The Best Gift

I have received many amazing gifts in my life. The "greatest" gifts are intangible (aside from the people the Lord has blessed my life with). Yesterday I was given what may be the actual best gift I have ever gotten. The thing is, it is a tangible gift - but the memories and emotions that come with it are not.

You may remember; I had an awful delivery experience. I don't remember much of anything sweet, aside from Foster being born and Andrew, family, and friends being there to support us.

Andrew and I had made a decision to hire a photographer, our dear friend, Kari Crowe, to photograph at the birth. She took the place of our 3rd person in the delivery room.  She not only went above and beyond, by creating what is the most amazing video I've ever seen, (she recorded audio to add to it), but she and her husband worked hard on it and gifted it to us.

this is Kari and me...and Foster. Don't worry, I'm aware of how awesome I look.

Kari is an unbelievable photographer and friend. I will never be able to thank her enough for this gift or tell her what it means to me to have a memory of this day that is so amazingly beautiful.
So, if you need any photography work done, do NOT hesitate to check Kari out...She is AWESOME!

Check out her website here. Check out her blog here.  She is also a foodie, and a food photographer, check out her foodie blog here - It's also listed on the right hand side of your screen. (forkmeatspoon)

Before I let you watch it, I have to say that it took me a minute to decide if I would link it or not. This video has NO shots that are "birthy" (I made that word up!). But it is literally one of the most intimate moments of my life. At the end of the day, it is too beautiful for me not to share it.

A little set up/info. The opening sound is of the heartbeat monitor, the messages are me and Andrew, then my mom, followed by my dad, Andrew's mom, and Andrews dad. The Photos of Andrew with the HUGE smile followed by me covering my face is when he told me it was boy. The pics of us on the phone are him with his grandparents and then siblings...and the one of me with a tear is me telling my grandma, the one of me laughing is me on the phone with my brother and his family.

I seriously can't watch it with out weeping...So, get out the tissues if you are a crier! And turn your volume up.

http://karicrowe.myshowit.com/fosterbeard

Time-share

This is not a post about a vacation home.

As of two days ago Foster is a month old. Holy cow, where in the world does the time go? Two weeks ago Andrew started back to work and this week I started working again. Although I don't leave the house for work, it is very difficult to create balance among marriage, work, baby, house-duties, and church. I am doing my best, but my little boy does not like to sleep out of someones arms (which I really do love, it just makes simple tasks like eating a bit more difficult!). I have gotten a good bit of wear out of the Moby Wrap. It has made it easier for me to do simple tasks.

Since my blog (most of the time) is about marriage, I want to just say that it is a difficult balance to divvy up the responsibilities of mom, wife, house duties and job. (Especially when you are breast feeding a baby that eats all the time!) Andrew has been awesome - he does a ton of diaper changing, getting me water, and letting me get up and do work around the house while he holds, plays with, and bounces Foster. Andrew is more than willing to do work around the house, but I want, no, DESIRE, to get up, move around and be productive. I would rather him get home from work, hold his baby and let me move, stretch, fold, wash, dust...whatever..just to feel like I have done something other than sit on my booty and feed a baby. (Now, I know that feeding a baby is a ton of work...but if you have kids, I feel like you will totally get this.) We have a friend who told me this week that when he got home from work his wife would offer to "cut down trees and mow the lawn" (there was a note of sarcasm here) to get a chance to get up, get out, and get moving.

I feel like I am working extra hard to make sure that our marriage is number one. I am constantly speaking words to Foster about how great his dad is and how much I love Andrew.

The reality is that we spend most of our time holding Foster.

UNTIL LAST NIGHT!
He laid down at 8:00 and STAYED ASLEEP on his own. This was truly the first evening that Andrew and I were able to sit cuddled up on the couch. We whispered, watch the Olympics, talked about vacation. It was soooo good that we took a pic to commemorate!

Thanks little Foster for giving us the gift of you laying down and staying down...here's to hoping this was not a one time thing!

Anniversary!

Andrew and I celebrated 7 years of marriage yesterday. On the heels of having a new little boy, we weren't sure if there would be any "Celebrating" going on, but just our own little family enjoying each other.
HOWEVER. We were blessed with Andrew's parents coming to town and Granny Annie's baby whispering...I felt great leaving Foster at home for the first time while Andrew and I went out on a date and got that sushi that I have been waiting for!

My husband is truly a gem. I am aware that I am a mom now and that means that my time has to be shared, but I am also very aware that my little boy will learn MUCH about love by watching Andrew and me. I know that he will learn how to love and treat women by watching his dad love me (and me loving Andrew). I know that if Andrew and I don't take time to date and to put our marriage first that  our child will miss out on learning about God's love for him and for us!
So...Date night it was. And it was awesome!

7 Years of Marriage. July 16th

Thanks for the baby sitting Grandma and Grandpa!

home

Welp, it turns out that giving birth is really hard.

Today is my birthday and I have received countless texts and calls and Facebook posts and I am so grateful for each one of them. Thanks for your love!

Foster is doing an amazing job eating and sleeping...but mostly sleeping in the daytime...which I hear is normal. Today for my birthday, he got me the gift of actually sleeping in his pack and play on two different occasions. Now to hope that he will do it during the night. 

For those of you who are wondering about the name Foster Isaac we chose Foster because it is Andrew's Granny's maiden name and Isaac we chose because of Sarah and Abraham waiting on their precious boy, Isaac...and it means laughter, which we love! 

So, I have been horrible about responding to messages (which I know that no one really expects me to) because I am having a harder time recovering. My blood pressure spiked during labor and they had to put me on magnesium sulfate, which kept me from having seizures, but stops the labor and causes you to feel like you have the flu. So, they had to increase the pitosin so that labor would not stop. 

So there I was 12 hours into labor and feeling like I have the flu, my skin aching, throwing up ice chips, and feeling the pain of the contractions. (little did I know I would have a few more hours of this).

So skip ahead to having the baby...which I did. Welcome the sweetest moment of my life when Andrew looked at me and said "I love you so much" followed by a push and him telling me, "Its a boy"!...bring on the tears. and then they put Foster in my arms! dang. 

So, because my blood pressure was so high, I had to stay on the magnesium sulfate for 24 hours after delivery...So for the next day I still had all the symptoms of the flu.

from there, the process of healing has been hard and I have had to take it extra easy so as not to upset the blood pressure issue. 

This afternoon, I feel a bit more normal. Thank you God! 

It is super helpful that I have great family who have given us a ton of time to recoup (talk about 3 hour naps and lots of refills on my water) and a sweet little boy who makes me giddy. We have also had a ton of wonderful friends who are making sure we are eating and have all we need to manage. 

Andrew has been my hero! Best husband ever, as usual. He is so supportive and encouraging and tending to my every need. He is amazing. Tired, but amazing! haha! 

So, what you all really want to see...here are a few more pics of the sweet boy. 

in the hospital

Foster ready to come home! 

Andrew as a baby, I think Foster looks like him. 

Baby and Daddy!

Uncle Thomas came to visit! I think they like each other.

me and my baby! 

Thanks for all the prayers and the birthday wishes! Love you all!