The Little Things

There are so many little things about our baby that I simply don't want to forget. He's such a sweet boy, and I know that as he keeps growing and developing he's going to bring us even more joy.

"A Mom in Action"

Our sweet little William McKay is finally with us!  After the nine month waiting period these almost five weeks with him have flown by.  I can't believe how big he has gotten already! Time really will fly.

Right before I went into the hospital to be induced, I was talking to my sister, Jena, about the fact that so soon I'd be a mom (yahoo!), she replied, "well, a mom in action!" She couldn't have said it better or been more right!  All my life I have had very instinctual motherly feelings and desires, and now is my time to put them into practice.  I'll be honest, some "instincts" have come more naturally than others (like being completely 100% over protective... got that instinct in abundance!), but it has been the most rewarding experience of my life, so far, taking care of this little baby.  

Some people say that when you have a baby it is one of the most spiritual experiences of your life, and I'd have to agree, but for me it was far different than what I was expecting.  I didn't necessarily feel a "burning in the bosom", or see angels ministering to us, or have any bright revelations or anything along those lines.  I simply felt like this was the best thing I could possibly be doing with my life- bringing into the world a sweet little baby with my loving, supportive husband.  

I am so grateful for this chance I have to be a mother.  William is such an incredible little baby.  I feel blessed to be his mommy. I thank God He has blessed me with the opportunity to take care of this precious boy, he's our little miracle. 

(Now, I promised I'd be taking more photos once the baby was here, so... be prepared for a ton of them!)

I simply love snuggling with my boy! 

A classic "It's crying, what do I do?!" picture!

My very handsome, charming boys.

Richard is 100% smitten by our little guy.

Nap time on grandmas' blanket she made for William :)

One of William's first baths. He loves the sound of running water and for the room to be very warm.

William's first time at church at 3 weeks old.

When I burp William, he loves to snuggle his head in so he can feel my cheek on his head.  It's the most precious thing ever!

The lighting here was just perfect, so I was able to get a few really good shots of William!

His beloved pacifier! I'm so thankful for it... it saves my life some most days!

I truly can't ever get enough of him!

So far it looks like his eyes are going to stay blue... we'll see if they change!

He still has a ton of hair, which I love! I am thinking we might need to trim it up though so that it matches the length of the new hair coming in in the front...

William discovered that Rich's nose acts as a good substitute for his binki, haha, cracks us up!

Our first Thanksgiving away from our families.  Rich made an incredible turkey!

Photos

I feel totally silly posting pictures I've taken of myself, but once I have another subject to shoot and am not so bored with my days, I'll practice on someone else :)  I've been fascinated by "raw" things lately.

Do You See What I See

There’s a long sung Christmas song titled, “Do You Hear What I Hear.”   Today after talking to my sister about our love for Christmas music and reading from the awesome new Relief Society book, “Daughters in My Kingdom” I had a new little twist to the song mentioned above pop into my head, “Do You See What I See.”

I feel like often times it is easy to forget how good we have things in life.  It’s no secret that us women can be our own worst critics- forgetting all of our strengths and focusing on our weaknesses like they’re the most important part of us, but do we see what He sees?  Do we see the divine potential we’ve been created with?  Do we see the miracles that we help Him produce?  Do we see the tender mercies in simple life situations?

Granted we all have things we struggle with, things we wish we could do better at, but in general I think we all have a lot going for us- a whole lot more than we acknowledge.  I am always amazed at the peace that comes from my Heavenly Father when I pray to be able to be better at “something.”  Instead of showing me how bad I am at that certain “something,” He shows me what I’m already doing right, giving me hope and in a small, but very real way, He validates who I already am and my desires to become better.

Our Heavenly Father created us in His image… His image.  And with that creation, He imbedded within us all a bit of His divinity.  Do we remember to build off of that?  Do we neglect to see our natural goodness and potential?  Do we remember to see what He sees?

Charity, the pure love of Christ, is embedded into the Relief Society motto.  We focus on giving charity to others, but do we give it to ourselves?  Do we cut ourselves a break, see ourselves as He sees us, and allow ourselves time for healing and regrowth? 

I believe this is something our loving Heavenly Father wants for us.  He doesn’t want us to be self-absorbed, but He wants for us to see ourselves as He sees us- as His brilliant Daughters who have endless gifts and talents to share and develop.  I believe that He holds a tender spot in His heart for His daughters and will do everything He can to help us see our divine goodness- our raw beauty. 

Photography

Remember how I said I am going to be trying new things?  Well, photography has been on the tippy top of my list for ages now, so Rich and I made the plunge, bought a spiffy nice camera, and are self tutoring ourselves how to take fabulous pictures! (We'll get there some day... ha)
Here are a few of our attempts:

 (Leaves by Rich)

Look at this face I get to snuggle next to every night! How handsome is he?!

We have the cutest pumpkin patch here!  We want to go back when the lighting is more flattering to take some real good family pictures.  Maybe Mr. Baby C will be with us by then?!

(Pumpkins by Rich)

 Did I mention that I'm training to be a super sexy model?!  Rich doesn't mind... ;)

My Tuesday companion- he hung out on the sliding glass door all day!

Our ever growing baby.  I'm 37 weeks 5 days here.  We're, or I'm, SO ready for him to be here with us!

Most of our pictures at this point are just everyday objects around us.  Soon we'll get to practice people/baby photography though, which we're STOKED for!