photo session - Kinsley and Kallie

Kallie's hospital pictures were less than stellar. She had a rash, and the photographer was not impressive.  I didn't do much better, but we tried to get some keepers in her special outfit now that the rash is gone.

Kinsley is one happy girl.

Kallie stayed awake most of the time.  She's a content baby, but she did not like being on the blanket too long.  She likes to snuggle.

I still can't get over that hair!

preciousness!

possibly my favorite

Check out those long fingers!  Future flutist or pianist?

This girl loves to dance.  We danced and danced.  That's a girl after my own heart.  I have always wished that I stuck dance out all the way through college.  I may have done it, but it was too much commitment for my parents with five kids behind me.

Build those biceps and triceps, Girlie! Don't let anyone take advantage of you, but if they try, call on your mighty cousins who will have your back - Zach, Austin, Logan, Ira, and Isaac - mess with her, and you mess with them!

We are still trying to decide who she looks like.  I found an old picture of Savannah, and there are some similarities there, but I think she mostly looks like my brother, Jonathan.  She'll probably look like somebody else next month, so it's all in good fun.  Kallie just looks like Kallie.

So much joy!

Kallie fix!

That hair!!  I suspected it, and the nurse confirmed it that boys usually get the long hair and eyelashes - I guess that's because girls know how to compensate for deficits in those areas?

Sweetness!

We have decided that she looks like a combination of my brothers.  One thing we do know -- she looks nothing like her sister.

We also learned that if the nurse strips her down and takes her vitals, she gets really mad, and she actually opens her eyes and keeps them open.  At two days old, she first did that tonight.  

Hello Kallie!

Brand Sparkling New

Kinsley became a big sister today.  I think she might have been less than thrilled.  However, the rest of us happily welcomed Kallie Rose. She arrived at 11:04a.m. weighing 9lbs. and 6oz at 20.5 inches long.

We are so thankful that Kallie arrived safely as the cord was wrapped around her neck twice.

Savannah and I met her tonight. Kallie slept soundly for our entire visit.  She did not even do that small eye open that babies do, so we did not even get a peek at her eyes.  We plan to return on Wednesday when she is cleaned up more and hopefully more alert.  I learned tonight that they now wait 12 hours to bathe newborns because there was a theory that newborns would be able to regulate their temperatures better if they were not bathed so soon.  Practice seems to be proving that theory, and Kallie arrived on a very cold day.  In fact, she was in fleece pajamas when we arrived because John and Tessa said she had been shaking and seemed cold.

Congrats to John, Tessa, and big sis, Kinsley!

Meeting Grandma

The oldest and youngest girl cousins on my side of the family met today.

My initial thought is that she looks like my grandma Jewell.  I don't think she looks much like Kinsley, but in a few weeks she will look totally different, and I suspect she will end up looking a lot like her momma.

Can you even believe that hair!? Wow...just wow!  Logan and Isaac had comparable hair, so that might come from my side of the family.

Kallie arrived almost to the hour one day before the fifth anniversary of my mom's home going. I think Mom knows all about her, and celebrating Kallie will be a nice way to take the sting out of that hard day.

New life is so precious and affirming.