November

Here is my attempt to document last month. November 2015 was a defining month for our family. It fostered some of the most precious memories my heart will ever hold as we grew from 4 to 5. While much of it was a blur, much of it will also be permanently etched in my mind and held dear forever.

last time out to eat as a family of 4

 I have a ton of hospital pictures to share but I'll do a separate birth post. So I'll just jump right in to her homecoming.

napping in the heirloom cradle I inherited from my grandmother

Mom & Tim came by and brought dinner on her first day home

Her Pappy's first time holding her

Both kids were over the moon excited when we brought her home. They couldn't get enough of her. I knew Harper was going to be thrilled because she's a little mother hen and loves any and all babies, but Harrison surprised me by just how interested he was as well. Every day as soon as he climbed in the car from school he immediately asked about her and couldn't wait to get home to wash his hands so he could hold her. He is such a sweet big brother.

Her first few weeks home were some of the best of my life. We didn't really do much other than hang out and spend time together as we worked on finding our groove. My c/s recovery was not easy, but the fact that I felt zero nausea and got to thoroughly enjoy my life again more than made up for the pain. I was sleep deprived but just felt so incredibly happy and overwhelmed with gratitude that God had entrusted me with these 3 little blessings. Seeing them interact together was and still is so heartwarming!

they love to help burp her when she's done eating

Those newborn lips! Those squishy cheeks!

I mean, seriously?? Om nom nom.

Rick, keeping me laughing.

this girl, too. I walked around the corner to find her breastfeeding her doll :)

::swoon::

we soaked up all the newborn snuggles we could get

Hadley's first outing was to Target and Olive Garden. I was really anxious about it for some reason and didn't want to go. But it was completely uneventful and everything went fine. She slept the entire time all cozied up in her car seat.

I mentioned my recovery...this was by far my hardest out of all three kids. My body did not bounce back nearly as quickly this time. I lost all my weight within 2 weeks but had a lot more pain. I think a big part of it was that I had a cold and every time I had to cough it felt like my insides were ripping apart.

My OB also sent me back to the hospital twice after I was discharged. The first time was a week after I had her because I was having some issues with swelling. I didn't swell at all while I was pregnant but for some reason my right ankle and foot ballooned up after she was born. Since it was mostly just one foot and not both, he wanted me to have an ultrasound to rule out any blood clots. Thankfully there weren't any and my freak of a foot went back to normal a couple of days later. Then when she was 2 weeks old I spiked a fever which also got me an automatic trip to the ER to rule out a c/s infection. Fun way to spend a Friday night, let me tell you. Rick stayed in the van with the kids so I could still nurse her without having to bring her inside and expose her to all the flu germs (and there were tons of sick people all around me, ick). Turns out my fever was due to a kidney infection and after some antibiotics I was finally on my way.

"just try getting a shoe on me...I dare you."

At my 2-week follow up, Harper kept Hadley content by singing lullabies to her while she was in the stroller. :)

She loves being a big sister and is always very helpful. She is constantly doting on her and talking and singing to her. We sure do miss Bubba while he's at school but at the same time the girl time is special and fun!