Evan's Birth - Part 2

When I last left you, I promised the sweetness that is Evan. First though, we must, endure a little more pain. Touched with a bit of tenderness.

One loving husband became...

one proud papa...

World, meet my nephew.

Could you find any more proud or excited parents?! I submit to you that you could not.

I know this photo isn't in focus, but I still love it. Morgan and Wread in the throes of so many emotions. And then there's Evan. Yawning. Sorry guys, but he wins.

Why yes, he is a thumb-sucker. Even now.

Once the advil kicked in, Morgan was able to truly be in the moment. Thank goodness for pain meds. Amiright?!

I love how, in the age of technology, this is a normal - nay, a welcomed - sight.

 

Next week, I will be back with word of how he was welcomed by the family. Good grief, that makes us sound like the mob. The family. Oy. 

Welcome to the world, little man. We are so glad you are here. We love you so.

Evan's Birth - Part 1

As promised, I come to today with the story of a boy and girl having a baby. Well, sort of. I won't give you all the sordid details {mainly because I hope you already know how all that happens}, but I am especially excited about this one. You see, the boy is my brother {Wread} and the girl, Morgan, my sister-in-law. That makes the baby...

MY NEW NEPHEW!!!

Alas, he will not be revealed in this post. No, I am sorry but you will have to wait for the preciousness that is Evan. This post documents the 'before'. I had the honor and privilege of being asked to photograph the birth of my first, and so far only, nephew. I took this very seriously and tried to capture everything. Well, not ER'THANG, but you know what I mean. 

I remember how it was when I went to the hospital to have Canon. I was so focused on him getting there that I didn't pay attention to the other stuff. The stuff that maybe I would like to be able to remember later, like the sweet glances my husband gave me or the chapstick I couldn't do without. It may seem silly to everyone else, but to me those things matter. It's all in the details, right?

Then let's get all the deets, shall we? Meet the parents.

Morgan and Wread actually asked me months before the birth if I would take pictures of everything and I was pretty nervous that the little dude would try to make his debut in the middle of the night before I could make the trek to North Carolina. Luckily, he cooperated in that respect and allowed them to schedule an induction. So I actually got to ride to the hospital with them and see everything from moment one.

Speaking of the hospital, this one was simply lovely. Each mother got her own room, with a privacy patio, that she would triage in, have the baby in, and stay in throughout her time at the hospital. None of that moving from room to room for every event like I did. Nice, right?

What did I say about the chapstick? Important stuff.

Morgan used a midwife, in addition to the hospital staff and it was wonderful to see the natural steps that she took to make herself more comfortable like a birthing tub, coupled with the safety precautions that were taken by the nurses.

Evan is actually little brother to Anderson, the little girl on the right {my first, and so far only, niece}. Having Anderson and Canon at the hospital for such a long time would have been a LOT more challenging without the help of these little orange guys. iPads, courtesy of my mom. Smart thinking, Bebe {that's my mom holding Canon, Morgan's stepmother with Anderson}.

Aw, look. So calm and peaceful and beautiful. You just wait.

Yep, after hours {you hear that, Evan, we waited HOURS for you}, things finally started to get real.

And all the while, Wread was by Morgan's side. Loving her. Holding her up and helping her breathe through the pain.

But wait, you say. Where's the good stuff?! The baby?! Ah, you will have to come back tomorrow to see that sweetness.

Fallin' for you

Oh Georgia, you just continue to amaze me. You sexy beast of a state. You brought it in full force last fall. The colors! The weather! And of course, the leaves!

Amidst the endless hours of raking that we did in those beautiful autumn months {just kidding - that didn't happen. like, ever.}, Canon decided that he absolutely needed a huge pile of leaves to jump in, so reluctantly Craig grabbed the rake and I pulled out the camera. Reluctantly.

Yes, he attends Hogwarts. In fact, he actually taught Harry everything he knows. #truestory

The stream behind our house doesn't really get much {any} use, but it provides some nice shots for me every now and then.

Thanks, Mother Nature. I love you too.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow I begin telling you all about my new nephew! Come ready to see my first birth story session. Don't worry, I'll leave out the gory details. ;)

I'm baaaaaaack!!!

Well look who's back and boy, do I have a lot to relay. First, an apology is in order though I suppose. I kind of fell off the map at Thanksgiving last year. I have so missed this blog, but I am back and ready to take on the world again. Er, this blog anyway.

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I am sorry to have left you in the dark for so long, but I am here to clear the air and begin anew. You see, I had to go back to work. The strain of maintaining two houses {we never were able to sell our house in Florida} became too much so I am back in the workforce at full force. *Cue the extremely sarcastic shouts of joy* 

It was necessary and has taken the burden off of Craig being the sole breadwinner of the family, but it has left me with little time to enjoy the things that I so love to do like yoga and blogging. I am trying to find a healthy balance again though so bear with me. I will get back into my groove, albeit slowly.

In addition to the biggie of my finding employment, the holiday season was upon us and we all know how hectic that can get. Not to be outdone, Thanksgiving also happened to be the time that Canon decided to come down with right-sided pneumonia. He was so sick that the doctor cautioned against us travelling for the holiday, thus missing our annual Gobble Day trip to Naples, FL to see family.

All in all, it has been a wild ride lately. I am hoping that it is going to start slowing down a little more so that I can start carving out more time for the things that I love to do.

With that said, let's take a look at how we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving right here in Georgia. Let me start by saying Thanksgiving was never huge in my family. Don't get me wrong, we came together as a family. We ate tons of food and were thankful for it, but Christmas is so huge in our family that Thanksgiving was always just a stepping stone to the next big thing. Yes, we were {are} those people.

Funny thing, though. Since we started the tradition of going to see our family in Naples for Thanksgiving, it has become a big deal. We look forward to that long weekend every single year. Yes, the food is amazing and the weather is to die for, but the family time that we get just can't be beat. Needless to say, when we received the doctor's orders to stay home we were definitely disappointed. We were - no, correction : Craig was - so determined to keep at least some semblance of the holiday for us so we had a Thanksgiving celebration of our own. {Special thanks to my parents for helping us to celebrate that day even when they weren't here.}

I think it is important to keep in mind that neither of us had ever actually cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Like, ever. Also, we are children. Exhibit A.

Can you tell the little man was not feeling so hot?

Big man apparently was though...

We tried to teach Canon about wishbones...and failed miserably because it wouldn't break. We tried twice. It was sad, really.

I'm not gonna lie. It was a little depressing with just the three of us sitting at the table, but we were so thankful once we really stopped to think about all that we are blessed with. {I know, I know. That sounded so cliche. Moving on.}

We did manage to get one family shot with Canon smiling...and a butt-cut hairdo. Not quite sure how that happened but I'll take it.

And so, the first annual Just Three D's Thanksgiving was a hit even in the midst of disappointment and sickness.

Hopefully, I will be back here tomorrow to relay more exciting times in my little corner of the internet. Join me, won't you?