Stang Family of Five: Life is Full of Adjustments...

Life is definitely full of adjustments and I can't begin to explain how thankful I am for the amazing adjustment we've had adding Carrine Faith Celestine to our family. Certain days have been more enjoyable than others, the schedules are crazy to keep up with and our house seems as if the world exploded in it (truly some days you can't tell where the walls meet the floors there is just stuff everywhere)...but I wouldn't trade this time in our lives for the world. The only thing I wish for is for life to slow down, but we all know that's not possible.

God definitely knows what people need and what they can handle and I couldn't imagine our family's life any different.

Andray and Roslyn absolutely adore their new baby sister and Jake and I couldn't be more in love with lil' "CC" (as Jake calls her). She truly is a blessing and is exactly what our family needed.

On the day Carrine was born my water broke on its own shortly after lunch time. So prior to heading to the hospital, Jake and I stopped by daycare to say good-bye to the kids, let them know the baby was on its way, and take our last official photo as a family of four. Not sure who was more scared and anxious to get going to the hospital in this photo - Jake or me!

In labor here - less than 2 hours before Carrine entered the world.

It's a Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about an istant love...

Nothing better than hearing your baby cry for the first time. I didn't realize how scared and worried I was during my entire pregnancy until the RELIEF rushed over me after her delivery knowing that Carrine and I were alive and healthy.

Jake's first time holding his baby girl.

I couldn't be more thankful for the care Dr. Pinkerton gave us during my pregnancy with Carrine - grateful for good medicine as well!

Our first photo as a FAMILY OF FIVE - our family is now COMPLETE!

HOME SWEET HOME

After nearly 4 days in the hospital we finally made it HOME...what a great feeling!

Carrine spent just over 4 days on the Billi Light Bed at home - was a relief to return the bed to the clinic and move her into the bassinet.

Not everything in life is ideal...but for us it has worked to keep Carrine's bassinet in our bedroom closet until she is sleeping through the nights.

One week after Carrine was born - just love to hold her. These are the moments that I wish I could bottle up and keep forever - the kids just grow up way too fast.

Andray has stayed busy the past month working on writing everyone's name in our family.

Jake's favorite thing to do when he gets home from work...take a nap with his lil' "Tator Tot!"

(his second favorite nick name for Carrine)

Andray and Roslyn have definitely been BIG HELPERS since we brought Carrine home. I think their favorite thing to do is kiss her and put her nuk back in her mouth!

Sisters...Best Friends for Life.

Just recently Andray has started asking to hold Carrine more - aka his lil' "French Fry."

I'm so pumped all three of our kids got to wear the lil' grey sweat suit that Carrine has on. As you all know - our family loves to wear sweats!

Rozzy and Rinny (my nick name for Carrine) are so fortunate to have Andray as their big brother.

Carrine gets lots of kisses from Dray and Roz.

Carrine is as small as Jake's Duke hat!

Carrine survived her first official MARCH MADNESS shortly after birth!

Maybe someday Carrine will want to play bball like Jake and I did.

I'm hoping that God has volleyball planned in Carrine's future.

The t-shirt she's wearing was mine that I wore over 30 years ago.

What it says is definitely true..."Girls Can Do Anything."

Carrine also experienced her first Easter in March - she was smaller than her basket!

Another big adjustment for us has been the vehicle that we had to purchase, upgrading car seats for the big kids and moving Andray to the third row. Andray and Roslyn have adjusted much better than I thought they would. Dray loves using the "big person" seat belt (as he calls it) and Roz loves that she now gets to use Andray's (what used to be) new big car seat. It all really does work out.

We were fortunate as a family to be asked to walk up the sacrament oils used for baptism at our church on Holy Thursday during mass - quite an honor. Looking forward to baptising Carrine in May...will be the best birthday and Mother's Day gift to myself!

Although life is just crazy right now and our minds seem to be spinning a million miles an hour with things to do and places to go (and little sleep to add on top of that) - I wouldn't change it for the world or wish this time away. I love our kids at the ages they are and most days I wish I could just

FREEZE TIME.