Home sweet home got a lot sweeter today...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Here is Ellis just before we left the NICU, all tiny and ready to go! (Notice how you can hardly see the straps.)

Here we are in the car, leaving the hospital.  It was brighter than Ellis is accustomed to, so she kept her eyes closed for the beginning of our journey home.

Thinking this could be fun...

Having some second thoughts...

Some shots of our drive through downtown Denver:

We made it home, safe and sound.  It often felt like this day would never come, but thankfully, 6 weeks and one day after Ellis was born, we are home.

It was a bit surreal as we left the NICU.  There was a baby admitted to the "bed" right next to Ellis yesterday.  The baby was in the NICU because she was having seizures and they found a brain bleed. As we left today, the parents were being taught some of the same things our nurses began teaching us six weeks ago. 

Was that really just six weeks ago?

In a way, it feels like a lifetime ago.  We were scared, we knew nothing, and we didn't always know what to expect.  Today we are excited, we know a great deal (more than we did six weeks ago), and though we don't necessarily know what to expect, we have a pretty good idea.  I wanted to tell those parents to hang in there, to promise them that little by little their precious little girl will become strong and healthy.  And that as she does that, they'll become stronger, too. 

When we arrived home, Gabe prayed for us.  I cried when it hit me. We're home.  Ellis is ours. Thank GOD. Thank you, God. Shortly after, I sat upstairs with Ellis in her room---and cried some more.  AND here it comes again! I am so grateful that our little (but growing bigger everyday) girl is home, and healthy. Trying to explain how strong this feeling is is falling very short. 

The strangest part is that a small piece of me misses the NICU.  The nurses we came to know so well, who loved and cared for Ellis so well.  The nurses that cared for Ellis' rookie parents so well, through our scares, our sad days, our days of celebration, and just the regular day-to-day stuff of being a parent to a child in the hospital.  The place that we spent so many hours getting to know our girl, watching her grow, watching her hurt and heal, feeding her, changing her, just being with her.  Her story began there, and as much as I am ecstatic we're home, I can't that forget our first "home" with her was in the NICU, where she needed to be. I will always look back fondly on our time there---even though I didn't know how I'd make it there one more day, so many times.

We're home.  Ellis is sleeping on the bed next to me, as if she's been here all along. Gabe and I won't be sleeping much starting tonight, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support---the myriad ways you've all given. We really would not have maintained any level of sanity without it. 

p.s.  Daly is not impressed with our addition.  This is just fine.  The less attention he gives ellis, the better. =)