Sharing

Well? What else would you do with the food on your tray if you were done eating it?

A quick drop to the floor of course, followed by the words, "Tee-lee."

Now you know why we still have Tilly around. We've decided to keep the furry vacuum until Lucy has also gone through this stage of 'sharing' - unless of course we get a better offer.

Fascination

Keeping a watchful eye on the little one in the bed nearby...

Getting closer for a better peek.

Going in for a kiss.

..or two

...or three!

Totally obsessed and in awe! Do you think she'll always love her little sister this much? Hmmmm....?????????

Ten Days Old

I can't believe how long she looks already! She was so pretty in this green I had to snap her picture.

She is ultra-focused on something other than the camera or Mommy- obviously.

But at least I got a wave out of her! Hi world! I'm ten days old today - and I officially lost my umbilical cord stump today...yay! Now I look like a big kiddo with a real belly button. Just the first milestone of many. It's the little things that matter- and we're cherishing every moment!

First Visitors

Cousins Brady & Haley, and Aunt Lori Grandma Ward Uncle Matt

Dr. Hewitt

Mommy's friends: Karen Kaiser

Tara Gilbert

Judy Jones

Cousin Hannah

Uncle Tony

More friends! Jennifer Miller

Mary Lynn Buster

Cousins Jack & Ellie

Grandpa Ward

Aunt Jill

Aunt Wendy & Cousin Will

Grandpa Smith

Cousin Leah

Wow! You are a popular little girl! You had many visitors, and some of them even came twice. Even Judy left her purse with us for the night so she could come back and see you another day! Your cousin Evan came along but we didn't get a photo of you with him. You're hardly minutes old and already you're a celebrity! Your biggest fan right now is your big sister. She asks for 'baby' every time she wakes up, and she loves to give you the pacifier which she calls her 'plug'. She walks up to you all the time and says 'hi baby' repeatedly. I think she's waiting for you to answer back. It won't be long and you'll be answering her back, I'm sure.

You are a very loved little girl!

First Moments

I'm backing up the train a bit to post some pics from Lucy's first moments in the world. Since I didn't have access to a computer during my hospital stay I neglected to post some important pics. Here Dr. Hewitt is holding our little girl for the first time. She looks huge here- doc thought she'd be well over 9 pounds, but she squeaked out at only 8lb 7 oz. Just 5 oz. larger than Caroline. Quite perfect, in fact. Both girls left the hospital with a weight of exactly 7lb. 11oz.

The nurse holds Lucy up to me so I can get a first glimpse. With her hat on, she resembles big sis through the eyes and nose.

Proud parents!

And here we are again- still proud, and a little less upside down.

First Outing!

Pastor Larry meets Lucy for the first time- and she opened her eyes for him right on cue!

Tradition at Powell UMC is to sing to the new babies- and Lucy gets her greeting at just 9 days old.

We had a wonderful time at church and were greeted by many who couldn't wait to see Miss Lucy. What was I thinking? Getting 4 of us dressed and out the door by 8:30 a.m.? It went pretty well... the only thing I forgot in all the hustle and bustle, was that I had pain meds I needed to take. Oops!

Needless to say, these 'everybody up and out' ordeals are going to be few and far between. In fact, today was a 'stay in your pjs all day' kind of day. I much prefer those right now!

What's in a name?

People have been asking us for nine months....do you know what you're having? (no...a baby!)

And followed by...what names do you have picked out?

We still had our boy's name from the first pregnancy - Luke Douglas, but for nine months we made lists, consulted books, and had our own favorite names from time to time, but nothing really stuck with us for a girl. I took the lists along with us to the hospital, fully expecting to not need them. This was such a different pregnancy, I thought for sure we had a boy in there.

When Rick stood up in the operating room to announce the gender he said, "We have....to think of a name!" We were thrilled at the idea of another girl- a sister for Caroline! And the Ward's definitely know how to do girls, so we couldn't be happier. There was just one problem...the name.

We took our time- much to the chagrin of the entire world, but we knew that name had to be just right. Some of the names we tossed around for four days were: Cate, Catelynn, Eileen, Paige, Evelyn, Ellyn, Camille (Cami), Carlie, Audrey, Annie, Lucy, Charlotte (Charley), Bridgette, Jayne, and the list goes on and on. When we arrived Friday our current favorite name was Audrey Jayne or Audrey Lynn. We also liked Lucy Eileen and Cate.

Now you may not realize this, but if your baby doesn't have a name, this automatically entitles every stranger, friend and relative in the world the opportunity to share with you which name they prefer and also which of your choices they approve and do not approve. They filled my text message inbox with countless (around 200 or so) pleas of "does that baby have a name yet?", to the other "I like Audrey/Lucy/Jayne/insert your own favorite here", to the "Have you thought of _____?" Even more fun was if I happened to reply with my current favorite name, I received several opinions in return on how "she'll hate to spell it that way her whole life," or "that's cute, but how about this one?" It became so crazy I stopped picking up my phone.

I did appreciate friend Mary Lynn who would instead text me with a look into the future by texting "Homecoming queen, Miss Lucy Smith", or "Paging Dr. Cate Smith to the lobby", or "Valedictorian, Audrey Smith". Who knew there was so much to consider when naming your child? Caroline Rose was something we loved from the get go, and we were just plain stumped on this one.

When my night nurse and PCA arrived Saturday for the night shift I immediately took this picture and told Rick I had found the perfect name for our daughter....

Hey, why not? I'm just certain there aren't too many Dehong Tsehay's in this world!

Anyway, I just kept coming back to Lucy. It just seemed that this little girl had some spunk, and she needed a name to fit her. I convinced Rick that Lucy should be her name and he liked Ellyn best with Lucy, so thus...We were thrilled to finally have named our sweet little girl. So glad in fact...I cried once we had it decided. Yes, it's true.

I was also convinced that we had chosen a rather unique sweet name. But, apparently the writer's of All My Children were on to me...I guess there's a baby girl on there as of late last week...and her name is: Lucy Ellen. (sigh) What can I say? When you've got it right, the whole world pays attention!