The Story

First up is the story.

I got a call at work (which I couldn't take since I was with the kids) at about 10am. When I finally got a chance to listen to my voicemail, it was a message from Sarah at our agency, New Life. First of all, her voice was very sing songy and happy and she didn't leave any details which she usually does. I was so excited and nervous that I started trembling almost right away!

"Gaye," I said to my partner, "Um...I need to make this call. It's our agency and I think this is it!" Little did I know!

She let me head inside to call. After a few attempts I finally got Sarah and all she said was, "Have you talked to your husband yet?" When I told her no, she said, "Call him and then call me back." The tears came streaming as I called Reed and he told me that there was a baby girl born yesterday and she's ours. So our plans for the weekend quickly changed!

The rest of the day I was trying out different girl names and thinking of all the things we still needed, while Reed was in task mode trying to finish what needed to be done at work to leave things well. I went to Sara, my director, and simply said, "Well, today is my last day!" and she knew what that meant. She had been prepared for this day for a long time and was nothing but excited!

Right after work I headed to Carter's and bought Evy a "Big Sister" t-shirt (and maybe a few other things!) before I picked her up from school. So when Reed came home this is what we did:

[Okay, video not cooperating so I'm putting it in a separate post! Darn internet!]

We went out to eat to celebrate and then took Evy to my parents house in her t-shirt to surprise my parents. (There's video of that, too, linked after the above video if you're interested. The video is sideways, though...)

The next day I was running around trying to keep my feet on the ground and getting some of the necessary things: bottles, diapers, wipes... and doing a lot of washing! It kept me busy so I wasn't just crying in anticipation and joy. There was a considerable amount of fear, too, because you never know if things will actually go as planned. So I was suddenly trying to be very cautious with my emotions. Very surreal.

Finally the time came to load up and go get Reed to head to the agency. My stomach was absolutely in knots and I didn't know whether I was going to ugly cry or just throw up! (I did neither, oddly enough). We hit traffic and I panicked about being late, but it cleared up and we made it just at 4:30. Sarah was still at the hospital so we started signing paperwork. It was crazy to see her name, this name we had picked only hours before all over the place and looking so official!

Then only a few minutes later, Sarah came in, told us some information about our baby and then brought her in.

She was in her carrier. Reed and I started stroking her hair and talking to her. She was so peacefully asleep, we didn't want to disturb her. But then I couldn't stand it anymore!!

Oh. my. goodness!

The closer I held her, the more calm and relaxed she became. She's a snuggler!

Then it was Reed's turn.

Evy was at home with my mom and was literally jumping up and down to get to see her new sister! She got to hold her for a bit. In this picture she's stroking her head. She loves how soft her hair is!

She also likes to give her kisses and read to her.

She is settling in a little more to sleeping, but we're still pretty tired these days! She's a super baby and doing so well! It's still setting in that we actually have a baby daughter and Evy has a sister. I absolutely love to hear people say something and use the term, "your girls". I never knew that that "s" at the end would be such a beautiful sound!

Ah.

I'm not quite sure how to explain it but I just feel complete. God has been so faithful and has been our constant companion and encourager. He has answered our prayers with a resounding "Yes!" and has made our lives even richer than I could have imagined.

So my house is a wreck. Dirt, toys, clothes, blankets, baby gear is everywhere! I fight the mess when I can and when I have energy, but if you come by, just know, this is not the usual state of things! But right now, so many other things are far more important. And that is good. Actually, it's, well, wonderful.