ready to go home

We were so ready to go home on Saturday! I was not looking forward to going out in the cold and snow but definitely worth it to get home and start figuring out life with a newborn again.  Calla has been such a great sleeper in the hospital, only waking up once to eat and going right back to sleep.  We feel pretty rested leaving the hospital and well taken care of, of course.

finally out of sleepers and into clothes...ready to go home!

our "leaving the hospital" picture we have with each kid 

first family pictures

first family of 5 picture

first all girls picture

meeting family and friends

We loved having people come and stop by and meet Calla.  She was able to meet most of our family and some friends.  Our kids are lucky to be so loved by so many!

family

friends

it's a girl!

Calla Grace joined our family on 2/23/11.  She weighed in at 9 lbs 10 oz and was 22 inches long!    We had been hoping and praying for a "normal" experience as we've yet to have one and besides a few minor things it went pretty smoothly.  I was definitely apprehensive about having another c-section (definitely some tears shed in the operating room!) but my doctor, the anesthesiologist, and nurses were fantastic.  Not the most fun experience at all but so worth it when we get to see our baby!  I was surprised when Mike told me it was a girl...I guess I had thought it was a boy all along because it definitely caught me off guard.  Sophie could not be more excited to have a sister!

gymnastics

Sophie received her 2 year trophy at gymnastics!  She is so proud of it and it has proudly displayed with her first year trophy.  She is loving gymnastics and is doing so well in her first session in the 5 & 6 year old class.  It has been so fun to watch her and she is so proud of the new things she can do. Here she is with her coach (the only one she's had here!), Mary.  We love her!

meeting Leah Cotton

Sophie has gone to most of the gopher women's basketball games this season and it has been fun watching her get into it and somewhat understand what's going on.  She loves to watch the scoreboard, so it's been a fun way to work on higher numbers with her too :)  From the beginning of the season she has loved one of the players, Leah Cotton.  Originally, I think it was because Leah is from Kansas City, but now Sophie talks about how fast she is, how many baskets she makes, etc.  A few weeks ago she even wrote Leah a letter that was hand delivered by Oma and Opa when they went to an away game with the team and they came back with a t-shirt Oma had bought that is now autographed to Sophie.  Almost everyday she spends part of the day being Leah Cotton and playing basketball in the basement and showing us how she can run fast just like Leah.  Yesterday afternoon I found out that she was going to be the guest player on the live coach's radio show so Mike and I went down there with the kids.  We were waiting in the lobby when Leah walked in and Sophie recognized her right away (even though she was in street clothes!).  When the coach came by our table to chat Sophie showed her the sign she had colored that she takes to games and the coach brought Leah over to our table. Sophie clammed up and hid in Mike's lap.  We have never seen her so shy before!  She never once talked to Leah but watched everything she did.  Leah was great with her and even told us she has Sophie's letter on her desk in her room.  She's been talking about last night all day today, so I know she had a great time...maybe just a little starstruck :)  She was a hit with the other people there as well.  They loved her sign and loved that Sophie was a little Leah Cotton fan.  From what we've seen and heard about Leah, we're happy that she's the one Sophie has clung to!

Sophie wouldn't take any pictures with Leah but here are the only 2 pictures I got of the night!

she wouldn't even look at the camera...she was too busy watching what Leah was doing

trying to get a picture of Jackson with the chocolate all over his face...this as good as it gets (we were nearing bedtime right about now!)

taking care of Jackson

Jackson was sick and totally out of it over the weekend.  Big sister Sophie was ready to snuggle and take care of her little brother. It was really cute to watch her dote on him.

getting ready for baby

The kids helped me wipe down and get all the baby stuff put away.  They of course had to have their own fun.  I also couldn't help finding an old picture of the 2 of them laying on the same play mat about 2 years ago.  Time flies!