One Rough Weekend...

So, the Saturday before last started with an unsuspecting lunch with Mrs. Teri and Mr. Justin, who, just for the record, as of Tuesday, October 5th, still have not had Baby G; Baby G was due September 30th! Anyways, Dad and Mr. Justin met us ladies after a round of golf, and lunch was a pretty good time, minus the meltdown because I didn't want to sit in the highchair. Mom knew something was up because of my unusually grumpy state and a warmer than normal heat radiating from me. Mr. Justin kindly distracted me by taking me over and letting me drive the arcade car; he even put actual money in it so that I could really compete. Had I known that I was getting duped this whole time, I would have demanded coins earlier. The four of us were supposed to cross paths once again that evening at a dinner party hosted by Dustin and Kat; unfortunately, after getting home, doing a little online research, and talking to Kat, who owns a daycare center, we all came to the same conclusion: I had Croup. Needless to say, plans were canceled, and I spent the remainder of my day coughing and eating fruit roll-ups, for that was all I would eat. Kat did give Mommy some great advice about bathroom steam and the freezer. She also told Mom to rotate between Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen every 3 hours to break the fever, but after talking to the pharmacist, Mom did not abide by Kat's advice, which didn't end so well.

We again canceled our plans to hit the pumpkin patch on Sunday so that I could rest. It was all Mommy, all day; Dad was home with us, but I clung to Mom all day as if my life depended on it. Dads are definitely the best playmates, but Moms are the best medicine. I spent most of the day coughing and opening my mouth really big so as to point to my very sore throat. During nap, Mom tried to get in a quick run, but I didn't stay asleep long, and she immediately rushed back to take care of me. Daddy does a good job too, but being sick is the rare instance when I become a Mommy's girl. I was able to get 2 bowls of ice cream down, and Mom got to catch the melting drips as they hit the couch. What!? Ice cream is a proven remedy for sore throats, just Google it. However, as the day went on, I became sicker and sicker until I could no longer talk or swallow because my throat hurt so badly. When I fell fast asleep on Mom's lap and wouldn't easily wake, Mom decided to call Scottish Rite, and after hearing that I was drooling a ton and wouldn't swallow, the on-call nurse recommended I get to the ER. I told you I was sick!

Mom threw a quick dinner together; Dad grabbed Pooh and some extra clothes, and we were off to Northside Forsyth. Thankfully, Dad was with us for this hospital visit. It was terrible! First, the nurse took my temperature in a place from which no one should ever get any information - at least, he felt badly about it and kept trying to make amends. With a temperature of 104.2, I was given another dose of Ibuprofen and sent back to my own room. The nurse gave Mom the same instructions Kat had imparted earlier in the weekend; we should have listened to the daycare owner and mother of two in the first place. We stayed in the hospital for about 3 hours, during which I slept most of the time on Mom's lap; I adamantly and very loudly refused to lay in the bed. The doctors gave me a breathing treatment and a round of steroids to open up my airways. The steroids were hidden in a cup of apple juice, so it was no problem, but the Acetaminophen before I left turned into a huge fight, which resulted in my being bribed with everything under the sun. That last nurse is NOT my friend! By the time we left around 10:30 p.m., I was feeling much better and was able to get some McDonald's bock-bock and fries into my system. This visit now makes 2 ER stints in 2 years of life; I am beginning to see a pattern forming.

That night, Mom slept with me in the guest room so that she could wake me up every 3 hours for a round of medicine. Let's just say that neither of us got a very good night's sleep. After the 3:30 a.m. dose, I insisted on having a 20-minute conversation about Opie before falling back asleep on Mom's chest. Dad came up about 6 to say goodbye - and wake us up, for which he is still in trouble - before leaving to go out of town for a few days. I had somehow turned myself totally around in the bed, and my feet were sleeping next to Mom, which totally confused Dad when he bent down to kiss my head in the dark and ended up with feet. That was one rough evening and night.

Throughout the weekend, Mom ran a bubble bath for me while running the shower to steam up the bathroom a couple times a day to help alleviate some of the breathing discomfort; the bubbles were also a welcome distraction. Whenever the bathroom mirror would fog over, I would insist that Mom "clean up" or "fix" the mirror; it just seemed dirty, which really bothered me. I am my mother's daughter for sure.

When Mom and I finally woke up on Monday morning, I was still feeling really yucky. I wouldn't let her put me down, which made preparing breakfast and brushing teeth somewhat complicated. Aunt Mal heard how terrible I felt on the phone and immediately headed up to help Mom get through the day since Dada was out of town. I wasn't very nice to Aunt Mal, - sorry, Mal, I didn't feel good - but Mom and I were still very happy to have her here. She hit up the grocery store to get some sick supplies and brought back 4 balloons, one of which was a huge, singing, "Happy Birthday" Elmo balloon. Mom has been tempted to pop it ever since, for I like to hit it and make it sing over and over and over... It has provided great "Happy Birthday" singing practice for my upcoming big day; however, I am convinced that it is Elmo's birthday and not almost my birthday. After about 3 hours of straight crying and my adamant refusal to take any medication, - I wasn't even fooled when it was added to juice or ice cream - Mom decided to call the doctor, and shortly thereafter, I was headed to get checked out. I did have a short reprieve from the hysterics right before we left for the doctor's office when I discovered my talents as a photographer. Over the course of the next 2 days, I took close to 200 pictures, a taste of which is displayed below. At first, I just got shot after shot of the couch, but once I got the hang of it, I was actually walking around, looking for items to capture in digital foreverness, and setting up shots. I got some good pictures of Aunt Mal, the table decor, my ice cream, Pooh, my toy basket, my balloons, my feet, as well as Mom's butt and a great picture of her in her bra. It's blackmail for later in life when she tries to show embarassing pictures of me. Taking pictures was the only time that I wasn't clinging to Mom and/or crying, so Mom just handed over the point and shoot and let me go wild. I have an eye for the aesthetic as I am sure you will find when you look at my work; you may want to get an autograph now before I hit Ansel Adams status.

Back to the doctor's, we had to wait an hour and a half to be seen; don't even ask, for they somehow lost us and kept covering up their mistake until the very end. However, during that hour and a half, I probably felt the best I had felt in days, and I pretty much made Mom look stupid for bringing me in. There are just so many distractions! I flirted with a little boy, whom I scared off when I tried to kiss him; acted shy in front of a high school boy; moved the kids' chairs all over the room; and watched part of a terrible fish movie. The grumpy, sick Olivia did reemerge when I finally got called back, and I proceeded to freak out for the entire 10 minutes I was with the doctor, who basically gave us no new information and couldn't even help Mom get any medicine into me. That was a waste of about 2 hours and $40, once again. When we got home, Mom and Mal teamed up and fought to get a small amount of Ibuprofen into my system before Aunt Mal made one more grocery store trip. While Mom made dinner, I passed out cold on the couch. When I awoke about an hour later, I asked to go to bed, and Mom decided that she wouldn't force me to eat or take any more medicine, so she carried me upstairs, and that was the end of me for the night. Thank you, Aunt Mal; Mom and I appreciate your help during the day more than you know! It was one rough Monday.

I do want to thank everyone for all of the concern and love that was sent through Facebook and calls to Mom. We got some really great advice from Mrs. Kat; our pharmacist, Mrs. Rebecca; Grandma Purnell; and several friends, as well as fellow moms on FB, so thank you guys so much. I am definitely loved, and I feel it.

Tuesday was a vast improvement. I was still a bit under the weather and whiny in the morning, so I decided to just relax with Mom; watch a little Shrek, which I find quite funny; lead my balloons around the house while telling them to "Follow me, balloons"; and take a few, or 50, more pictures. My fever had, thankfully, dissipated, and after nap, I seemed to be back to normal, except for the frog in my throat. Being sick really makes you appreciate feeling normal so much more, and I have been so loving towards Mom ever since. On Tuesday, the debate for Mom and Dad began - to cancel their trip to Acapulco or to not cancel the trip to Acapulco; that is the question. Stay tuned to find out the answer.

I beat Croup, and I never want it back!

My Cousin and Me

So, Harper is already proving her worth, for while she was being born, I got to spend the entire day with Lucas! It was awesome, of course! Mrs. Allison had lots of fun activities to keep us occupied, like she always does; I'm going to start calling their house Camp Wheeler. Lucas, I now call him by his full name instead of Luke, and I got to have lunch at his little table on his new green dishes. Boys can be so weird sometimes, so I just looked at him like he was crazy whenever he got all boyish on me. After lunch, we worked off some energy riding his trikes in the garage. There has got to be something said for a toy always looking more appealing when someone else is playing with it; we switched trikes a couple of times before we were both appeased. Inside, Lucas showed me his new kitchen, and I entertained myself for hours by washing my hands, cooking food, and setting the table with his new green dishes. Lucas, on the other hand, entertained himself by putting me in a choke hold masquerading as a hug from behind. I was very impressed with Lucas' ability to use the potty, so I tested out his little potty, did some on-potty reading, and even used the big potty to show how mature I am. I don't want him thinking that the 7-week age difference between us makes me too young for him. At one point, Mrs. Allison let me get the crayons out, and I colored a pretty picture to take home. Allison was really caught off guard when she heard a phrase that sounded oddly like "Oh, sh*t" come out of my mouth. She kept trying to figure out to what I was referring, so after a moment, she began to hold up each crayon, and when we got to orange, there was that lovely phrase again. Mrs. Allison was still laughing hysterically about it when Mom came to get me. Nap time was also noteworthy: Mrs. Allison was going to let me sleep in Lucas' bed, and he was going to sleep in her bed, but when the time came, we both insisted on sticking together, so Mrs. Allison decided to give it a try and let us both sleep in Lucas' crib. We were both so tuckered out that we lay down and started to fall asleep with our arms around each other. Mrs. Allison has a video monitor, so she was taping us, of course; she's just like my Mom - look closely; I'm the one on the left. Nap started out innocent enough; we both had our arms around each other; Lucas kept giving me kisses on the cheek; I kept pushing him away so that I could get some beauty rest, and eventually, he just got up and crawled onto my back. That is when Mrs. Allison stopped taping and decided to remove Lucas so that I could actually get some sleep. It was like Babies Gone Wild: You have really got to watch those boys, even the young ones. I really had so much fun, and I just want to thank Mrs. Allison so much for watching me all day so that Mom could be there for Harper's birth, and Mom also wants to thank you for all of the pictures of our day. The Wheelers are the bomb, and we are so lucky to have them as our friends and neighbors!

Another big thanks goes out to Baby Harper for arriving the day before the Kings of Leon concert so that Mommy didn't miss it. It was Mommy's early birthday present from Daddy, and they had great seats and an apparently great time until they lost their car, but I'll let them tell you that one someday.

Last Friday, we headed to dinner at the Fosters' house. I jumped right in with Ansley Kate, who is almost 7, and very tall Owen, who is 4 1/2 - don't forget the 1/2, or you might be in trouble. AK and Owen have the coolest playroom with a big kitchen, chalk boards, a shopping cart, on which AK wrote my name, and every toy imaginable. I had a great time until Owen started trying to pick me up and carry me around, and well, I'm just not down with that. Later in the evening, AK, Owen, and I went crazy dancing upstairs and falling on the floor; see, I can totally hang with the big kids. AK was very good about watching me; although, she did try to pick me up a couple of times too, and Owen just wanted to carry me around; I'll let you guess who won that fight. However, he did let me play with his train set, so he is totally forgiven. AK eventually slipped away to watch iCarly while I watched Owen ride his bike outside. I can't wait until I can ride a bike. Mr. Bart made really good quesadillas, something I had turned my nose up at until that night, and we each got to pick our own dessert out of the array that Mom brought; we all three picked the chocolate brownie bites. It was a great Friday night, so thank you, Mrs. Aly and Mr. Bart, for having us, and thank you, AK and Owen, for entertaining me.

Last Saturday, we got to go down to Little 5 Points to visit Harper, Aunt Steph, and Uncle Ian at home and to see the absolutely beautiful, finished nursery. Everyone was doing well; Steph and Ian seemed a bit tired, but as far as I can tell with all of my baby visiting experience in the last few months, that's pretty much the norm. Baby Harper had been a little fussy until Grandma got there and used her magic-Grandma-touch. I sulked a little on the couch as Grandma held Harper, but then I found plenty to keep me busy while everyone else took turns loving on Harper. Don't worry; I loved on her a little too. How could you not love on that beautiful baby? I brought my crayons and coloring book, which kept me occupied for all of 15 minutes. Aunt Steph and Uncle Ian have a kitty cat, which I unmercifully chased around the house. They also have a step that separates their bedroom, and I used it as a jumping pad for about 20 minutes. I even walked up to their bed, pointed at it, and said, very enthusiastically I might add, "Ooh, yeah!" at which everyone laughed and caused me to repeat the apparent funny gesture several times; I'm a sucker for any reaction. What!? I just meant, "Ooh, that bed looks comfortable" - geesh, people. I then found my old Moses basket, which I have lent out to my new cuz, and I immediately reverted back to an infant and insisted on laying in it, while making a big production for entertainment value. Everyone did take notice, but all of the ladies were way more enthralled with staring at Harper; I'll let this diversion of attention go for a month or two. Right before we left, Harper got a diaper change; after looking under her butt while trying to figure out how something so little produced so much poop, I noticed it, her terrible, awful boo-boo. Mom tried to explain that it is just something called the umbilical cord, but to me, it looks like something pretty serious. I talked about the baby's boo-boo pretty much the whole way home; it was the first thing I mentioned the next morning as well, and I have remained concerned about it ever since. Someone help my cousin, please; that thing on her tummy is disturbing, and it is giving me nightmares. Despite the boo-boo, it was so good to see Harper, as well Aunt Steph and Uncle Ian; even if, everyone's diverted attention caused me to be a little whinier and want to be held all the next day. I can't wait until Harper is big enough to play with me; it will make those days with the extended family even better and far more entertaining.

My Publix visits over the last week and half have left much to be desired because Mrs. Suzanna is on vacation! How could she leave me for 3 whole weeks? Mrs. Suzanna made sure that I would be taken care of and put a few of her friends on Livie-balloon-duty while she was visiting her family in Russia. Although I still get my balloon as soon as I arrive, it just isn't the same. Her absence has put me into a Publix-funk. Whereas I am usually bubbly and talk to all of my favorites, I have refused to talk to or even look at anyone since Suzanna went away, with the exception of Brian and only because he drew a balloon man for me. I mean, how can all of these people just go on like all is right with the world when she isn't here!? I am disgusted with them. Therefore, I will come up with my own store. About once a day, I now pack up my purse, put on my shoes, and when asked where I am going, declare that I am going to the store. When Mom asks me what I am going to get, I tell her that I am getting, "Ham and turkey" from "Brian", and when asked what I am going to buy, I say, "yellow balloon and sticker". See, I don't need a Suzanna-less Publix; I'll just go to my own store. Oh, and don't forget to "Check the list", Mom - another one of my new sayings. Please, come home soon, Mrs. Suzanna, especially since you asked Mom if you may bring me back a present from your country; don't think I didn't hear that.

Although playgroup has been kind of dismantled lately with all of the different weekly and travel schedules, Lucas, Lina, and I were able to get together at Gary Pirkle Park last week. We played; we had lunch; we tested our limits one at a time, as well as a joined force. It was a great day! On the way back to the car, I got to catch a ride with Lucas in his stroller. There are so many ways to entertain oneself with a stroller, just take it from me. You can hitch a ride with a friend,...

or insist on pushing it the last 1/10 of a mile after every run. I've got to get my exercise in too!


Last Wednesday I got to go down and see my cousin again. Before leaving the house, I noticed that we were out of paper towels, which really bothered me since it seems that I have inherited a touch of Mom's OCD, and after being promised a trip to the grocery store later to replenish said paper towels, I immediately insisted on a yellow, later changed to red, balloon as well. I then stopped, thought for a moment, looked at Mom, and said, "Baby blue balloon". I gotta take care of my new cousin and make sure that she experiences the joy of the sacred balloon. Harper, you know that you have made it into the inner circle when I am concerned with your balloon needs; the only other person for whom I have ever asked to get a balloon is Lucas, so feel special; feel very special. Mom also informed me that we might be escorting Harper to a doctor's appointment. Real Reason: She had lost some weight, and the doctor wanted to weigh her a couple of times that week to make sure that she got back on track. My Steadfast Belief: "Baby boo-boo, need doctor"; I'm still very worried about that horrible boo-boo on Harper's tummy. Whenever you ask me where the baby's boo-boo is, I point to my tummy and say, "Right there". I think that thing is of way more concern than her weight. On the way down to see my new baby, I pulled out my car laptop - that's right, I have a car laptop - and told Mom that I was "check[ing] e-mail"; life has been a little crazy lately, so I've got to make sure to stay connected to the world. This also means that yes, Mom, I listen to EVERYTHING you say. When we finally reached Harper, she slept the whole time! I want to know when she is going to wake up and play with me. She did seem very content though, and I don't think I believe Aunt Stephanie when she says that Harper has been crying a lot lately. I haven't seen any crying. Aunt Steph looked tired but really happy, and I even got to see Uncle Ian when he came home for lunch, which Mom made for everyone and explains the lack of pictures from our visit. Aunt Mal and Mr. Chris stopped by as well, and Aunt Mal got to hold Harper most of the afternoon. I entertained myself by putting my baby into all of Harper's swings and bouncy seats. I did have a major meltdown when I couldn't decide if I wanted Mom to help me start the swing or not; I also got very upset when anyone else tried to help me. I'm an emotional mess these days. Once again, when Harper was being changed, I checked out that boo-boo and reminded everyone that Harper "need doctor", which is exactly where she was headed as we left, and yes, that is my old car seat with a little makeover. On the way home, we stopped to see Grandma at work, and I got the present that she has been promising me on the phone for a week, a yellow digger truck. Looks like you are going to have to get a new present, Grandma, with which to bribe me so that I will talk to you on the phone. I love my digger truck, so thank you, Grandma. I also like the new big girl underpants you got me, but don't think it is going to be that easy; I am still not getting on that potty!

Delicious lollipop, what more is there to say? Thank you to my new friend at the dry cleaners who now bribes me with lollipops to get into my good graces. It is starting to work, and I will pretty much do anything for a lollipop these days.


Oh, so, I have developed an amazing new talent that is going to take me all the way to the Cirque du Soleil stage: I can pick my nose with my toes. Don't act like you aren't impressed. Speaking of learning new things, I am also trying to learn my full name, Olivia Lee Kendig. However, I'm learning Lucas' full name at the same time, Lucas James Wheeler, and at the current time, I'm pretty sure that my name is Olivia James.


This past Friday night, the rents and I went to Buckhead Pizza for dinner and some live music on the patio. I had an absolute blast! I danced with no inhibitions: jumping, twirling, getting low, kicking my leg up, and doing my new arm move, which is demonstrated in the video below. Everyone was watching, and a family of 6 sitting next to us took a special interest. The girls and their Dad gave me high-fives, and the mom tipped me a dollar; I am earning my keep. After the mom refused to let us return her dollar because she said I earned it, Mom and I used it to tip the band. I was a star! The next morning, I discovered a boo-boo on my foot from all of the dancing, so Mom fixed me up and put a special animal Band-Aid on the boo-boo. The rest of the day, I kept kissing Mom on the arm or face and saying, "I love you, Mama, so much". Mom likes those days. Come to find out, all that love was actually a sign that I was starting to feel kind of yucky and needed my Mommy, which resulted in a very bad weekend - blog post coming soon.


You are lucky you got that rare footage of the arm dance since I no longer allow videoing or pictures of any kind. The camera now causes a "No, Mom" fight every time; see for yourself. It is kind of strange though that Mom has started pointing the camera at me and promising that it is not on; I guess old habits die hard.

Just so you know, I look good in anything, including Dad's mismatched socks, and if I close my eyes, you disappear, which means you can't see me anymore. It is a known fact that I have used to my advantage in many situations lately to ward off strangers who feel the need to talk to me, like I'm their long lost friend, - I think not - so I just close my eyes, and the person no longer exists. You should try it sometime; it seems to be very effective. Now, I am going to close my eyes, and you can guess what happens next - goodbye.

Welcome to Our Family, Harper True

I'm going to let Mom take the reigns on this one. Harper True Gentry joined our family on Tuesday, Septemeber 14, at 9:32 a.m. The official stats came in at 7 lbs., 3 oz. and 20 inches, and she is absolutely beautiful and perfect with a head full of dark, curly hair; you know Olivia is really getting the shaft on this whole hair deal when her newborn cousin can pull off a bow easier than she, but I digress. I really had no idea that I would fall so in love so quickly. I mean, I fell in love with Olivia right away, which was expected, but I never expected to or have fallen in love with someone else's baby until I met my niece. The feelings were almost as overwhelming and emotional as I felt when I met Olivia. She really is perfection in its truest form.

So, I'm sure you want to hear the story, and even if you don't, here it is for posterity's sake: I spoke with Stephanie around 6:30 on Monday evening, and she was worried about going past her September 20th due date. After returning from the gym, and thankfully taking a shower, I got a call from a strange number around 10 p.m. It was Steph and Ian from the hospital. For those of you have had a baby, you are going to be jealous of this account. Anyways, Steph and Ian were instructed to head to the hospital after Steph hadn't felt Harper for a few hours. They figured they would go, be monitored for a bit, and head home, so Steph almost didn't even bring her bag. However, after being hooked up to the monitor, Steph was informed that she was having contractions and that she was 4 cm dialated; however, she wasn't feeling any pain. Mom and I arrived at the hospital around 11, and Sharon and Carl, Ian's parents and cherished members of our family, arrived shortly thereafter. Steph was fine - joking, hanging out, e-mailing, etc. It was entertaining to watch each nurse's confused face as Steph explained over and over that she wasn't feeling any significant pain. Dr. Dawson, mine and Steph's absolutely amazing and laidback doctor who, unfortunately, was not the one to deliver Olivia, commented that he hadn't seen a more perfect baby on the monitor, based on heart rate and other vital signs, in a long time. So, long story short, after a little nap, Steph felt about 15 minutes of pain between breaking her water and getting the epidural. Sharon and Mom got an hour or so of sleep in the waiting room, during which I could not fall asleep with all that was going on around us. Just so you know in case you ever need to kill some middle of the night boredom, from about 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., labor and delivery at Northside Hospital, aka The Baby Factory, is the happening place to be. I watched at least 9 women check in, all of whom made a mad dash for the bathroom as soon as their feet hit the door, and two of whom had to sit in the waiting room and labor for about an hour because there weren't enough nurses on staff. I would not have been as nice in that scenario! Mal rolled in about 8 a.m. after catching some zzz's and before heading to work. We had a small scare at one point when Harper's heart rate dropped, and there was talk of an emergency c-section, but after putting Steph on oxygen, Harper's heart rate returned to normal. Stephanie began pushing about 8:50 a.m., and Mom tearfully came out to the waiting room about an hour later to announce Harper's arrival. It was a tear fest. Steph pushed for about 40 minutes, during which she claims she felt pretty much n0 pain, and with the help of forceps, she welcomed Harper at 9:32 a.m. Steph is a delivery rockstar! A c-section recipient myself, I had no idea how serene and amazing the experience can be. We all got to go into the room and watch the nurse bathe and check Harper, and Stephanie was just sitting there looking so peaceful and happy. Ian looked just as elated and excited to start caring for his little girl. At one point, I stepped back to take a picture of the scene, and I was able to just take in how loving and special and perfect that moment was. I have never seen so much love, happiness, and peace in one place; I know the word love has been repeated several times, but really, that is the only word to describe the feeling in that space and time. It was a really beautiful experience.

After we got to Steph's recovery room, it felt like we all just sat around and stared at Harper for hours. We got some food into Steph - real pepperoni rolls all the way from WV courtesy of Mal, and Aunt Marsha visited to meet her 2nd great niece. It was hard to leave, but I was finally able to tear myself away just to grab Liv and Steve and head right back to the hospital. By the way, I don't recommend staying up for 38-hours past the age of about 20; by the time we got home on Tuesday night, I literally was not making sense. Back to the real story, Steve is very excited to be an Uncle, and Liv has been talking about Harper for months. It was funny to watch Olivia look from Steph to the baby then back to Steph trying to figure it all out; it was a look of how in the world did that baby get out of your stomach. Olivia was very excited to meet Harper, and she immediately bent down to give her a kiss; we had to practice being very gentle, but Liv was really good with baby Harper. Liv seemed very concerned about Steph and kept saying Steph's name, as if she knew that something was up and that Steph needed some extra concern. I am really happy that Liv is going to have a cousin close in age with whom to grown up, and I know that there is trouble to come from these two together. Although Olivia was very excited about Harper, the balloons in the room were quite a distraction, and one of the first things she said was, "Livie have balloon." Of course, Steph immediately gave in to Liv's request and let her take whichever one she wanted. Liv also found the hospital bed very entertaining, and she really wanted to put her baby in Harper's bed. Olivia entertained everyone with her pronunciation of orange and lots of spinning and dancing. It is so funny because Liv has been the only baby in the family for a couple of years, so Steph, Mom, and Sharon have all accidentally called Harper by Olivia's name. I think that we are all suffering from sheer exhaustion and overwhelming euphoria, especially Steph and Ian. We are all so excited to welcome our niece, 1st grandchild for Sharon and Carl, 2nd grandchild for my parents, cousin, and, of course, daughter to the family. My Dad even drove down from West Virginia to meet Miss Harper True. Liv hasn't seem him in a year, so that was nice for her as well. I just couldn't keep my hands off of little Harper; I could have held her all day without getting bored. Liv didn't seem to mind either, so that is a good sign. We love you, Harper, and welcome to the world.

Liv on the way to the hospital to meet her cousin:

As I finish this, Steph, Ian, and Harper are on their way home. Steph is a little more tired today since Harper wouldn't sleep unless she was being held last night, meaning Steph got very little sleep. I hate to tell ya, but this is just the first of many sleepless nights. Every single one is worth it though, as I am sure you already know. One lesson learned: Watch how many Percocets you take before taking a newborn h0me, especially if you plan on sitting in the backseat, which makes you horribly carsick. *smile*

Final Thoughts: I have never seen my sister look so beautiful; she is literally glowing. She and my brother-in-law are so happy, and they are doing so well with little Harper. According to my Mom and everything that I witnessed myself, Ian was amazing during the labor and delivery. I know I have said this about others as well, but motherhood seems so natural for Steph. She is incredibly calm and holds Harper like she has been doing it her whole life; I really am in awe. Steph, I love you so much, and I am so very excited that we get to share the experience of motherhood with one another and raise our girls together. Steve, Liv, and I are so lucky to have you, Ian, and Harper, and we cannot wait to start this journey with you - with the exception of the teenage years when all we will get is eye-rolls and "Whatevers"; although, I am already getting the eye-rolls. I am here when/if you need anything. We feel so blessed to have a healthy Harper with us now and to add one more little girl to our estrogen-filled brood. You both are already amazing parents. Congratulations to you and Ian, and welcome to our crazy, but full-of-love, family, Harper True.