Journal

My precious baby girl is TWO months old today!! TWO!! I’m sure I’ll be saying this every month, but I simply cannot believe it!! I was telling Dave the other day that I cannot even believe I was pregnant, it feels like a dream. Nearly one year ago we were heading into Boston for my IUI, hoping and dreaming of growing our family. And even though that treatment failed, nearly a year later here we are holding our tiny miracle. It’s too sweet. (I haven’t share too much about our journey through infertility — but if you’d like me to share more I will.)

We’ve quickly discovered the old adage that no two babies are alike to be completely true!! While in some ways she is similar to her brother, Isla is a very different baby than he was. She doesn’t seem to sleep the same, she doesn’t eat the same and her personality is very different. Since we are nearly five years removed from the infant stage of parenting, it’s been a learning curve to say the least!! Equally as amazing though, is how much her big brother loves her. To watch them interact, to see him loving her, to know that they will carry a special bond together for the rest of their lives is something I will cherish forever!!

Month two has been full of exciting milestones!! Here are highlights her second month :

• Around week seven she start smiling and hasn’t stopped since. Her smiles are wide toothless grins that can brighten anyone’s day. Her Daddy says her smile can melt ice, it sure is melting our hearts!!
• I told Dave to be gentle with Isla one night as he was changing her diaper. She’s a delicate little flower I proclaimed. Immediately she let out the loudest fart imaginable. BABIES!!
• She is quickly outgrowing all her three month clothes. With a slow start with her weight, every growth milestone we hit is a victory around here!!
• This month Isla, Mommy and Jonathan survived a night on our own (with a TON of help from parents!!)
• Around week six I started to wonder when I would start to hear her darling coos and I’m happy to say she is a cooing machine that warms my heart and makes me smile!!
• Isla stayed with my parents for our first date post baby (if you don’t count going to see Star Wars at two weeks postpartum ;)) We enjoyed the first part with her as we went out to breakfast then spent the afternoon at the movies. What a treat!!
• She still doesn’t take a paci – the other night she sucked on one for a few minutes and we nearly celebrated until it promptly was spat out of her mouth in disgust. Oh well!!
• The only thing that is predictable in this little one’s schedule is that she will sleep right after her morning feed — for several hours!! And while I can’t predict anything else, that morning nap is great for Mom!!
• Sometimes if she has napped for a long time my arms will ache to hold her and feed her and keep her close <3 

How can we possibly already be at one month old!! It hardly seems possible. Honestly it hardly seems possible that our house is filled with the joy of a newborn again. It’s surreal, amazingly, wonderfully, surreal!! When Jonathan was a newborn I documented his first year of life through a series of monthly blog posts. And while I might have been the only one who cared enough to read them, it was a joy for me to remember that fast first year and document all the change he underwent. I knew that I wanted to do the same thing for our baby girl and here I am today, ready to share the first post!!

This time has gone by so fast – so, so fast. I remember the night before my scheduled c-section Dave and I sat together and through tears I cried that I wished it was a week from today. I was terribly afraid of what lay ahead and now here we are five weeks later. Having a scheduled c-section this go around felt much different than my experience with our son Jonathan (who was an emergency c-section after nearly two days of labor.) Walking into the OR room first thing in the morning was a strange experience. I found that surgery this go around was a bit more traumatic then I was expecting, recovery has been much slower than last time and the entire experience was much different. BUT our darling daughter has been the gleaming light through it all and has made whatever experience we had so entirely worth it!!

Ms. Isla Rose — many people have asked us how we chose her name. The short answer is we liked it 🙂 After our 10th anniversary trip to Scotland in 2016 we fell in love and so on a whim we decided to look into Scottish names. I stumbled upon Isla one day and it just kind of clicked. Dave liked the name Rose and together it seemed to be the perfect fit for our baby girl!!

Some highlights this first month of life for Ms. Isla Rose :

• Isla’s birth experience felt entirely different than Jonathan. Instead of being a week late like J, she was a week early. Instead of an emergency surgery, her’s was schedule for first thing in the morning. Instead of bouncing back like I did with J, my recovery took time. 
• Isla is also a very different newborn than Jonathan. She was very jaundice and sleepy the first three or so weeks of life. Feeding wasn’t nearly as easy as it had been with Jonathan and it took a lot of work for me and her to find a groove. I think at week 5 we are JUST starting to find it but we’ve got a long way to go.
• Because of the jaundice and feeding issues Isla lost a bit of weight by the time she left the hospital and we’ve been playing catch up ever since. She’s never looked unhealthy or too skinny, but the scale let us know that she needed to gain a LOT more weight and quickly.  
• Isla LOVES her big brother, probably more than anyone else. She coos and smiles at him any time he’s around her and he of course LOVES that!! He’s equally infatuated with her and it makes us beyond happy. Jonathan has been an amazing big brother so far and we are so grateful!!
• We celebrated two Christmas’ and New Years with Isla (she liked to party at night in case you’re wondering ;)), and spent most of the first weeks of her life cooped up in home due to the insanely cold weather (-20 degrees anyone?!), sickness and recovery. Not much traveling or outdoor activities have been had aside from heading to the doctors office.
• The times that Jonathan wasn’t on a snow day or on vacation, Dave and I enjoyed visiting our favorite coffee shops while he was on paternity leave. Kaffmandu, Honeycomb and Mystic Coffee Roaster just to name a few 🙂 
• Isla usually wakes up around 2-3 times a night, woof, a little different than Jonathan. We’ll definitely be excited for the day when she makes it to 4-5 hour stretches!! 
• Isla feels like a different baby than Jonathan in so many ways – She HATES the pacifier!! And being swaddled!! And being on her back!! And being cold!! What she does love is sleeping on your chest. And while that makes getting anything done near impossible – with her curled up next to your chest, well there really isn’t anything better in the world!!

I can’t believe I never shared the amazing day that was Callie & Jimmy’s wedding!! I had been looking to this day all year and it’s hard to believe it’s come and gone!! What a day they had, filled with the perfect preppy & nautical details, a glorious fall day and surrounded by their closest family friends. I had the privilege of working with the amazing Keri of Always Yours Events, who styled and planned the day to perfection!! Callie was stunning her Theia gown while Jimmy looked dapper in his classic black tie suit. I loved everything about this day and I’m so excited to share some of my favorites from their day with you!!

Creative Team

Styling & Planning : Always Yours Events

Ceremony : Nauticus Marina

Dress : Theia

Hair  : Beyond Beauty

Makeup : Sposabella Bridal

Florals : Blossoms By The Bay

Bridesmaids : Jenny Yoo

Cake & Catering : Casual Gourmet

Band : Bearfight

Stationary : Splash Stationers

Second Photographer : Lauren Termini