Reunion Day

Getting the kids to go to sleep last night felt like it was Christmas Eve. They all slept in the same room, and I could hear them talking for hours about holding Koby and how excited they are. Usually I hush them and tell them to be quiet so they can get rest. But last night I let them talk away and enjoyed listening to their conversation outside the door in the hall. Then they woke up earlier than usual this morning in anticipation.

In describing today's experience I've thought a lot about the best way to describe how it felt. Imagine when someone passes from this life and goes on to heaven. When they arrive they are greeted by countless family members and loved ones, welcoming them back together again. Often times those that had already passed are probably anxiously awaiting the arrival. The length of the separation surely increases the amount of joy felt after a long time away from each other.

That's how it felt today. We've been waiting for Koby to be with us, well for five weeks now. But what makes this an even more joyous day is our belief that we lived together before we were born. We knew each other and loved each other long before coming to earth.
When we arrive on earth it isn't the first time we are seeing each other. Rather, we are reuniting with those we were with before coming here. The title of today's post is "Reunion Day" because our family has been waiting a long time to be together AGAIN. When we look at Koby he looks familiar, and that's because this wasn't the first time for the kids to see Koby. It was just their first time seeing him in this life.
One by one we've welcomed our children back to be with us, in our little heavenly home on earth. Knowing this made today all the more special. It's taken us almost sixteen years of marriage, and our family of eight is finally all together again!


Here are some pictures and videos from today.




Right before driving to the hospital.

As we prepared right before going in to be together.




We waited on the bottom floor of the hospital for an extra half hour for Koby to be ready for discharge. The kids were too anxious to wait any longer so we got there early and waited impatiently to see him.




Our nurse Amanda McKinney is holding Koby. She took such good care of him and loved him so much. It was hard to say goodbye to her.







When we got home they didn't want to do anything but stare at him and hold him.








They've all wanted to hold him while he eats. With all of our previous babies Sharalee has done all of the feeding. But this time everyone gets to help and participate! His pump machine is right behind the couch. During the day his feedings take one hour. Tonight he will be on a slow pump and the feeding will take an entire twelve hours, a tiny bit at a time.





Kyle and Kaylie taking turns.




Kyle has a new pal.




What's up world?




One of our great primary nurses Amy. She is friends with our very close friends Paul and Catherine Moore. So we were thankful to have a connection with her from the start.



Erica was our primary nurse as well. She was with us the entire weekend, teaching us what we needed to know in order to bring him home. She wore her Koby shirt today. She is great.



Kaylie giggled the entire day with excitement.




Kamden is convinced already that Koby will love Star Wars. He told us that he's pretty sure Koby wanted to watch Star Wars tonight.



Krew kept saying that his head was so little and his own head is so big. Krew is excited to be a big brother.


He started crying when Kinzy held him so she was showing us her sad face.

Reunited and it feels so good!!