One year ago today . . .

A year ago this morning I met my sweet Ford for the very first time. Oh what a precious day. I get all goosy just thinking about it. It was such an intesely emotional day for me. We had been waiting and waiting and waiting for him to come. Finally I relented and agreed to an induction several days after his due date. All it took was breaking my water and he was here an hour and a half later. Whew. That was the toughest hour and a half of my life for sure (those tears you see are tears of pain mixed with tears of joy). I was so emotional about the whole induction (I'm a die hard romantic and wanted the wonderful birth story to unfold on it's own. I also wanted a drug free delivery -insert coments about how crazy I am here - and knew that probably wouldn't happen with an induction). Anyway, I went in feeling emotional then coupled that with the intense pain that followed during my short labor and the boom! there was this precious little person in my arms and my heart exploded with love . . . again!

Just looking at this picture brings back such emotion for me. There is just nothing like the moment of seeing your child's face for the first time. Thinking back on my life those of have two of my favorite moments of my whole life. It is so strange because you have already bonded so much with "the baby" and fallen in love with that mysterious little creature moving around in your belly. But then the big moment comes and out pops this little person that you have never seen before. There is this moment of "oh, that is what you look like". It's funny because you can't really imagine what they are going to look like and then you see them for a moment and you can't imagine them looking any differently. It is a surreal moment that just binds your heart to theirs.

His personality has been pretty much the same since those first moments in this world. Calm, quiet and sweet. (Well, except he throws everything now). He didn't cry when he was born at all. Of course that made me nervous but he was just as pink as can be but quietly checking everything out. So sweet. My MD and the nurses were awesome - so supportive of what I wanted to happen after he was born. He came straight to my chest immediately after he was born, we said hello for a few minutes, he nursed right away and the we just held him and ohhed and ahhed until we were finally curious about how much he weighed and handed him off to find out. I really felt like it was our moment - which it was - and I'm so grateful to have that sweet bonding time with him.

And then this sweet moment when Claire came to meet her brother. It was almost too much to bear! I will never forget seeing her standing there holding a little puppy as a present for her new brother. She was so excited and grabbed him like she was an old pro. I remember coming home from the hospital and rocking Claire in her room and just bawling. I'm still not sure why but I've talked to lots of new moms who have done the same thing so I'm quite sure it is normal and I tell other new moms the same thing. I was just so proud of Claire and how she seemed to love her brother so much and be such a sport about the whole new baby thing. I loved her even more, I loved him so much and it was just too much for my soul to take! We are so thankful for our two amazing kids. Watching them grow and sheparding their hearts is a priviledge and an honor that we do not take lightly. It is a lot of responsibility on many different levels but honestly we just have so much fun. I can't imagine my life without these awesome little people. Wow - I can't believe it has already been a year . . .