Has it really been?

In some ways I can't believe it's only been a week since our sweet Avery girl was born and in other ways, I can't believe it's already been a week! She is pure magical sweetness! There is no shortage of kisses and snuggles and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over this little angel from all of us and we continue to feel the warm presence that she has brought into our home!

A few things about our girl. She spent the week being tested for jaundice, but never quite got high enough to have to do the lights. We took her in on Monday for one last test and her numbers had gone way down, so I think she's out of the woods with that. She also spent the first week of life being so impossible to rouse from sleep that I was worried she wasn't eating enough. But again, at her appointment she is almost back up to her birth weight, so she's doing fine there too. We've had a couple of really BAD nights of sleep where Chris and I thought we may turn into zombies, but the last few nights have been wonderful and this little babe has given us 4 hour stretches, which means we have only had to wake up once in the middle of the night. That has been VERY nice of her, don't you think? We still feel really tired, but it could be so much worse! It is such a shock to the system to have a new baby and to be losing so much sleep! Avery is a spitter, just like Taylor, but at least now we know how to be aware of it so that we don't have the horrible choking scare that we had with Tay. She has beautiful little dimples like Taylor, but looks soooo much like Kaiya did when Kaiya was a new baby. How cool is that, huh? Seriously, I need to get a newborn picture of Kaiya on here so you can see what I mean! They truly are sisters!

The girls really have taken so well to their new sister. Most of the time, they kind of forget that she exists, being so busy playing. But when they do remember her, they are so sweet to her! Kaiya loves to get really close to Avie's face and say, "hi baby girl, you're so pretty!" And Taylor squeals really loud, "BABY" when she sees Avery. They have been really good! We have had some acting out, due to lack of attention, I'm sure, but for the most part the girls are handling things like pros!

We have had my mom and dad up here quite a bit this past week and honest to goodness, I can't even begin to express how WONDERFUL it has been. I don't think there are more helpful people in all the world! My mom has cooked up a storm, making treats with the girls and yummy dinners for us. She has cleaned. She has given her loving, snuggling arms to Avery when mom was occupied elsewhere. They have been so, so good to Kaiya and Taylor -- taking them to the park, tiring themselves out playing with them, reading a million books, occupying them so mom could rest. It has been so, so nice. Today was the first day of handling everything on my own and I missed Chris and my parents so much! What a blessing to have so many helping hands around. I can't begin to thank them all enough!

And then there's Chris. What a husband. What a father! He has been amazing. He literally does every single thing in his power to help me out. He took time off work and has been such a huge help and support. He always is. I feel so lucky to have him and I know our three girls feel the same. It is so hard to have him have to go back to work -- we all miss him so much! He does late middle of the night feedings while I pump. He takes all the girls so I can nap. He changes diapers, burps, feeds, cleans, and still manages to come up with the best Valentine's Day surprise ever! Yep, he rocks! We knew we wouldn't be going out for V-day, so he came up with a pretty dang good surprise for home! All this delicious fruit on skewers to dip into caramel/chocolate sauce. Votif candles all over the place for the romantic mood AND to roast our marshmallows over (how creative, huh?) It was so, so sweet! Probably one of my favorite V-day's ever. I'm such a lucky gal to have this guy!So, yeah, it has been an eventful week of adjusting and loving on this sweet, sweet, perfect little baby! It is simply amazing how quickly and powerfully you can love a new life, like you don't know how you ever lived without them before. Avery is just so precious to our family and we are so thankful that she is here!