One benefit of having an elementary school teacher for a Grandma...

Fun and creative art/science projects!

Two weeks with three kids

We've had a couple weeks to get to know our little one, and we are of course in love with her. She definitely recognizes our voices and does her best to focus on our faces/bobble her head around when we talk to her.
At 10 days young, Joy measured in at 10.5#/22 inches and she is one hungry girl. This being said, we aren't getting much sleep at night, but coffee and naps are our substitute for now.
Things are going well with the transition from two to three kids thanks in large part to all the help we've had as well as the fact that Will and Jane have loved having a little baby in the house (except when her crying gets really loud, then they frantically try to tell me what to do to keep her from crying...Jane: "Give baby your boo-boos, Mama...give baby diaper change, Mama")
The crazy moments are a bit crazier, but that makes the quiet, tender moments all the sweeter.

Little Ballerinas

Jane and her cousin, Clara just started going to a dance class for little ones and here are some adorable shots taken last week. I was unable to attend (due to the birthing of our third child--otherwise wouldn't have missed it for the world :-)
Can't wait to see them this week!

Joy Elisabeth Simon

Our beautiful daughter was born on Monday morning at 7:53 am. She has a full head of black hair and is healthy as can be. She weighed in at 9 lb 14 ounces and was 21 (or so) inches long. The doctor's first words when she came out were, "Look at those cheeks!"
We chose the name Joy because we love the simple beauty of it. The word Joy correlates, in our minds, with the everlasting Joy we have in life with Jesus. Elisabeth is my middle name, and I've always loved it.

In terms of Joy's birth, I went into labor early on Monday morning, which was neat because even though I knew that I'd have to have a third c-section, I also knew that, because I was going into labor naturally, Joy was fully cooked and ready to arrive in the world. The surgery went smoothly and recovery thus far has been steady. We know that many prayers have been covering us all week and we are so thankful.

I forgot how much I love newborns and how snuggly and precious they are. John and I enjoyed having a couple days in the hospital to just hold Joy and spend some time with her and each other.

Will and Jane seem to be handling the new addition to our family well, although there is definitely still a lot of novelty surrounding Joy's birth.
Both Will and Jane understand that "Mommy has an owie" and have been patient and understanding in the fact that I can't lift them or chase them around just yet.
Jane is taking on an active role as older sister, wanting to constantly rock baby, snuggle baby, and attend baby's doctor's appointments with me. Will thinks that Joy is very cute and loves to touch her soft hair, but is probably looking more forward to having a playmate in the future. When I asked him if he had any questions about his new sister, he wondered "Why can't she play with me?"

Here are some pictures of our joyful addition taken over the past few days, with more to come as I find the time to download them:

T-Rex Babies

I found Jane a pink T-Rex costume at a garage sale a few weeks ago. Will of course also loves the ever-popular T-Rex and couldn't be outdone by his sister, so I decided to buy him a costume as well. Hopefully they will still be excited to wear their costumes come Halloween, but I'm not counting on it. Last year Will wore his homemade spider costume for all of 2 minutes before exploding into tears and refusing to wear it. Given last year's events, my expectations for costume-wearing this year aren't too high and I figure let's get use out of these things now while they're loving them:

Hugs for baby as we count down (10 days to go!)

We appreciate your prayers for a safe and speedy delivery/recovery for baby and I. We are scheduled to deliver on September 20th via c-section. My last c-section was a little more precarious than the first, so I'm trying not to have any anxiety about the surgery but am instead trying to focus on the joy that is coming in meeting our third precious child.
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Janie loves the camera

While I'm here, thought I'd post the most recent stats for Jane Bug since we just had her 2 year well-baby check: 32# and 35.5"