Welcome, Ellis!!

Ellis made his arrival nice and early.

I was ecstatic that I was THERE... in Utah... how lucky was that??

Remember how I was talking to Bill when Britt called to tell me her water broke?

When, unbeknownst to me, Bill got his little bod dressed and ready, packed up a few things, loaded up the dogs, hopped in his car and DROVE ALL NIGHT.

 When Scarlett woke up that morning, I told her baby brother was on his way, so she painted him a lovely welcome picture.

I was surprised when, while giving Wonderful Sweet Scarlett her not-so-desired bath, the doorbell rang. Then it rang again. I thought {perhaps} it was a delivery Britt and Austin were expecting, so I ran to grab the door, only to be so so pleasantly surprised to find Billy-my-hero standing there at 8:30am. I was even more happy when it perked up Scarlett's gloomy I-don't-want-to-wash-my-hair attitude because... well, GRANDPA WAS THERE. (He has to do so little to gain the love of those adorable grandchildren, and I work so hard for their affection... so not fair!)

Ellis had not arrived just yet, but we were on a schedule that day anyway. We had planned a day of shopping and wedding planning with Shi. I know, I know... was she engaged? No. But that didn't stop us from pretending hahahaha. And you just never know when your mama will be in town again, and what can happen before she comes back...

We met first that morning at a prospective reception venue. We received word (via text and picture) that baby Ellis had made his grand entrance, and that things had gone well.

"He's here! Born at 8:55am, 6lb 14oz! Everything went smoothly! 

He's got a head full of dark hair :-)"

We had an appointment at a bridal shop, and figured that by the time we were done there (+ lunch), Britt, Austin, and Ellis would be ready for visitors.

 The whole family showed up pretty much at once. Jill and my mom met us at the hospital, then Jason and Lex, Tay and Nae arrrived not long after.

Ahhhhh... 

there is NOTHING like a newborn baby.

As excited as Scarlett was to finally meet baby brother, once she saw him she was very tentative. Maybe it was the reality that baby brother was not just a novel and fun idea. Maybe it was the environment... seeing mama in a hospital bed, surrounded by hospital paraphernalia. Maybe it was the fairly large group of people gathered to welcome Ellis to the world. She didn't want to hold him, and preferred to watch a show while snuggling with mom in bed.

That was okay with everyone else... more time for us to hold him haha.

Grandpa got his snuggle time with the girls.

When I had my babies, I always loved the attention and excitement of family gathered around to welcome a new little soul. So reminiscent of the good days long ago. (Always better for those who did NOT just push a bowling ball out of their body haha!)

Later that evening I took Wonderful Sweet Scarlett back to the hospital by herself. Her purse had been momentarily replaced with a bucket... a gift from Jason and Lex, who had just acquired it at Jason's work party. She also had her shades and her self-crafted binoculars (which, by the way, helped locate our loose and rampant dogs, who had dug under Britt and Austin's fence to escape and run free for heaven knows how long), which drew a plethora of smiles from passers by. That girl comes prepared.

 I still don't think she held Ellis that day. She was just needing a little warm-up to the baby who would now split her mama's time.

 I loved holding him some more...

...and I just can't resist pictures of stray baby feet.

Ellis got to come home the next day, so we all loved on him some more.

Baby brother gave Scarlett a gift... some "Big Sister" books and a camera (seriously, so brilliant... just an old camera Austin had from his mission).

Scarlett was thrilled, which can only endear her to her new brother, right?

That night while we were away at another special event (next blog post), Britt sent this snap:

 Yay for baby brothers and all that baby-holding practice Scarlett has done over the past months!!

On Sunday, we had to head back to CO.

 We snuggled and cuddled that baby one last time before saying good-bye.

We love you, Ellis! 

We are so so happy you joined our family!!

I'm driving back out this weekend to help out, although Britt seems to have it pretty together.

Here are a few snaps from the past couple days:

I can't wait to see them all again!

Parks and Rec.

 The beginning-to-middle part of last week was a bit of a busy blur.

Mar stayed with Hannah at Grandma and Grandpa G's house on Sunday, I attended church with Britt and Austin. I spent the 2nd and 3rd hour with Wonderful Sweet Scarlett in her nursery class.

 I realized that most of the toys in the nursery aren't really "shareable," so I spent a good chunk of time helping the kids remember patience and the art of taking turns hahaha. I had to protect Scarlett's purse like a ninja, and helped to thwart a pending meltdown when it was time to put the toys away. We sang. We snacked. We colored. We popped bubbles. It was a good time.

 That evening the family gathered for dinner and a walk to the park.

Taylor is Scarlett's current fave. He's such a fun uncle.

 Shilo was able to come visit for a while, too.

 On Monday, Jill, Britt, and I made the drop-off at EFY. Another hot, sweaty one, lugging suitcases, pillows, and a case of water bottles from the Marriott Center to Heritage Halls in 90+ temps. We had the sweat rolling! 

(Obviously I stole the only efy pics I have from Instagram)

We met for lunch at Zupas, then Nate and Lyndsay took the girls back to campus, and Britt and I met up with Nae, who had an appointment with her doctor. We were taking the little girls to the mall while she was there, meeting up again afterwards. 

On Tuesday evening I went to Kody's house to hang out with Shilo. She was helping with his foster sibs (not exactly sure what to call them... how about Greg and Christa?) while his parents were out of town. Kody had class that night, so I thought she could use a little help getting dinner and such. It was nice to meet Greg and Christa, and fun to spend a little time getting to know Kody better once he got home. We may have watched some crazy cross-fit show per my suggestion. I'm not sure how successful that was. Nothing like cozying up to your girl with her mother on the other side of her hahahaha.

On Wednesday, Britt had a doctor's appointment, so we made a detailed plan to manage our time efficiently, then meet up for lunch with Lex, since she is an overtime working girl who doesn't have much time for socializing other than... lunch. Scarlett and I dropped Britt off at her appointment, ran to pick up Mar's guitar (tuned up at a place Tay had recommended in Provo), picked up Lyndsay Feil, then drove quickly back to grab Britt. We all met up at the City Creek food court for lunch (just across the street from where Lex works).

 My sweet MIL had brought Lynnea and Evie, but experienced a series of unfortunate events upon arrival: (1) nearly running out of gas, (2) losing her parking ticket (thus paying the hefty $20 fine), and (3) being late to HER doctor's appointment that afternoon. I felt soooooo bad that it was such a difficult day for her. It was so lovely of her to make the effort to come - she is one BUSY mama, grandma, and great grandma!

After lunch we made a quick trip to Sam's Club,

 a couple quick stops at beauty supply stores,

 (I love how Scarlett takes her purse EVERYWHERE... and it's full of all kinds of necessary things, making it quite the load)

ending up at my mom's house for dinner with Matt and Lia + kids, Marty and Meredith, Tay and Nae + Evie, Lex and Jase, Lyndsay and Nate, Britt and Scarlett, Mom and Dad, Jill, Sam, and me.

 Scarlett and Evie had matching outfits, but this was the best picture I got of them together. It had already been a very, very long day, so it was the best any of us could muster hahaha.

 It was a lovely evening.

Mi mamita and I walked down to the park with Scarlett, Evie, and Larkin.

 Larkin was a huge help getting the girls to the park, then she was so sweet to play and play with Scarlett.

 Evie just wanted to keep moving, so Grandma Great walked around and around with her in the stroller. (Note: Scarlett's purse in the adjoining seat.)

 This is one of my favorite pictures of the night:

On Thursday I had made plans to meet up with Jill and run some errands, but not before I got to spend some fun time with Scarlett.

My favorite minion!!

That evening Jill and I attended our nephew Eli's wedding.

 It was a lovely wedding and reception, and I was so glad I could be there.

On my way back to Britt and Austin's late that evening, a nice 45 minute drive, I chatted with Bill. We were still talking when I arrived, so I quietly let myself in and sat in their office for a few minutes to finish up our conversation. I heard the signal on my phone that someone else was calling me, so I checked it and told Bill to hold for a minute because it was Britt. I was anticipating she might politely ask me to talk quieter because perhaps Scarlett would wake up... NOPE! 

She said, "Are you here?" 

"Yes," I replied. 

"My water just broke!"

This was a BIG surprise since her due date was the 19th, and she had gone to the bitter end (due date and beyond) with Scarlett. She had scheduled an induction date on the 14th.

This little guy had other plans.