Two hands

The below post was made with one hand, thus there are no captions. I am becoming quite adept at using one hand, as the other is often holding a child. The moments when I have both hands free are quite rare but now is one of them so I will quickly sum up the last month and the pictures below.

 1. Thanksgiving with Abuelo

 2. Olivia - 6 weeks old and still loving the cradle swing. (With Sophia, I was always so paranoid - she can't sleep with too much movement, or she'll never sleep, etc. etc. This time? Swing Baby Swing. Shout out to Laurie Baggett lending me the swing and all of the nursery furniture. We need to invest in a large stock of D batteries though. I guess the swing was not intended for 6 hour stretches, we run out of batteries every three days. How did the colonial people ever raise children?)

3. Grand Illumination. Neither grand nor illuminating since 1693 but still very festive and especially exciting as Sophia saw her first fireworks. For the girl who is still thrilled every night for a chance to see the moon the fireworks did not disappoint. We went with our Chapel small groups. Sophia was wearing 13 layers of clothing and could not really move her arms - think A Christmas Story in a stroller.

3. Mommy holding both girls. I'm Every Woman.

4.Olivia - post bath. Why don't they make hooded towels for adults?

5. Sophia modeling her Dora Christmas dress at church on Sunday. There is no shortage of red velor around this house this month. 

catching up

Judah!

Judah has proven to be another faithful friend to Sophia during this great transition....

Please Please look at the camera! (Do they not even hear us anymore?)

Tribute to the Abuelita

Nina's mom Ana, also known as the "Abuelita" is truly a goddess of all that is motherhood.  She has been staying at our house since Sunday night November 2nd.  She took care of Sophia while we were in the hospital and now helps with both kids while Nina recovers.  On Saturday we celebrated her birthday and her favorite present was pictures of her grandchildren.  She is a devoted mother and grandmother.

Sophia is enjoying her new role as "Big Sister."

Sophia and Braden are Still Friends

Sophia headed over to Braden's house on Saturday morning for some soccer and some good hugs from her faithful friend Braden.  It was good for Sophia to see that although a lot in her life is changing, many things, like good times at Braden's house are still the same.

Grand Babies x3

Daniel and Lindsay came by last night with their new baby, Addy Strickland.  Addy is Sophia and Olivia's cousin.  This was the first time all the cousins were in the same room together.  Needless to say Ana was elated to have all of her grand children under one roof.  

As you can see from one of the pictures, Sophia loves to show "baby sister" how much she cares about her.

Olivia was a little Jaundiced at the hospital so she had to wear a special photosynthetic blanket for a couple days.  We called her our little "glow worm."  Everything is fine now.

Olivia Comes Home

After a few hours of delay due to Olivia's yellow coloring, we were released from the hospital Thursday afternoon around 3pm.  Nina dressed Olivia in the same outfit that Sophia wore home from the hospital and wrapped her in the blanket that her dad came home from the hospital in (here's to Ana and her refusal to throw anything away).  Then we packed up our hospital room, loaded Olivia into the family sedan and drove back to our now full home.

Nina and Olivia

Olivia Loves resting and Sleeping in Nina's arms.

Another Daddy's Girl

I hope Olivia takes after Sophia and loves to spend time with daddy.  She is already off to a good start.

A Tribute to Sophia

Sophia has really taken her duties as Big Sister very seriously.  She comes to visit Olivia every day.  However, she loves spending time with her grandparents while Mommy is in the hospital.

More Friends Visit

We are so thankful for the great community we have here in Williamsburg and all the wonderful visitors who have stopped by.  We also want to say that we miss our "Atlanta Family" and the great people who visited us for Sophia's birth in the ATL.  We hope you all can meet Olivia soon.  Today, three more girls from Nina's small group came by to meet Olivia as well as two guys from my small group.  Again, I have deep respect for guys who can show up with confidence in a maternity ward.  Thanks to Will for the Balloons among other nice gifts and to Rob for the shakes and smoothies.  Also Laurie Lee came by to share wisdom from her experience of being a mother to two.  Thanks to all who came by.

Some Close Ups of Olivia

A few days in we are starting to see what Olivia is really like.  She has a great personality.  She enjoys sleeping, eating and all the visitors that come to see her.

Nina's Small Group and Stephen Watts Visit

Stephen was a great sport.  As usual he was down for whatever and gave me some much needed man time over BBQ in the cafeteria.  Here's to a man who can show up in a maternity ward!
This last picture is very special for Nina.  When she was in high school her small group leader had a baby and her group took a picture like this sitting on the bed with their leader and baby.  Nina was very excited to see some of her girls and take the historic photo.

Jess Visits

Jess was one of the few people who was there right after Sophia's birth in Atlanta.  I think she appreciated the closer location of Olivia's birth.

Our First Family Photos

Nina and I both miss Sophia a lot so it was great that she got to come and spend some time with us and Olivia this afternoon.