samma pajama, my wonderful and sweet baby, WE DID IT! we did it.
you are the most magnificent little creature. you have been most patient, and you have adjusted to every curve ball (metaphorically and literally) that comes your way. you are what baby dreams are made of, and i think i speak for both myself and papa that we cannot believe that you’re ours. if i knew exactly where to send my gratitude for the supreme gift of being your mother, i would send every last speck of it there.

right now your birth still feels fresh on my skin…
in route to detoit to get our auras photographed, on your due date.
refusing to turn around, afraid it will all stop, more waiting.
but we did it. your arrival was crashing into my body every few minutes, and i love to believe that the yellow burst in the photograph is your energy saying  something like
hey, i’m about to be born, hurry up!
we got jo off to grandma + grandpa’s for a sleepover, but not before she got to
see at least a little labor action, which was so cool.
candles were lit, music was on, and my breath was being stolen…
a couple hours later and all i could think about was soaking in a
big warm tub, and everything that would lie ahead. it felt like visceral flashbacks that
sent all five of my senses into overdrive.

you could say it felt a little like riding a bike in some ways. when it was time to push, it was like something physically took over because i don’t remember the act of getting into the position, it just happened, exactly as it did when jo was born. a million special things happened in those hours of hard work. from the nurse who stayed with marty and i the entire time, who i looked up at at some point and saw tears falling from her eyes. that another nurse in the room was a fellow local photographer that i adore. that aunt b recorded your entire birth in the way that only she could, and i can’t wait to hear her hilariously tell you the stories she has, and that another friend was there to photograph your birth.

my favorite part was hearing the midwife say that i could deliver you myself…

and i did.

they helped me into a different position to make it easier. out popped your head, and then your shoulders, and then i put my hands in-between your arms and torso and as i saw your face for the first time, your eyes….

they were wide open

…before you even took your first breath, i got a piercingly spiritual glimpse of you, one that i will carry with me until i take my last breath.

and the rest is history!

all i want to say right now before i climb into bed and have a good cry that tomorrow we will wake up and know that an impossibly short time of your babyhood is over, is that i will never let a day end without you knowing the weight of my love, this i promise you.

so maybe let’s take a little trip down my favorite lane, and let’s start from the beginning of a really good year, shall we? i tried to keep the timeline accurate, but i really really really really need a nice snooze, kapeesh?

(the most beautiful mixture of photo credit one could only dream of // nicole haley photography, first comes love photography, our days, tana helene photography, abby rose photo and the ever so trusty iphone + fuji of your mama)