Little Lady Nora

Wanted to (finally) officially announce that we had a baby! Nora Rose Garrity was born Jan 2nd early in the morning and is doing great. She's a wee one and after carrying 14 lbs of baby with the twins I had an easy break with a little 6lb 10 ouncer :-) I know people boast about their HUGE babes, but I am so happy with little babies with their little heads!
 I realize most people didn't even know we were expecting another baby and that's mostly my fault so I'm sorry we kept so many people out of the loop. I'm always somewhat paranoid that something will be wrong or go wrong with my pregnancies- partly because they do sometimes, and partly because it may just be an overly sensitive mothering instinct I have. So this makes me really cautious with making things public and I also am just not the type to do anything to draw extra attention. And to make another excuse for not telling people, after spending the majority of my time alone with three toddlers, I don't socially know how to say, "and btw I'm pregnant!" to people :-) A lame excuse I know, but we didn't even tell our parents until right before my 20 week appointment, and it's always a rule to tell them before anyone else. With this pregnancy we had a couple of scares that Nora would come too early and/or wasn't growing properly. I was put on bedrest at 32 weeks and she came at about 38 weeks. Ultrasounds showed that she was actually growing just fine but I was at risk for delivering early because well, things on both ends just started opening up! Nora so far is a really great little lady. Whenever something would happen to startle her or make her uncomfortable in the hospital, like putting the thermometer in her armpit, she would calm down on her own really fast as soon as it was over. Pretty awesome!


 The other kids are awe struck and have been so great with her. G tends to, as my aunt says, 'kill her with kindness.' He has learned to pat and rub her head 'softly' instead of with full force, to 'beep' her nose with one finger instead of 'honking' it, and to kiss her forehead- not her mouth! He constantly says, 'Nowa,  Nowa! ' in his sweet little voice while doing any of the above.
 Row and Miri race to see who can get diapers or wipes first, and both will come up to her with a big smile on their face and talk to her. And it is the cutest thing! Miriam is so excited to have a little sister and she's taken the transition like a champ. Rowan on the other hand struggled a little. He's awesome with Nora, but any chance he'd get, he'd be mean to little G. Thankfully the week my mom took the twins back to Portland with her fixed that. The time away from each other was good for him. All in all the transition so far is going great, thanks to help from family and friends.