A Journey to Love

I can't believe Brayden is already 9 days old! His first week has flown by and what a fabulous week it was. While my memories of Benjamin's first days at home are tinged with anxiety, tears, and self-doubt (being a first-time mom who had a hard time getting the hang of nursing), Brayden is lucky enough to be a second child and therefore has two parents who have a pretty good handle on this parenting thing. So far, Brayden has been a very easy baby. As long as you feed him every 3-4 hours and offer him something else to suck on in between (such as his own thumb, your pinkie, or a paci), he is a happy little guy. Benjamin is a great big brother also. He loves to hold Brayden and today got a big thrill out of giving him his pacifier while the two of them watched "Thomas-the-Train" side by side. Yep, already he's showing little brother the ropes. :)  Meeting Grandma Barbi  Meeting cousin Wyatt  Daddy with his boys  Meeting Uncle Travis  Sound asleep ...

Is there a better way to start off the new year with a precious new baby? On January 9th, the newest member of our family joined the world. Brayden Oliver Hasch was born at 7:24 in the morning, weighing in at 7lbs 13oz and measuring 20.5" long. At only one week old, Brayden has already captured our hearts and has Nathan and I completely wrapped around his sweet tiny finger. Compared to Benjamin's birth, Brayden's was a piece of cake! It's true that the second time around is much easier. Since Brayden was a week past his due date, I was definitely ready for his arrival. Therefore, when contractions started at 10:30 Saturday night, I was ecstatic! Of course, I had put off my to-do list that day, thinking that I still had plenty of time before he was coming (I had gotten to the point where I figured I'd be pregnant forever). So I got out of bed and spent a couple of hours mopping the floor, folding laundry, and balancing the checkbook, taking short breaks every 10 m...

Dear Benjamin, I waited my whole life to be a mother. After so many years of caring for other people's children, I thought I knew what it would feel like to finally hold my own baby in my arms. But then you were born and all my preconceived notions of what I would feel for my child went out the window. You see, I greatly underestimated the love that would engulf me as I stared at your beautiful face for the first time. I marveled at what your daddy and I had created. After nurturing you for nine months in my womb, I finally was able to look at the features that so clearly told us that you were ours. It was instantly obvious that you had my nose and that your gorgeous blue eyes and long dark eyelashes came from your father. You had a headful of blond hair and to us, you were 7 lbs, 9 ounces of absolute perfection. The first year of your life passed too quickly. We loved every minute of watching you grow. Everywhere we went people would stop to tell us what a beautifu...

Whew! We made it through the holiday without delivering a baby, which was the number one item on my Christmas list. Benjamin's top wish was Thomas-the-Train, which Santa happily obliged him with. The morning started with opening stockings in Mom & Dad's bed and followed with presents out by the tree. Benjamin was thrilled to see that Santa ate the cookies and milk he left out for him and happily tore into the gifts that were tagged with his name. He received a huge lot of steam engines, track destinations, and accessories, all from the jolly old elf himself, Nathan and I, and grandparents. Aunts and uncles got him clothes, balls, sporting equipment, and his very own tool box complete with his first set of Craftsman tools. Benjamin quickly understood his role on Christmas morning...unwrap gifts and eat yummy cinnamon rolls! That is what Christmas is about, right? :) All dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner Giving Gramma Barbi her stepping stone he made just for her Pla...

Christmas is less than 24 hours away and our home is filled with the anticipation of the holiday. The gifts are wrapped and perfectly placed under the tree, the stockings are hung and already full (Santa came a bit early to our house to save time) and the cinnamon rolls are rising as I type. Christmas songs are playing on the radio and it's almost time to get ready for the annual Christmas Eve dinner in the Fisher household. After we get home tonight and put Benjamin to bed in his brand new Christmas pajamas (a tradition in our household), Nathan and I will assemble his gift so it will be the first thing he sees when he wakes up in the morning. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes what "Santa" has brought him. Oh, yes, Christmas is going to be so much fun with him this year. Then, once the holiday is over and the decorations are stored away for another year, we can focus on the next wonderful gift we all  will be receiving...a pr...

A special gift, just waiting to reveal himself...

Yesterday marked my 37th week of pregnancy, which means the baby is considered full term. If it were comfortable to jump up and down right now to express my excitement over this fact, I would! Since I could feasibly go into labor anytime now (tomorrow would be good, I think!) I thought I should share the tale of Benjamin's birth, for posterity reasons. Since the time span from which I started contractions to the moment he entered the world lasted 55 hours, I will give the condensed version. You can thank me later. Benjamin was due on August 6, 2008. We were in the middle of a sizable remodel (think major renovations to the kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as a nursery of course) and both Nathan and I were anxious to get the house back to usable condition before the baby arrived. The floor started getting layed down about 10 days before my due date and the counter tops were almost ready to be installed, which wou...