Alivia Grace Schafer

On June 2, 2010, our lives were once again blessed with a child....Alivia Grace. She entered into this world weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and measuring 19 1/4 inches long. As soon as they got her bundled up and Terry brought back out to the operating room to me, I took one look at her and said, "She's our smallest one!" :-) She was so small, but (as you can see below) already so very alert. These two pictures below are when she is 30 minutes old and we're still in recovery:



Here, below, Alivia got to meet her brothers for the first time. We had it set up so that when I got back to my room, we would bring the boys in by themselves (without anyone else) and it could be just our little family for a few minutes. We felt it was only fair to have the boys be able to meet her and spend some time with her before anyone else. (And although the grandparents didn't necessarily like this, they understood.)

One with Grandpa (my dad) in the hospital...Dad only got to spend a couple days with us after Alivia was born because he started his new job (across the state) and had to leave to get ready for that.

Hehe...checking out of the hospital, she did NOT like being changed into her new dress. This was after we got her dressed and I was picking her up to hold her...Mom snapped this at just the right moment! LOL

Just Thinking....


This was her first bath at home....oh, she was MAD. (And to this day she STILL does not like her bath...) :(

I just love her feet....

Just napping and chillaxin'...

Terry's sister, Darlene, was in Hawaii when Alivia was born and brought these outfits/shirts back for the kids. I took some shots of them for Terry for Father's Day...So nice!

Clayton decided that since there was this new pillow out, he would figure out what all he could do with it... LOL Up on the head it goes...

This is "Grandma" Marcia holding Alivia when she brought food to us. Marcia is another deacons' wife at church and is a mentor and great friend to me. I have GREAT respect for her and she is like another grandma to Alivia (well, to all three kids!).

One night before bed, Mom was holding Alivia and got her to sleep. Well, along came Clayton and laid his head down on mom's lap. S-l-o-w-l-y, Alivia inched her way down till she was literally sitting (in her sleep) on Clayton's head. :-)

Just a couple shots that I liked....

A couple years ago, the boys learned the "chickie chickie" at VBS. One day, they all decided to call Alivia down to do the Chickie Chickie Dance... :)

Sleeping with Sophie....


In July, Jhansi and her kids came out to visit and meet Alivia. They got to spend some good "face time" together...

I just love her feet when she's sleeping....she always ends up kicking out one foot (or both feet!) from under the covers. Like Mama like baby! LOL

This was after my surgery in July....I couldn't pick her up, so mom and the boys had to bring her to me after I was sitting. She fell asleep on me, and naturally scooter her way down. :-)

Playing with Sensory Sam...LOVE that toy! :)

Mom took this picture of the three kids one afternoon....I just love it! :)

A good friend, Ruth, took these pics while they were watching Alivia one evening (we had a Youth Group activity that was outside and I didn't want Alivia in the cool night air...). In the first one, it's a normal look for her: with her whole fist in her mouth. Hehe. The second is just a cool look...it's her "who ME!?" look. The last one at the bottom is just a really great shot of her while having tummy time.

Life has not been the same since she arrived, and I'm still learning what our new normal is. It changes every week. She's a more fussy baby than either of the boys ever was, but I'm *told* by many that that is just part-n-parcel of having a girl: drama. :-) We shall see. I don't get much time to be on the computer anymore...between schooling the boys and having a baby to keep track of, life is just pretty much non-stop. I'm working harder around the house than I ever have before and I STILL don't get it all done. But, it will be there when I get back to it, right? :D

I love my daughter...I love our new family...I love how she makes me smile every morning as soon as she gets out of bed. She's ALWAYS ready with a smile for her brothers, her mommy, or her daddy! Welcome to our family, baby girl!

I will try to do another post soon that will have other pics from other activities from the last 5 months that the family/boys have been involved in. Hopefully, once I get caught up, I can do smaller posts to stay caught up! LOL

Till another time....