Announcing ...

Elaine Ruth Simpson
7 lb 2 oz, 20 inches

After waiting a week after my due date, we welcomed a planned induction. She was still the smallest baby we've had and looks so tiny to us. There are a few things I've learned in the week and a half since she's been born:

3 children feel like about 10 children a lot of the time

oatmeal can clog up a toilet

people who are willing to bring food to us are truly lifesavers

a 3-year old who is being ignored will find interesting and sometimes destructive things to entertain herself, like coloring with crayons on our bathtub

if i'm sleep deprived enough, i can get drenched from spit up in the middle of the night and roll over and go back to sleep - wet

an 8-year old feels the changes of a newborn baby as much as a 3-year old does - and he's going to show it

there's no way i could do this by myself. i'm going to be more proactive in helping other people when they need it from now on. people who help - not just offer - have been angels to me the past week or so

a husband who is a bishop and who owns his own business is seldom home, even with a new baby, and even if he wants to be. this makes both of us stronger (darn it)

elaine is a sweet, sweet blessing and we all love her to pieces.