Snow, Again?

February 12th: Katy Ellis First Snow

It NEVER snows in Lexington. Like NEVER, EVER. So the fact that is actually snowed TWICE in the same winter is just crazy! It snowed the week before Katy Ellis was born and the week afterwards. Who would have thought she would have her first snow the same year as Blakely. Crazy, right? Rich had been working the week before Katy Ellis was born, so he missed out on playing in the snow with Blakely. This time he was here with us, and he was not about to miss out on the fun this time around!! Such a blessing that he got a make-up snow day with his girl!

I love Blakely's face when she wakes up and realizes it has snowed... AGAIN! She says it like a whisper... "snow."

Our little snow bunny in a Kissy Kissy with snowflakes on it.

The 1st snow had been really dry and fluffy. You could hardly make a snowball out of it. This snow was very wet and icy. The ground crunched as you walked across it.

Hi cuties!

It was still sleeting when we first woke up, so we had to find an umbrella just to be able to get a picture in the snow.

She is loving this!

It is so funny how different the winter that we brought Blakely home was. Blakely was born in one of the hottest winters on record. We wore shorts and went for walks outside everyday! With Katy Ellis we are trapped inside and it is record colds. Our family in Indiana has only been to school 5 times in the last 2 months on account of all the weather. So crazy. So, so cold!! BRrrrrrr.

Best day ever! These buddies had a great time playing in the snow! Yeah for Daddy being here in Lexington!!

First Week Home



February 5th-10th: One Week Old

 

I had a lot of fears and trepidation during my pregnancy regarding having a newborn at home again. I remembered with Blakely feeling exhausted and super busy every day when she first came home, and life with a toddler was already pretty full and pretty exhausting. How could I possibly care for both and maintain my sanity? Thankfully all of these fears were unfounded, mainly due to the fact that Katy Ellis is a very sleepy, chill baby. This week anyways, I have found that having 2 is better than 1! I feel that Katy Ellis has richly enhanced Blakely's life. Let's just hope that I am saying this in a couple of months!!

 

Sleepiest baby in America! I have put ice on her neck and feet just to get her awake enough to eat sometimes! So different from Blakely! Blakely was born wide awake and wanting to see the world... whereas this little snuggler was born wanting to sleep and cuddle! So fun getting to snuggle and love on this little one!

Our first night home, CeeCee and Uncle Time brought us an amazing dinner of fillet Mignon! They also got to meet this little cutie. Needless to say, they were immediately taken with her.

Thank you guys for an amazing dinner! They pulled out all the stops!!! There were pink candles, pink flowers and pink balloons. It was such a wonderful surprise to come home to!!

Gigi getting her snuggles in with Katy Ellis.

 

 

Katy Ellis hanging out with her PopPop.

Our second night home, Uncle Matt finally got to meet Katy Ellis. He had planned to come to Charleston to meet her, but Banks got sick that week and so super Daddy volunteered to stay home with the boy.
Katy Ellis if you are anything like your sister than Uncle Matt will be one of your absolute favorite people!!

I absolutely love newborn baby yawns!! They are so adorable. Must be rough doing nothing but sleeping and eating.

Our newest little hanging out with her Dada.

This is what Daddy comes up with when hanging out with the girls. Very Ann Geddes, Rich!

Daddy multitasking and taking care of 2 girls at once!!

 

This picture was a complete surprise. While Auntie and Banks were over playing, we attempted to take a picture of the girls together. Up to this point in time, Blakely had never held Katy Ellis and even seemed kind of fearful of her. Auntie was brave and said lets just see what happens.... the pictures are priceless.

Yes, there is a wooden carrot in Blakely's hand. I did not expect this to go well, so it all happened really quickly.

Major, major shout out to Gigi for this precious BIG sister/ LITTLE sister sleeper and tunic. The girls look absolutely adorable. I love your new hobby!!

I am so excited to be these sweet girls Mommy!! I pray that these sisters are as close as Alyssa and I are. Don't be confused... we fought growing up over barbies, clothes and our joint cell phone (ha!), but she is my absolute best friend and I could not do this whole mommy thing without her. I feel so blessed that we get to raise our kids together!!

Welcome Home Katy Ellis!!

February 5th: Back to Lexington with Our New Girl!!

Rich and I figured out that between the two of us, we have spent over 700+ nights in the hospital over the last decade. That is 2 years!! So after 48 hours of being admitted at East Cooper, we were ready to grab our girl and hit the road. I got up, got moving and with our doctors blessing we were off on our next adventure!!

Katy Ellis all dressed up in smocked Kissy Kissy sleeper for the ride home.

Wearing an adorable little hat that Gigi made and monogrammed, this girl is ready to go home to Lexington to her new home!

Aunt Olivia came to meet Katy Ellis and see us off!!

As they rolled me down the hallway past the nurses station, I felt like the proudest mama in the world! She was perfect and beautiful, and she was coming home with her Mommy and Daddy!

I was a little anxious about the 2 hour car ride immediately after surgery with a newborn.

Loading our girl in the car.

Daddy had run to Publix that morning for my prescriptions, and he had brought his girls (ie me, Blakely and Katy Ellis) this beautiful, colorful bouquet!

This was Katy Ellis' initial response to her car seat..... this made me more than a little concerned about the 2 hour car ride home! Thankfully I had nothing to worry about and KE slept the whole way home!
It had been almost 2 years since we had used this carrier with a 6 month old Blakely. I could not believe how small Katy Ellis looked in the carrier. I was worried that she was just too tiny for that harness. Even though I work with newborns everyday as a pediatrician, you forget just how little and fragile they are.

After 2 peaceful hours in the car, we arrived at Katy Ellis' new home!! We were immediately greeted by the cutest BIG SISTER on the block!! We missed this girl!!

Toby the Stork makes his 3rd appearance and his first appearance in Lexington!! I have a feeling he might be making his way over to Foxglenn next!! *wink *wink ;-)

 Blakely was very excited to see the new baby again, and greeted her with a "Hi Katy!"

So, so glad to be home in Lexington with our 2 beautiful girls!! Really looking forward to 2 whole weeks with Daddy at home!!

Getting to Know You

February 3rd-5th: Hospital Days
I'm still in shock that we have gone from a family of 3 to a family of 4!! It is shocking and amazing and terrifying and wonderful!! (I'm a little overwhelmed... does it show?) Our hospital stay this time around was much shorter as it was a scheduled C-section; we were in and out in 48 hours. We had lots of friends and family come to meet our Katy Ellis and everyone loved her immediately. Overall, we were blessed with an uneventful delivery and recovery. Thank you Lord Jesus that our girl is here and both Mommy and baby are well!!

Hanging out with this little cutie.

Love these precious monogrammed hats that Gigi made our girlfriend! Thank you Gigi!! You are super talented.

Our "pink cake" for our GIRL!!

The Monk's family friends the Sawyers came to meet Katy Ellis.

Ashley meeting Katy Ellis

Our first family picture with Katy Ellis

Little snuggler

Hanging out with GrandPop

Love our announcement for the door!! My mom and Alyssa had made it for Blakely and now it got a second round with another Tober baby girl!!

To celebrate the birth of our child, the hospital made us a delicious steak dinner! It was pretty good for hospital food!!

Aunt Olivia coming to meet Katy Ellis. Unfortunately, Uncle Ryan had caught a nasty stomach bug and didn't get to come to the hospital to meet Katy Ellis.

This picture cracks me up!! This baby was covered in monograms! There was one on her dolly, hat, pacifier and blanket!!! She was looking good... our TRUE southern girl!