Heading Home

Thursday morning we were able to start packing up to head home.  I had brought two outfits and one sleeper (that was actually Mer's) as options to put on Libby Kate to bring her home.  I as debating between to dresses, when we had a major poop explosion and a couple of projectile vomitting moments and I decided we'd go for something comfy instead of frilly!  I felt bad putting her in a dress that would get tangled up in the carseat, when she was already having enough issues!!  So, I ended up putting her in a super soft sleeper that Mimi had given to Meredith just after she was born.  Mer was only able to wear it once before she had outgrown it, so it was a perfect newborn option.

Once she was all dolled up, we loaded her into the carseat.  Funny story - as we were leaving, Brian was carrying the carseat and I was being pushed in a wheel chair.  As we were coming down the hallway, I heard this loud bang, and then the people walking towards us had this horrified look on their faces...  I turn around to see what the noise was, and Brian had totally rammed the carseat into a doorway!  I flipped out a little for a second, but Libby never flinched, so I guess it didn't phase her at all.  The looks on the faces of the people in the hallway though....oh my goodness.

We had the warmest greeting as we arrived home.  Mer Mer was there to meet us with balloons and was so excited to see her sister at home.  She kept telling her over and over how cute she was!

It was so sweet to hear her telling her sister how much she loves her, and this picture of Mer Mer holding Libby Kate is one I'll treasure forever.

Soaking Up the Newborn-ness

During late night feedings, Brian and I find ourselves staying up late, just staring at Libby Kate and soaking in all the goodness of a newborn.  It's so different this time - instead of obsessing over every grunt and move and worrying something is wrong, we are able to just sit and watch her and talk about how much we love every bit of her.

Sister, Sister

On Wednesday, Mom brought Mer Mer up to meet her baby sister for the first time.  She brought "Libby Kate" with her.  Libby Kate is her baby that she was given when "Princess Morado" was born.  I was never allowed to call "my" baby Libby Kate, because Libby Kate was in Mer's tummy and Princess Morado was in my tummy.  I was reminded of this every.single.day. 

When Mer walked into the room, my first thought was how big she looked.  It was Wednesday, and I hadn't seen her since Monday.  It was so weird to see her after holding a newborn for two days.  She seemed like such a big girl to me, all of a sudden.

My Libby Kate had a present ready for her big sister.  She was had a bath tub, clothes, and lots of baby supplies for Mer Mer's Libby Kate.

I love this picture.  Mer got her first look at her baby sister and said, "Aww.  She's so cute.  You are so cute Princess Morado.  You are the best friend, Princess Morado!"  

Mer got a little antsy the rest of the visit, was acting wild in the room, and was obsessed with the box of rubber gloves on the wall (she has an obsession with them...it's strange).  Libby Kate screamed the rest of the visit.  It's real life.  It's no different now that we're at home, either :)

Crazy little loon...posing for pictures with her rubber gloves on!

Before they left, she stashed a huge handful of the rubber gloves into her bag.  Not kidding.  This girl is crazy.  She was more excited about the rubber gloves than she was the gift bag from her baby sister or her baby sister herself!!

Newborn Hearing Screening Test

On our second day in the hospital, Libby Kate had her newborn hearing screening.  The baby has to be asleep to do it, and then they put little sticky headphones over her ears and little probes on her head so they can watch her brain activity while the sounds are playing on the headphones.  We are so proud - our little Libby Kate failed the test the first three times!!  This was great news, because her failing it had nothing to do with her hearing...she is just a VERY heavy sleeper!!  We were thrilled to learn this, knowing what kind of household we were bringing her home to :)

Libby Kate is Here!

Elizabeth Katherine Wear, the newest member of our family, arrived May 29th at 9:44am.  She weighed 7lbs 15.6 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  We are absolutely in love with her and can't get over how much she looks like her big sister.  As much as she looks just like her though, so far her personality could not be more different!  This girl is laid back, easy going, and sleeps a TON.  (Mer was a firecracker, always awake and never wanted to miss out on anything!)

We had planned for me to go in to the hospital Tuesday morning, but Monday afternoon we received an unexpected call that I needed to be at the hospital by 7pm, to start on some medication prior to being induced.  I was so caught off guard that I just melted down at the thought of leaving Meredith earlier than expected.  In the end, I'm glad we did it this way - I don't think I would have slept any better at home knowing I had to be at the hospital at 6am anyway, and the medication they put me on made everything go super fast the next morning!  They started the pitocin at 6am, broke my water at 7am, had by epidural by 8am, said I had about an hour to go at 8:30am (which really ended up being only 20 min!!) and then by 9:30am the doctor was in there and she was here at 9:44am!  I was so thankful it went quickly because the epidural was giving me major panic attacks and I just wanted her and the epidural out fast!  Daddy and Gamommy were both in there for the delivery - Gamommy had taken Mer to school that morning and just came in to let me know she was there and check on me, but everything happened so quickly that she ended up being in there for the delivery as well.  Daddy almost made it through without any issues, but he did get a glance of too much blood and had to take a seat for a minute!  So close!  Ha!

She was perfectly healthy and looked great!

7 lbs 15.6 oz

The grandparents admiring her.  Libby Kate shares her birthday with her Paw Paw - we're already planning a big bash next year for a special 1st birthday and 60th birthday party!

 

Later that day the Tech came to our room to give Libby Kate her first bath.

She was NOT a fan!

Tuesday night all her aunts and uncles came by for a visit.  They couldn't wait to get their hands on her!

Stephie getting some practice in - just another five months and I'll get to be the one sitting there snuggling a sweet neice or nephew.

Proud Grandpa

It's a Jungle Out There!

Mer has been talking about going to "the jungle" for months, and we kept talking about how we should take her to the Rainforest Cafe so she could visit "the jungle."  We decided a trip to the jungle and Build-a-Bear was the perfect celebration for Mer's last weekend as an only child!  She spent the night with Gamommy last night (and called me crying at 10 o'clock because she wanted me to come get her...and of course I wanted to!) so when we picked her up this morning we told her we were going to the jungle!  She was so excited...at first..and then in the most serious voice, she says, " But I don't like snakes!  I don't want to see snakes!"  We made a point, once we were there, to avoid the giant snake wrapped around a tree branch overhead - ha!

It took a lot of coaxing to get her to sit on this wall under the huge giraffe!  Not that you can tell in the picture anyway, but she was wearing her giraffe shirt, so she needed a picture with the "real" thing - ha!

My two favorite people with a parrot!

She was NOT a fan of the crocodile.  There were kids surrounding the thing, and she wanted no part of even getting close to it - real or not - and had a death grip on Brian!

"I love elephants!" she said.

She really liked watching the fish, but was afraid of those at first too.

There was so much to look at all around us!  When the thunderstorm would start though, she would get so afraid and say she didn't like the thunder and lightning.

Yikes - Mommy's looking a little rough these days!  I need this baby out of me!

Before lunch, she wanted NOTHING to do with this talking tree, but by the time we finished eating she was begging to go back and see the tree and have her picture taken with it.

After lunch we were off to Build-a-Bear.  There is nothing nearer and dearer to this girl's heart than a stuffed animal - ha!  She picked out the calico cat, with a "meow" sound in its foot, and no clothes for it - because cats don't wear clothes.  Thank goodness.  Anyone knows me knows how much animals wearing clothes bothers me - so glad this girl thinks the same way!  Ha!

Meet the newest member of her menagerie - Catty.

We had such a fun day, and on the way home all talked about what our favorite part of the day was.  My favorite part was spending the day with my sweet girl, Daddy's favorite part was seeing Mer laugh so much, and Mer's favorite part was the jungle cats!

I just love these two!!