Baby Emilia

We are officially the proud owners of a brand new baby girl. Emilia Jean Rayl was born at 4:46pm Tuesday July 26, 2011. She is 6lbs, 14oz, with ten little fingers and ten little toes. She has a full head of dark hair and perfect skin. We love her already.

While we were in the hospital having little Emilia, our three other kids were at "cousin camp" at the Larson's house. Cousin camp is two days of cousin fun that included running through the sprinklers, playing games, swimming, and singing at the nursing home. I thought our kids would miss us more than they did. When we came to pick them up they were not quite done with the festivities. We gave Rachel and Lilly the option of coming home with the parents they had not seen in two days and a brand new baby sister, or to stay a little longer and have aunt Sarah bring them home. Neither child hesitated. Both chose to stay. My feelings were not at all hurt by this. I am just grateful for awesome family members who rallied together to make my kids feel loved while we had this baby.

Shelby brought the three kids to visit the hospital on Wednesday. All three kids were immediately enamored of little Emilia. Each one took a turn to hold her, and Rachel and Lilly had a tense argument about which one of them would change her diapers. They both seem confused about the gender of the baby. They keep calling Emilia "him". When we got to cousin camp to pick the girls up Rachel proudly gathered all the cousins together to "come see our new baby." She was a hit. Carson loves her too. He has been walking around the house saying "baby, baby, baby" ever since we got home last night. He has been very sweet with Emilia and even keeps a safe distance from her. He will look and touch, but he doesn't maul her and doesn't try to pick her up. This morning Emilia was crying while I changed her diaper and Carson even gave her his precious blanket. Rachel has been through adding babies to the family before and is adjusting fine. Lilly however has been in constant need of cuddling. I don't think she makes the connection that the reason she feels the need for extra attention is because of the baby. Within a couple of days she will be fine.

So far Emilia has been a piece of cake. Last night we headed to bed around 11pm. From 11 to almost 1am Emilia cried to be fed every few minutes. This was the first time she gave us any real trouble. Finally a little before 1, we gave her about an ounce of formula and she was out. I did not hear from her again until after 5am. I fed her again and she was out until 8am. We got some great sleep considering we have a newborn in the house!

I would like to take this time to recognize all the friends and family that have supported us over the past few days. Thanks to Summer who so willingly took all of my kids for two whole days. She can say what she wants, I know that was not easy. Thanks to Sarah for visiting me TWICE at the hospital and bringing me Blizzards. And for generally keeping an eye out for my kids at cousin camp. Thanks to everyone who called and checked up on me while I was in the hospital, and over the past few weeks as I have been getting ready to have this baby. Thanks to my boot camp friends who brought me food and checked up on me. And thanks to everyone I forgot to mention. I feel very loved.

A special thanks to my awesome husband who stayed by my side during the crazy moments of this pregnancy, and never left my side during the birth of Emilia. He has been at my side ever since. I have not had to lift a finger since Tuesday morning! There was never a husband who cared so well for his wife. I would not want to do this without him.