"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life;
to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived." ~Henry David Thoreau

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Meeting Garrett

By day two I was already missing the kids like crazy and counting the minutes until Cody brought them up to see me and the baby. For several weeks the girls had been talking about eating in the hospital cafeteria when they came to meet the baby, because whenever they'd go with me to a doctor appointment, we'd pass the cafeteria and they'd beg me to eat lunch there. So I told them that maybe Dad would take them to eat dinner there when they came up to meet the baby. Cody brought them up at about 4:30 on Monday afternoon, which would allow them time to visit and then hit the cafeteria for dinner.

When I heard several little hands knocking on my door my heart leapt. I was so happy to have them there with me! They walked in, each of them looking a little nervous and shy but very excited. They gathered around my bed and oooohed and awwwwed when they saw the baby in my arms. Devin was very happy to see me, but then a look of concern spread over his face when he saw what I was holding.

Being there with all five of my children made me want to cry. It was a beautiful experience. Finally, the seven of us felt complete. It's like we had been waiting for baby #5 for so long and finally, we were all there together. Simply amazing.

When it was time for Cody to take the kids down to eat dinner, Lauren would not leave my side. She insisted on staying with me and I was very happy to have her keep me company while the others went to eat dinner downstairs. She helped me eat my dinner that was delievered about the time they all left. Okay, so she mainly just ate the chocolate cake! Lauren by far had the hadest time with me being gone in the hospital for five days. For weeks afterward she told me "Mom, promise me you will never go away again!" Poor thing.