part I think I love the best though, besides her adorable little face, is the amazing way she smells after her bath. I just love to sit and cuddle her and breath in that sweet little smell. It almost brings tears to my eyes it is so precious. It is just such a special part of the day that we share. I know I'm going to miss that when she is too big for these little moments. I'll probably find myself going and buying the little soap she uses now just to smell it and have the memories of her bath time when she was a little babe.

Smiles

Matilda has been giving smiles since about 2 1/2 weeks. I promise she was giving them to mom when they were still here and it's not just gas. Lately though they have become even bigger and more pronounced, and there is one time of the day where you are guaranteed to get a big one. Is it for her mommy that gets up all hours of the night to feed her, oh no, she is already a Daddy's girl, and it's absolutely adorable.

Every morning when she gets up to eat she has a big feed then I usually hand her over to Ed to burp her and give her some cuddle while I get something to eat or drink. As soon as I hand her to him and she sees his face she gets the biggest, cutest grin on her face. It's like her total face just lights up when she sees him. It is so cute. I'll try and post a pic of it, though I usually miss them we did get a good shot today of it. We are going to try to video it tomorrow since it's so cute.

Milestones. . .

Well our little precious is 4 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast it is going. In some ways it seems like just yesterday I was still pregnant, yet in other ways it is hard to imagine life without her. I was telling Ed yesterday that it is amazing but I love her more and more every single day.

Last night Matilda slept in her bed for the first time. YAY!!! She took her naps all day in her bed and we put her down at about 11 for her night sleep. She slept till around 4 then up for a feeding then back asleep in her bed until 7. She did so good for her first night in there. Hopefully this will continue. I woke up around 3 wide awake wondering why it was so quiet, so of course I had to go and check on her. She was sound asleep.

Yesterday was a sleepy day for her. It was everything we could do to keep her awake after she ate. Ed was having to put her in all these crazy positions, and we even resorted to a cool rag to keep her awake for a bit. She pulled the funniest angry faces but refused to open her eyes. She already has attitude :) I guess she does come by it pretty fairly with the parents she has.

Welcome!!

Well I have established this blog for all of you who are interested in our little Matilda Grace and all her growth and changes. I'm sure that I'll add snipits of our lives here as she is an integral part of our goings on. I'll try to update frequently to keep everyone updates on her latest pics, growths, and accomplishments. I know that us being so far away is hard on everyone (including us) so hopefully this will help at least in a small way.

I can't believe that time is going by so fast. Our little girl is now 1 day shy of 4 weeks old. She is growing and changing so much, it's amazing watching what each new day will bring. She is sleeping better through the nights (at least most nights) and doing great with her feeding schedule. This week she has gotten to where she can really turn her head from side to side to look around and she is discovering her arms and legs and is really turned into a little wiggle worm. She is super observant and really studies you when she's awake. She is a doll when we take her out (I think she may be better out than when she is at home ;) ). Her daddy and I are figuring out her little cries and we are all getting in sync with each other.

The goal this week is to get her sleeping in her own bed. There is a part of me that is torn with this. The part that loves having her close for a cuddle during the night, then the part that needs sleep. I know it'll be better for us both if she gets use to sleeping in her bed cause we will both rest better, but I will miss her.