First Born

Making the decision to have a child- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body. ~ Elizabeth Stone

After a challenging pregnancy, and sleepless few months post-pregnancy, I'm ready to start blogging again.

Before the memories of my two beautiful daughters begin to blend together, and before Bella gets the larger share of posts since I am home with her most often, I wanted to take a chance to reminisce about Kiki, Mikayla Ainsley Dekel, my first born, the child who truly opened my heart, shattered it actually, and who is growing wildly before my eyes.

Kiki the Baby

She was vivacious from day one. I remember taking her with me to an appointment with the Doctor who delivered her, and he told me she was the most alert baby he'd ever seen. I believe she was 4 weeks at the time. Cheerful, studious, beautiful, and also from birth fought sleep. Too much to see, do, miss I suppose. She was such a happy baby! I'm going to resist comparing the two for now...

Kiki the Toddler

Fearless for sure. She almost never cried, cries really. It's true, she fell right on her face one day running full speed down a VERY steep hill at about 18 months, completely scratched up one side of her face and body, and not a peep came out of her.

Kiki just got right back up and started the trek again. She would beg to go down a huge water slide at the pool over and over, and was climbing EVERYTHING starting at a year. She's been dressing herself since about then too, and definitely has always had her own opinions. "I can do it my own self" was her mantra. She loves to be with her friends and her family, and still just so full of life.

Kiki the Little Girl

Breaks my heart a little. She is growing up so fast, the last year is a blur to me. I don't see any baby left in her. She is smart, friendly, a little tiny bit mischievous, creative, imaginative, FULL of energy, and she loves her parents and her sister (even if she is jealous, and, yes, she is) and her friends. She is loyal way beyond her years, completely devoted to two friends especially. One who she has known since she was an infant and one since she started school. Like all children I suppose, she loves to play, revels in attention, has a whole range of emotions, and is pretty good at sharing them. The addition of baby does affect her, and we can only hope to navigate with care these uncharted waters and keep the one of a kind personality thriving.

I love this child.

I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings, and heaven knows I am SOOOOO grateful for today. Thank you for this family. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!

Overdue

But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day. ~Benjamin Disraeli

I actually haven't posted since last year! We've been a busy family, and hopefully will begin posting again faithfully as we experience life with four and slowly come out of the new baby haze.

Today, our Bella Brannon, who will be 10 weeks tomorrow, turned over for the first time. Surprisingly, it was just as exciting as when Kiki turned over and almost as fun as the first smile. These moments are monumental and beautiful, I believe.

Kiki was absolutely glowing when she saw her baby sister turn over, and kept telling her how proud she was of her as we made Bella repeat her achievement over and over ;-).

Baby Bella is Here!

Bella Brannon Dekel was born on the afternoon of April 7th. I wrote a little bit about her name on my genealogy blog (link here), but we haven't gotten around to posting any pictures yet. So here's a quick photo dump for everyone to enjoy.

Still in the OR, right after the nurses cleaned her up:



In the nursery, getting her first bath:



Kiki has been amazing with Bella and loves to hold her and comfort her:



Since it was Passover, we all got matching seder-plate shirts and a onesie for Bella:



My three girls:



Me and my babies:



Getting ready to go home:



First night at home, girls in matching pajamas:



So as you can understand we've been home for a couple of days and so far I can tell you that this kid is certainly a night owl. She only cries when she is hungry or when she needs her diapers changed, which is pretty much every 15 minutes. She makes the funniest grunts and squeaks when she sleeps and is a very strong baby. She lifts her head up and if she's got her arms or legs bent, good luck trying to stretch them out (for putting on sleeves or diapers). The hospital photographer was shocked when she saw here hold her head up at 3 days.

I can honestly say that I don't remember any of this from when Kiki was born. Which means that no matter what happens, we're all going to be fine in the end, right? Anyway, more pictures later. I am going to try to take a nap.

The day has finally arrived

We haven't been doing a great job of updating this blog, but that's all about to change. Our newest family addition will be arriving later today and this space will start getting filled with baby and big sister pictures very soon.

More updates later.