Week 1

The first week of Emerson's life was spent loving on her and figuring out how this three kid thing works!  I'm still trying to figure that out!! Piper was in school still before Christmas break and Michael took time off from work which was great!  We had several visitors and thankfully friends and family began bringing us meals!   

 Piper could not be a prouder big sis and poor Emerson can't seem to get her face shown in a picture!

 Aunt Amy and cousin Maggie came over to snuggle with the baby!

 Daddy got a lot of holding time!

 Briggs enjoyed loving on his baby!

 Another cousin, Anna, along with Aunt Sheryl, came for the first weekend we were home.

 Aunt Sheryl and Anna were a huge help!  Sheryl cooked for us and cleaned my entire house plus entertained the big kids and managed to snuggle with Emerson and spend time with me!  I have a pretty perfect sister!

 Emerson's first bath at home.  Piper loved helping me!  Emerson didn't cry until she got out of the tub but she looked miserable the entire time.  When I gave Piper her first bath at home, both my mom and sister had to help me, she screamed the entire time, and I felt crazy stressed!  This time it was nothing.  So much less stress with your third!

 Emerson looks like me as a baby in the two photos below, but every other picture she looks like Daddy!

 Love, love this photo of my two girls!

 And I had great intentions of making this photo into a Christmas card!  Lofty goals I have!

 Glitter watched over Emerson one night!  The kids thought that was pretty cool!

 The first week, Emerson would not sleep in her bed without being snug in her blanket, her little pink hat on and propped up in the boppy!  Signs of stubbornness maybe??

 She was born with dark, dark hair and a rat tail! Piper and Briggs did not have this much hair, nor was it this dark!

 These two loved posing like this without me asking!  Ha!

 He loves talking to the baby!

 One Week Old!

Hospital Stay

 We had a few visitors while in the hospital, including Grandpa & Grandma (Somehow I didn't get a picture with Grandma)!  Grandpa & Grandma have been able to meet each of our children on their very first day of life!  I think that is pretty special!

 Emerson's first bath in the hospital.  At Baylor, where I delivered, they don't bathe the baby right away.  They want mom and baby to experience skin to skin contact for a longer period than at the other hospitals I have delivered at and they wait much longer to bathe the baby because it's good for their skin to maintain the vernix longer.  Because of the busyness of the day, Emerson wasn't able to have her bath until 10 pm that night.  And our nurse that evening (who helped bathe her as well) was my absolute favorite nurse I've ever had!

 Michael was pretty proud of his new daughter!  And so very helpful!

 Grammy & Papa John had returned from a vacation the night before Emerson was born.  They had planned this months before we even knew Emerson would be induced!  So they were able to visit us in the hospital and meet Emerson as well!

Thankfully, we only had to stay one night in the hospital.  It was nice and quiet but I just wanted to be home even if it meant taking care of my crazy big kids!!  Here we are on our way out the door!

She was loaded up in the car, ready to go home!  Everything seemed to go by so fast in the hospital this time.  I remember, with Briggs, time drug on at the hospital, but it flew by with Emerson.

Big Sis and Big Bro!

Piper and Briggs came to meet their little sister after school the day she was born!  Big THANKS to Grandpa & Grandma for taking care of them while we were in the hospital!  At first, Briggs acted nervous and unsure but he slowly warmed up to getting in my bed and looking at the "baby sister." He kept asking, "The baby is not in your tummy?"  He definitely was trying to figure it all out!  And Piper was just excited, thrilled, and elated!  My friend Kim said Piper was running up to all the moms at school pick up shouting, "My baby sister is here.  My baby sister is here!"  So much excitement!

And our first family picture.  Poor Emerson's face isn't even showing!  Ha!

Emerson Grace Levy

Since baby girl did not want to make her debut we induced on December 10, 2014!  (Which happened to me my due date when my mom was pregnant with me 32 years before!) We had to be at the hospital by 7:30 that morning.  Of course, I barely slept and had plenty of time to get ready.  I texted my sister the picture of me with the caption that stated something along the lines of "Must have good hair when delivering a baby."  Or something like that...  

 My last picture being pregnant...Ever Again!  41 weeks

I was all hooked up to Pitocin at this point and requested the epidural right away.  With the other two births, I waited until I could really feel the contractions but this time I thought I'd go ahead and suffer the least amount that I could!  Really it was a good thing I did because I was dilated to 4.5 when I arrived at 7:30 am and by 10:45 am I was ready to push!  She came much quicker than Piper and Briggs!

 My doctor was hard to get a hold of and they had a resident doctor on standby just in case.  I really was ready to have her but just held really still until Dr. Stevenson arrived thirty or forty minutes later.  With two pushes, Emerson Grace made her debut!  It was an easy delivery for sure!

 Those first moments are always so special and sweet.  But they're also a little awkward because I feel like the nurses are watching you as you bond with your new baby!  Ha!

 I love how extremely puffy my face gets when I am on the drip IV!

 She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20.5 inches long!  At first I thought she looked like Briggs then as her swelling went down, I thought she looked like Piper more. She definitely had the same nose and lips as the other two!

 Michael and I had a fun morning anticipating her arrival.  At this point we still were not certain of her name!

Normally they'd write the baby's name on the board but we were still trying to decide.  Actually Michael was trying to decide.  I picked three names for him to choose from and he could decide on the middle name!  The choices were Ava, Stella, or Emerson!  Emerson was my favorite from the beginning!  Michael picked the middle name Grace.  I think it's perfect!  

And she's pretty perfect!

Before the Baby's Arrival!

 Our elf, Glitter, visited us every day.  Piper thought it was pretty funny he was hanging out with Barbie one morning!

 The day before our scheduled induction, Briggs had a Christmas performance at his preschool!  He was so cute on stage!  We practiced all month in the car, listening to the songs.  Michael and I (and his teachers) really didn't think he'd sing on stage but he surprised us all!  When the class got on stage Briggs plopped himself on the ground and his teacher asked him to stand up but he refused so she just walked away.  Then he popped right up and decided to sing and perform the motions.  This boy is all about making the decision to do something on his own! The pictures I took did not turn out but the kids and I managed to get a few photos afterward!  This is us on our last day before adding another sibling!

December is here and we are waiting!!

Well it's December 3rd.  Baby Girl is due!  We are waiting!!  In the meantime, life is happening as normal!  

Glitter, our sweet little elf, showed up yesterday morning.  Piper was thrilled.  Briggs is scared of him!  Piper talks to him and tells him all kinds of things.  She has been cracking me up with all her questions and comments.  One thing she said was "Mommy, his eyes look so fake but I know they're real!"  Hahahahahaha!  I could hardly stand it!  She was very pleased to read the note from Santa that Glitter brought.  He explained that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and Santa doesn't bring her presents based on if she is naughty or nice because we all mess up and God gives us grace.  The reason we get Christmas gifts is because God wants to share in His goodness with us and presents are fun so Santa helps out with that.  Glitter just tells Santa about all the stuff that happens in our house! And so on and so on.  At the end of reading the letter, Piper said, "Oh!  So Santa loves God!" with an exclamation in her voice!  She was happy to know that!  And I'm sure she has told her teacher already about that! And anybody who will listen!  Briggs just looks at the elf with a suspicious glare and moans.  Today he asked me if I moved him!  I lied and said "No, he flew there!"  The kid is on to me!

 Yesterday was my last preschool day before the baby for sure arrives that I could surprise Piper for lunch at school.  She was happy, happy!  Bringing chick-fil-a didn't diminish her smile either!

 After I picked Briggs up from school we went to the mall so he could play a little.  He loves doing this and we don't go as often as he'd like!

And to end it...I just love this picture of Michael!  He's been a great helper in this pregnancy and he's a great daddy to our kids!  Can't wait to see him holding another little one very soon!

Thanksgiving Week

Piper was out of school for Thanksgiving Break an entire week this year!  I enjoyed breaking from the schedule and relaxing.  But I did feel like "Ahhh--what are we going to do to occupy our time!"  It ended up being a good week with some special bonding with the kids before baby arrives.  There was a little more sibling arguments than I care for but nonetheless, it was a good week!  

Shortly before the break began, I rewarded Piper with ice cream at Sweet Firely because she scored a 100 on her math test for the first time ever!  We have been working hard on math!  So proud of her. Also, the beginning of our break we celebrated Piper learning five verses in Proverbs during the month of October by getting donuts!  I didn't get a picture of this!  She worked really hard and had to miss out on the church donut party so that was a fun way to start our break!  We like food rewards around here!

 I took the kids to the Dallas Zoo on Wednesday of Thanksgiving.  My parents have gifted us with this membership for two years and we really enjoy it.  However, the day I decide to take the kids is also the day they did Dollar Days for the entire city!  So it was crowded!  So silly to go on that day but I had no idea!  The kids enjoyed it and the weather was beautiful!

We also enjoyed the Perot museum on another day of our break!  Daddy was able to join us too!

 Thanksgiving morning was relaxing!  Michael and I were thankful to relax a bit!  But the kids got a little stir crazy so Michael and Piper biked to the neighborhood park and Briggs and I walked.  It was a beautiful morning!

 We fed the ducks and walked the trails!  This area of our neighborhood is a little gem!

 In the afternoon, we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house to eat some turkey!  It was yummy and low key!  Just perfect!

 Our cousin, Jonah, came over for a little bit and the kids were excited about that!  They talked him into watching Mike the Knight with them at the bar!

And, I just love this photo of Piper.  She has such a beautiful smile and beautiful eyes!  And is a sweetheart not to mention!  

Thankful

Well I'll admit, I haven't done such a great job focusing on "Thankfulness" with the kids this month. We do discuss it and pray prayers of thanks to God but I haven't gone out of my way to consciensly tie in Thanksgiving and the act of being thankful this year.  However, they're getting it here and there so I won't worry to much about it this year!  I took Briggs in to the doctor for his well check and they asked each child if he/she wanted to fill out a 'Thankful Leaf" and Briggs did.  So I said, "Briggs tell me what you thankful for and I'll write it on your leaf!"  His reply, "Ummm, I'm fankful for pipuh!" Oh Melt My Heart!  Now, today at school he told the teacher he was thankful for "Red.  Because red makes orange, orange, orange."  ?????  Orange is his favorite color.  But that wasn't nearly as deep and encouraging to hear as being thankful for his sister!!

A few weekends ago, we made a trip to my sister's home in Oklahoma to spend the weekend one more time before baby girl arrives and celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents and sister's family. We had a great weekend and ate like kings!  I took this one picture of Briggs sitting on my Dad's lap.  Neither seem to be able to pose for the camera properly!  Ha!

Piper did this little assignment in class.  I just love it and am so thankful for Piper!  She wrote "I am thankful for GOD because I love him.  I am thankful for Jesus because I love him."  Her little heart is definitely being stirred right now in all things God and Jesus.  She has a desire to talk to others about loving God and making sure they are going to church.  It is really sweet to see and funny at times.  Also very convicting too because I need to be just as passionate.  She has asked every one of her teachers and classmates if they go to church and where and if they do not, why?  We have encouraged her to ask them if they love God and if they love Jesus and to tell them why she loves God.  And if she wants to, she can invite them to church with us.  She hasn't done that yet but I'm sure she will soon!  I am praying that she continues to be drawn to Christ and to be called into a relationship with Him.  Right now, in my bible study we are discussing how to know the will of God and watch for where he is working and when we see him working, go there to work.  It really hit me this week while involved in the study, that I see him working in my home with my child and that is just as important to cultivate and be involved in as being a missionary in Africa or serving in a ministry nearby.  I'm just in that stage of life and I have a great responsibility to lead and teach these kids. (which I'm not always perfect at might I add!)

And to end on a much lighter note...thankful for this boy who makes me laugh a ton!  What a goofball!