We are home!

Mia and I came home yesterday, and I have a lot to tell (like how surreal it felt to walk out of the hospital WITH my baby, just days after giving birth to her . . . Brian and I both said we felt like criminals or something, it was so different than walking out with your baby in the NICU) or how exhausting (yet awesome) our first 36 hours at home have been, and how Sam is simultaneously in love with her sister but also having a hard time adjusting to sharing me (or how heart shattering this feels to me -- like I'm letting my first girl down when I'm feeding her sister and Sammie B wants me and only me . . . ). A lot to share, a lot to work through, but so little time to sleep! So, I'll save the substance for later, and instead just give you the "outtakes" from our attempt to get the PERFECT going home shot of our two girls yesterday (by the way, Mia wears the same dress home that I wore 32 years ago, and that Sam wore three years ago!).

We never got the "perfect" shot we envisioned, but these shots will likely be amongst my favorite pictures always.

This first one is my favorite. I imagine 30 or 50 years from now, I'll still look at it and smile, thinking about how wonderful and funny this moment was. Mia was falling off of Sam's lap, and Sam sort of pushed up on Mia's shoulder trying to get her back up, then just said "oops!" and "help!"



Also priceless (we've learned that when we can't get a smile for a picture, we can always request, and get, a silly face):



The only one we got where Sammie B is really smiling:



This is actually a yawn from Mia not a scream. She was incredibly tolerant. (I guess second children have to be?)



And, in this one, Sammie B is DONE. She's pushing Mia off her lap, and saying "Mama!" because she wanted me to take Mia back.



What a wonderful day it was. An exhausting night followed, but even in my complete and utter exhaustion, these pictures make me smile. Big. I feel so, so blessed to have these two girls.