How Wonderful Life is While You're in the World

Those are the words that I put on my Lucy bracelet.  Long ago I posted about the reason, and the words have never been more true.  It's amazing at the love and joy that someone so little can bring to the lives of those around her. 

Lucy is fiesty, funny, and loving.  She's stingy with the kisses, so when you get one you feel like the luckiest person.  When she and I were at the hospital last week it was tough on the whole family.  Stella was home with Jim and she told him, "Daddy, I have so much fun with you, but I like it best when we're all here together."   I know we all feel that way.

I finally feel completely content, like we have a whole family now.  We were a family before, but there was always something that didn't quite feel complete until Lucy joined us.

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since we were making plans for Stella while we were in the hospital and wondering what this new little one was going to look/be like.  (I think if we had 8 kids they'd all look alike.)



One of her newest things is "walking" Stella's toys.  She bounces them along and makes little noises that are supposed to be "walk, walk, walk."

 I asked Jim to feed Lucy so I could do the dishes the other night.  Stella said, "I'll feed her".  I wasn't sure Lucy would let her, but thought it was worth a shot.  They did great!  Lucy sat there snuggling on her nap drinking her bottle while Stella loved her up.  Watching the bond between these girls grow may be one of the greatest things I'll get to witness in my life.

 I made Jim take a picture of us.  This is where she spent her last night one year ago.  How fun it is to look back at that last pregnancy picture he took and think of all of the ways she's changed over the year.

She's not walking, but will walk holding one of our fingers.  She cruises the furniture and looks for something close enough to grab onto once she reaches the end but quickly drops to a crawl when there's nothing within reach.   It's still difficult to tell exactly what she'll be like when she gets older, but she's not as dramatic as Stella and she's MUCH more physical/fearless than her big sister.  Something tells me she'll be antsy like her Daddy.  She LOVES to be outside and is a huge fan of the dog, or "Eht" as she calls him.  She still only has one little bottom tooth and says Mama and Dadda.  I thought she was going to be a great eater, but that has slowed down so she may not always be our chunky monkey (really, her chunk is all in those delicious cheeks!)

Though Stella is sad that once Lucy turns one we won't have a baby anymore, she's getting more fun with each day that passes.  I get to take the day off with them both tomorrow to celebrate.  I feel a bit guilty taking the day off since I just missed all of last week, but I told the kids that I can't NOT spend her birthday with her.  We'll go out for breakfast, do some last minute birthday party shopping, stop to see Daddy at school and I think Stella wants to go to Sugar Babies to play.  I know I've said it numerous times before, but I'm so very grateful to have a job that allows me SO much time with them!  I wouldn't have any other job in the world!

A few months ago I saw on a news show that the happiest families are ones with two girls and I couldn't agree more (the least happy had 4 girls according to the study if you're interested).  We're blessed beyond words and I give thanks every single day for the life that we've been given to share.

Happy First Birthday Baby Bug, we all ADORE you!

A glimpse

Every once in a while something happens and I feel like I'm getting a little glimpse of our future. Tonight, Stella and I are hanging out on the couch, painting nails, and reading. I'm pretty sure that the 3 of us girls will spend a lot of evenings like this. Each kind of doing their own thing but also sharing the couch, the polish, and the popcorn. I sure hope our little Danger Bug will be able to slow down long enough to enjoy these menus with Stella and I, right now she's most definitely more high string like her Dad. (and MUCH more daring than her fellow females)

Time to put down the phone and soak up this time!

Have a great weekend!

Forced downtime

I've had a blog draft half done since late February but can't seem to finish it up.

I'm finding myself with a lot of time on my hands today at the hospital with a sick baby. We were pretty sure yesterday that Lucy had croup and I planned to keep them home and take her to the dr if she wasn't feeling better. We didn't even make it through the night.

Despite many trips to sit in the cold night air we just couldn't get her breathing comfortable. On several occasions it got a bit scary. At 3:30 Jim took her to the ER so I could stay home with Stella and get a couple hours of sleep. She's been given steroids and four breathing treatments. She'll be fine but the Dr said they'll probably keep her overnight since croup gets worse at night.

I hate seeing her sick and being helpless but I'm soaking up all of the snuggling and feeling do very grateful that we aren't here for something serious. This is more than difficult enough to watch her go through.

So it looks like a day of snuggling and trying to keep her somewhat comfortable. Cross your fingers that we can get a little bit of sleep tonight!