Here it is, a full 2 months into our life as a threesome and I have yet to officially begin the blog.
I could never have known how drastically and wonderfully our lives would change with the birth of our son. The last 2 months have been the happiest days of my life and it is hard for me to remember how I imagined things would be, but I know the reality far exceeds my greatest expectations.
Just to catch up,we had a wonderful experience at Brookwood Medical Center and welcomed Jay into our family on July 20, at 8:17 a.m. The waiting room was full of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins awaiting his arrival.
We came home as a family on Saturday, July 24
We spent most of the first few days at home getting used to our new schedule (as determined by Jay) and meeting family and friends. Mimi stayed a few weeks and made another trip back a week later, Dede and Papa are right across the street and were here anytime we needed them for the first several weeks. Uncle Bubbies and Aunt Janice and Matt, Uncle Charles, Aunt Karla and Kelsey and CJ, Nanny, Cousins Cathy, Zane and Cate, HG, Bob and Gayle all visited from Nashville and Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Sean Weston and Davis dropped by often to see us and see how much Jay was growing.
We've had our first bath....
Our first time in the swing....
and our first smile....
(not the best picture, but that was the same day that he smiled at me for the first time, I was attempting to get the 2nd smile while holding the camera and this was as close as I got).
I bet 100 different people told me that I would never be the same after I gave birth to Jay. Friends, acquaintances and even strangers try and warn you that having a child will forever change your life. That life will be forever richer, fuller and more meaningful. How right they were. Richer. Fuller. More meaningful. Miraculous. Overwhelmingly joyful. Extraordinary. I could use any of these words to describe any single second of my life since Jay arrived.
I cannot believe 2 months have passed so quickly and how full every moment has been. The first sweet sleepy days and nights that turned into cycles of feedings every 2.5 hours followed by sweet cuddling then Jay lulling off to sleep before the next feeding came around. Then the 2.5 hour cycles began to include a few minutes of alert play time as Jay became more and more aware of the world around him. Our 24 hour days then began to have more rhythm as Jay began stretching the 2 to 2.5 hour feedings out a bit at night to 3 and 4 hours--it became clear to me that he was learning how life worked and when we should sleep and when we should be awake. I must admit this was hard at first, I realized that the more he slept at night would mean I would not see him as often through the night, I realized every night as I put him to bed that another day was gone and I hoped we had made the most of it because we would never get it back again.
Over the first few weeks I questioned my instincts, my intellect and possibly my identity. I knew I would be the best mother I could possibly be, but the sleeplessness and scheduling caused me to wonder at times, "what if I am making a mistake?". I cannot tell you how many times I wondered if I were making the best decisions day in and day out over every little thing. Then, one day I reminded myself that God had given me this gift of a child and it was not right for me to question every single decision I made. Before we were born God planned to give Joseph and I this son and equipped us to be the best parents to him all throughout our lives until this moment. I have clung to this realization every day since and have not looked back.
Truly, we are the happiest family I know. I hope everyone is this happy in their lifetimes and I am so thankful we have come to this place. We are blessed beyond measure and fortunate to have this life to live together as a family.
My goal is to continue to update this blog (only regularly this time) to serve as a snapshot-scrapbook of our lives. We shall see.....
