She is just over 1 month old and Bryce is 2yrs. today!

Yes, Yes, she is here! 

Aleah Anna Barlow

Born: October 7, 2011 @ 12:39PM

8 lbs. 7 oz.

22 in. long

sweet little smile from our sweet little girl on her blessing day
11/6/11

She is beautiful, she is amazing, she is everything a little girl ought to be. Her middle name, Anna, is actually after 3 of her great grandmas. All on my side of the family. Her great great grandma from my dad's side and two of her great great great great grandmas on my moms side of the family. Pretty cool huh? Anyway, thank you all for your love and concern =D I couldn't be happier with her. I'll write the details of her birth day at the end of this post. For now I will say that I seriously had the hardest time ever, mentally, post labor and delivery. Uhm....I thought I knew what kind of pain I was in for. I mean I was in labor with Bryce for over 24 hours before we had to go to the hospital and have an epidural etc. I mean I was even pushing for 2 hours and all. But no no no...I had no idea what I was in for with a successful natural, non-medicated labor and delivery. WOW!!!! Can I just give props to every mother who has ever done that!!!! It is seriously the worst and the best all at once. It is hard to remember that there is a best part during it all, but hey, we are human. Thank heavens that we all have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ, who can pick us up and carry us through. Quite literally. People always ask me why I chose a natural birth. For a few weeks I said, "I have no idea".  I'm still not sure how to answer that question. HOWEVER, I think after all is said and done I know why I would do it again. It builds my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior. I have to rely on them 100% and I feel His closeness, His love, His strength, His mercy and more, for me and the baby SO SO SOOOOO strong during that time. Doesn't mean it is less painful or enjoyable (although I know people who can feel that way during labor and deliver), but I come out of the experience with greater faith, greater personal experience and a stronger more personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. So, if getting a precious baby isn't reward enough, the reward is augmented with a deeper testimony and relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Now lets enjoy some pics of her on her birth day.

Moments after birth 

New baby with her daddy, John

Right after her hospital bath

That very night the Cox kids came to visit and see the baby

Bryce came the next day, 11/8/11, to visit his little sister.

Aleah (without a name at this point) the next day, 11/8/11.
And I in the background looking so lovely ;-) HA!

This is the video of Bryce seeing the baby for the first time at the hospital. PRECIOUS! We were all in tears. REMEMBER to pause the music so you can hear it =D

Now for a tribute to our sweet boy Bryce.

Happy Birthday BRYCE!!

2 years old. WOW!

Bryce on his first "Neigh Neigh" ride (he calls them by their sound)

It's amazing to reflect back on my first child's life. We have been through so much together in such a short time. All of his "firsts" are my firsts as a mother. It's a relationship built on love and patience. Them being patient with you and you with them. It's exciting to watch him learn, grow, discover, explore. All positive words for pushing the limits to see where they are and how far he can go ;-) I love it. I mean it can be rough, but I love being his mother. I feel so blessed that this amazing little boy was placed in our family. He has such a sense of adventure and bit more on the dare devil side than I would like. He knows how to love and can show that love through hugs and kisses. He was moving a stool around the kitchen the other night while I was cooking dinner. He ran over my foot with all four legs of the stool. It hurt a lot. So, I said, Bryce you have to watch for people's feet because you just ran over my foot with the stool four times. He then bent down and gave my foot a kiss and asked if I was "otay?" (ok). That melted my heart. He is active, has no shame in showing emotions, the good and the bad. He LOVES the baby and is quite understanding when I feed her, or have to leave something because she is crying. I know that having Grandma and Grandpa in the same house is very helpful because he almost always has someone to go to. There is so much more. but the mothering duties call. And if I want to keep blogging then I have to remember that "a little of something is better than all of nothing" as my dad would say ;-)

Aleah's Birth Story (I'll come back to this)
The days leading up to her due date I tried everything I
10/6/11