Ann Evelyn's 1st week at home

A few of my favorite, most memorable pictures from Ann Evelyn's 1st week at home...

Will we have another thumb sucker?

My baby girl wearing the dress my mother made for me to wear home from the hospital. She must like it... see that smile?

Snuggling after her 1st bath

Big brother checking on Ann Evelyn

and holding her hand.

I think this picture is so funny - Forrest giggling in the background, and Ann Evelyn looking as if her brother is already annoying her. :)

Andrew holds his baby sister

The boys love patting her little head.

Such a sweet picture of Ann Evelyn reaching up to touch Forrest's face.

Kisses from the boys

And, even though Ann Evelyn is not in this picture, it definitely represents her 1st week at home. We had a little problem with Andrew climbing into Forrest's crib at night. Most nights Forrest would wake us up crying, mad that Andrew had joined him in his crib and disturbed his sleep. (Forrest is our good sleeper!) But one morning, Wilson went in to find this - pretty cute! We can't understand how Andrew could have possibly been comfortable enough to sleep though. I think we've finally moved past this issue, and the boys seem to be back to sleeping soundly - thank goodness! I expect to be up at night with Baby Girl, but having to get up with all 3 little ones at night was getting pretty rough!!

Funny Forrest

This boy keeps us laughing. He is really so funny and such a mess. Wilson took him for a check-up last week. He weighed 30 lbs (over 100th%) and was 31 inches (80th%). As Mrs. Betty one of our favorite nursery workers says, he's a "big ole lump of sugar!" Last week as he and Wilson were leaving the house, he went over to see Ann Evelyn in her bouncy seat and said, "Bye-bye Sissy". It was his first word 2-word sentence and what a precious one it was!

My Sweet Andrew

2 weeks old

Ann Evelyn is 2 weeks old today! She went for her 2 week appointment yesterday, and the doctor said that she looks wonderful. She weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz which the doctor said was great. (Her discharge weight from Woman's was 7 lbs 12 oz.) She is so sweet and good. Her doctor told us that 3rd babies are usually the easiest... but that as a toddler they are sometimes the most difficult because they've had 2 years to watch older siblings! :) I guess we'll enjoy the "easiness" while it lasts - and pray that the bad toddler stage won't be true for Ann Evelyn! We are certainly enjoying every minute with her now. The picture above is one I took of Wilson and Ann Evelyn this morning. It's been a sweet, quiet morning here... the boys spent the night with May-May and Bubby last night, and Wilson has the day off today. We've enjoyed our morning with our baby girl.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

She's been with us for a week and a day, and we are in love! Ann Evelyn is oh so sweet! We didn't know what we were missing without a little girl in our house. I'm so thankful the Lord has blessed us with yet another precious child. The boys are a bit of a mess, but it's already apparent that they love their sister. I hope to share more pictures and stories in the next few days, but for now, here are some pictures of when Ann Evelyn was born...

I'm not a big fan of posting picture like this of me :), but I had to share it. This was taken outside of Woman's Hospital around 11:00 a.m. It's hard to believe we were holding our baby girl in our arms just 3 1/2 hours later. Maybe I'll write a little more about her birth story later.

Here she is! Born at 2:32 p.m., August 6th.

Proud parents! We were thrilled to have a baby girl!!

Wilson introducing his daughter.

8 lbs, 6 oz
She was 3 weeks early! I wonder how big she would have been had she stayed put a little longer?!?

Precious, little feet with ten, tiny toes

Big brothers, Andrew and Forrest, looking in to see their baby sister.

Forrest meets Ann Evelyn.
He's so sweet and gentle with her! And he's super interested in her paci! :)

Can you tell how sweet she is? :)

A kiss from big brother, Andrew. He's been telling everyone about his new sister, Ann Evelyn.
I love hearing him say her name!

Our baby girl!

It's a Girl!

We are so excited to have a precious baby girl in our arms! It was quite a surprise for us to bring her into the world almost 3 weeks early... but even more surprising to bring a GIRL into the world! Many eyes were filled with tears in the room as our doctor exclaimed, "It's an Annie!" I just ''knew" we'd be welcoming another little boy and had convinced Wilson of it, too. What a sweet, sweet surprise to see that the Lord had planned a little girl for our family. We were so blessed to have an easy labor and delivery and most importantly, to have a healthy baby with us now. God is so good and truly our cup runneth over!

"Ann Evelyn" Shirley

August 6, 2009

8 lbs 6 oz, 20 1/2 inches

2:32 p.m.

Her big brothers are doing fantastic and are so proud of their baby sister already! Andrew talked to his Aunt Izzy on the phone yesterday and told her "I have a baby sister... Evelyn". Hearing him say this melted my heart! I'll post more pictures of our baby girl when we are settled at home.