the mcg family

It's amazing to me how... right... it seems for Nora to be here, to be a part of our family.
Things continue to go smoothly over here.
The 'big' kids really love their new sister. They spent the night with my cousin Monday night and when I walked in to pick them up, Caters came running towards me- just to bend down and kiss her sister, "My baby No-wah" she said. Corban loves to hold her, and usually checks in on her every so often. He'll stop playing for a minute, run to the couch to kiss her, and go about his business. He wants to know where she is at all times... a good protector, that boy of mine. :)
Our days really have been good. I was much more overwhelmed by the thought of handling three kids than I actually have been in handling them all. Really, our days don't look too different than our old normal- You forget how much a newborn sleeps! Nora spends a lot of the morning in the moses basket zonked out, and the rest of us eat and play and watch Curious George- you know, 'normal' morning time stuff. :) We have lunch, and then (so far, anyway... I know she's just 10 days old) all three nap around the same time. Part of me not being overwhelmed has been doing more planning and organizing than what is typical for me, and I've been really trying to stay up on the house. So nap time has allowed for me to get laundry and morning mess picked up- and then today, I took a nap with  my sweet baby girl on my chest. It was really wonderful... until the projectile spit-up covered me and everything but the burp cloth! Ha.
Oh we've had hard moments- don't get me wrong. It's not a cake walk, by any means, but the transition is going much more smoothly than I ever anticipated. And I'm praising the Lord for that!
Nora continues to sleep mostly well. She's had a fussier two days, but overall is really a very content baby. Get this-- she REFUSES a pacifier. What's a mom to do without a paci!??! This is whole new territory for me. :) She sucks her hands often, but has a hard time finding them. I really think she'll be a thumb sucker once she gets the coordination down- whenever she DOES find it, it's there for a good while, and usually puts her right to sleep. We went for her one week well-baby check up yesterday, and she, at 9 days old, was already 5 oz. above birth weight! Another first for me... We've always had to do a few weight checks before, but Nora is growing like a champ and we don't need to go back until she's one month old!
My (other) baby girl turns TWO this Sunday. Yeah, seriously. When did this happen?! I'll do a full Caters post here in the next few days, but I can't believe how this has crept up on me. Corban is at a really fun stage- he loves to learn and we've spent a lot of time working on letter recognition and the sounds letters make. P is favorite, of course, because of pizza, poop, and potty. Ha.
Okay. Time for bed. Boring update, I know, but I want to remember these things.

OH- one more thing, if you're in Indianapolis- do you have any good ideas for a place to do indoor pictures?? I am wanting to do Cate's 2 year pics, not in our house and not in a studio... hmm....
Goodnight!