It's all coming back to me now...

Having a new baby is like riding a bike.

I was a little shaky at first, but it's all coming back to me now.

Like you need to take extra outfits in the diaper bag for when they spit up all over their clothes. I had forgotten that. And  you can never have too many pacifiers around. 

Or the wonder of gas drops. What are they anyway?!

Or that bibs are great just so you don't have to keep changing outfits.

I also forgot how amazing it feels to cuddle a baby and have her gaze up at you and smile.

Or how cute baby giggles are. 

I am determined to enjoy this. Because it is more than likely my last time.

 Lucy loves to be held. And I love to hold her. And she has decided it is more fun to be held then sleep at night (although she is turning into a pretty good day napper). But my mom is coming tomorrow so I am going to be taking lots of naps in the next few days. Yay for Grandmas!

And this little one already has two very adoring Grandmas who fell in love with her instantly. I love that my kids have such great grandparents. They know they are loved by their grandparents, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Grandparents are for spoiling! 

Sami and Janie are now sharing a room so that Lucy can have her own room.  They are loving it. They stay up talking and giggling. And occasionally jumping on the bed, at which time I definitively intervene. 

Janie told me today how much she loves her baby sister and asked if she could keep her. I loved that. I love that the girls have adjusted so easily to their new baby sister. Janie calls her "my baby," after which Sami says "no, she's my baby," and then I say "she's everyone's baby." That seems to be a satisfying answer. :)

Introducing Lucy...

We have a new baby!

Oh, you didn't know I was pregnant?

And thanks, I really do look great for having a new baby! :) 

No water retention here.

And despite my aging metabolism, I was able to wear my old jeans on the day we brought her home. 

Okay, enough of my tired sense of humor.

The truth is...

WE ADOPTED!! 

(Do I still look great for having a new baby? The answer to my face is yes.)

Lucy Abigail Olsen 

joined our family on July 12th, 2012. 

She is four months old and weighs 12.5 pounds.

We just adore her.

I am Lucy's aunt by marriage but now her mother through adoption.

 Isn't adoption awesome?!

And we sure are delighted to have her!

It happened super quick. We decided on a Tuesday afternoon that we wanted her to join our family and the paperwork was signed on Thursday and we held her for the first time at 1 am on Friday morning (we took the last available flight out of Phoenix to Denver, then drove to my hometown to get her). 

We named her Lucy because, well, we like that name and it goes so well with Sami and Janie, but mainly because it means "light." Lucy is a light to our family. Abigail means "brings joy" and "father's delight," both so true of our newest addition.

We admire Marcie so much for the courage to give us her baby. It is not easy, by any means, in fact, probably the hardest thing she has ever done. But we love her for it. It is an open adoption, so we are in contact and will continue to do so. We will go to Nebraska for Christmas where my Marcie and my nieces and nephew will see Lucy again. 

The adoption will be finalized in court in about 100 days. Then we will take her to the temple to be sealed to us, what a glorious day that will be! And she will also be blessed in church by Jonathan on the following Sunday. We are looking forward to it.

We have just fallen in love with Lucy. And Sami and Janie have been rockstars! It happened so quickly but they have been so great and have only expressed love to their new sister and thanked me a dozen times for their new sister. I am so impressed with their love. 

Now we are a family of five!

I feel my Heavenly Father's love so strongly as I gaze upon my children. They are each a miracle baby that came in a way and in a time that I hadn't originally thought of when Jonathan and I got married and were "planning" our family. Yet I am so, so grateful for each one. I love being a mom to three girls!

Celebrating the Fourth

Our Independence Day was pretty low key. Jonathan worked all day and came home and worked into the night doing discharge summaries. He did take a short break to shoot off a few fireworks with the girls. The fun thing was a 4th of July party put on by the girls' little friend Elise. 

Laura, Elise's Mom, decked out the girls in awesome Independence Day parade style. They even did a little parade in the house. My girls are still having their own parades.

God bless America. I truly love this country.