(I wrote this last night but was interrupted by Alyssa waking up so many times I never got back to it... I didn’t get in bed until 4:45am... and then Danica woke up crying at 5:30...oh the joys...anyway, this is what I wrote!)

Well, the kids are finally in bed and I should go to bed because I have only an hour and a half before Alyssa will wake up and I need to feed her again but I am finally realizing that I will never have a spare minute to write a blog so I had just better make a minute! We posted some pictures but didn’t really write anything about the excitement of her birth and such! After the blog I wrote at 3:00am on the 17th we checked in the hospital at about 5:30am and things began to progress normally.  At about 10:30 they thought I would have several more hours (I was at a 5) but things progressed so rapidly we suddenly didn’t think the doctor would make it back!  He had gotten off shift but said he wanted to come back to do the delivery so they called him. He was racing back but they kept saying he wouldn’t make it even though he was only about 10 minutes away!  They literally got everything ready and they had just said they would give him one more minute when he rushed in, straight into the gown and gloves and Alyssa was born!  She was perfectly healthy and I got to hold her right away which was really nice, I didn’t get to do that with the other two kids.  My recovery has been fantastic, especially compared to the c-section I had last time.  My hospital stay was short, just over 24 hours and although I didn’t want to come home to take care of the kids it was nice to get home to my own bed. 

Life’s been a little hectic at home with the kids adjusting and my recovery but fortunately my parents came for the entire week and took great care of all of us!  Danica likes “baby” most of the time but has her moments and definitely competes for my attention. Danica likes to sit on my lap whenever I try to feed Alyssa which is obviously challenging. My parents have been gone for one day and already the house is a disaster and I am exhausted. Thankfully Barb is coming tomorrow so I am sure we will survive another week! So far Alyssa looks a lot like the other kids but is totally different in every other way so it keeps me guessing and learning every day to find out what she likes. Danica didn’t seem to have an opinion about anything but Alyssa is more like Hayden, she knows what she wants. For instance, she doesn’t like to be swaddled, she didn’t want her pacifier (but is warming up to it) and tends to want to eat every 2 hours (not every 3 like the other kids did) or she screams her lungs out! But as I figure her out she is getting happier and is so sweet and cute. She loves to cuddle and just lay on me, it’s great.

A little side note on her name, I wanted to name her after my great grandma Alice who was very influential in my mom’s life. My mom’s dad died when she was only 6 and they lived with her grandma Alice for a while and it was her grandma who took her to church throughout her childhood and teens because my grandma didn’t go. However, even as a middle name we didn't love the name. But we both liked Alyssa so it works as an updated version of Alice. As for Kennedy, it’s a name we liked and thought it was great that it will help her to remember her fantastic grandpa Kenn!
Well, my spare time is short so I need to end but I just wanted to give the update!  I'll try to send more news later!