Saturday, February 15, 2014

Ellie Belle

These past two weeks have been some of the best days of my life so far. Eleanor Belle Hennigan was born on February 1st, 2014 and has brought us immense joy every day since.

Before you have kids you hear things like "You'll wake up every time your kid makes a noise" and you think "Nah, I sleep like the dead" or you hear "You'll be more upset when you hear about things happening to kids because you'll think about yours" and you think "Not possible. My heart already breaks over things like that. Having a kid won't change that!"

Let me tell you something.

Your heart will break. You will wake up when they breath funny. You will find patience you didn't know you had when your baby screams almost nonstop until four in the morning. The world will suddenly seem far more scary and evil and yet it will also seem far more full of wonder and hope. Your protective instincts will be thrown into overdrive. You will think every smile is groundbreaking.

All of that and so much more will happen when you have a baby.

Here are some of the photos from her birth. Our photographer Crystal was a rock star for staying and taking pictures for several hours during Ellie's drug-free birth. Let's just say that she has no choice but to be friends with us now...she's seen too much. o_O

Here are a few highlights...

This photo is from right after she was born. Apparently she was upset that she had been evicted from her former home.


She kept her eyes closed and a sad expression until her daddy started talking to her. As soon as she heard his voice, she turned towards his voice and opened her eyes. She hadn't even had her cord cut yet and she was working on wrapping her daddy around her little finger. Crystal managed to get a photo of that exact moment and it's one of our favorite photos.


Ellie started responding to Esquire's voice when I was between 16-20 weeks pregnant with her so it's not surprising that she recognized his voice. Sometimes he's the only one who can calm her down. His secret weapon? Elvis Presley songs. Yup. That's right. She's definitely ours!







She recognized my voice as well. I think this is her "Hey, Mom, where's my food?" face. Either that or her "Hey, Mom, looks like we survived. High five!" face.




Without a doubt, this little girl has changed me and I wouldn't have it any other way.



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