Uncle B comes home!

Cory's brother, Brendon came home from his mission this week! He served in the Tempe Arizona mission, which is the modern day version of where his Dad served his mission about 30 years ago (and also overlaps with the very same place my Dad family is from, and where we spent our vacation last year. So crazy to think we were right there close to where he was!). Anyway, his two years were up, and he came home.

And, although this post really is about how happy we are that Uncle Brendon is back, it would seem that a lot of the pictures are of Amelia...I promise it's really about Brendon...really. She's just the only one that can't run away from the camera yet.

After Brendon got released we came home for Christmas dinner (his requested homecoming meal, ham, potatoes, squash casserole, the whole deal).  The we hooked his camera up to the TV and he showed us videos and pictures from his mission.

 Brendon gave his homecoming talk this Sunday, so family drove in from Jacksonville to hear it. You could tell from his talk how much he loved his mission and the people there.  After lunch we met up to eat lunch and to pass Amelia around for kisses and loves.

We're so happy to have Brendon back for the summer. He'll go back down to Gainesville for school in August, so his vacation will be short lived, but I know he's ready to get back to work.

I remember when Brendon left, and I couldn't even comprehend how different life would be when he came home. I knew Cory would be done with school (that seemed totally impossible at the time...) and we would maybe even be lucky enough to have a little baby, but it all just seemed so distant. The future is now, people! 

Father's Day and a look at the Allen Men

Happy Father's day! Here's a shot of baby Cory with three generations of proud fathers before him:

And because they are so cute, here are some vintage shots of baby Cory with his Dad.  I'm loving all the 80's clothes--they're so in style again!

They have such a special relationship, and I'm so excited to see Cory with Amelia in the years to come. Amelia and I gave Cory a pack of IBC root beer and candy to celebrate the past 6 weeks of his fatherdom. Just a little something to say thanks for being Dad. 

First Date Night Post Baby

We were feeling pretty crazy the other night so we went on a date! We must have seriously been out of our minds, because we went to the movies on a Saturday night. AND we bought popcorn. So basically we spent a small fortune. But it was fun!

It was so strange to leave the house without Amelia. It definitely felt like I was forgetting something super important.  Within the first 5 minutes of the movie there was a weird alien mama holding a weird alien baby. They were only on the screen for a split second and I was like, "BABY! I want my baby! I miss her." But then we settled in and thoroughly enjoyed some Star Trek action.  The knowledge that we had the best baby sitters anyone could ask for eased the transition quite a bit.

Seriously. There is no better care then the love of grandma and her aunties. I don't think a single breath she took went unmonitored. It's so nice to have family close by.

So, we left the house without her, and when we came back she was just as sweet and happy as could be. She definitely didn't even know we were gone. Such is life.

Amelia's 1st Month in Review

I'm really proud of us for making it to the one month mark. Little Amelia Kate is proving herself to be the sweetest tempered little thing. Sleeping, eating, and stretching her long arms and legs out as far as she possibly can are her current favorite things. She's gone from a squishy sleepy ball of baby newborness, to a slightly less squishy and sleepy baby girl. She's already grown so much, but she still doesn't yet fit into her cute dresses. We're getting lots of use out of the newborn sized onesies we have, so that's a win!

The above pictures make me so sad. When she was a week old she came down with a cold. Her nose was completely stuffed up, and she made the tiniest little sneezes and coughs all day and night long. Cory took the photo on the left the first morning she woke up sick. Her little face says to me "Why can't I breathe?? What is happening to me??"

We handled it with true first-time-parent aplomb. Meaning, Cory stayed up all night to watch her breathe and I cried in front of the thermometers at Walgreens while the pharmacist hugged me and walked me through rectal temperature taking protocols. Yep. Everything is under control over here. She has since recovered, but it was so pitiful. Not to mention the mountain of guilt I felt--I couldn't even keep her healthy for a week! Many tears were shed over that cold. 

   

Teeny tiny diapers and shirts and sockies! Everything is cute in miniature. I don't even mind folding her laundry because its so cute. Also, speaking of tiny diapers, this girl burns through them. Seriously. We've gone through at least 200 newborn size diapers in the past month. And I'm not even mad--I'm just impressed.

I just had to include these ones. We were trying to get a good picture of her in that dress, but she kept making the most ridiculous faces! In the one on the left she's definitely plotting something devious, and the one on the right she's telling us how she really feels about pretty dresses. That little jokester.

  Cory finished school just before Amelia was born, and didn't start work until the end of May, so we were able to spend the first three weeks of this month at home together with no other goal aside from holding our sweet baby. It was a little baby vacation for us. Now he's working full time and Amelia and I are settling into a daily routine here at home. 

Once we get that routine down, perhaps I'll write it up here. Until then, just know it looks a lot like this: Breastfeed, bottle feed, pump, clean pump, repeat. Throw in a ton of baby snuggles, cuddles and kisses through out the day, and that's what we've got going on over here. Happy one month, baby girlie!