So much!

This is not my birth story post. Sorry. I am super excited to post about that though, but I am going to need a bigger block of time to do that any justice. I'll just say this though—it was awesome!!!!!!!

Things have been moving along really quickly in the Collett household.

Valentine's Day came and went. Jeffrey surprised me with a Kindle Fire. I was very surprised. It has been very convenient—it is a lot easier to read while breast feeding with an e-reader. It stands up by itself, I don't have to use finger strength to hold the pages open, and turning the pages takes like a millisecond. It's pretty fantastic. Here are the kids with the cake we made for Daddy.

It's a silly thing to be sad about when there are so many other things to feel sad about, but I was feeling bummed thinking that I wouldn't get to see any of the beautiful spring flowers that I had planted at our home. I am beginning to hope now that perhaps at least one of them will bloom before we move on Tuesday. The daffodils and crocuses have buds, and the hyacinths and tulips are up out of the ground as well. I will miss not getting to smell the hyacinths. They smell so unbelievably good.

Jeffrey had his last day at Citywide Maintenance of Cincinnati. He honestly could not have asked for a better group of people to work for and a better family to work with. The Degenhardts are an amazing example to us of kindness, charity, and good work ethic. On Jeffrey's last day, one of his coworkers and good friends, Ryan, drove me and the kids down to the office in Kentucky, so we could be there for a good-bye party for Jeff.

Here is the last belly picture. I'm a little frustrated that I didn't remember to get one when I was still wearing normal clothes, but I am really just glad that my mom mentioned wanting to take one at all, because I had completely forgotten that I wanted one!

And here is one of the very first pictures of Alice Grace. (That is my mom leaning over and giving me a kiss.) And if you can't tell what that expression on my face means, it means "I can't believe that I just did that." That is the phrase I kept repeating over and over again as my body went through shock and euphoria and utter, complete joy.

This one shows how happy I felt a little better than the photo above.

This is one of my favorite pictures so far. :)

 These are kind of self-explanatory.

Alice Grace Collett

Born February 23, 2013 at 9:03 pm

9 pounds 1 ounce

20 inches long

Jill is completely in love with her new baby sister.

Danny seems to like having a baby sister, but he is pretty interested in stealing my attention from her. :) And now that he can open the refrigerator, he has been stealing her milk quite a bit. Apparently he still likes the taste!