Our First Week with Isabella

Wow! What an exciting week it has been. So much to write about, but not enough time.

We had Isabella on Christmas Eve day. She came at the perfect time in terms of the visitors we were having from out of town. Robin's mom had flown in to Cedar Falls from Florida the Sat. before and her sister, Nancy and nephew, Gus, were arriving in Cedar Rapids from NYC on Christmas Eve Day at 2pm. So, it was very nice of Isabella to arrive at 1:05pm. Isabella's first visitors in the hospital were Uncle John and Aunt Kristy. When their visit was ending, Grandma Groves, Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus arrived. Diane and Aleah Lemke and Diane's sister Darla also stopped by. We visited for a while and then Grandma, Aunt Nancy and Gus went back to stay at our place. Little did we know that Cousin Gus was going to be throwing up 15 times in our basement. Yes, he had gotten a stomach virus which he would eventually pass on to Aunt Nancy.

We spent Christmas Day in the hospital. Things seemed pretty quiet around the hospital so that was pretty nice. Uncle John and Aunt Kristy came to visit in the morning. Next, Grandpa Groves and Grandma Groves showed up without Aunt Nancy and Gus. We were told Gus wasn't feeling very well. Because of that, they were all quickly heading back to Cedar Falls. Next, Grandma and Grandpa Kellbach arrived from Ohio. They brought a string of Christmas lights to make it a little more festive in the room.

We were discharged from the hospital on Wed 12/26. Grandma and Grandpa Kellbach, Uncle John and Aunt Kristy all came over for the big homecoming. G & G Kellbach stayed at U. John's and A. Kristy's that night, so we were home alone with Isabella.

Back in Cedar Falls, Robin's dad also got the stomach virus. This was making it extremely challenging for them to get here to spend time with Isabella. Luckily, Robin's mom didn't catch it, but we also thought it was wise she stay back in Cedar Falls until everyone got better.

Jeff's parents stayed with us Thurs - Sun. They were so extremely helpful in having someone to always hold Isabella and lend a hand when needed. Together with U. John and A. Kristy they overflowed our refrigerator with food and made numerous trips to the store to get us anything we needed. We think Grandma's favorite time with Isabella was at around 7am each morning, when after we fed Isabella, we would very sleepily pass her off to Grandma so we could get a few very needed hours of sleep.

Oh yes, and through all of this Isabella slept, ate and pooped.... and looked adorable!

It sounds like the stomach virus has finally gone away in Cedar Falls, so we are planning a visit from Robin's family on Tuesday. We will finally be able to celebrate Christmas with them.