Meeting Elle

We were all so excited today for the kids to finally meet Elle. And they were all smitten. Reese was so excited to get to hold this sweet baby!

On the way to their house, the boys and I had several conversations about how they were to behave. They did so well and were so calm and sweet around the baby.

Sam loved on her and she just relaxed in his arms.

And Hayes surprised me the most! He absolutely loved on her and was so gentle and sweet. When we were about to leave I told him it was time to go and he started crying because he said Reese got to hold Elle "for a really long time" and he didn't get to hold her as long. So, we had to let him hold her one more time before we left.

Cousins!

While I was busy doing this, Tommy took the boys out on their four-wheeler and they had a blast. Later once we were back on our side of town, Sam kept talking about how awesome it was and how much fun he had. He also kept saying, "Elle is so cute!"

There are not many things that are better than having a newborn baby in your arms. We are all in love with Elle!!

February Break

We have been on February break this week and we have been staying busy. Monday we headed to the mountain to walk the flat path back to the creek with some friends. The weather has been so nice this week that the kids got to wear shorts.

And play in the creek! The water was cold but they had a blast!

That evening these two fell asleep on the way to Sam's basketball practice. Sam was busy reading. Their school sends home a reading chart for breaks and I told them that if they met the time requirement for the chart I would give them each $5. Sam has met his goal already!

Entertaining themselves at practice. The little two had tee ball practice that night too so it was a good thing Hayes fell asleep in the car.

The next day we met more friends at the park to play. Hayes pet every single dog that walked by. I wish I had snapped a picture of him petting a Great Dane because it was looking him in the eyes.

Wednesday we went to pack a box at Stop Hunger Now. At Christmas time Reese decided to save the money she received as gifts so that she could donate a box of food. This was the first week we have been able to do this and the kids really all do a great job!

That night we headed out to my parents house to spend the night because they are half way between our house and Aunt Becky's. We had big plans of meeting their new cousin the next day!

EMG is here!

Last Friday, Becca and Tommy finally welcomed their sweet baby girl! Since it is not really my story to tell, I am just going to share from my view. And my view looked a lot like this...

I put the kids on the bus Friday morning and then headed out to the hospital. My parents and I got to eat lunch alone and I don't know the last time that happened. It was great visiting with them. Leah met us at the hospital and we had a lot of fun spending time together doing nothing! She is a sweet talker and some how talked the sweet nurses in to giving her one of the hospital mugs they give to the new mamas in the maternity ward.

Later that night Tommy's sister, Gina, arrived and we all put on our new shirts my mom made for us while we waited to see our new niece!

She finally arrived and my mom sent us this picture while we waited to squeeze their necks. Becca did such a great job and I was so proud of her! Tommy was so sweet and supportive the whole time.

That night I didn't get to snuggle sweet Elle but the next morning we came back to visit after spending the night at my parents house. Leah and I had a sleepover there so we could make sure to see them one more time before heading home.

She is so cute and tiny! I never got to hold my babies in my arms when they were that small and I just loved getting to hold her. She has dark hair but light eyebrows so her hair might change colors. BUT, Reese is excited for now to have a cousin with the same color hair as her.

We are all so excited to have a new baby around to love on! Welcome to family, sweet girl!