She's finally here!!

Well.....where have I been for a while? Sheesh,  have I got a lot of catching up to do.  It's been a wild and crazy December that's for sure and I will try (with my newborn mommy brain) to remember it all.  We had a lovely Thanksgiving with the family coming up to the lake and of course I had no camera to document any of that.  Mike, Bonnie, Jen and Jackson all made the trip up and we had a very relaxing time with lots of great food. (as usual)  

After the weekend Mike headed home and Bonnie stayed here with us to spend some time getting ready for the baby, and to be here to keep the kiddos when Paige arrived. It was fun for her to be here for some of the kids' activities they were doing for school while we waited.  The kids had a school dance (a first for our kids)and they were super excited about this.  There were pictures with santa and the book fair all at the same time.  We watched the kids go nuts with all their friends dancing and playing it was very entertaining. ;) 

 

 

Grace was a hard one to track down she was all over the place.  It's fun finally being the top of the food chain in the school. ;)

Haylee and Gavin found some of her friends and they were so silly it was cracking us up!

 

One very frigid night we decided to head to Coeur d'alene for the lights on the resort.  Needless to say we headed indoors after about 15 min of feeling like the water and wind were going to carry us out to sea.  There is a killer toy store though that we made ourselves very comfortable in:

 

Scaring all the small children.

Never a dull moment at the toy store.

Also while Bonnie was here she got to see Grace's school choir perform twice!  They did the tree lighting for the city of Spokane Valley and also did a performance for a retirement home here in the area.  She has loved choir and her teacher works very hard with these kids we have been super impressed with the time and effort he puts into working with these kids year after year.  They sound great and just look like they are always having such a fun time.  This is Grace welcoming everyone, though it's sort of hard to hear.

 

 

Last but not least......BABY!!! :)  Boy how quickly things changed around here after two weeks of sitting around and waiting for something to happen.  My due date was the 6th and that is the day my contractions really started becoming something noticeable and about 5 or 6 min apart. To add to all that was going on the few days leading up to this we had been hearing from Mike that he was having some pretty awful stomach aches throughout the day and was finally going in to have it checked out.  So we tried to keep busy all day we went to Costco, went to hear Grace sing, just treated it like any other day. 

 

That night we were home getting things ready for dinner and the contractions were still coming and getting a bit stronger.  Justin and I were trying to mentally prepare for what was coming and I was just wanting things done before we would have to go.  Well we then get the phone call from Mike that he is needing to check in to the hospital right away for a possible emergency surgery due to his intestine being on the verge of rupturing.  What????  So Bonnie is in tears and worried about him, trying to immediately get a flight home, my kids are sitting there wondering what is happening, and the contractions are still coming!  Holy crap!!!  

 

Bonnie got home safely and we actually got my Mom to change her flight and come the next afternoon which was a week earlier than she had planned so we would have someone to be with the kids during the hospital stay.  Justin's cousin Kristen lives here in Spokane so we figured if the baby came before my Mom's arrival that she would be able to help with the kids.  We had a dr apt for the next morning and were hoping I was far enough in to this they would just keep me.  We dropped kids with Kristen, had everything loaded in the car and went to my appt.  I was about a 3 and contracting so she told us to walk and get something to eat but probably wouldn't be much longer before we needed to head in to the hospital. 

 

 We went over to the mall and tried to walk around and keep ourselves busy but they were getting stronger and as we sat on furniture in pottery barn all I could think was I couldn't afford for my water to break in this store. ;) So to be more at ease we decided to head to the hospital cafeteria for a bite and that way we wouldn't have far to go.  

 

About an hour or so later we headed up to triage and they decided I was ready to be checked in.  So about noon on the 7th I was getting a beautiful room with a view (thanks to the wonderful Kelley McClellan). 

 

All checked in and looking lovely as ever in my gown.

 

Justin went to get my mom when she landed and Kristen dropped off the kids at the hospital for us so they could come see me for a bit.  

 

Justin trying to get in some cat naps before it got real. ;)

The kids were so good all day and were bummed when they had to head home and Paige still had not come. :(

Still waiting......but by this time I had drugs so I was good.

 

She was finally born at 9:47 pm and was so totally perfect even right after being born, the first thing I said was "she's so cute!".  Not that I was surprised but my other babies all had some swelling or misshaped heads that would go away after a few days (except Haylee's large head)but this little girl was just perfect!  And she started crying right away, very loudly! :)

 

Paige Noel Ellersick weighing in at 7lbs 9oz and looking a bit like a pirate. ;)

 

They hurried to check out her head from where they used the vacuum one time and she was all mine!  She ate right away like she knew exactly what she was doing and just snuggled right in.  I even type this now and see these pictures and get really sad that I will never do this again because this is truly my favorite part about the whole experience.  I LOVE having a newborn!

She was so awake and alert. :)

We were pretty worn out. ;)

 

Daddy was smitten right away with his baby girl and could not be any sweeter with her.  I love how much he loves babies (not just our own either) and it just reassures me that I have an amazing husband who has been there for me through all of these crazy times and has been the best coach!

 

She found her fingers the first night.

 

First bath.

 

 

Haylee meeting her baby sister.

 

The girls could not be more thrilled for this baby, she will be doted on and loved so much.

 

First family picture as a family of 6.



Proud big brother.

The girls are naturals.

 

She has big dimples just like her big brother.

We had some fun visitors drop by too.

This is the beautiful flower arrangement they brought along with a bear and balloons, it was very sweet.

 

After 2 days we headed home with the new addition.  Back to reality. ;)  We were greeted by this super cute banner the kids all made:

 

The kids were excited to help with her first bath at home.

 

 

 

She has been the sweetest baby and so laid back.

 

Everyone fights to hold her and the girls come crashing through the door after school because they want to be the first to get their hands on her.

My mom stayed for a little over a week and was the best help for me.  She really knows what I need and when. Plus she's good about letting me just be with my kids while she takes care of all the rest, which as a mom you don't realize how helpful that is until you get it.

 

So now we are back in the full swing of life, plus 1.  It's a new year and I have a lot to catch up on.  I will get to everything else hopefully soon but had to start somewhere.  Hope you all are having a great start to your new year!!!