Welcome to the Planet, Naomi Catherine!

We're so very glad you're here. 

I'll get around to documenting the details of her arrival soon, but first, I'd just like to put a timestamp on the moment our lives changed for good. On April 27, 2014 at 6:57am, Naomi Catherine Barnes entered the world, and Drew and I became parents to the newest, most perfect human on the planet.  

This whole experience - growing and birthing a child - is still a little surreal for me. While pregnant, I had a hard time assigning Naomi an identity apart from my own - a hard time feeling that she was really real and really ours - and I'm still not sure that the reality of her personhood and our parenthood has quite sunk in. Yet somehow, at the same time, we're hopelessly and fiercely in love with her, spending countless moments staring at her little nose and toes and those lips and just as many worrying about and silently praying over her. We already, instantly, and always want every good thing for her, this little heart-thief we hardly know.    

 
Somewhere along the way while pregnant, I came across this video from Kid President - A Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here. At the time, I watched it very teary-eyed [thank you, hormones], thinking about the unknown little person about to be entrusted to our care and all of the things we would want for her in this life. Now, I watch it a little less emotionally, but more earnestly. Although the fact that we made and grew and birthed a healthy baby girl and then they let us keep her for our very own is only slowly materializing from the land of hypotheticals and possibilities, Naomi isn't at all theoretical anymore - she's right here with us now - and so our desires for her life aren't so theoretical anymore either.

On her first day here, Kid President wants to introduce her to Dancing. Laughing. Ice cream. Forgiveness. High-fives. The Grand Canyon. The Ocean. Breathing. And corn dogs; can't forget corn dogs. We want all of those experiences for her, too, as well as a laundry list of others like Unconditional love. Security. Service. Chocolate. Fishing. Good books. Long naps. Encounters with divinity. Confidence in her self-worth. And exposure to all of the other beautiful and mysterious parts of this big, old physical world. That's a rather large wish-list for a rather small person, but we see her potential so clearly, and we'll be here to help her realize it. But for today, let's stick to Kid President's slightly simpler wishes for her:

So, Naomi, on your first day here, we hope you know...

You were made from love, to be loved, to spread love.

You're going to be important. And you're going to do a lot. And you're going to smell great. But don't get too busy. Remember to let everybody know you're glad they're here. You don't have to remember all of this right now. You're going to need a pep talk sometimes, and that's okay. For now, remember this: 

You're awake. You're awesome. Live like it. 

And we love you. More than you could possibly know.