Love, Love, Love

When you hold your baby in your arms and look into her eyes, and thinking about how much you love her and how incredibly amazing she is is so overwhelming it brings you to tears, you know what having a child is really all about and exactly what a miracle it is. 

And how awesome is it that you when you think of how much you love your baby, you finally completely realize how your parents love you? Strange that you couldn't really know until then. I guess that must be what this "club" is all about, and why other parents are so happy for you and excited when you have a kid. Other relationships change and life in general may be a bit different (dogs really become dogs; work is a bit less important; you may not throw down or rock it out like you used to), but what an incredible new lovemonkey you get! And isn't it cool that no matter what kind of day you're having or how awful your mood, just seeing your precious little one's face can make it all go away. There's no way you can be mad at your baby! (yet ;) Haha.

I just have to thank you God for this perfect, precious blessing. I promise to do my best to raise her in your image, and to always try to let her know how much she means to me. If ever there were a living example of Your love, it must be this.  

Little Angel

Disclaimer: This and several of the posts before and after are just snippets of life shortly after Ansley blessed us with her awesomeness. They are copied from a journal I kept on my phone, through a program called "Total Baby" - one the most useful apps ever created (imho). It also houses stats, doc appointments, sleeping and bath schedules, and (cue choral music) helps you keep track of nursing/feeding frequency and duration. Anyone who's had and b-fed a baby will echo my sentiment that this, my friends, is magic.

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You are just so flipping adorable! I can't get over how attached I am to you and you've only been here a few short days. I think Jon said it best that the reason it's so different with a baby is that you love them instantly. The bond is there from the beginning. I even felt protective of you right away. And with a partner, it takes time to develop - no matter how strong it becomes. 

It's amazing, though. How can I not look at Jon now and think what an incredible gift he gave me / that we made for each other? I feel closer to him now than ever and that is a hard thing to accomplish.

Speaking of daddy - not only has he been so helpful with you (changing diapers, positioning you for feeding, distracting/holding you so I can do things myself), but he's been very attentive to mommy's needs as well. He's drawn me baths, gotten me food, and even made a special trip to Sonic for a huge bag of my favorite soft ice like the kind they had in the hospital.

Yeah, there are some hard parts and not everything is perfect or comes naturally of course, but right now I am loving this babycation. Spending time with our new family is such a gift from God.

*I think you have a few other admirers, too..
(The grandparents, aunt Jenna & uncle B were also there constantly, and I'm sure you'll see the thousands of pictures you took with them so I won't repeat that here). 


Some of your early visitors: 

your godmother, aunt Heidi

aunt Jaclyn (look! there's Jake in her tummy/natural boppy)

uncle chad and brooklyn came to see you after we got home, too.

uncle Jay's not too sure yet, but aunt Jennifer is smitten

(sometimes before men have their own babies they're a little afraid of holding other babies, despite the promises that you won't break  ;)

aunt loryn

(uncle lee was sick, so you didn't get to meet him right away)

aunt Marisa (with Nora Kate hiding/just getting started in her belly!)

uncle nick. he lives in charleston now (it's actually June 2010), 

but we're trying to keep in touch.

And I Quote

{pufferfish sans water: week 34} 

Some of my favorite baby quotes—just thought I'd share:  

"Making the decision to have a child--It's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." - Elizabeth Stone 

"I don't know why they say "you have a baby." The baby has you." - Gallagher

"Parenthood: The state of being better chaperoned than you were before marriage." - Marcelene Cox

"Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare." - Ed Asner 

"If your baby's "beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time," you're the grandma." - Theresa Bloomingdale

"People who say they sleep like babies usually don't have them." - Leo J. Burke 

"Human beings are the only creatures on Earth that allow their children to come back home." - Bill Cosby 

"There are only two things a child will share willingly - communicable diseases and his mother's age." - Dr. Benjamin Spock 

"Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it." - Marshall McLuhan

"A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be." - Anon 

"The hardest job facing kids today is learning good manners without seeing any." - Fred Astaire

“The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.” - King Edward VIII  

"Parenthood: trading joy for sleep since [2009]" - Anon