In Comes the Sweetness!

Ahhh, the house is full of sweetness! We are soooo in love!

Introducing Avery Ryenne (pronounced Ryan)! And this little tubs weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long! I still am having a hard time believing that she was so big! But then memories of how huge I was could have indicated she would be pretty good size! Our little baby girl arrived on Tuesday, February 8th at 5:17 pm, healthy, strong, and beautiful as can be!

The day was actually really quite peaceful and everything went sooo smooth! We went in at about 7:30 to start antibiotics for Strep B. Got my epidural at about noon (and was as pleasant as punch thereafter -- ahhhhh!). Doctor broke my water at about 1:00 and then nothing happened for several hours. Finally at about 4 I started progressing quite fast and by 5:15 was pushing. Not much pushing required and she was here!! It really was a fantastic experience and I felt so, so good throughout the day! It was wonderful this time around being surrounded by my sweet husband, wonderfully supportive sister, and for the first time, my parents were able to join us! I can't even express what a blessing it was to have them all there. It made the day so incredibly special! It will be a treasured memory forever, especially in the next year and a half while my parents are gone on their mission! Avery is a doll. She is so soft and sweet and has the most kissable cheeks! Most surprising to us, she has dark brown hair! I could never have imagined us having anything other than redheads, so we still are scratching our heads wondering where the brown hair came from! And as of now, it is wavy, so hopefully she got the cute curls that her sisters have! She also has the cutest fatty rolls on her legs, perfect little lips, long fingers, and the cutest sounds and facial expressions around! She is oh so beautiful (says one very biased mommy) and we could not love her more! She has been sleeping pretty non stop for the past few days and is near impossible to rouse for eating or for anything else! I can't get enough of holding her and snuggling her close and smelling her perfect newborn skin. It is the sweetest miracle to be a part of bringing her into this world and I am so, so grateful that she is ours and that she is here safe and sound! We came home today from the hospital while Kaiya was at preschool, so each of the girls had their own special introductions to their new sisters. Both of them are pretty smitten with Avery and it has been so heartwarming to witness their easy love and affection for her! Taylor keeps squealing "baby Avery" every time she sees her and kind of just prances around her like she's doing the Avery dance! Kaiya came home from preschool and literally was jumping out of her socks with excitement over her! She held her and was pretty mesmerized! The cutest thing came a little later when Avery was asleep in her swing and Kaiya comes over with Mr. Potatohead to share her toy and tell Avery all about him! She then put Potatohead into the swing so Avery wouldn't be lonely! Soooo cute! My mom is here and Chris is taking a few days off, so I am feeling overwhelmingly grateful for all the extra helping hands and the time it gives all of us to smother each of the girls with plenty of attention! Plus the yummy food my mom is cooking is making recovery taste pretty delicious!

So, all is well in our family of FIVE and we are sooooo happy to have our new baby girl home with us! So much love in this home of ours right now and we have Avery to thank for how those feelings have multiplied so rapidly and easily! She is perfect!

Welcome sweet Avery Ryenne!