Our first few days at home

Thankfully, our first few days home have been better than we had anticipated they might be. So many times this week Brad and I have looked at her in amazement, wondering why the Lord has blessed us with such a sweet girl. Brad's parents came down last Wednesday and have been such a huge help to us this week. They helped make the transition home so much easier by taking care of the grocery shopping, preparing meals, cleaning, and just providing moral support and encouragement. We are so thankful for them! They left this afternoon and tonight is our first night just the 3 of us. It is so different (in a good way) having a baby in the house now, but we love it!

Ellie has spent much of the week just like this...so far she is a sleepy head!
I love to watch her while she is so peaceful and content.
What a sweet girl!

Here she is Saturday afternoon shortly after coming home. This is one of the few outfits that actually fit her. We had to go out and by some more newborn clothes because all of her 0-3 month clothes are still too big.

Here she is in her car seat for the first time.
She slept the entire way home which was great because it was time for her to eat.


Here we are shortly after bringing Ellie home on Saturday.
We were all so glad to finally be in a more comfortable setting.

Here she is being burped last night. Brad and I have finally realized the trick to getting her to stay more awake while eating...strip her down! Nursing has been going well so far and we pray it will continue to get better. Our pediatrician recommended that we supplement a little bit our last night in the hospital because she had lost 10% of her body weight but it doesn't seem to have messed her up too bad. My milk came in this weekend and on Monday she had gained 2 more ounces so we feel good about her progress. I have enjoyed these sweet times bonding with my little girl.

One Week Old

...and my new life begins!

Wow! At 6:49 on Wednesday, February 18th everything changed when Ellie Sue Emory came into this world! What a tremendous blessing from the Lord she is. With that blessing, however, comes great responsibility to raise her up teaching her about her Heavenly Father's great love for her and the whole world. This is a sobering but very worthwhile endeavor, one that can only be attempted because of the Lord's grace and mercies that are new every morning. From here on out this is our primary focus and everything else fades into the background. These are just a few of the ramblings coming from an excited, but somewhat tired new mom early in the morning! Here are a few pictures for now..I'll post about my labor story later.

Family Shower

Last Saturday my Dad & Sandy gave us a wonderful baby shower! Sandy had the house decorated so pink & girlie and it was really cute. I could tell that she had spent a lot of time and energy getting things just the way she wanted it and everything looked great. It was fun celebrating the upcoming birth of our little one with our families. Brad's mom, dad, sister, and grandma all came in for the weekend as well as his aunt,uncle, & cousins. We were blessed with some more great gifts and as always we are very thankful for every one's generosity! I don't have pictures yet, but when I get them I'll be sure to post them.