New Baby in my Life- Stephanie my niece

I am so excited to share with you that my little sister had her baby on February 29, 2012- a leap year baby!  She decided to come 3 weeks early... yikes! Mom and baby are doing well, they are just all getting adjusted to it all! Everyone is tired but elated!!!

Here she is in my arms, so cute and tiny. 5.8lbs (almost half the size of Melanie's birth weight). You don't see my face, but when I first came in the room, my sister Julie had this little tiny baby on her chest, all curled up in a ball, and I just cried with love for this new precious little princess, nose dripping and all! You know that her name means 'Crown', so she is in fact a little princess in training.

Here's Melanie holding her little Cousin Stephanie for the first time. Soooo cute! Can you see the love? Julie called us at about 6:15am and told us the great news... Stephanie made her mommy's blood pressure go up... so the doctors decided to welcome Stephanie a little early. So all day at work, I couldn't wait to meet her (I was going after work with Melanie), but let me tell you, at lunch, Nancy and I went to Babies 'r Us and bought a whole bunch of pink things!!! Ooooh that was so much fun!

Look at this precious picture of Stephanie holding Melanie's thumb, can you believe the tiny size of her fingers. Melanie was such a good cousin. I can just see Melanie taking on a 'big sister' role in this little angel's life.

And then the feet kissing picture.... oh my goodness, my heart complety melted!!! Stephanie was supposed to be covered with a blanket, but as you can see, she kept on wiggling and kicking it off. Julie was telling me the nurses told her that whatever we are wearing, a baby should be wearing an extra layer on top. Of course I said, I don't think Stephanie understands that, maybe she'll be like Melanie, who to this day, still wears little clothes and never really sleeps with blankets. Thank you God for this gorgeous little Girl!

On a side note: Wondering how much more wonderful this news is 41.4 lbs lighter? Well, this summer Brent was in the hospital for a week and his room was a 'really' long walk down many corridors and it was killing Melanie and I to walk there every day. We were so out of shape (me, a lot more than her). Well, Julie and Stephanie were in the Maternity ward which is about the same distance from the front doors of the hospital as where Brent was, a bit of a hike! But let me tell you, we walked fast, with presents, our big winter coats and scarves and we weren't even out of breath at all. In fact, it was like that walk was 'nothing'. All I can say is that 'we have come a long way baby'! Thanks Stephanie for showing us how much better we will be able to play with you, and chase you and play horsey with you!