2 weeks old already!

Here's Miss G at 2 weeks old, taken this morning when we were clearly doing something very startling. We love it when we can see her big, beautiful eyes. She's been doing a lot of gazing at us with a very confused look on her face like she's trying to figure out when we got here. That and going cross-eyed. But most of the time, she looks more like this:

Or this (in her carseat for the first time ready to leave the hospital. hadn't posted it yet and love how little tiny she looks in her "huge" carseat):

Or this, getting the adoring attention of big sister who's always interested in a photo op (love the frog feet):

Is that a smirk I see?

And more adoring attention from photograph-seeking fans:

Not so sure about "tummy time." Love the forehead wrinkles!!! And the ruffle bum.

And yet more sisterly love. She better get used to that. J loves to hold her. M loves to sing to her and give her loves. Brother likes to pat her head and poke her eyes. Not done maliciously, he just seems really excited that she has eyes too and wants to make sure we noticed. We work hard to keep him at a safe distance. Also something we all better get used to!

And again with the frog feet!! Could you sleep like this? We noticed last night that when she's all folded up or rolled up as she tends to be, her entire body is about the size of Coop's head. So tiny! And speaking of size, her 2-week stats are: 7 lbs 7.5 oz, 20.2 inches long, head in the 53%. All of our other kids' heads were 90th percentile or more. I knew she looked smaller! We'll just have to work at fattening her up!!

More pictures as requested

She's a keeper!

She's here!!!

At 8:20 AM on March 13th, 2012 we met our little girl!! She's finally here! And she's a girl! All 7 lbs, 9 oz, 19 3/4 inches of her! Yes, she's a little messy here. Sorry to those who hate to see that, but it's her first picture!

Meeting mom. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. And don't I look like a floating, bodiless head? My anesthesiologist was hopping around us snapping pictures of our first meeting.

Snuggling with daddy.

And now with mommy.

Show us your muscles! And your double chin!

Big sisters LOVE everything about their new baby sister. They beg to hold, hug, kiss, sing to her to the second they walk through my door. Even dude has been quite interested in her, and not at all bothered by our holding her. Not sure what he's saying when he babbles about her and points, but you know.

He does touch her rather cautiously though. Which is good. We need him to stay "soft" with her. But he seems interested in pointing out to us that she has the basic body parts like toes, just like him.

And so I have to admit I had been a little nervous about having a baby in this smaller hospital. But they have taken such amazing care of us! First off, the C-section itself even went better. It took a little longer but felt much much less uncomfortable. And the doctor narrated for us what he was doing when we asked, which was really very cool. Then, I was treated to a complimentary massage and told the professional masseuse comes daily! I'm looking forward to another one today!!! Can you believe that people actually turn them down?! Why?! And all day yesterday, we were the only patients in the whole maternity ward so they jumped at the chance to do anything we needed right away. They've been so wonderful. (Today there's one other patient here that's being induced, so we'll have to share the nurses :) ) Then they brought in this package that they give to all new parents to celebrate. We're feeling very spoiled!

And our first family-of-6 photo! Welcome to the family Baby G!

It's a girl!!!

The last night

So my parents got here tonight in anticipation of the big day tomorrow, and we spent the day at some of the best places in The Dalles. Namely, Sorosis Park and the Baldwin Saloon. Yes, we brought all of our kids to eat dinner in a saloon. But it's historic. That makes it okay. And it's really really yummy with a seriously cool atmosphere.

Then we got home and took one last picture of our happy little family of five. Tomorrow, we'll be a happy big family of six!

Am I excited that it's only one more terrible night's sleep away? What do you think?

Last night ...

as a family of 5! Tonight we go out to eat at the best place in The Dalles - the Baldwin Saloon. Seriously old, awesome building and really delicious food as a major plus! And then, tomorrow we get to welcome mystery baby #4 into the world and into our family! Can't wait!!

T - 1 Day or around 23 hours to be precise

The other day I woke up from my nap to find this taped to my door. If you can't tell, she drew a boy's head and a girl's head and wrote, "Are you a boy or a girl newborn baby?" She's been really wanting to know. She actually asked the doctor a couple of appointments ago if he could just tell her. Yeah, as if she could keep the secret! She would've spilled the beans before we left the office. I'm not sure what's up with the cat, aside perhaps from another subtle reminder she'd like a pet. At least it appears to be less important than the baby :) So, what do you think? Your guess is as good as mine!

All about M

Three last pictures I had to add before I forget that they were ever taken in all the hullabaloo about to descend on our house. A couple of quick things about our 5 year-old M:
Favorite book - Anything Fancy Nancy
Favorite song - I Am A Child of God
Favorite food - Watermelon, strawberries, or anything with a high sugar content
Favorite color - Pink or gold, depending on her mood.

Loves to ... color, play imagination princess-oriented games, eat ice cream, dance, tell jokes, shoot nerf darts for her brother to chase down, ride scooters, get chased by daddy dragon at the park, go to preschool, wear dress-ups, feel the fluffies on her beloved pillow (and heaven help you if you made them warm), throw snow balls, swim underwater, sing songs she makes up as she goes along at the top of her "pretty voice (ridiculously high-pitched falsetto)," tell stories (everyone thinks she's shy and quiet but get her alone and there is no "off" button to the constant verbalization of her stream of consciousness), make her brother laugh, or play just about anything with her sister.

Hates to ... clean her room, get dressed for the day before noon, have stuff stolen by her brother, do anything quickly if there's something to be distracted by, go grocery shopping, and as mentioned above, have warm fluffies on her pillow.

We love her!