More than 5 pictures...and some great friends!!!

Wagner and Elijah!

Ivan and Elijah

Isaac and Elijah

The men of the household!!

An amazing daddy and his baby!

Me and our littlest guy! He is my favorite Elijah!

Doesn't he look like a little man here?!?

Loving that binky!!

And a momma!

Shannon and Elijah!

Melissa and Elijah!

Since we wouldn't let Nana hold him, she joined him!

First, let me share that I am very excited that I finally figured out how to upload more than 5 pictures at a time!! Now that we are past that, here are some more pictures of Elijah's first two weeks at home. He is such a blessed little boy to have some many people who love him so! His brother and sisters can't get enough of him, they all love him so much, and are eager to play with him! Ivan and Wagner are so tender and concerned. And hopefully will show him how to do a hat trick! :) Without many great friends our life wouldn't be as wonderful as it is! Especially during the weeks spent in the hospital and then the recovery coming home. So many of our great friends just jumped in and loved on all of us! Here loving on Elijah for the first time after praying so much for him are Shannon and Melissa.

Brotherly love!

Although Naomi would hog the baby whenever she'd see him, Isaac and Jojo were never far behind!! Always asking about him, and wanting to hug, kiss, and hold him! I love to hear Isaac talk about his 'baby brother', asking if he loves him, what does he like to do, if he will like to play with him when he is older. He also got pretty sad that this is our last baby, unless God intervenes in a major way!! He told me that it couldn't be, that 'we don't have enough babies mommy, I can take care of six kids all by myself!!' He is such a cutie!! Today he was asking us if we can not throw Elijah any birthday parties so that he will always stay as little as he is! He really does love being a big brother. And Jojo, LOVES to kiss him!! She must kiss him at least 50 times a day...no exaggeration!! And she is so tender with him...as tender as a 20 month old can be!!

Catching up on lost time!!

It was my first morning home after being gone for 4 weeks!! I think even though I had been home the whole night before the kids still felt like it wasn't real. Because when they all woke up they didn't even come looking for me or fuss! (Which was nice since I had been up with the baby through the night.) But once I came out of my room it was like they went, "Oh yeah!!! Mommy is home!! They all swarmed me right here in front of our basement door, and wouldn't move an inch. We hung out right here in this spot, just like this for almost an hour...no exaggeration!!

Here was another lesson that God had showed me; My family didn't really need me. God showed me that in my absence He could move in the hearts of others to provide for my family and care for my children, just as good as I probably could, some maybe even better!! But my family wanted me. With my faults and failures, the good days and the bad, I was their mommy and they loved me! And boy did I feel the confirmation of that this very morning. As I saw

three precious children be fully entertained and content in spending an hour doing much of nothing but just being by me!!

She can't get enough of her baby!!

All of them just admiring their little brother!!

Big brother Isaac. Each time he leaves the house, wakes up or goes to bed he looks for Eli to give him a hug and kiss

Naomi hogging him from the others!

She won't let him go!! It's easier to take food from her, and those of you who know her know how hard that is!!

She just loves to lay her cheek on his. So cute!!

Here are a few more pictures of Naomi loving on Eli. She has really amazed us all with how she cares for him. And when I try to take him from her she places this kung-fu grip on him!! It is really quite cute, maybe not for Eli since he is half choking from it poor thing. And Isaac and Jojo love to love on him just as much. As parents it warms our hearts, and is something we want to keep cultivating...that they all grow up being grateful and knowing how blessed they are to have one another in their lives!!

Naomi meets Elijah!!

Nana bringing Elijah in to give her a kissie!!

While Jojo and Isaac played with their gifts from the baby, Naomi didn't even care to open hers!
She just wanted to love on her new baby brother!!

She just couldn't get enough of him!

Taking care of him, ever so sweetly!!



The minute I walked in the door from the hospital for the first time in 4 weeks it was amazing!! Once Naomi got over seeing me and noticed Eli sitting in his car seat on the sofa, that was all she wanted!! She kept trying to unbuckle him herself. It melted my heart, especially since she is the one that is most to herself, and doesn't give her affection away as freely. She just wanted to hold, kiss, and hug him. She was very possesive!! If I even just moved him to shift him she'd put her arms around him tightly, and when we finally did take him from her, boy did she put up a fight!! She had a very tight grip on him, and would not let go!! It was all soooo cute.

Little Eli!

It was probably the longest two days of my life!! This was the first time I got to hold Elijah.
It wasn't until Friday afternoon, and he was born on Weds. But it felt sooo good!!

He was in the NICU the whole time we were at the hospital. So I didn't get to do much in terms of his care.
But each day I'd pump and go to feed him, it was the highlight of my days!! Here is the last feeding I gave him!

Mommy, the proud (and better looking!) daddy, and baby Elijah, ready to head home!!

It was a long journey, and sometimes hard. But God taught myself and my husband quite a few things through all of it! One of them was being able to experience more vividly His care for us, Him carrying us through this situation and providing for us! The best we got out of it was this amazing little life, we are always humbled as we think of how amazing each of our children are and that God would see us worthy to be their parents. Here is our most recent gift from above, ready to go home with us!!

D day!!

Isaac and daddy hanging out in my room during one of the visits!!

Mommy and bee ( Isaac had brought him to keep me company!)
just a few minutes before they took me back to the OR to prep for the
C-section! I was trying to hide how nervous I really was!!

Me laying at the Operating Table as they delivered little Eli!

And this moment made it all the bad fade away!! This was the first time I got to see him!
I will have more pictures of Elijah in the next few days!!

More from the hospital

Three little scavengers eating my dinner!!

YUMMY!!

This is a different day. Now they want my DQ!!

Ice cream always brings our family together!! ;)

It's been awhile!!

Isaac and mommy at the hospital!

Me and my three favorite guys on this planet! ( the third still in my tummy!! ;)

Just the girls!!

Love their smiles!!



It seems like it's been forever since I last posted! A LOT has happened here in the Cherry household. For any who may not know, On Aug 17th I had to go into the hospital because of some bleeding I had...and didn't get to leave until Sept 14th!!! I was on bed rest for 3 weeks before delivering our little Eli, who was 3 weeks early!! It was quite a journey our family went through...but God saw us through all of it, and provided for our needs, and taught us some important lessons. We are greatful that His hand and presence was over our lives each and every day...and that He kept little Elijah safe for us.

Elijah was born on 9-9-09. He weighed 6lbs and 3ozs and was 19 3/4'' long. And looked just like the rest of the bunch he was joining. He was prayed over and for for weeks...and loved the instant we saw him!!

Above are some pictures of our visits at the hospital. The toughest part of the whole thing was being away from my kiddies and hubby for so long. It was always the highlight of my days when they'd come to spend time with me.