Our Hospital Stay.

The thing I want to remember most about our hospital stay is simply this:  love.  While it still seems surreal to me to think that I am the mother of three (3!) unbelievably fantastic kids, what isn't hard to believe is the pure, uninhibited joy the birth of Emmy has brought to our family.

My heart smiles when I remember watching Harris and Babe stretch out their arms to snuggle their new baby sister for the first time.  It even smiles when I remember how they argued with each other over whose turn it was to hold her, and how Hadley cried and cried and cried when someone else took that sweet baby away.

I love that Mom printed out pictures for the kids to take and share with their friends at school and Ms. Ginnell's, and I'll never forget the pride on Harris' face when he told me all about showing his pictures to his kindergarten class.

I love, love, love thinking about all the friends and family who visited us in the hospital and who showered Emmy with sweet gifts and literally fed Ben and I food that far exceeded that provided by the hospital.  I treasure the smiles and the laughs and the hugs and the company and the prayers that came our way in those three days.

I'll especially treasure, though, the time that Ben and I got to spend on our own getting to know the newest addition to our family.  There's nothing quite like the sleep-deprived state of staring in awe at your brand new baby, marvelling at her fingers and toes and hair and skinny legs and teeny tiny bottom.  It's priceless.

And I'll never forget Ben.  It's funny how, even when you know someone is a fantastic dad and wonderful husband, they can still surprise you with a depth of tenderness and strength that doesn't always have the opportunity to display itself on a daily basis.  I fell in love with Ben all over again during our time in the hospital.

I want to always remember hearing him snore from his "couch-bed" right next to mine, and watching him change every single diaper during our stay, and having him escort me on our "family walks" around the hosptial wing, and seeing him hug and love on and laugh with Harris and Hadley during every visit, and watching in awe at the way his big hands gently wrapped around that tiny little baby...

Good Lord, I love that man.

And I am so, so thankful for my sweet, crazy family.

First Impressions.

Meet Emmy.

All 7 lbs, 2 oz. of her. :)

Today's the Day!

The Last Supper.

For our last dinner as a family of four, the kiddos decided they'd like to try a little Japanese action, so we headed over to Kani House for some good food and good fun.

Overall, they had a great time.  Harris especially enjoyed the "show," and Babe laughed out loud when our chef flipped an egg into his hat.  Harry's favorite part was the "onion volcano," and I couldn't stop smiling at the fact that he ate his entire meal with chopsticks.  He even tried to eat his soup with chopsticks before we stopped him!

The only drawback to the evening was that every time a large fire was lit at any of the tables in the room, both of our children simultaneously broke into a high-pitched scream.  No tears or anything...just screaming.  Everyone in the restaurant got quite a kick out of it. :)

They ate like champs, though.  Hadley loved the broccoli and chicken, and Harris ate just about everything that was put on his plate...shrimp, chicken, veggies, soup.  It was awesome.

And so tomorrow is the big day.  Our plans include dropping the kiddos off at school and heading to the grocery store to load up on snacks before heading over to the hospital mid-morning.  Before we put the the kids in bed tonight, we took some time to once again go over the plan for tomorrow with Harry and Babe.

When I asked them where Granti was going to take them when she picked them up tomorrow, my sweet Harris responded with, "the hospital to see Emmy," while Babe said, "Walgreen's." 

Oh, boy.

An L-Town Christmas.

Lilburn hosted their annual Christmas Parade this morning, and now that this guy (on the left)

is in charge of Safety and Security for the event, the kids and I decided to head down and see what all the fuss was about.  We were super stoked to have Granti, Auntie, DB, Cody, Mo, Raven, and Sam join us for the festivities.

The parade was quite nice.  Lots of candy, lots of folks dressed up in their holiday finest, and lots of great people watching opportunities.

Santa himself even made an appearance, much to the delight of the older three.

December just keeps getting better and better. :)

Nights of Lights.

It's incredibly hard to believe, but the kids are even more crazy about Christmas lights than they have been in years past.  They absolutely love driving through our neighborhood and checking out all the "awesome, cool" (Harris) and "beautiful, pretty, and colorful" (Hadley) lights.  We decided to captialize on their love of lights (and of our time before Emmy) by taking a family trip out to Lake Lanier to check out their display.

We couldn't have picked a better night.  The crowd was extremely low, the weather was wonderfully mild, and Christmas spirit was all over the place!  We admired all the lights before stopping at Santa's village, where Harry and Babe checked out the ornaments (and stuffed animals) and even climbed up in the Big Man's lap to share their wish lists with him.  Harris asked for Beyblades and Hadley requested a unicorn, an elephant, and a big, big horse.  As long as Babe realizes that actual live animals are out of the question, I'm pretty sure Santa will be able to handle their wishes.

Both kids chose to ride the ponies and the train at the Winter Carnival.  Ponies/horses have become one of Hadley's absolute favorite things to play/talk about/look at/etc, and Harry actually agrees with her when it comes to riding them.

We headed home tired and happy.  I can't think of a more perfect way to welcome in the month of December.



I can't say it enough:  I LOVE these guys!!!