Gratitude!

When God placed Ellie in our lives I wondered how we could possibly handle a new baby when our little one was still so small. I wondered how we could handle things financially, emotionally and as a couple with absolutely NO time to ourselves. The decision to take Ellie was a very simple one - the decisions on how best to care for our expanding family was a tougher one. I underestimated the gifts in our lives - mostly family and friends who could not be more supportive in every single way. Just as I start to feel overwhelmed by something a family member or friend shows up at the door with a meal or diapers or a playdate for one of the kids. Just as I start to feel inadequate at caring for three babies a moment of peace washes over the house and I stare into 3 beautiful faces and am amazed at my good fortune. My one worry is that in my fog of diapers and Mommy duty I have not adequately expressed my gratitude for all that we have been given. Someday I will write the many thank you notes that are due but for now Bob and I take 3 minutes each night and call out the names of the people who have touched us in some way that day and hold them all up in prayer - we are so blessed!

Ellie trying out a binky for comfort - still not into it but we try once in a while.
Our little orphan girl swinging in the swing and loving it.

2 days after getting Ellie we realized that nights were going to be a challenge - Ellie cries most of the night but both Bob and I have to be at least somewhat alert during the day - he to work and me to take care of the three babies. Auntie Meg has been wonderful with Lizzie since her birth - taking her at night and showering her in attention and love and than bringing her home sleepy and well cared for. On Wednesday she called and asked if I wanted her to sleep over and take care of Ellie for the night so that Bob and I could get some sleep. I didn't hesitate for one second before saying yes! We slept for hours straight and then Molly woke up with a stomach bug and was up for the rest of the night - uggg!Either way we got a reprieve from taking care of both babies through the night and felt incredibly well rested the next morning!

Molly took this picture because she loved the light on Annie's face - too cute!

Auntie LuAnn came over on her day off to be a baby holder and then she went home for an hour and brought back some dinner!

Babies all bathed and hanging out together!

Annie getting in on the action!

The four girls laying around!

Hugs from Molly!

When all else fails to entertain the kids we spread a blanket on the floor and all pile on. Last night we did this and then told baby stories and made the kids guess which baby went with which story - they loved it. Ie: Which baby went through a phase of taking their diaper off during their nap and then falling asleep - that would be Peter!

Peter and Lizzie bonding.

Daddy giving Annie some TLC!

Ready for bed, Mama!

Since I give the babies most of their tubbies I don't get many pictures of them. Bob was bathing everyone last night so I got a few shots of Lizzie - look at that perfect baby body!

Loving her tubby!

Love those baby piggies! Perfection!

A friend at work gave this outfit to Bob for the baby as a hand me down and I LOVE it - here is Ellie getting her turn in it!

Sweet baby Ellie!

Ellie's half smile for Mama!

The babies hanging out together on the couch!

Would this be considered playing together? What cuties!

As you can tell the blogging only happens when there is a moment of peace during the day or when I give up a few precious moments with Bob at night. Please be patient - I will be updating as often as possible! As of right now Ellie is a pre-adoptive placement. In court today nothing changed and they will be going back to court on March 23rd for the permenancy planning phase so we'll update when we hear something! Thank you to everyone who is helping out in big and small ways and to all of those people who are praying for Ellie, her biological family and us - we are deeply appreciative for you!

GNM - ILY!

A few quick updates!

Wow - what a week! Ellie is no longer the docile little cherub she was in the first few hours of getting here. She is having some tummy issues and just some general medical issues that are causing her to be fussy and need lots of attention. She is beautiful, smiles sweetly all day and keeps us up ALL night. She is the hardest kind of baby because she does not want to be held or comforted she simply cries, screams and yells 23 hours a day and there is nothing we can do to make her feel better. We changed her formula and have a pediatrician appointment next week so hopefully things will get straightened out but in the mean time I am completely and totally overwhelmed during the day. I have relied heavily on friends and family to come over and hold a baby so that Annie can get some attention and Lizzie, bless her little heart, has turned into a happy smiley baby just in time for the next wave of sleep deprivation and crying. I keep repeating to myself that "This too shall pass." Bob and I are functioning on 2 hours of sleep and lots of laughter - like the other night when I, very grumpily, yelled at him 4 times to go get Annie (who was crying b/c of ear pain) until I finally looked over and relaized that he was not in bed with me but in the living room rocking Ellie back to sleep for the 5th time that night. We had a good, hold your gut, laugh over that one at around 2 a.m. My husband is a saint. When we did Best and Worst at dinner last night Bob's best was the 5 minute nap he took in his car while going through the drive through during lunch - he was obviously joking but we both got a little punchy! At one point while making dinner last night I wrapped my arms around Bob's shoulders and kind of hung there resting - Peter walked in and asked why we always have to get lovey dovey and we both dissolved into laughter - there was nothing lovey dovey about it - just a need for some physical support to be able to get through dinner. So there you have it - chaos reins again and we keep reminding each other how blessed we truly are!

My friend Lisa came over to meet Ellie and brought us a yummy dinner.

Lizzie learned to reach for a toy! Our baby girl is getting so smart and growing up so fast!

Peter "babysat" for Lizzie yesterday while I made dinner. I was so proud of him - he held her for a while and then put her down and played with her and finally he rubber her head until she fell asleep. She absolutely adores her big brother and he was amazing with her! What a lucky Mommy I am!

"Mommy, you're embarrassing me!

Our newest little angel! She doesn't do this often but when she does it makes my heart swell! She is so beautiful and looks so content!

Annie loves her tubby!

Checking out the snow after her tubby! What a face!

Lizzie sticking her tongue out at Mommy after her bath!

My parents came over after dinner last night and Annie somehow convinced my dad to take her for a walk! By convinced I mean brought him his shoes and coat and pointed toward the door.

My beautiful girl ready for a walk with her Papa.

Lots of people have been asking what they can do to help. If you have 6 hours of sleep in your pocket I'll take it but more realistically we don't NEED anything but if you happen to have any of these things we would love to take advantage of you!

1. Time - if anyone likes to hold babies and wants to come grab a kid in the morning between 8:30 and noon or 3 and 5 stop over or call. Ellie cries constantly so there is a great deal of time when I have to let her cry while I take care of Annie or Lizzie and in the afternoon I have to make dinner and do homework with the big kids!

2. Cribs - we need 2 cribs for the 2 new babies - if anyone has a basement full of junk that might have a crib in it we would love to borrow it. In our house bedrooms are pretty much for sleeping so it doesn't really matter what it looks like or how old it is!

3. Activities for the big kids - especially on the weekends - Peter and Molly are amazing but they, more than anyone else, are getting the short end of the straw right now. The newborn stage doesn't last long but it is hard to do much else with two of them in the house so the big kids end up without a whole lot of attention from Mom and Dad.

Thanks again to everyone who has been bringing meals, calling to check on us and especially holding babies or playing with kids!Whenever Bob and I wonder how we are going to do this we look no further than the photo albums filled with friends and family who offer their unconditional love and support on a constant basis.

GNM - ILY!

For those of you who do not like my wordy blog entries your life just got better - I may not have time to go to the bathroom anymore so entries will likely consist of more pictures and less descriptions. For now I just wanted to update everyone on what it is like in our house.

Peter and Molly are the BEST kids ever! They have gone with the flow in a way that I did not imagine possible. Peter said this morning that he is concerned that I look a little sick because I am not sleeping and he is worried about me. He asked if he could cook dinner tonight to help me out. Molly has just been a huge help with the babies and both of them had special days out with their aunts and uncles. Kara and Rob took Peter and spoiled him with big screen TV's, video games, the best food ever (according to Peter) and lots of attention. Molly had lunch with Auntie Meg and uncle B and then spent the day with Kake making cookies and hanging out. Both kids came home happy, well fed and feeling good about the chaos in our house after a little break. Annie slept for 4 hours after a really bad night of sleep the night before - while she slept poor Papa sat on our couch like a little puppy dog waiting for her to wake up - he went in to her room about 10 times and when Papa finally gave up and went home Annie woke up and asked for him! It was nice for me to get some time with my dad even though I was not the one he was looking for!

Karla and the kids came to meet Ellie and KK finally got her text messages (after a long weekend of people asking where the heck she was and if she knew yet) and made her tearful way over to our house to meet Ellie! Auntie Beth met Ellie via phone and the support we are getting is unbelievable. Auntie Ann did my grocery shopping and came over to meet Ellie - although I forgot to take a picture - sorry! Cousins, aunts, uncles and friends have all called to ask what they can do - We are so blessed!

Molly lounging with Ellie!

Uncle B meets Ellie!

Uncle B and Ellie hanging out!

Auntie Meg and uncle B picking Molly up for her date!

Auntie Karla meets Ellie! Note the Steelers gear!

The Hardings getting to know ELLIE!

Papa and Tyler looking cozy! Tyler has his Steelers gear on!

KK meets Ellie and can't get enough of her!

The 5 kids ready for bed - yes, Annie has her finger in her nose - what are you going to do - the more kids we have the more inappropriate gestures we seem to have in group pictures!

The babies - how beautiful are these girls?

The girls!

Sleepy smiles from Elizabeth!

In the interest of Ellie's privacy I am going to make the blog private on Friday - technically she is in DCF custody and all of her information is confidential. To avoid any issues with DCF and the potential adoption I feel like we need to keep this information all confidential but I would still love to keep everybody in the loop on our family! For anyone who enjoys the blog and wants to receive an invitation to continue reading it please send me your e-mail address as soon as possible. My e-mail address is

Harding8871@yahoo.com

Thanks to everyone for your understanding!

GNM - ILY!