Thursday, April 01, 2010

Two years ago

Two years ago today, I wrote this non-April Fool's Day post about my surprise fourth baby, eliciting shocked and funny responses from friends. The best reaction was from my dear friend O'Pine, who read my post with me sitting in his living room. He spent several minutes saying, "Really? This isn't a joke? Seriously?" before he believed me. Perhaps it was my bursting into tears that convinced him.

Even though I had grave concerns about how I was going to handle a fourth child and even though I spent a lot of time crying being pregnant again, I wouldn't trade Elizabeth for the world. She is absolutely a wonderful addition to our family. She rules our house with a tiny iron fist and is in serious danger of being completely spoiled by everyone in the family. Her big sisters fight over who gets to play with her, and Campbell still calls her "my beebee." Even B is completely wrapped around her little finger, promising her ponies on a regular basis.

When Elizabeth was just a few hours old, the NICU nurse told me that she could already tell Elizabeth was going to be feisty. At the time, I didn't really believe the nurse. I was sure it was what they told all mothers of preemies in NICU. Turns out, the nurse knew what she was talking about. Elizabeth is going to be my biggest challenge, without a doubt.

She has Ella's stubbornness, Lily's dramatic tendencies, Campbell's constant motion, and her own temper all mixed together. She can already throw tantrums that rival anything her siblings ever did. Mostly I laugh when she pitches a fit, because she is so tiny that it's funny to see someone so small getting so mad.


Plus she's so dang cute that I can't really take her seriously.
So two years after my bombshell, I'm immensely grateful to have this wonderful little nut in our family.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

she is so beautiful!

Baino said...

Awesome . .and who doesn't like a kid with character. My happy accident is now 23 years old and still as feisty as he was as a toddler! A fortuitous accident at that, if I'd had my way and a 'planned' family, his father would have died before he was conceived. Fate works in wonderful ways sometimes.

Amy said...

Just LOOK at that face. She is a precious thing indeed.

Liz @ ewmcguire said...

She's definitely a keeper!

Jami said...

My little girl is a feisty one, too. She can make me experience every emotion possible, often all of them within the space of 5 minutes. When she was 4, my mother-in-law said that with her personality, charm and manipulative talents, by the time she was 30, she'd either be ruling the state of Texas with a velvet fist or in prison for life. I've only got another 21 years left to find out if that's right. I can't imagine loving her any more than I do, yet every day I do. Feisty kids rule!

anymommy said...

It's amazing how, even if unexpected, once they are here you couldn't live without them. She is perfect.

Alexandra said...

The same with us over here. Our last surprise baby, I was 43 yrs old. And he has been the absolute pleasure of my days.

Beautiful.