A Family of Girls

There's a bottle of sanitizer by the couch. A pack of diapers by the crib. A pile of milky blankets by my bed. Baby shampoo by the sink. All of these welcome signs that we're adjusting to a baby again after 3 years. It's like a blanket has been gently placed over our family. Lillie is that type of baby. So calm, so peaceful. She has made us so incredibly happy. Of course I wanted a third baby. Of course. But you really never know what you're going to get. Lillie is like a gift, a blessing, a truce. I must have done something really right in my life to deserve her. I give Jake a look from across the room and tell him thank you for giving me another baby and he says thank you to me, too. We're all so in love with her.

Grace and Ruby love her (it took Ruby a few days to want to hold her. The photos above were of her first time). Girls just have a mothering instinct. I get a lot of "She needed her pacifier, so I put it in her mouth", and "I think she needs to wear this hat, ya, she needs to wear it, I'll put it on her, I CAN PUT IT ON HER, MOM". They're just so helpful all the time!

I can't wait to see what this new life will bring to our family, our lives. I don't want this time to slip away as fast as it did with the other girls, but I know it will. Until then, I will sniff her breath, neck, cheek, hand, until I memorize their smell. Her lips are like pillows and she's all mine. My baby Lillie.