24 hours old

One of the things I asked Nathan to do while I was in labor, was to try to get a picture of Heather taking pictures. We have no pictures of Treya at Leaf's birth, because she took all the pictures. I wish we had at least one. Labor was so quick and Nathan was quite busy, so he got a few shots after. 

I didn't notice Heather much ( I was a little focused on other things), but I remember my midwife kept saying, "boy, you are flexible, I would never be able to do that to get a shot." Looking at some of the pictures, I wonder how Heather was contorted trying to get a good shot. Thanks again Heather!

Daddy already has his little girl helping in the beer making process. On Sunday, Nathan put her in the Ergo and they picked hops for drying for about an hour. Aurora slept happily snuggled against daddy.

All Leaf wants to do is hold bebee. He loves to suck his finger while he checks her out. He sits really still until he is done, and then he says all done.

Everest loves to hold Aurora too. He is a very proud big brother.

Assessing Aurora

Our midwife waited to do Aurora's assessment until the boys got to the house. We all thought the boys would like to see their sister being weighed and checked out. 

Nonnie got a little bit of Aurora time before she had to be weighed.

Aurora loves all the attention she received.

Leaf got his shirt and was waiting to help out.

Ok little girl, time to see how big and healthy you are.

Aurora getting weighed. 8 pounds 3 ounces (Everest was 8 pounds exactly, Leaf was 8 pounds 6 ounces).

Taking her head measurement. 14 1/2 inches.

Everest got to listen to Aurora's heart beat. This was one of his favorite things to do during our midwife visits. Now, he can see what he was listening to.

Our midwife was explaining what the cord clamp was all about.

Our midwife was wonderful, she explained how she assessed Aurora. She was explaining about her ear development, which was 39-40 weeks. She also showed us the lines on her feet, and other little things about her body, that let you know how far developed she was. On all things she measured 39-40 weeks. I love all the things I have learned about birth and my babies from my midwives. I asked and she said they do this in the hospital, but no one tells you about it.

Thank you to our wonderful midwife for all you have done, and for explaining things and being patient with our curious boys too.

Love at first sight!

We were sure we were having another boy, so I ordered these beautifully embroidered shirts from an etsy shop.  They say Big and Middle Brother with the boys initial in blue. I need to order a baby sister onsie now! The boys were so excited to get a gift from their baby sister. Everest wore his the first two days after she was born. We had to get it off of him to wash it, because he wants to wear it his first day of school on Wednesday.

Everest meeting Aurora for the first time.

He is a very proud big brother. He was quite protective of her, even from Leaf.

Leaf wasn't sure what to think of her at first.

Leaf loved that she was moving her legs around. He was tickling her toes.

Everest held Aurora for a while, he didn't want to give her up.

Everest can't wait to play with his sister and show her around. He wanted to take her to our room and show her where she would sleep and be changed. He also wanted to show her his room and all his toys.

Leaf really wanted to hold Aurora, but he still wasn't sure about her, when she would move around. As soon as he held her, he would say done, but as soon as someone picked her up, he would yell, "baby, I hold!".

Nonnie finally got her time with Aurora. Everest had to keep an eye on her to make sure she knew what to do.

Nonnie lovin up her first granddaughter. It has been good for all of us that my parents have the boys in the motor home at a campground. One of the first things my mom said was "I need to go shopping." She hasn't been able to do that yet. I am sure Aurora will be spoiled. Nathan and I are fine with her wearing the clothing we have (which was the boys), I don't think Aurora will care either.

There is a great article in Mothering Magazine about color. Did you know until 1940's pink was more for boys and blue was for girls. It has something to do with the Virgin Mary being depicted in blue and pink was a variation of red which was considered a masculine color.

Aurora Elizabeth

Our friend Heather took almost 700 pictures. She was wonderful. There are so many good images, we have had a hard time deciding which pictures to post. When I looked over the pictures, Aurora made her appearance by picture 100. I guess when a girl is ready, she is READY! Hopefully this is not a preview of what she will be like as a teenager. 

Daddy and Aurora got to spend some quiet time together.

She already has her daddy's attention.

She has big long feet, and toes.

Her hair looks a little lighter here, but in person it is dark (I thought for sure this baby would be my toe head- I was a toe head and Nathan was very blond). She has light eyebrows, so I assume her hair will lighten, if not my mom is claiming her Italian roots on Aurora.