Four Months Old ?!

Four months has gone in the blink of an eye!  And a few seemingly endless nights.  Yes, only a few.

Life is settling into a new normal.  We're managing school pretty easily.  I'm making dinner.  Laundry is getting done regularly--very regularly with six of us.  The sweet little baby is giving the sweetest, whole face lighting, smiles.

I am so very glad to have this little girl.  I never felt like Nate was the last of the children, so I'm grateful that God saw things that way too and sent us this child.

I can't believe how much bigger she is now than she was.  As I was drying her off after a bath this week, I was stunned by just how much she's grown since we brought her home.  It's hard to see it in the every day, but in that moment I noticed the stark difference.

Miss Elliana has all the cute little baby rolls, a dimple in her cheek, and her eyes are a grey.  The other girls' eyes turned brown later, so she may follow them.  She has long fingers and toes.  She has a cute little laugh that we hear when she's awake now too.  She used to only laugh in her sleep.  We are nearly inseparable--we've been out from under the same roof less than two hours total since she was born.

I love my sweet little Ellie Bellie.  Nate, who I was the most concerned about, has become a wonderful big brother.  It makes my heart swell to see him with her--whether it is because I always wanted a big brother or because he is especially good to her, after I feared the worst, I'm not sure.  He calls her Bean or Elliana--no one else calls her Elliana, so it is extra fun to hear from him.  Gabby swooped in as a mother, as I had suspected she would.  Kate likes to be in charge of the baby or tell us everything the baby does.  It is as though being with her makes them even more of who they are.  And Justin, who always claims he doesn't like babies, is in love with yet another little one, who he thinks is one of the cutest babies ever.

 We love you Ellie!