Three Months of Francie!

Dear Francie,

You are three months old today! I honestly can't believe that it's only been three months since that October day when your daddy and I flew to Baltimore and then drove to the hospital where you were born. Sitting in the waiting room awaiting news of your birth felt like an eternity, but when we saw your beautiful face, time stood still. We loved you so much from that very first moment. The first three months of your life have been pretty eventful. Since the day you were born, you've had a major surgery, spent 4 weeks lying on your back in a hospital bed recovering, flown across the country to come home, celebrated your first Thanksgiving, experienced your first Christmas season and all that comes along with that, met many friends and family for the first time, and most recently celebrated your first Christmas and New Years. Whew! It's no wonder that I find it hard to believe that it's only been three months. Mommy is hoping that the next three months are boring by comparison :)

You are SUCH a sweet baby. You have the most laid back, content personality. You will go days sometimes without ever doing more than fussing when you're hungry. You are content to sit in your swing and watch all of the action, you love being held, and you also really enjoy being on your back on the floor. You are usually happy in the car, and you enjoy your baths. When you do get upset, you almost always soothe really easily. You've just recently started smiling, and I LOVE it. You are really alert and love to look at people while they talk to you. You make great eye contact and sometimes it feels like you truly understand every word I'm saying. You're a good listener :) You are holding your head up for short periods of time, especially when you're on someone's shoulder.

We are starting to get into a good routine with you. You're not on a schedule, but we have a flow and a predictability to our days now which is much appreciated by Mommy. You eat 5oz of formula at a time, and you like to eat around every 3 hours during the day, Sometimes you'll go 4 hours between feedings, but 3 is the norm. I'm hoping that we can start spacing those feedings out a little more pretty soon, but I'm not complaining too much because you're only waking up once in the night. I give you your last feeding of the day at around 8:30pm and put you to bed. You wake up to eat anywhere from about 2am to 4am. A few times you've gone even longer. Thankfully, you typically go back to sleep pretty easily after that feeding. You wake up again between 6:30 and 7:30, and Daddy takes that feeding (one of the big perks of formula!). He takes you downstairs and feeds you and changes your diaper, and then he puts you in your swing while he gets ready for work. You go back to sleep in your swing and don't wake up until your next feeding. I kind of consider that your first "nap" of the day. You have some awake time after that nap and your next feeding, and then you will take another long nap in your swing in the afternoon while your brother and sisters have their rest time. You have awake time again the late afternoon/evening and usually take a little catnap around dinnertime. I'm sure this little routine will be constantly changing, but it's working well for now!

You are definitely growing! You weigh around 12 pounds, and you wear some 3 month and some 6 month clothes. You are in a size 1 diaper for now. You are developing some adorable chubby cheeks and some little legs rolls. You are just so squishy and snuggly!

Aubrey, Jude, and Alaina absolutely LOVE you. I kind of assumed that after you had been home for a little while, the newness would wear off a bit and they wouldn't be quite as obsessed, but that sure hasn't happened yet and I don't see it happening anytime soon. It makes me so happy to see how they've accepted and welcomed you into our family with open arms. You are totally just one of us now :) Aubrey, especially, is so sweet with you. She's your little second mama. She cannot stand to hear you cry and will run across the house to give you your pacifier if she hears you fussing. She gushes over how cute you are and she wants to hold you as often as I'll let her. I think you will definitely have a built in cheering quad in your siblings, and I hope that they will always be your biggest fans!

Francie, I really can't even put into words how amazing it's been to have you join our family. I always wondered what it would feel like to have biological children and then adopt a child. I can truly say that it's been one of the most wonderful, joyful experiences of my life. I have such a complete and overwhelming love for you as my daughter. I really forget sometimes that we adopted you because when I look at you, all I see is my sweet little baby. I couldn't love you more if you had grown inside of my own body. We are so blessed to have you in our family, and we cannot wait to watch you grow and develop.

I love you,
Mommy