Welcome to the World Julia Violet!

Well, it has been over a month since I posted last, but it has been a crazy month! With the impending arrival of our little girl and the start of the school year things have been busy! I was working on all the typical beginning of the year stuff while trying to figure out our new curriculum, new phonics program, and make sub plans! Let's just say it made for some very late nights at school and at home as I tried to pull everything together. As crazy as it was, by Friday, July 27th everything was as ready as it was going to get (well almost everything!) at school and it was time to finish things up at home.

While Julia's nursery is mostly ready to go, we left our guest bed in there since Eric's dad was here a few weeks ago, my mom and sister were here this past week, and Eric's mom is coming next week. Hopefully we have a few more visitors in the coming months. :) Since Julia is in the cradle in our room, we don't need to have the crib set up in her room just yet. But I took the weekend to finish up a few things, purchase a few things, and my mom and sister washed some of Julia's clothes for us while we were in the hospital.

Benjamin had a busy month as well. Unfortunately, it seems he has developed a little bit of separation anxitey - not the best timing! He has learned to stand on his own for longer and longer these days...I feel like walking can't be too far behind! A new discover this past week is that Ben is getting one of his top teeth in! He's still an awesome little eater - however I think we may have to stay away from restaurants for a little bit. He wants to eat from the minute we sit down to the minute we leave! And he is very vocal if there is no food! :) Oh well, I suppose we will save some money by not going out very often! Benjamin enjoyed the company we've had lately, especially playing with his Aunt Kaelin. Their favorite activity this week was playing peek-a-boo between Ben's room and Julia's room. Crawling back and forth, hiding behind the crib...Ben would find Kae and just start laughing and giggling. He's had some "moments" but his schedule has been very off this last month, so all things considered, he's handling it all really well.

Now that I have updated you on the past month...Our big news...Julia Violet is here!!!

We went ahead and scheduled a c-section to avoid the craziness that accompanied Benjamin's birth. So Monday, July 30th, we arrived at the hospital at 5:15am! (Ugh, I am not a morning person, this was a bit rough!)   We only waited in the waiting room for a few minutes, then got all set up and waited a bit more. We went back to the operating room around 7:15am.  It was kind of weird as everything happened, but so worth it to hear Julia's first cries and to see her so quickly as she arrived at 7:50am! She weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. Her little fingers and toes are so long! They checked her out and wrapped her up, then brought her back in to see us.

Our first photo with Julia!

 Eric was able to go with while they cleaned her up, and I got to take a nap while they sewed me up! :) I was able to be with them pretty quickly - by around 8:30 or so. One thing the doctor said was  - "She has some hair!"  I didn't believe her as no one in  either of our families has been born with hair and poor Ben is still waiting! But she has some dark hair on that perfect little head of hers (nothing compared to some babies - but a lot in terms of our family! :)

Look at all that hair! 

 She looks so much like Benjamin

 This is definitely a Benjamin face! :)

While they were keeping an eye on me and making sure the spinal wore off, we were busy texting people about the arrival of our baby girl and we were able to hold and cuddle her right away! Again, so wonderful to do this, since I missed out on this part with Ben. Before too long, we were off to get settled into our room. Everyone told us how lucky we were - we had a corner room and it was quite large! That came in handy when our Busy little Ben came to visit!

A sweet picture with her eyes open

 And a little smile while she sleeps

My mom, Kaelin, and Ben came up shortly after we were settled in the room. Ben wasn't too sure about this baby at first, but he was excited to "pet" her, grab her eye, and call her "guh" (his word for "dog"). Luckily, he doesn't call her a dog anymore, and we are working on him being more gentle. Since we have been home, he gives her kisses all the time, gets excited when we walk into the room with her, and he leans his head into her to give hugs! It is the sweetest thing ever! And he will say "Hi" to her! We are still working on "Julia" and "baby". Most of the time he pats her gently, but we still have to watch that he doesn't lean on her or squeeze her too hard...he's a giant compared to our new little peanut!

Nice baby

 Hmm..not so sure about this thing -

While Julia has a little smile, like

 "Nice to meet you big brother! - You must be the guy that's been kicking me for 9 months!"

Meemaw with Benjamin and Julia

Aunt Kaelin with Julia

On Thursday, August 2nd - we were ready to go! We got Julia all dressed in her sweet little outfit, packed up all of our things, and were ready to not see the inside of a hospital for a very long time! :) And no, this will not be happening again next summer! :)



Julia's coming home outfit

 Getting ready to leave with mommy...

 ...and daddy.

We made it home safely, and have been enjoying our little family of four! It is so sweet watching Benjamin with his sister...see the next post for more on our first few days at home! :)