Meet Natalie Grace

Our hearts are so full!

Natalie Grace Nelsen was born on Wednesday, February 17th at 5:45 pm.

Her Stats:

8lbs, 3oz

18.5in long

Her name:

Natalie has always been one of our favorite names. We feel like it's classic without being generational or overly popular. It means "Christmas Day" which makes me think of hope, excitement, and anticipation. Her middle name, Grace, is a name we loved for two reasons: one, we loved the one-syllable sound that followed her three-syllable first name; and two, we want her to grow up knowing the grace that has been given to her through Jesus and live a life that exhibits that life-changing grace to the people around her.

Her personality:

Her first six days of life have been pure baby sweetness. She is the sweetest, most contented little thing with just the right amount of spunk to let out a loud cry when she needs something. So far she hasn't cried at a time where we didn't know what the cry was for (feeding, diaper, burp, spit up), and for this we are so thankful!

Having her home:

The best part about having her home has been watching how much Ryan loves her. He is completely enamored and wants his "ba-by. sis-ster. Nan-ni." to do everything with him. Our biggest "concern" is him wanting to hold her, share his food, and wanting her to play everything with him. 

He has made us so proud and has adjusted to having her home much better than we anticipated. Right now, his hardest time has been his bedtime routine. Prior to her being born, reading to him and putting him down was sweet, smooth, and easy. Since we've been home, he's seemed anxious about us leaving his room and has wanted more books, more songs, more rubs, etc. Our first night home, we gave him lots and lots of extra love and grace and spent about a hour and half helping him fall asleep. We knew that as well as he had done with our stay in the hospital and our return home, the change in his schedule and routine and the emotional impact of having her home (even though he has seemed so excited) was a lot for an 18 month old to handle. Since that first night, each night has gotten better, and Matt and I have talked about how to make that time special and feel un-rushed for him. We're navigating our roles as parents of two as much as he's figuring out that he's not the only one, so it's a learning process, but we are honestly so grateful that for now, this time of day has been the only time that has seemed to be hard for him.

Reflecting:
Overall, we couldn't feel more blessed to experience life as parents of two. We've heard from so many people with older children that these days really do go by in a flash. We want to soak them in and appreciate all of the moments, because even the tough ones are moments we hoped for when we tried for so long to start our family. Now having the opportunity to parent two sweet babies feels like the biggest blessing in the world, and one we don't take lightly.