What I didn't know about having a baby

It has been one week since June made her grand entrance into our world and turned the whole thing upside down.

I had heard so much about being a mom before I ever became a mom. My two sisters had kids before me and almost all my friends had babies before me. My family is all Mormon and Mormons love big families so I've got cousins with babies and aunts with babies and church member friends with babies and babies with babies! I'm no stranger to babies! I have seen and held and cuddled a lot of babies! And boy, have I heard a lot of baby tales!

So what could I say about having a baby that someone out there doesn't already know? What could I possibly add to the baby conversation?

There isn't much. It's all been said before. Your breasts are sore. You love your baby like nothing else. You feel inadequate. You feel overjoyed. You never sleep.

So I'll just add this. June was delivered via C section. I was totally passed out while they stitched me up, and when I came to Greg said that she had been taken to the NICU because of some concerns with her breathing. Because of that, I didn't get to see June until an hour or two after I had her. When Greg brought her to me and I held her in my arms for the first time, I was overcome with the most complete happiness I have ever known. It was an all encompassing feeling, stronger than anything I have ever felt before. It was like I could feel her sweet spirit, her innocence, her total perfection. It was safety and peace and a very real, almost tangible sense of God's love for me. It is the closest I have ever felt to my Heavenly Father, and for a brief moment it was as if I could feel what heaven must be like.

That is something I never knew about having a baby.

And now, hospital pictures!

First ever family picture.

Two hours into fatherhood- totally nailing it.

She gets this look from Greg.

First family selfie. Success!

I die inside when she makes funny faces like this one.

My college bestie, Sally. Also, Utah is 95 degrees right now, but Sally lives in Phoenix so she wears sweaters when she visits Utah in July.

I also die inside when she cries. I think it's about the cutest thing ever. I have a feeling that might wear off soon, though.

Greg's parents. June's middle name, Rebecca, is after Greg's mom.
(Also, I'm so mad because my mom was at the hospital with me every dang day and I didn't get a picture of her with June.)

Marianne and Adam, favorite cousins and future babysitters. (Right guys, right?!?)

I can't get over her littleness.

After three days in the hospital, we're homeward bound!