Leaving the hospital

Yesterday we left the hospital which means no more getting any sleep at all. At least in the hospital we could send Layla to the nursery at night and they brought her too me when it was time for her to eat. I will never forget some advice a nurse gave us the day we were leaving the hospital with Kayleigh. She said the first couple of nights out of the hospital are just pure hell. She was right. I remember hardly getting any sleep at all but at least we were prepared or somewhat knew what to expect. Now we enter the world of being parents of three. I have to admit I am a little nervous. At least to walk through these next 6 weeks when we will basically be in survival mode. John and I will be sleep deprived and still need to be parents to a 2 year and 4 year old. I am so thankful we are living with my parents so they can help us. So very glad though, that this precious gift is now a part of our family.

While in the hospital....

Zeb has played in the cabinets!

 Protected his cars from his little cousin Savannah.

Adored our new little sister.

Kicked Mommy out of her bed.

Layla meets her family!

Yesterday afternoon, my parents brought Kayleigh and Zeb to the hospital to meet their new little sister. I have never seen Kayleigh so excited. They both were in awe of her. I just know they are going to be a great big sister and brother to her. Below is a picture of me with the two best nurses in the whole world. On the left is my roommate and dear friend from college Catherine. On the right is my sister. Since I went into labor and Layla was born two days early ( a story for another post) Catherine happened to be working and my sister too which was a huge blessing. They both assisted with the delivery. It is awesome to have two people that you know so well and know you so well in the delivery room with you. There were actually a lot of laughs going on during her birth. An experience I will never forget.

My parents

John's dad

John's step-mom

Announcing.....

Layla Rebekah Greene

Born February 22, 2011 at 11:57 am. Weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.75 inches long.

Layla was John's maternal grandmother's name and Rebekah is Alisa's Mom's middle name.

While We Wait...

While we wait on Baby Butter to arrive we have been spending A LOT of time at different parks. My kids LOVE to swing since we don't have any swings in Asia. We are enjoying the "warm" weather in February.

Sweet Savannah

Candy Store

As the time was getting closer for us to go to America, we began to talk about the fun things we would do there. One of the things that Kayleigh and Zeb's Uncle Henry promised to do with them was to take them to "The Candy Store". So today we loaded up in the van and drove to Lexington to the Candy Store. Henry let them pick out three things each. Kayleigh and Zeb did not know what to do with themselves. They had never seen so much candy in their lives. Zeb was going around picking up everything so it was hard to get him to decide on just three things. I just love this store. It is so authentic and their homemade chocolate candy is to die for!

Snow! Well at least a little...

One thing we looked forward to as we were coming to America during the winter was snow. North Carolina isn't known for much snow but since it has already snowed several times in NC, including Christmas day, we were hoping to see some white stuff while we were home. We have talked a lot about snow with Kayleigh and Zeb since they don't really see it at all in our city in Asia. This morning when we woke up it was snowing! The kids were so excited! Unfortunately, we only got enough snow to "dust" the ground. None the less we dressed in our winter coats and boots and went out to play in what little snow we did have.

Dear Friend

Today John and I got to see our dear friend Ellie. She lived with us in Asia for 5 years. She lives in Texas now but was in North Carolina for a quick trip to see her brother so we drove to meet her today. It was so good to catch up and to meet her husband Keith. We had not seen her since 2009.

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Last night Kayleigh and John went on a date to Chick-fil-a for dinner. Our local Chick-fil-a hosted a Daddy Daughter date night as a pre-Valentine's idea. Kayleigh was so very excited to get to stay up "late" and go on a date with her daddy. John made reservations ahead of time. When they got there a section of Chick-fil-a was marked off for all the fathers and daughters. They had a waiter come and take their order complete with place settings for each table. One of the neatest things was they provided a little booklet of questions they could ask each other to spark conversation. Kayleigh had a blast and the first thing she told me when she got home was "Daddy let me drink sweet tea!" Apparently, that made a big impression on her. They had so much fun they plan to make this a habit and hope to go out once a month.