Cousins return!!!

My sister Carrie came back for a quick visit yesterday to see her new niece. Her girls, Laura and Jean Louise, came with her. We were sad to see them leave so quickly today, but they are joining their dad, John, in Pensacola for a spring break visit with their other grandparents. The girls, sister included, all fell instantly in love with their new cousin. Jean Louise rarely left my side, because she was so taken with little Nealy. However, she was forced to play with Jacks as much as possible since he is IN LOVE WITH HER!! I mean it, his cousins are his favorite people on the planet. Every time Jean Louise would settle in on the bed with me to gaze at Nealy, Jacks was in the room tugging at his cousin to come and play, "Come on, Neese, come wit me!" (he calls her Neese - I guess that is his best pronunciation of Jean Louise). I am so ready for Jacks to return to school and his normal routine, but it was worth spending a day at home today to enjoy his cousins. He would have been broken hearted to not have an entire day to play.

Thanks for coming to visit, Westmark girls!!! We are so happy you got to meet little Nealy so soon after her arrival. I can tell people about how perfect she is, but they don't really get it until they spend a little time with her.


Jacks will not stop kissing his cousin Jeanla.....
I LOVE this picture of Sister with Nealy.....
And since Carrie will get on to me for posting a picture of her, here is a picture where I do not look pretty or not-pregnant (just to even things out). Check out that belly!!! No, there really isn't a baby in there - as you can tell from the fact that Sister and Jeanla are holding her. Can you believe that GUT???? That's what you call a Mama body. Nice.....
Actually - it might be a Mama body, but not my mama's body. Check out that little scrawny thing standing next to me.

Chet and his grandbabies

My Dad headed back to Pensacola today leaving Mom with us for another couple of days. We got some really sweet pictures of "Chet" loving on his beloved grandbabies today before he headed out. He is such a proud granddaddy. We love you, Chet! Come back soon.

When brother met sister....

Pictures!!!

she's here!!

i don't have the cord to down load her pictures, yet. as you might guess, it is the middle of the night. my baby delivery plans took a turn yesterday afternoon when i arrived to my last ob/gyn visit with a blood pressure reading which was through the roof. and, they had a few other signs of the beginnings of toxemia, so i was sent immediately to labor and delivery at the hospital. i thought i would be monitored for a while, then sent home, but the doctors knew they would have to do the c-section tonight. after some mild panic about what to do with jacks, i settled down a little (as much as i could) because things were happening quickly. i checked into the hospital at about 5:30, and they began my surgery at 6:30. baby nealy arrived at 6:55 weighing in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long. she is absolutely perfect. the surgery was a little rough on me, but in the end it was all okay. nealy is in the room with me now, and i can't stop looking at her. she has a little brown hair, but not much. she basically looks exactly like her brother!! i'll post pictures as soon as i am able. but, she has already nursed twice. i've never seen a little baby know precisely what to do when presented with a boobie!! she's like a vacuum cleaner.
she is my little miracle, and i could not be happier. joe is attempting to get some rest on the little pull out couch in the room. which, by the way, is possibly the smallest, most awkwardly arranged hospital room in the world. babies were being delivered like crazy yesterday, and i got the absolute last room available. thanks to everyone for all the kind and wonderful words i've received. things certainly didn't go according to plan, but everything is as it should be, now. my girl is here!!! love to all - check in soon. k
by the way - i'm on some pain meds, so this post might be a little confusing, to say the least.

Me and Miss Bee

When I was at college at Huntingdon, there were three of us - Bethel and Patti and me. Well, the three of us are still as close as we were on those first days of sorority rush back in 1994, and while Patti beat us to having babies first, Bethel and I have been going through this pregnancy together. Our due dates were originally 3 weeks apart, but now that her baby is coming a little late and my baby will come a little early, our little girls will be exactly one week apart. We are thrilled to have our babies so close to each other, so we staged a little photo shoot together to preserve how we looked at 9 months pregnant. Although neither of us is too keen on having our picture taken right now, we know that we'll be glad we did it later on.
She will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow night to be induced, and we hope her Sophie will be born sometime on Tuesday. Best of luck, Bee!! We can't wait to meet Miss Sophie Grace!
And for good measure, I'm also including a picture of Patti and me with our babies from a couple of years ago. We will need to do an updated shot of this very soon! Our kids are getting so much bigger - Jacks was maybe about 7 months old here, Piper was about 16 months, and little Charlie was barely a month old! The next picture like this will be very different, to say the least.

Jacks and Mommy