For the past 5 1/2 weeks, my husband and I have been enjoying the steep learning curve of family life with a newborn. We welcomed Baby Samuel into our lives on Nov. 26 and it has been unbelievably amazing to get to know him and fall in love with his absolute sweetness. The magnitude of thoughts/emotions from this whole experience can be paralyzing on the blog update front because its so hard to know where to begin with sharing how deeply we are thankful by his presence in his lives. I realized in those early hours how sacred it all was:
**Having the amazing, undeserved, opportunity to labor through contractions for over 30 hours and feel every bit of welcomed pain that came with the birth of someone so beautiful.
**Baby Samuel being put on my chest as soon as he was delivered and his crying subsiding as he looked up at Tony and I with wide eyes while all I could say over and over again was: “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” I could hear Tony’s voice in unison with mine saying: “Hi Samuel! Hello son!”
**Learning about his dangerous billirubin count and his need for 1 week of photo-therapy and supplemental feedings where all of a sudden he went from being in our arms and looking at us to having his eyes covered and being wrapped in a UV blanket… where we were praying his count would not spike to the twenties which could cause blindness or brain damage. And the reality that you cannot always protect your child from bad things happening sank in a bit.
**Walking into the nursery on our first night home to see Tony sleeping in the rocking chair and Samuel sleeping in his arms. My first thought: “How precious!” My second thought: “That’s a little dangerous.” My third thought: “If I wasn’t in pain, I would walk downstairs and get my camera.”
**Learning the beauty of the Super Swaddle (Thank you Rachel!) and eventually, the miracle of the Double Swaddle for our little blanket wrangler.
** Loving: his yawns and stretches; his superman pose when I lift him, unswaddled, out of his crib; his obsession with the ceiling fan, oven, and architecture; squeals and giggles; half smiles like his dad; his love of the crib mobile and how he follows them around; the way music calms him as well as inspires him to kick his legs and move his arms more; and the list goes on…
Throughout the first month, Tony and I were (and still are) completely over the moon for him and honestly, we were (and still are) loving life as a family. I am more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible — and increasingly grateful for his selfless love for both Samuel and I. I could write a whole blog post on my love of Tony alone, but that would be a little lengthy to combine with this one.
Can you believe I forgot my camera when we went to the hospital?? Honestly though, I’m not sure I would have even thought to take many photographs as I was so immersed in the moments themselves. Thankfully, my Dad had his camera with him so we were able to have a few photographs from our first few hours together… Thanks Dad!
After our first week home, I realized that you never get back the newness of those first few days in learning how to be a family – and I really wanted someone else to capture who we were, in those awkward moments, as a family. Shannon is a dear friend who I got to know during our 3 years in LA who shares my passion for capturing the authentic moments of everyday life – and I began dreaming out loud about how amazing it would be to have her come to Michigan. It was a complete ‘pipe dream’ until Tony surprised me by booking her plane ticket to get here. He knew how much I valued photographs and wanted to make it happen even if we couldn’t necessarily afford it. I am so thankful for the ways she captured the newness of it all… and shared in our ‘Did you see that face?‘ kinds of moments.
Shannon did a preview of her favorite photographs on her blog here but she gave me permission to share my favorites on my blog too. She has started doing SHINE sessions for women that you can learn about here but what she did for us was a family SHINE session. It was wonderful to see the world in photographs from someone else’s perspective… which is why I love capturing the daily life of children and families…because its such an amazing gift to capture the unique beauty of a single friend, new family, seasoned married couple, or the relationships between siblings. It’s a lot of pressure to try and capture the moments yourself — and there is just something about trusting someone else to see the beauty in what you are experiencing firsthand so you can live in the moments instead of stepping outside of them. I hope that makes sense to at least a few people.
Without any further rambling, here are a few favorites… although not all of them, since some of my favorites include feeding Samuel.
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Samuel, we love you. Thank you for turning our world upside down in the best way possible.
Thank you Shannon for capturing this beautiful, upside down world we now live in.
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I am excited to see where God leads our growing family.
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by admin
3 comments
TonyB - Barbara has been a non-stop encourager, rebuk-er, visionary, prayerful, fun, energetic, thoughtful, and caring person in my life since I met her in 2001… Blessed to be her friend and co-laborer!
shannon leith - christen——- these are vibrant! such a great job. i wish i knew her!
Rebecca Brown - These pictures encapsulate Barbara’s character so well- a woman of integrity, confidence, and joy- all of it brought on by the Holy Spirit in her life. She taught me so much of what it means to be living for Christ and to be prepared to share the hope of salvation with everyone I meet. I have a much more missional perspective than I did before meeting her. Thank you, Barbara, for being such an amazing mentor and friend.