Brooke’s homecoming

I have a moment to blog! Needless to say, I have not been getting up at 5am like I used to, but Brooke is on a super schedule. She has been sleeping 4 hour stretches at night in between feedings, so we’ve been only getting up twice a night. It’s a miracle. I think the Lord knew I needed the extra strength in the day to take care of the boys. Huge blessing.

Three days in the NICU, and then last Friday was the great homecoming day. They called us in the morning, and we raced down to the hospital to get her. Our buddy Kyle came into town to help out with the boys. He mostly got beat up each day from the boys wrestling with him on the mattress, and played wonderfully with them. Another ginormous blessing.

It’s really surreal to have Brooke home, and to have three kids. I keep thinking to myself, “Wow, how did I get so blessed to have three angels from heaven in my home, and a wonderful eternal best friend?” It’s every young woman’s dream, and I’m so humbled to be living this dream now.

The boys absolutely love Brooke. They are very tender with her, and keep saying “She’s so cute” and “that’s our baby sister”. Ever since she’s been home, I’ve had a heightened awareness of the need to spend time with the boys. I really want them to know that regardless of me taking care of Brooke a lot, they are still loved. So, I’m trying.

Brooke basically sleeps all day, and eats every three hours. She’s rarely cries, and is a delight to hold. It truly is special to have a newborn again. I love being able to sleep on my stomach, not being totally winded and tired, and wearing some non maternity clothes again. Joy!

Ok, enough talk, here’s the show

Here’s Friday morning, when the boys saw her for the first time.

The darling, with the little white noise box, and the beautiful blanket made by my Aunt Jacquie, a.k.a the ultimate queen of crochet!!

It was heaven to have Shaun home for a straight week, and made me sad when it was time for him to return to work. The boys love having him home, but they sure can wear him out, too. Whenever we pull out this mattress for guests, it basically turns into a wrestling, pillow fighting arena for the boys

Love this outfit!

My gifts!

Kevin really loves Brooke. He looks so precious here.

Sunday morning, I couldn’t stand it any more, and had to get the big camera out for some custom stuff.

I tried my best to do a neat newborn shot. I used one of the dog’s beds for a bean bag, covered it with a blanket, threw her pink one on for a backdrop, and used the window light as best as I could. Love how this turned out!

So, today is my full day of being on my own with the three. I’m really trying to take it easy, and just figure out how to do this. One step at a time.

Btw, General Conference was wonderful! I loved being able to hear the talks a tad more this time, as the boys had stuff to play with. I absolutely freaked out when Elaine S Dalton’s talk came on. As soon as she began speaking, talking about a father having his first daughter and how to raise one, I jumped off the couch, raced to find Shaun, who was helping the boys, and dragged him back to the couch to listen. It was the most applicable talk of the whole conference for us, and it was great!