The Girls Meet Their Sister

 What a precious moment this was!  One of the best of my life!  If only I had remembered to hit the "record" button on the video camera!  Savannah and Hailey were so excited to meet their baby sister.  They studied her so closely, examining every finger and toe.  The giggled every time she made a sound.  It was love at first sight.  And since I forgot the most important part of video taping something, I pray God will let me remember this precious moment forever without the help of a video camera.

Meet Baby #3!

At midnight the night after my due date, I started having contrations.  I got a shower, grabbed our stuff, called my mom to come watch the kids, and headed to the hospital with Cole.  We got there in plenty of time and were able to visit with Cole's high school friend who is an OB at Greenville Memorial.  Everything went very smoothly with the labor and delivery and before we knew it, there she was!  

 This little beauty weighed in at 8lbs 15oz.  The doctor that I was hoping would deliver was on duty until noon that day, and Ellison Cole Varner cooperated beautifully and came into the world at 11:57am.  She was bright red, lots of blonde hair, and very healthy.  We fell immediately in love, of course, and are still overwhelmed by God's goodness.  Three little girls!  Life is good!

My mom and my sister were both able to be there for the birth, thanks to lots of helpful friends who passed around Savannah, Hailey, Lyla, Pressley, and Kru.  And Cole's parents arrived at the hospital just hours later.  What a miracle birth is.  It just never gets old!  Just looking at these photos takes my breath away.  I better end this post before I start to get all weepy on you :)

9 Months Pregnant!!

Since Savannah came 5 days after her due date and Hailey came 9 days before hers, I really had no idea when Ellison would arrive.  I was, however, shocked when my due date came and went.  I really thought she would be another early baby.  She decided to get herself in the breech position around 35 weeks and stayed there until we did an external version in the hospital at 37 weeks.  It was successful (which is awesome, especially since there's only about a 50/50 chance) and a day after her due date Ellison decided it was time to come out, and the sweet girl stayed head down, praise the Lord!!

Hailey Turns 2!

On January 21, our sweet Hailey turned 2!  We had a small party for her this year.  Just a small group of mostly family to celebrate the day.  We went to the Runway Cafe and let the kids play with different ride on toys in the hanger.  She picked a princess birthday cake and our shy girl seemed to really enjoy the spotlight for the day.  After we sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out the candles, she looked at everyone and said, "Again!!"  So we sang to her one more time :)

Sharing a Room

After Christmas we decided to put the girls in the same room to make the nursery available for baby Ellison who was on her way in a couple months.  Another transition that went much smoother than I feared.  Or maybe that's just the beaty of updating my blog months after all of this happened.  I only remember things as wonderful memories :)  But in all honesty, a video monitor makes these things much easier and the girls have loved sharing a room.  Many of my favorite memories from when I was little have a lot to do with sharing a room with my sister.  I hope these girls enjoy all that goes along with sharing a room... the good and the bad!

Christmas 2011

Christmas was such a great time with these two.  This is the best picture I got.  Not that I didn't try.  I have two who LOVE to make faces for the camera.  They are hilarious to go through, but very difficult to try to choose just one to share.  Brent and Katie were in town from the Cayman Islands and the girls soaked up every opportunity to get their attention.  What a wonderful time of year!

Potty Training Hailey

We decided to potty train Hailey at 22 months.  It was pretty ambitious for me, but I was motivated to get it done before a new baby entered the house.  Thankfully, everything went smoothly and by day 4 she had it down!  A week later she was completely diaper free and wearing underwear 24 hours a day!!