Party of five

I wanted to just take a minute and thank you guys for the amazing wishes and kind words on our Nebraska announcement. We can’t believe that we’re Midwest bound and that our Florida roots are going to be replanted just in time for the snow (something we know nothing about).

It’s hard to believe that we are reaching the three month mark with our sweet Emory. We’re elbows deep into being a family of five and things are just starting to calm down a bit. The past three months have been a whirlwind of utter exhaustion and hard work but we are in love with our crew.

Grace loves her little sister more than I could have hoped for and Haddon is always looking for an opportunity to smooch her face. Really. He climbs up on her rocker and tries to lay next to her and hold her hand. It’s super cute but I have to keep my eyes on him at all times.

I always end up coming out of the newborn season wishing I could do it all over. The truth is that the newborn stage is so difficult.  The sleep depravation is exhausting beyond belief and having other little-ones in the house don’t allow for any kind of postpartum recovery. You’re literally a zombie and can’t find your keys or phone half the time because one day bleeds into the next and mornings into nights and everything is hazy.   But in spite of all of that, it is also so precious and priceless. The baby toes and tiny nose and the way their breath always smells like sweet breastmilk.  And how they open their eyes and explore everything around them, soaking it all in.  And the way they sleep so soundly on your chest and you can feel them breathe and stretch and listen to their sweet whimpering. It really changes you. It makes you appreciate your own parents that much more, and it makes you want to be better.  A better wife, mother, friend and Christian, because you are all of the sudden that much more aware of your own mortality and of how fragile and short life is. It forces you to slow down and appreciate the here and now. And when they first smile, you grab your camera because you never want to forget the moment they turned your life upside down and you became all the better for it.

These beautiful pictures were taken by our sweet friend Marie from Little Personality. She’s outstanding and has taken pictures of our family before here and here. Also, for all of my south Florida family, you can contact her here.