Sharli Olive

And now for the long over-due post about the latest update to our family:

Sharli Olive Mower 

I was due on Feb. 7th, but when baby hadn't made her appearance by the 13th, we took matters into our own hands. Grandma Paralee came to stay with Erik, and Ethan and I headed to Albuquerque to kick this baby out of there. 

First though, we took advantage of the free babysitting and headed to Olive Garden for a nice date night. 

 We got to the hospital around 8:30 pm (on the 13th). By about 10:30 the nurses had started my pitocin and things slowly got started. We whiled away the time trying to sleep, watching the Olympics, and playing cards. Around 3:30 am we called Grandma Kathleen (as per her request) and let her know that if she wanted to be there when the baby came she'd better hit the road. She made it there with an hour to spare, and it was neat to get to have her there with us.
Sharli Olive was born at 5:41 am on February 14, 2014. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 21.5 inches long. She came out thinking she was starving and tried to eat anything she could get her hands on, including IV tubing and my hospital gown.

 Sharli's name is an variation on the Norwegian word kjaerlighet (pronounced shar-lee-het), which means pure Christ-like love. We took pity on her and shortened it a bit and Americanized the spelling. Her middle name Olive comes from several of my ancestors who all had the name Olive for about four generations in a row.

 Because it's flu season Erik wasn't able to come visit Sharli in the hospital, but he was waiting outside when we walked out Saturday afternoon to come home. He never even looked at me, he only had eyes for Sharli. And the helicopter.

 Erik holding Sharli for the first time:

 Our first family picture with all four of us:

 Erik loves to help me with Sharli. He's pretty sure there's no job involving her that he's not equipped to handle.

 Grandma eventually had to go home, but I'm not sure she really wanted to. She sure had a hard time saying good-bye.

 Just a few shots of Sharli for your enjoyment:

Her hair gets SO curly when it's wet, just like Erik's did.

Sharli was having some tummy time and Erik decided she needed some company. He stayed right by her the whole time she was down there. 

 Aunt Kett was sweet enough to take some gorgeous shots of Sharli for us. She got some great ones, don't you think?

 We sure love our girl and we're so grateful to have her! What a blessing she is in our lives already!