Celeste's first visitors

Celeste had a whole crew to greet her upon her arrival.  :o)  The first to see her was my mom, the dad and the 3 older kids, but those pics need to be photo-shopped before I release them!!  Those were magical moments, though.  I had just delivered Celeste and she was skin-to-skin on my chest, all wet and slimy :oP and still attached via the umbilical cord.  After about 5 minutes, I said, "Can someone go get my mom?"  Mom had 5 c-sections herself so I figured this would be a neat experience for her.  And I wanted her with me!  So, still lying on the floor half-naked and in total post-delivery bliss, I welcomed everyone in.  Instead of being overwhelming to me, it was invigorating!  They left the room after a few moments so I could deliver the placenta (one of my least-favorite parts), get checked, and crawl into bed.  We had maybe an hour-plus? of cuddling while the grandparents took the grandkids to dinner, then we brought everyone in to see a now-burrito-wrapped little bundle for a few minutes.  Here are the photos:

grammae and papa had watched Gemma and Sedric for the
evening (my good friend Rosina had them for the daytime) 

First reaction was "baby go downstairs" and "Seddy sleep"
(Sedric has his own bed, but naps and falls asleep in our bed).
But his reaction changed quickly to "I pet gentle?"
Yes, Sedric, you can pet her gently.  <3

Texting was a great way to communicate during these exciting
days (on Marcus' phone, of course!).

the four sisters

By this time James had fallen asleep on the couch :o) so he had to wait until morning to hold his new baby sister.