I know Bethany could blog her own post. They do have wifi in the hospital and I know she’s been online commenting and reading emails. But I’m going to abuse my power as guest poster one more time and share some photos from our visit today. It was really special, as expected.

I caught a little movie. I’m sorry about the rustling noise. That was just my wrist strap scraping over the speaker.

It was a great visit. We all got to hold Elliora and feel her tiny wriggling body wrapped up tightly in a little bundle so lightly in our arms

She’s such a cutie. Just like her big sister.

Annalie has been up since 4:30 am, beside herself with excitement for her new baby sister. So we made some early morning cards and are sending some air hugs.

We can’t wait to meet you Elliora!

Elliora Violet Gronberg was born at 11:20 pm! She’s 6 pounds, 6 ounces, 19 inches and healthy! Three hours of labor with no epidural! Bethany is doing fine.

(This is Brenda typing. I’ll add more news as I hear it!)

12:41 AM update!

Elliora has latched on and is nursing like a champ! She has a blister on her wrist because she’s been sucking on it in utero. Troy says she’s pink and healthy looking and Bethany is so happy to have her out of her!

The unpacking is going pretty well. I’ve been in the zone for three days now and I’m just starting to feel a tiny bit tired. Overwhelmed no, just a little creaky from working hard. I’m loving the challenge of finding a place for everything. I know I can do it and when I’m done this house is going to look sooo good!

Even though everything is messy right now, I have a feeling that this house is going to be very photogenic when it’s done. I love the layout and the charming wood floors. The windows are nice with lots of light and offer great views of their giant back yard. I love how the back deck leans out into the branches of the nearby trees. I don’t have a great photo of that but that’s only because I have been unpacking non-stop. I don’t even like to stop to eat.

Of course we have to stop to eat every once in a while because we have little girls in our company with strong growing bodies who demand that we do so. “Feed the kid!” Bug yells at me from time to time. Don’t worry. Nobody is starving. Bethany is taking good care of us when it comes to eating. She’s making lemon bars right now as I type this! I can’t wait.

We’ve made a couple of trips to IKEA to scout out a new couch and some rugs for Bethany’s house and then back again to pick everything up. Shopping at IKEA is pretty fun (especially when you are helping spend someone else’s money) but it does get a bit tiring when you’ve been there for an hour or three. All the choices seem to run together and you feel a bit like a mouse in a maze going crazy. But I can’t complain because I don’t have to put everything together.

Troy does.

We’re all happy in our zones. Me unpacking…

Bethany cooking and baking…

Me eating…

And the girls doing whatever it is that they do.

*Brenda didn’t steal my words. She wrote her post and I said, “I think I’ll just steal your code and put it up on my site as a guest post, okay?” She said, “You should!”

Also, I didn’t mind making her lemon bars. I felt guilty about not helping much with the unpacking, even though she keeps assuring me that she’s having fun, so I practically begged her to give me a baking challenge.