Settling In

We arrived home from the hospital on Wednesday and have spent the past few days getting used to being a family of 4. Actually, we are a cozy family of 6 right now since my mom and sister are here to help out. I have to admit that the transition to 2 kids is much easier when someone else is doing all of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry! Ben has been adjusting as well as can be expected. He has his breakdowns every now and then, but has been getting lots of extra attention from his Nana and Aunt Kimmie. They have also been able to watch Ella while we spend one on one time together. We even had the chance to go on a special mother/son ice cream date to Haagen Daaz last night! And today Ben and Carl spent the morning at the museum and the evening at the swimming pool. Ben woke last night at 4:00am and when Carl walked in he said "Rock baby Ben", so I think he is definitely aware of all of the attention Ella receives from me! Although he ignores her for most of the day, he does stop to give her kisses and fist bumps and will always let someone know when she is crying! He has also introduced her to all of his beloved Tide bottles and shown her how to wash clothes!

This is a picture of Ben smelling the beautiful flowers we received from Grandpa and Grandma Myers.Getting pictures of Ella with her eyes open is not an easy thing to do considering that she has her days and nights completely mixed up. She's not really all that fussy in the middle of the night, she's just a non-stop eater and completely awake and alert! This morning the reality of having 2 kids really hit me. After a rather sleepless night, I was trying to squeeze in a couple of hours before beginning my day. About an hour after I had fallen asleep, Carl came in our room carrying a screaming, hungry baby with Ben in tow blowing obnoxiously into a plastic flute while chanting "Momma, Momma!". Ella received a good report at her newborn well check yesterday. Dr K was impressed that she was already gaining the weight she lost in the first couple of days back and she ranked in the 97th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference! She is a little jaundiced, but we are just going to watch her for now and pray that she does not have to receive photo therapy like Ben did. She is a much better eater than Ben was and I think that her color is improving today. Aunt Kimmie and Ella have been reading lots of books together during her wakeful times. I hope that she's as happy when she's awake as she is while she's sleeping.

Quality snuggle time

Fun times with Nana and Aunt Kimmie include running through the sprinklers in the morning. . . .

playing London Bridges . . . . .

Duck, Duck Goose . . . . . And a new favorite - Hide and Seek! Ben likes to be both the hider and seeker!

Thanks for all of the sweet comments, emails, and cards. It has been so nice to hear from everyone! We are feeling truly blessed right now!