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Thursday, January 20

These Days...

Yesterday our sweet friends Elsie and Jeremy came for a little visit to meet our new little one.  Elsie and I tried to have a little photo shoot with Miss Poe, but it was very short lived.  Like, we set up and as soon as I turned Poesy over to lay her down, she immediately woke up (hungry and unhappy!).  Elsie did snap some pretty photos before we decided to call it quits, though:


It was very nice to see our friends and feel a little life from the outside world.  We've sort of become hermits as of late.

Speaking of the outside world, I took Hope on a little mommy/daughter date today.  She's been really great about our new addition... I've been terribly nervous about her getting jealous/hurt/sad about not being the only perfect little girl in the house these days.  I can see a little flicker (haha- I just typed flickr...) of jealousy in her eyes every once in a awhile, but as a whole she's been such a trooper.  Not to mention, she really does adore her new little sis.  So, ANYWAY... we had our little date and it was marvelous.  :)  If any of you have any advice for this kind of situation (former only child meets new baby) I'd love to hear it.


It's time for this momma to try to get some sleep while everyone else is sleeping.  Happy Thursday!  It's snowing here!  xoxo Katie

40 comments:

  1. Hello Beauty!
    First I send you all my love for your beautiful family and newest additions ;-)
    My daughters are almost 14 and 12.
    I believe children, as we, too, react just the way we expect them to. That means that if I expect my bigger daughter to be jealous (and this shows in any of my words/reactions/movements, believe me!) she will be more than willing to act like this! I have seen it happen both ways! They always run to please my best AND worse beliefs!
    Wish you a beautiful, loving day!

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  2. i think really enforcing in her the importance of the big sister role, and having little things for her to do to help with poesy would be great!

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  3. Beautiful photos!! One tip I've heard and used with each of my children is refering to the new baby as 'their baby sister' or 'your baby sister' - it does seem give them a sense of responsibility and ownership in a positive way... like they're in on it all and not left out. xoxo

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  4. wow! the pictures are too cute!
    i need some advise too, my 2 year old gets jealous of my baby girl sometimes and pulls her hair or hits her. it makes me really sad. i hope he grows out of it soon! congratulations on such beautiful baby! xo Liz
    peachonearth.blogspot.com

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  5. what a sweet little photo, perfect luggage! and boy same wonderful colour hair, stunning. (mum to one child who is now a spotty ado; no advice here, sorry)...

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  6. Tell her she'll always be important because she was your first born :) You'll never have another first born! My dad had another child when I was 16. Even though I was a teenager and had started college I still needed to hear that nothing could ever take over the love he had for me, his previously only child :) After he told me this I've never really felt a pang of jealousy for my half sister. I know he loves us both equally and differently, and that's important.

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  7. nice pics!!
    i love it!!! The first photo is wonderful!!!!
    beautiful moments!!!!

    lovely day!

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  8. Oh she looked so cute in that first picture!!
    Ive always heard this advice and have seen it work well: Keep her involved in what you and the baby do. have her help. It will let her know she is still very loved and a kind of big sister protection will kick in.

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  9. Poesy looks so sweet, love the photos. Tell Hope she'll always be the best big sister.
    Madeline x

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  10. That first photo is wonderful! What a cute idea...

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  11. she is terribly precious! you have 2 such sweet daughters. Hope sounds like such a sweetheart. You are blessed, Katie!

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  12. Katie that first picture is too much! She's a little gnome! I love it! I have really been looking forward to your posts these days! :)

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  13. What a perfect little treat! I love how her hair and skin tone look just like yours in the photo of the two of you.

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  14. When my little sister was born, my mom told me every day to hold out my finger to her hand. Baby's will naturally squeeze your finger if you put it in their hands; but my mom said, "If Stephanie squeezes your finger, it means she loves you and is so happy to have you as her big sister." Obviously, she squeezed every time, but it kind of validated my role as big sis and bonded the two of us. :)

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  15. So glad to hear you and your family are doing well!

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  16. Wow, those pictures are beautiful! I especially like the first one, she is lying there so quietly and peacefull and aaah so cute!

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  17. How old is Hope? I was 7 when my baby sister was born and I was so ready to not be an only child anymore. I was instantly a little mommy to her. I would push her in her stroller, dress her up, carry her around. I don't really remember any jealousy I had (maybe I had a little and just don't remember) because I was so, so excited to have a little sister. I still feel like a second mom to her, so even as they get older I'm sure they'll stay close.
    Congratulations again on your little Poesy. Your family is so gorgeous!

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  18. Oh my goodness the first photo! Perfect.

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  19. your girls are so beautiful! i was only 2 when my sister was born, so i never remember feeling jealous that she came along. i just thought that she was my baby doll. lol. and i even picked her up and carried her to the kitchen one time. (i think my mom had left her on my lap for just a sec.) FREAKED my mom out! she will never let me forget this story either.

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  20. Your little girls are just the sweetest! Poesy is just adorable and I love your nursery. I posted a picture on a blog post, the hot air balloon is really cute! http://tiny.cc/htc9a

    http://sogetlucky.blogspot.com/

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  21. What a super sweet photo of Hope & Poesy & a completely adorable photo that Elsie took! So perfect with that smile.

    Everyone made good points about including Hope in taking care of her baby sister, but I personally feel like it's also important for her to still get you all to herself sometimes. Since she's home with you now, try to make it a daily ritual that at least once a day, when Poesy naps, you & Hope cuddle up & read a book together... or have girl talk over a yummy drink. Another idea, if you can make it work, is to have a weekly date with Hope... maybe for breakfast every Sunday morning? :) Hope that helps... before you know it, you will get all teary watching them play in their room together. xoxo

    You're doing great, mama! And good for you for getting out & having friends over. ;)

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  22. Oh, she is just precious. Ruby did the same when Elsie came over. She was awake and NOT lying on her belly for anything. Thankful for that session, though. I love what you guys did with the props and that one of you holding her is a framer!

    Hoping we can come see you guys in a few weekends. Brett has drill this weekend but maybe the next? Are you guys going to be in town?

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  23. She's so cute! I love the picture in the suitcase :-)

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  24. Oh my God, what a cute baby you have. I wish I can also come to see your new angel. He is really really so cute. Lots of love and hugs to him from my side. Great sharing dear.

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  25. every time i read her name i smile. what a little blessing :)

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  26. Lovely photos, you will cherish them always. Even if your shoot was short lived, at least you have these beauties.

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  27. I took a family relation class and the teacher said that it takes the first child 30 days to be fully accustomed to the 2nd child. (When I had my 2nd child, my 1st ignored me completely lol)It sounds like you are doing great. As long as she gets mommy and me time, she'll do great. ;-) Congrats on your new one!
    xoxo

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  28. Tips; refer to her as BIG SISTER- might make her feel big and important!, also have a special toy etc that only comes out when you are feeding/cuddling etc baby so it is turned into a treat time for big sis too. My daughter is 13 now and we still have friday nights as our special night- it has turned into face packs and nail polish though these days!

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  29. The photo in the suit case is the most adorable baby photo i've ever seen! May i ask where you got the hat? My fiance and i are expecting our first baby in August and i would LOVE to have a little hat like that. Thanks!

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  30. Andrea- the hat is from here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bluejeanmama

    Thanks for the great advice, friends. I will definitely be trying some of these tidbits. <3

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  31. Thanks! We've become addicted to searching for sweet baby stuff on Etsy...

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  32. I'm new to your site, but mosied on over from A Beautiful Mess. My girls are 18 and 16 so my advice comes from experience.

    All these ideas everyone shared are wonderful and, of course, you have to temper jealousy and help your eldest see she is loved and loved deeply--that the heart is infinitely stretchable.

    But don't be alarmed if things go southward in her mood after a few more weeks. Face it, it will be a long time before she sees the benefits of a sister (I mean really after a bit, what fun does an infant provide to a little girl?) and that's ok. The benefits will come and they will be glorious, messy, beautiful, terrible, hard, great and all those very human and contradictory things that layer every deeply felt relationship.

    I guess what I'm saying is don't be afraid of or sweat too much the negative feelings. If your big girl expresses them, they're perfectly natural--and understandable from her limited and right-now-in-the-moment point of view.

    Best of luck--both girls are gorgeous, as are you, and before you know it they'll be playing together and it will warm your very heart.

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  33. I think the best advice I received was to not "pit" them against each other. The initial pitting begins when we are pregnant with things like, mommy can't hold you b/c of of the baby and then when the baby is days old... saying things like "we can't go outside b/c the baby is sleeping" etc... basically blaming anything the older child used to do but is now no longer able to do on the fact that a new baby arrived. I totally realize that, this may be the truth but I just tried to word it better...we can't go outside right now, how about in an hour (which secretly means when baby wakes up). I also tried to use nursing time as cuddle time with the older one. We read a lot of books while trapped on the couch feeding. Best wishes!

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  34. haha oh my goodness that picture of her in the suitcase is the cutest ever!

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  35. ohmygoodness soo precious! these are amazing photos!


    http://foodartbaby.blogspot.com

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  36. Congrats! Love the pics. My son didn't cooperate at all at our family photo shoot when he was 2 weeks old.

    My oldest was 2 when I came home with his little brother. I remember reading his bedtime story just after my water had broke and tucking him in thinking "this is the last night you'll be my only little boy". It's a tough thing, you love them both so much and don't want to upset anyone.

    I too think children will react to what you're 'putting out there' you'll all find your groove in the new family. I think there's a bit of a honeymoon, then a tricky phase when it sinks in the baby is sticking around. Just go with it and love them both, it'll work out.

    The problem we had was the oldest being too rough, intentionally or unintentionally, and hurting the baby. Or the time he told me he covered the baby 'because he was cold' and I ran to find Nate buried under blankies.

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  37. We went through this when #2 was born 2 years ago. Big sis is 6 years older and she LOVES mama alone time. I had been thinking for a while that "come with mama while I do errands" was going to cut it, but no. Both of us are much happier when we make a special date and do something just us two. Even if it's just a trip to the library!
    Congratulations on your new love~

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  38. lovely photos. Kids always inspire me, and he is so cute and adorable, that I really want to play with him. very nice and interesting post

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