Diana Dawn is here - and she's growing up so fast, already!

Diana Dawn is finally here! She arrived on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 1:19PM, via c-section at Brookwood Hospital in Homewood, Alabama. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 7 ounces, and measured at 22 inches long - and came out with a full head of gorgeous dark brown hair. I know I am biased, but Diana really is the most beautiful baby ever born.

It's been hectic, to say the least, since her arrival - which won't surprise anyone that has ever had a baby. She is a champion sleeper - when she sleeps, she sleeps hard, which is actually something I prayed for since my side of the family is riddled with insomniacs and light sleepers. She takes after her Daddy, in that regard...thank goodness! Her favorite spot to sleep is always in someone's arms, or right up against Mommy's neck (which I am not complaining about - it's heaven!).
I had my heart set on breastfeeding Diana, but after some serious effort and serious frustrations on both of our parts, it turns out that the best system for us is for me to pump, and for her to take a bottle...and for us to supplement with a little formula when she gets hungrier than I can keep up with. I worried a lot about what other people were going to think of the fact that I am not doing traditional breastfeeding, but as Steven reminded me more than once, we had to do what was right for our family and she is still getting the nutritional and health benefits of my breast milk with the method we have adopted. She lost a lot of weight while she was in the hospital, but now, with our new system, she's back up to 9 pounds, 8 ounces as of our pediatrician's appointment on Wednesday. What a relief!
Someone told me once that when you have a child that the "days are long, but the weeks fly by." That has certainly proven to be truer than I ever could have anticipated. I can't believe it's already been over two weeks since she was born! The days just get away from us so fast - between feeding her, pumping, changing, rocking, trying to sleep myself, etc., they are long days, but they are clipping by so quickly. I have been so lucky to have a great deal of help - whether it was my incredible mother-in-law, who came to stay while S was out of town training for a few days for his new job, or friends that came with meals, or to clean, or ran to the store to pick up the things we needed, I have only had to ask, and whatever I have needed is taken care of.I am sort of obsessed with taking pictures and videos of Diana. I love every new facial expression, sweet noise, and movement. I love how she looks when she sleeps. I love the sighs of contentment she makes after she has a full belly. I love the way she flails her arms wide when I lay her down to change her, as if to say "Wait! Hug me first!" I love how she's already learning how to focus on her mobile that hangs above her bassinet. I've become one of "those people" that documents everything (and I am trying very hard not to post every picture because I know that everyone is not as obsessed with my kid as I am!). Every single thing she does seems to be photo or video worthy - especially because she is growing and changing so much already.Today, I realized that she is growing up already. I went to put a diaper on her, and it just didn't quite fit. I thought maybe it was just because she was laying on it, or I hadn't arranged it properly. However, after a great deal of finagling, it finally occurred to me: she's outgrown the newborn size! How do I have a daughter that is already outgrowing anything? She just got her. Later today, I noticed that she was getting increasingly frustrated when I was feeding her at how slowly the milk was coming out of the bottle, when it finally occurred to me: she is ready for the next stage of bottle! Two things in one day!? I am not ready for this!