Lifelines

If ever there were an informal initiation to a tribe, I think one happened today!

These are “our people”, the ones who we bang around with the most, the ones our kids request to see ALL THE TIME, the ones who will become permanent fixtures in Luxe’s life.

(I commented today that Luxe was handling all of the crazy pretty well and Jenny said it’s probably because she knows all of the voices so well already! And there might be some truth to that!)

The tribe of “our people” is a large, friendly, loving one, consisting not just of this family but of many special families that I simply can’t wait to introduce to our little girl.

But this is the first of many of those meetings and this family, Jenny’s, has a special place in all of our hearts and so I’m glad she was among the first to visit and cuddle and pet and…”initiate” :)

(And yes, we’re “open for business!” Cindy, we’d love to see you and Carol next week; Jen N., tomorrow would not be soon enough; Cara, as soon as your in-town, shoot me your schedule! Stacie, my Fresh Baby awaits; Steph, I know we spoke before all this but we’d love to see you and the boys! Carla, we can finally have that coffee we’d been trying to have since Oct. 2008; Lynn and Scott and Madison and Ian…we are counting the days until your arrival! Pant, pant. Anyone else?)

For now, here’s Luxe and her new friends…

Oh wait.
First here’s Creux giving William a big bear hug, prompting William to shout indignantly, “What the HECK!?!”

And NOW here’s Luxe and her new friends: Adrienne, William, Colin, and Emma

(My kids were holding out for a turn, too!)

Thanks for lunch and for stopping by, Jenny & gang!
It was good to see you guys and honestly, I sort of miss driving to and from your house 45 times a week.
Nice to see you in my neck of the woods, though :)

(This conversation took place on Luxe’s second day here, when everyone was still getting to know each other.)

Him, scrambling up on the couch and holding out his big mitts for his baby sister:
“Tan I hold her?”

Me: “Yes…do you remember her name?”

Him: “What’s her name?”

Me, curious now: “You tell me. What’s her name?”

Him, thinking, thinking..and then he breaks into huge smile, lights up like a little Christmas tree, so proud to have remembered the name of his very new baby sister, and with every bit of big brother pride he can muster, he says, “FRAGILE!”

Had I had stitches, I would have broken them from laughing so hard.
Clearly we’ve been repeating one word far more than any other when she’s around :)

We were expecting visitors today!

Jenny and her gang stopped by back on Tuesday to snag some time with Luxe but as luck would have it, it was also the time that my midwife came to do an exam on us girls, my mom arrived to bring Greer home from a sleepover at her place, AND Charlie’s dad and wife popped by to say hello to the family.

(I could see all of this unfolding in my backyard as I was sitting in bed having my blood pressure taken. By some miracle, it did not skyrocket.)

So our time together on Tuesday was cut short in a big way.
We decided to try again today, with Jenny bringing over Panera for lunch and also bringing lots of eager little hands excited for my Fresh Baby!

I took some Before pictures of Luxe, all dressed up and gorgeous in her new girly outfit–thanks Jenny & family!
I say some “Before” shots because I didn’t know what state my newborn would be in for the After shots, what with eight kids and three adults milling about two inches from her darling face!

Here she is, with a charming little wardrobe assistant, having snuck in when seeing my door cracked for like precisely seven seconds :)

She’s four days old today! And having these spells of super adorable wide-awakeness already!

Edible, she is.
Just pure deliciousness.

I never got around to posting this, my last pregnancy photo, from last Friday.
One week ago today, in fact.
So much has changed in one little week!
Standing here, on our way out to Red, White, and Boom, I had no idea that in 24 hours my water would break, sending me on a three day collision course of crazy.

This is the last “official” pregnancy photo of me and it’s really actually sort of sad to post.
Sometimes I wish I were the type of person who could, having been pregnant just so recently, just feel happy about leaving the pregnancy behind “finally.”
And surely, I do have twinges of that.
But mostly, I see this photo and have a new appreciation for everything seen and unseen, everything that big baby belly represents, the promise it holds, the life within, the love of a mother, the future of a family.

And so, with a mixed heart, here’s me & “Baby” at 39 weeks and no more: