Family Visit

This past weekend my brothers, sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew all came to visit with us and meet their new niece/cousin. It was a very short visit, but packed with a lot of activity. There was plenty of Wii playing, of course! It's always fun to watch other people hula hoop on the Wii Fit. And Uncle Matt gave Joshua a BB gun; we all enjoyed watching the guys target practice in the back yard (while trying to keep the poodles and 17 month old Anna out of the line of fire). Thanks for coming to visit, family! We enjoyed the rare chance to all be together!

Anna, Laura Beth, Joshua, and Caroline ... all four grandkids together for the first time!

Philip, Laura Beth, Matt, and Rob playing doubles in tennis.

Like mother, like daughter ... Michelle and Laura Beth playing soccer on the Wii Fit.

Uncle Matt getting some snuggle time with his niece.

Joshua and Laura Beth holding Caroline for the first time.

Week One

We've had fun at home this week with Callie. Philip went back to work on Wednesday, so it's been me, baby, and my mom for the past few days. There's been a lot of typical eating, sleeping, pooping, holding, crying, etc., etc. I love all of it! She's just so tiny and precious.





Actually, she's so tiny that we had to go to the Carter's outlet yesterday to get her some newborn outfits. She has a ton of 0-3 month stuff, but I didn't get much newborn clothing because the doctor kept saying she was going to be pretty big. The day before I was induced, she estimated 8 1/2 - 9 lbs. Ha! It was nice to get out of the house and out into the world. Caroline slept the whole time, which was great. And now we have lots of cute stuff to dress her in! There will be no shortage of photos of this little girl. :)








In the pics above, she is wearing one of her new outfits. I was glad when I saw they had their winter stuff in; it's really what she needs since we keep our house pretty cool. Philip was having fun mimicking her facial expressions...silly Daddy!



My mom is headed home today. We'll miss you, Mimi! It has been WONDERFUL having help around the house this week. She was going to stay through the weekend, but I am feeling great and we thought it's be nice to have a weekend with just our little family. The remaining weekends in August will be full of family coming to visit and meet our precious baby girl! Besides, she has to get home and pack since she and Dad will be moving to Anniston soon...yea for having grandparents close by!



Ellie and Maggie have done really well with the baby. Actually, Ellie thinks that Callie is hers. She is very protective of and concerned about her. She needs to know where she is at all times, and comes to get me if Callie is crying. I'm glad that transition has been a smooth one; I was worried about how our spoiled dogs would react to having her here!

Caroline has the longest fingers and longest, skinniest feet I have ever seen on a newborn. I guess she is going to take after her momma in that department! At least I already know where to special order shoes and long pants from. :)

We're home!

We are home now with our family of three (plus my mom who is thankfully staying the week to help out). What a wild ride! The whole experience has been absolutely amazing. We came home Sunday afternoon, and it was nice to be able to relax without having someone want to take your blood pressure or draw blood every couple of hours. We did miss the hospital nursery on our first night home, but I know the sleep deprivation will pass!

Caroline had her first appointment at the pediatrician today, and she is doing great! She is nursing well and loves to be swaddled. She also loves her paci and her swing.

Here are some pictures from the past few days. Keep checking back for more ... I am going to try to be a better blogger now that I have something to blog about! :)

Our precious Gift with all of the pink gifts we got at the hospital


Caroline with her paci...thanks Shanan for the scoop on the cute personalized ones!


The new happy fam

You can't see it too well here, but the dress she wore home from the hospital is the same one I came home in.

Nana and Callie get some snuggle time

Grumpa with his new granddaughter

You can see our silhouette in the window

We're all ready to go!

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Introducing Caroline

Caroline Brynn was born today at 1:35 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20.25 inches long. She is healthy and happy, and we are thrilled to have her here with us!

Momma

Daddy

Nana

Mimi

Pop

Grumpa & Nana

Auntie Erin

And waiting some more...

Well, we are now officially 5 days late, with no signs of Caroline wanting to make an appearance. We have an induction scheduled for Friday, so she's coming this week whether she likes it or not! It seems that we are going to have a stubborn little girl on our hands. :) The picture above is of me at 40 weeks and 2 days.

In the mean time, I am just trying to keep busy so I don't go crazy waiting! The nursery is now finally complete. My mom and I made all of the bedding and other stuff in her room. It turned out exactly like I had hoped - feminine, but yet not like someone sprayed the room down with Pepto Bismol. :)

Our friends the Mareks came into town this weekend for a visit. We had fun at the Allums' house cooking out and playing Wii. I gotta say, Phil and I are big fans of the Nintendo Wii. Our favorite games are the Wii Fit and Mario Kart. One highlight of the evening was seeing 2 1/2 year old Claire beating her dad Rhett at Wii Fit Soccer. Way to go, Claire! It was a fun evening hanging out with old friends...we miss you, Mareks!