We had ourselves a very merry Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Michael in Maryland - from Christmas Eve with the Grays to Christmas day and Kevin's birthday with the Petersons, we had a great time opening gifts and celebrating Christ's birth together!

Michael showed off his Santa suit to the Grays... and met Uncle Brad for the first time!

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

On Christmas morning, we enjoyed opening gifts - I surprised Kevin with a Wii, but Michael stole the remote....

From Christmas 2009

Then it was off to the Petersons, where Aunt Courtney and Honey helped Michael open his presents and wear a fun bow...

From Christmas 2009

Finally, we celebrated Kevin's birthday and the girls enjoyed a fun photo shoot.

From Christmas 2009

From Christmas 2009

Thanks, Uncle Jamie, for lending me your Santa suit!

From Christmas 2009

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

It really is so surreal that we have a son... I still look at this little boy and wonder where he came from and how long I have him for - not in a morbid way, but in a surreal, "I can't believe you are here to stay... do you really exist?" way.

I wonder if this is how our parents felt having us as children. My selfish mind struggles to grasp the fact that my parents had lives before I was born - and that thought has been given new meaning with Michael being here - his life truly began on October 8, 2009, yet Kevin and I have full lives before that date to tell him about when he's old enough to comprehend!

Annapolis did experience a bizarre snowfall this past weekend, so we've been settling into the Christmas spirit with our holiday mulling spices (thanks, Brandi!), our little Charlie Brown fake tree, and our presents and lights around the tree.


Can you believe all that snow? 20 inches!!!



We also had the chance to meet Michael's Peterson greatgrandparents this past weekend! We had a couple of visits - Nanny had the "touch" to put Michael to sleep, and Pops looked like a pro holding Michael (thanks to Honey Peterson - aka Sue - for lending us the Santa outfit! Can't wait to show it to y'all in person!)!


Michael enjoyed chilling by the tree this morning... and he had a little photo shoot with mom :)





Merry Christmas, all!

Family visits and Halloween!

We have been so blessed by all of the family and friends who have come out to visit Michael - it really is overwhelming how loved our son is with absolutely no personality - haha! We truly are surrounded by support!

And Halloween - we celebrated two days in a row with different outfits for Michael... we loved seeing his outfits.


Michael meeting his first greatgrandparent - Grandma Ferry!


Chilling with Aunt Emily is the greatest...


He loves his Aunts Kayla and Leah and loved meeting Pop for the first time!

And so it begins...

9 months of pregnancy, 14 hours of labor, and 12 days of new motherhood, and here we are. Michael Lukens Peterson was born 12 days ago on Thursday, October 8, at 5:00 a.m. after what has to be described as the haziest day of my life. No one tells you that labor numbs your mind while it livens your body - waking up every different muscle and part of you that you knew existed, but had never given any thought to before.

And then - sweet relief. Sweet, blissful relief with a rush of adrenaline that lasted 36 hours for me. I couldn't sleep and didn't need to... I just kept looking to my left at slumbering Kevin and to my right at slumbering and quiet Michael and that was enough. I would even say that I only finally emerged from my drunken post-labor stupor a week after Michael came. Thanks to the tender nurturing care of my mom as Kevin and I figured out the first week of parenthood, I had a lot of help on the road to recovery. Who knew that one could feel so loved by someone running a vaccuum over the carpet or ironing Kevin's pants? "... the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

So now here we are - hanging out and getting to know one another - thank you to all who have been so supportive and encouraging with love and food and words and texts and phone calls and emails and prayer. Kevin and I look forward to this journey of learning to love the Lord and each other more through the gift of Michael.