Mission Accomplished.

Everyone, once again I made it to my due date. Thank heavens for medical science and the ability we have to coax the little bounders on their due dates even if they haven't seen fit to come on their own.

So, here I am in all of my 9 month pregnant glory at 6 am on our way to the hospital. No camera tricks here. This is really ALL me.

5 hours into the induction, here I am just about ready to meet my new little one for the first time.

Adam and Mom, sensing the moment was near, trying to contain their enthusiasm.

And here she is! Beautiful, sweet and just perfect. Look at that little face.

You'll all be happy to know that she aced her tests. :) She's already an over achiever.

This is my personal favorite part of having a baby. The very first snuggle with Mama and Baby. She cried and wailed when she was first born and she didn't stop when they cleaned her off or weighed her or checked her APGARS and all of that. She just wanted to make sure her little voice was heard. And then, they brought her to me fussing quite profusely and the sweet little girl snuggled right up and quieted right down. I love how they recognize Mom right off and how they respond to Mom. It seems like we've earned that kind of a nod after what we just went through, right?

She got to meet her big sister for the first time (and it actually went better than I would have thought.)

Mark and Carrie came to visit that night but I was actually too out of it to remember to snap any pictures of them with her. I'll never know why it didn't occur to me but I did manage to snap this photo of her with cousin Bubba. He was sweet as pie with her and it was so cute to watch the two of them interact.

Elizabeth got to come back later in the evening and hang out with us again. She and her sister had some pretty hilarious conversations. I love that Elizabeth has a sister.

We had our hospital food hospital steak and lobster dinner to celebrate the occasion. It was fun to have a little "date" in the hospital and even though the food wasn't so awesome, it really was a good chance for us to celebrate what an amazing miracle it is to welcome a new baby into our family. We feel so blessed.

So after two days in the hospital, Adam and I couldn't stand one more day away from our Elizabeth. We asked to be checked out as early as they would possibly let us out so we were all set and ready to go by like 8:00 this morning. We weren't discharged until about 10 but we were doing our best. Fortunately we had nothing to worry about. Nana had so graciously been on Elizabeth duty since she left the hospital on Thursday and Elizabeth was just happy as a clam.

Here she is all strapped in and set for her first trip in the car. I'm telling you this child does not cry. She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. I sent her to the nursery last night about 12 and they didn't bring her back until 4 am. She wasn't even crying. They just woke her up because they thought it was time to eat. And after she ate, she went right back to sleep for another 4 hours.

Can you stand her little booties? I love baby feet. Just adorable. Impossibly cute.

Nana had been so great about watching Elizabeth that she hadn't gotten to see her new little angel since Thursday. Her little face had changed so much and so these two girls had some catching up to do. They seemed to have a great time doing it.

Elizabeth was pretty excited to have mom and dad back home today. She got to have a picnic lunch on the living room floor and she got away with even more murder than Nana had let her get away with already. She was super happy and excited and it showed all afternoon. She was just giddy running around and playing. It was fun for us to see her back to her normal self.

She's coming around to having a little sister. She's doing her best to share toys, bring her pacis, diapers, burp cloths, etc. and she even talks to her. She was extraordinarily helpful to dad in putting together this bouncy and other toys we needed too. If she cries, Elizabeth gets right in her face and asks her what is wrong and why she is crying. Tonight she gave her sister a kiss and told her goodnight before bed and then after she was in her crib, she shouted down the hall a goodnight wish to her sister.

This is how we see her most often now here at home. Perched in her "throne" and sleeping peacefully. She's super different than Elizabeth was. She sleeps a lot a lot a lot and she loves to be held and snuggled. She is not a huge eater and she's not much of a crier. She squeaks all the time and we find it hilarious.

Like her sister, her middle name is borrowed from her great grandmother. We think it's a fun tradition for our children and it gives their names meaning. And so begins our journey with our beautiful Natalie Catherine. We'll keep you posted on how life continues with her. Wish us luck for continued peace with our wonderful fun darling baby. We can't get enough of her.