Merry Christmas!! And a little more Tessa!

You can never get enough of a new baby, right?  This Christmas day she will be 4 weeks old.  So fun! She's such a sweet little thing!  Here are a few snapshots I got.  Time has flown by in a blur (not sleeping for more than 90 minutes at a time does that! Haha) 

She still ALWAYS has her hands up by her face. Maybe she likes to pose or maybe she's a future boxer? ;) 

 My mom got her the cutest Christmas outfit as her Christmas present this year.  What else do you get for a 1 month old!? :)

 See those little hands!? Always by the face.

 Doesn't she have a beautiful head? She turns it, like Dora did as a baby!

 Love these where you can see dad's hands.  The only one I love more than my kids--their daddy.

 Oh and can I just mention, Emmy is OBSESSED with vitamins.  Every day she begs several times for more vitamins! Sorry Ems... Just one per day!

 Here she is realizing I won't give her more.  You can see the hope being replaced by irritation...

 Eli is doing something strange... he insists on doing an "Action" or something like that (can't remember what he calls it) during every photo.  WEIRD.  Not sure where that came from.

 Love that beaming Dora...

 Naked baby!! Dad bathed her (got peed on) and came down to dress her downstairs.  I snapped a few shots of her shiny baby body before he finished.

 Papa Hugh came in around 2 am this morning.  My dad got him from the airport (THANKS DAD!) My kids are so lucky to have two wonderful papas.  They were all excited to see him--Tessa might have slept through some of it--but then Hugh and Lila drove out early to get to Indiana to see Cassidy for Christmas.  They took Whit's Mini.  He's a little jealous he's not on the roadtrip!

 Here are two snapshots we got this morning of the family on our way into sacrament meeting.  WOW, a photo of all six of us! No one is crying!!! A Christmas miracle!

May the joy and love of our Savior be with you all as it is with us this Holiday Season.  We are so very blessed and hope the same blessings extend to all our family and friends.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Swimming in December

Well if you live in Texas, plan to get some real use out of your pool!  We went swimming this year, twice, in December.  Sheesh.  The kids did not seem to mind the trees have been dumping buckets of leaves and pecans in there.  Oh, right, and that the water was really cold!  It might be 80 degrees but it's cold enough at night that neither Whit or I wanted anything to do with the water!! 

 Even Emmy got in, but by that point I'd already headed back in to watch the (other, smaller) baby.

 LOVE her face when she's happy! It lights up!

A little more Amethyst

Here are a few more shots of Amethyst.  She is a very sweet baby.  She has her cry-pants times, like all our kids have but we love her and she's the most patient of any baby we have had yet... Sweet little thing!!  

 She is so small!  Looks even smaller by her big huge dad.

 Love when they sleep on their sides! I'm a terrible photographer but I wanted to get a shot her snoozing on her side.

Welcome to the World Amethyst Whitney Baker!!

Whitney and I went in to be induced at midnight on November 27th.  It was a strange time to go in... but we wanted to make sure we had a spot. So, in we went.  I tried to take a nap before I went in, but I was too keyed up.  So I couldn't sleep.  I was really tired.  It only annoyed me moderately that Whit slept fine...   Haha. 

I think Whit took this photo around 3:30 am, just before I got an epidural.  

 It took a while after that.  I had Amethyst Whitney Baker at 10:10 am.  For the record, that's the most beautiful time on clocks.  Seriously.  All clocks with hands are always set at 10:10.  It's recognized as the most beautiful time for clocks. ;)

Brian Heaps (our OB) let Whit deliver the baby.  She was born "sunny side up" or face up, which is kind of odd apparently.  But he did great and so did little Tessa.

 Here's Whit and Brian Heaps.

 EIGHT pounds, Four point Seven ounces...

 She was born COMPLETELY covered with vernix.  And I thought she looked kind of gray! But she got 9s on both APGARs, so I guess she was fine.  She sure looked different when they got her cleaned off.  She has loved having her hands up by her face since the very first minute she was born.  She still does it now (at almost two weeks.)  It's SO cute.

 One happy mom to have her last little angel baby!

 Hands by the face!

 Daddy, all de-gowned.  :-)

 The kids came up to see Amethyst.  Eli was a little grumpy but they were all really excited.  Emmy had no idea what was going on but she was happy happy to see us.  Dora was by far the most excited about the baby.

 Loving my new little miracle.

 After 24 hours, we left and went home.  :-)  Dora was so happy to see us and the baby.  We didn't let her touch the baby--but hands out, and not breathing on Tess, we let her "hold" her.

 Eli was happy to hold her too, although this photo is from Day Three...

 Here's Tessa at 3 days old.  Dad's little sweetheart.

 Love the tree lights in the background.  Love her little eyes.  When she's awake she has been SO awake and aware.  Her little peepers just pop.

 Emmy has been a mess since coming home.

 Little Amethyst is SO cute.  Love that little sweetie!

 Emmy has been pretty high maintenance.  She's lucky she's so dang cute.

 My mom was indispensable the first few days.  She helped so much with Tess, and I saw them taking a little nap together--it was SO cute!

Little Amethyst Whitney Baker, we are so happy to see you--so happy to have you join our family!  We love you every minute.  You're so sweet and so patient for a newborn.  Love your little smiles, too.  (She has double dimples just like her sister Dora.)