She's Here: Pictures!

Well, Cutie Face #2 is here and we're trying out blog nicknames for her. I found quite an extensive list of nicknames online--we like a few but J likes Cutie Cakes the best. Thoughts? Let me know because you'll be reading about #2 for a long time...

Okay! Now for the fun pictures :)

Here's us as we embarked on our journey to the hospital. Cutie Face was barely cognizant here but as soon as we got in the car she lit up!

My cybershot camera lost batteries so I can post any pictures from it yet (may update later) so we're just going to skip right to roughly half an hour after Cutie Cakes' (hmmm...still trying out that moniker) arrival...

She had just been whisked away from skin-to-skin time with me...
and wasn't too happy

Being weighed and measured
(7 lbs 3 oz, 19.5 inches)

Quick photo-op with our doula, Lacy!

and she's back for some feeding time!

and looking much happier!

But then it was time for her first bath. Poor kid.

thankfully it didn't last too long!

About 2.5 hours after her birth, we moved to our recovery room. I was glad that my mom and twin were there to see Cutie Cakes and help bring us up to our new room. They are so wonderful and helpful and I'm not just saying that because they read this blog!

Cutie Cakes was already adapting well to the world by calmly sleeping

J was adapting well to life as a dad to two, as well

Multi-tasking by talking to Grandma (his mom!)

J wanted to compare Cutie Cakes with Cutie Face...so we pulled up some old Facebook photos to see the difference. I am not seeing too many similarities yet but i'm sure they'll come!

We received our first non-family visitor! She came bearing beautiful flowers and a blanket and was so sweet to stay and hold Cutie Cakes

Just a bit later, Cutie Face came to meet her new sister! We were so excited to see her--even though it had only been 12 hours, it seemed like we hadn't seen her in forever!

She eagerly awaited holding "her baby"

and was so excited when the chance finally came

Poppy met Cutie Cakes for the first time, too

We had Cutie Face give some loving to Cutie Cakes (i missed the actual "kiss" moment...BUMMER!)

She really liked her knit hat (which she wore in the hospital 18 months ago!)

A little collage to save on blog picture space :0
(If you click on it, it will get bigger!)

Our first Family Photo-op!
Don't mind her face--Cutie Face really was quite taken with the babe.

But she was also very much a toddler and ready to explore the room

She liked checking out the fun balloons from the proud grandparents

For some reason, the first picture I have from today is of my lunch. I was just SO thrilled with the salad I got--unprecedented hospital food--that I had to take a picture of it!

J went home to get a few things that we forgot
so I took a few self-portraits of me and Cutie Cakes

After surveying the room, I realized you could barely see the babe so it was time to tidy (see, my nesting instinct always kicks in after I give birth!)

aww much tidier (PS the blanket you see pictured is what we hope will be Cutie Cakes' security blanket, made just for her by her GiGi--her greatgrandma--just like the yellow one you always see Cutie Face toting around!)

Yay! J finally made it back and spent some quality time with his new babe

Finally Cutie Face came back to visit her sister! This time she was wearing her "Bib Sis" shirt made by the twin. She came with Lil Miss and Sweet Pea.

They exchanged knowing looks--it stinks being usurped by a little sister

But at least they put up with their sweet sisters for a quick photo

Then chaos reigned again

oh my busy toddlers!

They definitely kept each other occupied, though--

they looked out the windows, played in the privacy curtain, & went on walks through the nursery floor with J

The hospital's professional photographer came and snapped a few pictures...i turned them into a collage so feel free to click on it to make it bigger:

We probably won't buy them so I snapped a few of Cutie Cakes tonight to commemorate her 36-hour birthday

We personally think she gets cuter every hour...
especially when her eyes are open!

Stay tuned for more updates...probably just won't be as frequently since we officially become a family of four tomorrow when we leave the hospital and start REAL life again!

Slumber Party!

While we were partying, Cutie Face had a grand time playing dress up with Mimi, Poppy and the cousins.

Lil Miss and Sweet Pea's mom and dad also had a company Christmas party Saturday evening so they came over to the grandparents' house, too. It was one big slumber dress-up party.

Before the cousins came over, Cutie Face donned one of her matching dresses.

She is such a ham and loved smiling and posing for the camera


Lil Miss and Sweet Pea finally arrived and Cutie Face could not get enough of "Baby Sweet Pea". She wanted to hold her and, to her great joy, was allowed to do just that:

Not wanting to let Lil Miss feel left out, Cutie Face hugged on her, too.

They also reprised their piano duet and rocked it out:

Mimi decided it would be fun to do a photo shoot with all three girls for her Christmas cards. While the pictures didn't turn out so great, Cutie Face loved getting another opportunity to hold Sweet Pea!

While J and I went to our home church downtown, Cutie Face attended Mimi and Poppy's church. She LOVED the decorations!

Mimi and Poppy are in charge of the hospitality and welcome desk on the even-numbered months so Cutie Face got to help welcome everyone. She held up her end of the welcoming by visiting with three boys.

Yes! I'm serious! Check these pictures out!

meeting and greeting

playing coy
getting acquainted

Mimi said that the boys thought she "was such a cool baby". I think J better get his shotgun ready!

We picked Cutie Face up after lunch and spent a great Sunday afternoon reunited as a family of three.

Thanks Mimi and Poppy for watching our Cutie Face for 24-hours! We appreciate it!

No pictures...?

Wow! Today i only took THREE pictures. That is a huge record for me as i am usually snapping hundreds (no lie!) per day.

The pictures I took were of Cutie Face finally sleeping. I'm not sure what is going on with her but I think that she is either teething, growing, or still not used to Daylight Savings Time. Poor kiddo--she just isn't taking "real"naps (ie: naps longer than 30 minutes) these days!

Here is my little sleeping beauty, conked out for one of her 30-minute slumbers:




Thankfully, my father-in-law sent a few of the pictures he took of Cutie Face in the park yesterday...so at least we can all get our daily fix :-o

You just might see one of these pictures on a Christmas Card....