Scarlett's Newborn Pictures

As I mentioned in my last post, Bethany Jackman came over a few days ago to take some newborn pictures of Scarlett.  She just emailed me a sneak peak of some of them, and I love them so much!!  

She's on a Roll!

Scarlett is very wiggly.  When she was growing inside of me she was always moving all over the place! I loved it, because it always reassured me that she was OK.  Well, since she has been born she has not stopped moving.  She is constantly trying to lift her head up, and turning from side to side.  We have joked that we better not leave her anywhere high unattended because she might just roll right off!  We weren't really serious about that but it looks like we will have to be now because we have a roller on our hands!

It started yesterday. Bethany Jackman  was over taking newborn pictures of Scarlett.  We were trying to get her to hold a position on her belly.  She was wiggling all over the place and finally she just rolled right over onto her back!  I couldn't beleive it, but thought we probably had helped her a little by messing around with her to try and get her to stay still.  So today I decided to give her some tummy time and see what happened. Within seconds of laying her on her tummy she rolled right over to her back!  I ran to get my camera to capture the moment.  I propped her back up went to take a picture and before I could start taking it, she was already mid roll.

Here's a video in case you don't believe me =)

And just because I am already bragging, she totally smiled at me yesterday while I was doting on her. Twice! =)  

Valentines Day

Knowing that my due date was right around Valentines Day, I was afraid that I somehow wouldn't be able to get gifts for our kids.  This was something I knew I wanted to have done ahead of time so I wouldn't have to worry.  Well on Friday (the day before Scarlett was born), I finally made it to the store to pick up some Valentines gifts.  It was the last thing on my to do list before baby arrives, and it was perfect timing since I went into labor that night!

It was important to me that our kids still had a sense of normalcy, and that they still felt loved and important during the transition of welcoming a new baby into our home.  They were so excited to wake up and find that we hadn't forgotten about Valentines Day! 

Since Valentines Day was the day after I arrived home from the hospital, the plan was for Brandon to get up and get the kids all ready so I could sleep.  Well the night before, Alexis came to me excited about a Valentines hairdo that she found on youtube that she wanted me to do in her hair.  She was so excited, and I couldn't bear to tell her no, so I got up with them in the morning so they could have the fun Valentines hairdo =) I think it turned out so cute!

The kids all had school Valentines Parties.  I never miss their parties, so I felt bad to have to miss them, but they were all very understanding. =)

That was the extent of our celebrations for the day.  The rest of the day was just layed back enjoying each other's company.

  Scarlett's excitement for the day was her first bath at home, which she wasn't too fond of.  It was the most crying we heard out of her since she was born!  

As soon as she was wrapped up all snuggly warm in her towel she was just fine =)

I see lots of Valentines Birthday Parties in this little girl's future =) 

A friend of ours brought yummy brownies with heart sprinkles and ice cream for us to enjoy that night.  It was definitely a different kind of Valentines Day then in years past, but it was spent together, which is the most important part anyways! =)

Our Hospital Stay

I always really enjoy staying in the hospital for a few days after having a baby.  It is so nice to have that time to relax, and bond with the baby.  Brandon stayed with me the first night, and it was fun to hang out, watch t.v. and not have any responsibilities.  

We had a lot of visitors while we were at the hospital.  I tried to make sure we got pictures of everyone, but somehow we missed taking some when Ben, Stacy and their kiddos came =(  Here are the ones we did get though:

Jana and Russ were in the waiting room while I was in labor so they got to be our first visitors after Scarlett was born.  We only got a picture of Russ with her, because Jana made us delete the ones we got of her.  We got some later though =)

I was so excited for our kids to meet Scarlett.  I wasn't sure how they would react, but they loved her from the moment they saw her 

Dont mind the face paint on Alexis and Tor's faces, lol.  The night before they had gone to a daddy daughter carnival at our church.  One of the activities was face painting, using face paint that was nearly impossible to clean off.  Brandon came home with his nose painted all black, but luckily he scrubbed and scrubbed it until it came off.  It was a good thing, because if he hadn't, he would have had a black nose in al the pictures, because there would have been no time to scrub it off when my water broke in the night!

Tori was a little hesitant with her at first, but that didn't last long =)

A few days after Scarlett was born, I was cuddling with Levi and he turned to me and said, "I'm a big brother!"  It was so sweet.  What a wonderful big brother he is too =)

Since the kids were with my mom, her and Michael were the ones to bring them to the hospital to meet Scarlett, and they got to meet her too =)

 My mom has been so wonderful through this all.  She rushed to our house in the middle of the  night, washed our sheets, so we wouldn't have to come home to that mess, and has been there for us whenever we needed her!

Jeremy, Tisha and Nikelle came later on Saturday to meet their newest niece and cousin.  Tisha and Nikelle thought she was the spitting image of Tori, but Jeremy wouldn't budge on saying she looks just like Alexis.  We have finally decided she looks a little like everyone but totally has her own look too =)

For the first time since tax season began, my dad had a full day of appointments, so he wasn't able to come until Saturday evening.  But Scarlett was worth the wait =)  He got a lot of great pictures too =)

 The kids went to Nana and Pap's house to spend the night on Saturday night.  the next afternoon, Nana brought them back to the hospital to see Scarlett again.

Jana has been such a help too.  On Sunday, she went to our house and cleaned in only as Jana can.  It was so wonderful to come home to a sparkly clean house =)

 Ben and Stacy and their kids stopped by Sunday night.  It was fun to visit with them for a while, and they brought Scarlett some adorable outfits, and other fun thing s =)  I really thought we had taken pictures! =(

That night Brandon went home to be with the kids so he could take them to school in the morning.  But not before he got some last minute snuggle time in =)

Then it was just Scarlett and I for the night .  I love snuggling with her and taking advantage of some last minute alone time =)

By the time Monday morning rolled around I was ready to head home to get back to life with my family of 6 =)

I will cherish those first few days of Scarlett's life that we spent together in the hospital.

I was so excited to get Scarlett dressed in her going home outfit.  I brought a couple different choices.  I love this cute little jacket, but the zipper was a little awkward, so after I got some pictures I took it off.

We still had a little but of time before daddy got their, so I gave Scarlett a little bit of tunny time.  She didn't seem to mind it, and actually was lifting up her head pretty good!

A few more minutes with just the two of us..

Then it was time to head home! 

Before we left we had to get a picture with our wonderful nurse Becca.  She was the nurse who came to the delivery room to take care of her, and she was our nurse during the days for the remainder of our stay.  I really think that nurses can either make or break your hospital experience, and Becca was so wonderful.  

Well, that concludes our hospital stay.  We are now home adjusting to life with 4 kids.  It has been been great so far.  I feel so blessed that Scarlett has been a dream baby so far.  She hardly ever cries, nurses like a champ and sleeps wonderfully at night.  We can not imagine our lives without her =)