We spent the rest of the week all getting aquainted and settling in.

I heard Mommy and Daddy say several times how thankful they were that Uncle Noah came to visit. I just enjoyed snuggling with him!



Uncle Noah left today to head back to New Hampshire, but not before he had me try on one of the Dartmouth outfits he brought me. He thinks he can convince me to go there early, but he's going to have some tough competition from Mommy (Auburn - War Eagle!) and Daddy (Syracuse - Go Orange) and their respective schools.

Today is the big day!! I get to meet my Daddy at last!! Mommy was very excited and woke us all up really early. So, she, Uncle Noah and I all bundled into the car and drove the two hours to Lubbock. The people in the airport were really nice and let the three of us go through security to meet Daddy right at the gate! Since Mommy couldn't take off her shoes without pain, my first experience with airport security involved being wanded. I was very secure!

Daddy showed up right on time. Uncle Noah held me while Mommy got the first hug. From that point forward it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, Mommy was a little overwhelmed and forgot to take a picture of our first meeting, but that's ok, we've been pretty inseperable since. Mommy had to guide Daddy by the arm as he walked through the airport because he wouldn't look up.



After we got Daddy's luggage squared away (I thought it took a lot of stuff for me to travel - he had lots too), we went out to lunch. It was my first time out and I did very well. People stopped and cooed at how cute I was - all while Daddy and Uncle Noah threatened to feed my oysters (yuck!). Of course, I took a long nap on the way home too, but after that, we all settled in nicely.

Grandpa and Granny left this morning to head back home.



Mom, Uncle Noah and I went out for our first driving adventure today. We went to the hospital to have my blood drawn one more time to make sure I was ok (I was) - all under the watchful eye of Dr./Uncle Noah who kept moving us away from the germy people....

I made it home safely and our first night was uneventful. I'm certain that I definitely slept more than Mom did. She was exhausted, but too nervous to sleep well. The next day I got to spend more time getting aquainted with everyone. I even got to cheer for my first NFL football game with Grandpa (Sorry Dad, he made me cheer for the Broncos. Mom faithfully watched Saints games while you were gone though...)

Nanna...



Grandpa...



Granny...



and Uncle Noah....

Too many people to name came by to visit me in the hospital. Since I was in the NICU for the first three days, they had to settle for a visit with Mom. Finally, on Saturday, January 21, 2006, they decided to let me go home. Grandpa, Granny and Uncle Noah showed up just in the nick of time to whisk me off.

Happy Birthday to me!

I decided that today was a good day to have a birthday today. I tried to wake Mom up by breaking her water. She ignored me and went back to sleep for a few hours. When she finally decided to go to the hospital, I changed my mind and decided that I wasn't in a hurry to show up after all. Mom forgot to tell me that just because Dad was LEAVING Iraq that day, it didn't mean that he'd be home on the same day. Oops. Mom spent a lot of time on the phone all day letting everyone know that we were both ok.

I made my grand entrance via emergency c-section at 11:40 pm (I had been a bit of an acrobat and wrapped the cord around my neck). I had a few lung problems at first, so I spent the next few hours strapped to an oxygen tank, which I definitely did not like - every time the nurses put the mask on me, I wiggled back out of it.



Finally, after Mom and I had both recovered from our adventures, we got to meet for the first time at about 4:00 a.m. Nanna, Elizabeth and Diane had been with Mom the whole time and stayed until they got to meet me too!



It was definitely a good day!