I knew one of the hardest parts of bringing home baby would be keeping Lilah entertained.  Because it's hard to keep up her favorite activity (which is being carried around) while caring for a newborn.  Add that to the fact that 'school' has been out for over a month and that she is tired of every toy she owns (which is, incidentally, every toy.  that is, she owns every toy made that she could possibly like.), and that her mother has not quite figured out how to leave the house with all 3 (and is experiencing some severe germ paranoia)  = Lilah is stir crazy.  Here is one of her Daddy's remedies:

Bike trailer=Love,  Helmet=Not So Much

If only we lived in a wide open palace, with no furniture...then I could just pull her around in a little Asian rickshaw all day.:)

Wish I had time to properly blog, because I have a whole lot to say.  But my spare time these days is devoted to scratch that.  I have no spare time.  3 kids is a roller coaster.  Ada is great...typical newborn stuff, fussy and wants to be held.  The hard part is that description fits my nearly 3 year old, 32 lb Lilah as well.  We knew it would be tough, and it is....but so worth it.

I am enjoying so much about Ada that I missed out on with my last (mostly because she didn't do it, but also because the emotional stress pretty much wiped out all my memories from that time).  She is strong... raising her head like a little turtle off my shoulder, grabbing my finger with all her might, kicking her way down her bed.  She is loud...full of a million noises, happy and sad.  She's alert...her eyes are alive, taking in more of her new world every day.  We love her so much and she has, literally, breathed new life into our home.

The truth is, I'd have more time if I'd set her down and quit gazing upon her sweet face.  But, I have no intention of doing that because I can't get enough of her.  A healthy baby girl seems like the greatest gift I could have been given at this point.  A redemption of sorts.  I'm not sure I could ever explain it in words, or that anyone who had not been  in this exact situation would understand.  But, it somehow lesssens the hurt and easeses the mourning of so many griefs we have over Lilah.

Of course, that was not our 'intention' when adding to our family.  We simply felt like it wasn't complete.  She was not planned as an 'extra' or a 'back-up' or a 'second chance' (ps, when I write my book, this is going in the chapter of things never to say to a mother of an ill child).  But, the Lord gave us Ada as a gift--an unexpected blessing.  We look at her and are reminded that we love a Father that loves us more.

 

the only posts coming this way are ones that can be done with one hand:) here's the latest of the newest princess:

Ada's first bath

was not a hit.  But the sound of her cry is music to my ears.  It's feminine and sweet....and strong! Lilah was too weak and sick to really cry, so we actually enjoy the baby wailing.  It's comforting:)

I had every intention of sharing Ada's birth story, but now it seems kind of private...like something I want to keep to myself.  It was like the other two in most ways...terrifying, and beautiful, incredibly painful, and totally miraculous.  I always compare giving birth to running a marathon (which I have never done) and jumping out of a plane (which I have)-- you think you are going to die, you know you're not, but you feel like you are.....and then it's over.  And the high is like none other.  Seriously, if we could figure out how to bottle that feeling, it'd be money.

Not knowing this baby's gender made it uniquely special....I thought she was a boy and was so surprised when I looked at Paul's face and heard him say, "it's a girl".  It is a moment that I will keep tucked in my heart forever.  Ada is the most precious of gifts--we are pinching ourselves, hardly believing it's real (well, it seems pretty real at 3 am:).

I've heard it said that babies are God's way of way of showing us that life goes on--and that rings very true to me now.  This is certainly a new chapter...one that already feels rich with blessing and love.