{All the photos in the post except the last one are from Sarah.}
Last week, when Wednesday the 25th was only 52 minutes old, my niece was born.
Meet Waverly Lou. She was almost born in the car, but my brother carried his laboring wife into the hospital and a few nurses managed to catch the baby just in time. She was 6 pounds 13 ounces when she was born, and evidently Addie was exactly that small when she was born.
I do not remember her being that small. I remember small. But not that small.
Jason assures me that, yes, Addie was that small.
I do remember the joy of snuggling a tiny newborn. Time just slips away, and all you want to do is memorize every little feature of her face, her tiny fingers, her fuzzy hairline.
Wavey doesn't know it yet, but she has entered a world that will be filled with lots of kids who will hug and love her, who will tease and trip her, who will thump her on the head and jump with her on the trampoline. She joins a big family.
Not the kind of the big family where all the kids live under the same roof (although Waverly is baby #4 in her family); the kind of big family where aunts and uncles and cousins and more cousins and grandparents gather together to be with each other.
Sarah has a big family--Waverly is grandchild #17.
On Ty's and my side of the family, Waverly is grandchild #7.
Also? Wavey is Family Farm member #19.
Although we do have two teenagers hanging around the farm, we also have eight kids under the age of 10.
A couple weeks ago, I was reading friend Gretchen's post about the upside of a having a big family. I was thinking then what I thought earlier this week when I saw the little cousins running around, looking at the baby, patting the baby, holding the baby: we have our own kind of big family.
Yes, we have a few sets of parents to distribute the wealth of children, and each home has its own personality and responsibilities. But we're also in this together.
These kids are growing up together, spending days at the creek together, picking blueberries together, having slumber parties together. Amanda, Clover and Sydney stick together, and Jules and Toby stick together, and in some way or another Med and Addie and Wavey will stick together. Although I suspect that Addie and Wavey might tell Med to go hang out with Grandpa a good deal of the time.
Around here, it takes a farm to raise a kid.
Welcome to the Family Farm, Waverly. You are in for some fun and crazy times.
