Piland Pages: Welcome Home, Paige!

After 3 nights in the hospital (one spent in labor, the other two enjoying baby Paige), we were ready to get home to our girls and start life as a family of 5. Erich and I joked that being in the hospital felt a little bit like staying in a bed and breakfast... except for the uncomfortable beds, baby needing 24 hour attention, and pain of recovery... okay, so maybe not quite like a bed and breakfast. I think what we meant by that was that it was kind of nice to be forced to take a break from life's busyness, stay put in one room, and relax. I especially soaked up those moments with Paige, knowing that I would never get such concentrated time to just focus on her, my youngest baby, again. Once we returned home to the circus of 3 young kids, work, dishes, laundry, preschool, etc, I knew Paige would have to go along for the ride and fit into our busy routine. I also knew that there would be two other little "mommies" at home vying for her attention. So Erich and I opted to stay the extra night in the hospital that was offered to us and I held that little girl every second I could. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was as refreshed as you can be with a newborn and ready to head home.

When we came to the hospital on Thursday night it was unseasonably warm for October. Also, we were in a huge hurry and were a little frazzled. When it came time to leave on Sunday we found out that a cold front had come through and it was now freezing cold. That is when I realized that we had not worn coats and I hadn't packed any sort of blanket or anything that could keep Paige warm on the ride home. You would think by the 3rd time around I would have been a little more prepared. Oops. Thankfully the hospital staff kindly let us take a blanket home to cover her up.

Welcome Home Paige!

Avery and Norah were so excited to have Paige home. It took Norah a long time to call her by her name. For a while she would just point at her and say "That's a baby!"

Snuggling sisters

Our first night home from the hospital with each of our children has been celebrated with a meal of sloppy joe's and homemade mac&cheese. I'm not sure how we landed on that particular meal, but it has become tradition and I love it.

Paige's first bath. She has a lot of hair to wash!

Grandma has graciously come and stayed with us for a few days after each of our children were born to help. She is always valued and appreciated, but probably never more than in the days after we brought Paige home. I was tired, hormonal, recovering, and focusing all my efforts on Paige. Erich was doing a fantastic job with the older two girls, but it just wasn't the smoothest transition (Norah especially had a rough time adjusting to our "new normal") and we don't know what we would have done without my mom there to feed us, keep the girls entertained, and take care of all the details. She deep cleaned our house, dealt with many tears and tantrums, cooked our meals, and smiled the entire time. I also think it's possible she got less sleep than we did. I wanted her to stay forever and cried for about 6 hours straight after she left. Erich and I often look at each other in total awe of the ways our Kelley and Piland parents show us love and serve us with their actions, time, and gifts. It's hard to imagine right now, but someday it will be our turn to show that same love to our grown children and their families. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to do them justice, but we will try our best to follow in our parents' footsteps!

Avery and Norah showing off their big sister shirts, pumpkins, and their favorite baby

Paige and Momma

A visit from Aunt Nikki

Avery loves all things crafty and had fun with a paper doll set Nana and Papa brought her from their trip to Alaska

Norah thinks Paige is alright, but her first love will always be Baby Izzy. In this video Erich found her stuffing real food into Baby Izzy's mouth, trying to feed her dinner.