Meeting Greta Anderson

Today we got to meet Heidi's newest little sister: Greta May Anderson!!!! Before they came over, we drew a chalk drawing to welcome them. Leia Rose was upset that she drew a frown on the baby (which she did by mistake), so I told her to just make it a crying baby. ; )
And then they arrived!!! (And in the background you can see Leia's "WELCOM GRETU" written in chalk. ; )
Look at that adoring big sister!
the girls picked some beautiful dandelion flowers for Greta, who was very sleepy.
But it wasn't long before she woke up, and we saw those beautiful eyes! Not only did we get to meet the newest member of the family today, but Emily and I got to talk for quite a while which was such a blessing! Emily shared her entire birth story with me today and, wow, did it sound like a carbon copy of Leia Rose's birth story! The difference was this: where Maureen, the head midwife, actually recommended an epidural as necessary after 24 hours of hard, natural labor, . . . Emily's doctor did not. The result was that, after 28 hours, Emily got the natural birth that she wanted, but her body basically shut down during transition and pushing, making the whole process longer and more drawn-out. Emily was so exhausted by the time Greta was born that, . . . well, let just say it took Emily three days to even be able to talk about the birth. I feel like I got an extra blessing in life: to see what Leia's birth would have been like if I had made a different decision! And I suppose now, benefiting from the wisdom of Emily's experience, that I'm glad the epidural gave me a fairly decent night's rest. (The whole thing also proves that a vaginal birth after a cesarean section is just like having your first baby because your body has never done it before.) But no matter what, . . . just look at the newest miracle of God's creation!!!

And as we talked, the girls first played on the playground and then drew their own "house" in chalk including their beds and what Leia deemed a "drawing table" in the center of the picture. : )