Maeve Elizabeth

As many of you may know, I fully expected our baby girl to arrive early, just like her big sister and brother. In fact, I had even pinpointed 38 weeks as the magical time. So when 38, and then 39, weeks came and went, I was truly puzzled. Much to my surprise, the morning of my due date, October 28th, I awoke with contractions that were pretty convincing. Right on schedule, Maeve (rhymes with 'wave') Elizabeth arrived at 7:28 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and stretching to 19 inches. She is absolutely perfect - healthy and beautiful - and we are in love. The smallest of the three, she's just a peanut with the tiniest feet (but long toes, like her mama). We brought her home on Friday, October 30th, just in time to celebrate Halloween. Grandma and Grandpa C. arrived to meet her the night she was born, and Grandma is staying through this week to help us out. Ella loves holding her baby sister, singing her songs, and stroking her head. And while Jack is mostly oblivious to Maeve, he does randomly stop and give her Brownie, which is pretty much the most generous thing he could do. Well, as I write this, I'm fading quickly, and I know my precious baby girl is going to want to stay up late and chat, so I'm off to bed. We'll have plenty more updates and photos next week - for now we're enjoying our snuggles with Maeve Elizabeth!

Ella made this gift for the baby months ago - before we even moved. It had been stored away and I had forgotten about it, but Ella didn't! She remembered the morning they came to the hospital and had Grandma help her find it.

I guess it takes a third hospital visit to get the room with the good views.

First photo as a family of five!

Opening their big brother and big sister gifts.

It wouldn't be a Bushaw birth without some bubbles! This might be Jeritt's most creative chilling method yet.