Baby Barbara

Well, the day finally came. June 26, 2012, at 4:40 am, after 10 hours of labour, we welcomed our darling daughter Barbara Louise Andrews into the world. Barbara is my mother's name who I still miss 11 years later. Louise is both Heather's middle name and her mother's middle name. The staff at the Foothills hospital were wonderful. She weighed in at an adorable 6 lbs, 6 oz. Both Mom and baby were fine. To say that this was a momentous day for me is a severe understatement. Watching my daughter be born right in front of me was literally a dream come true. I feel as if I have been waiting for her for much of my adult life. As she was placed in my arms, she started looking around at everything. Only being minutes old, she was literally seeing everything for the first time. It was precious. She is precious.

I am so much more in love with my beloved wife. She has endured so much to bring this little bundle of perfect joy into our lives, and she did it willingly. I had difficulty understanding how a man can abandon his family for any reason. Now, even more so. During that magical moment I found myself entranced by my wife's sacrifice. I knew that she was paying a heavy, painful price to bring our daughter into the world, and I was powerless to take that pain for her. I used to wonder why birth is often so painful, but when I saw my wife's face when I told her we had a little baby girl, I had a better understanding. Mothers tend to have a much greater and often deeper capacity for love. I am happy that I could provide what little support I could for her. I wished I could have taken her pain as my own, but I will settle for being as supportive in all things instead.

It was great to have not only the boys but both sets of grandparents come to the hospital to visit. While Dad and Violet were there, we were told that we could take her home. So not even 24 hours later we brought our precious darling daughter home. The next day, my birthday, I was able to spend most of it with my amazing family. In addition to the best birthday bundle I could ask for, I was given a nice camera by Heather. The boys got me all of my autographed Star Trek photos framed. I was very happy. Pam Stovel, the Relief Society president, brought us over a wonderful dinner. All in all, best birthday ever.

Top 10 List: Things I Look Forward Most To Doing With My Daughter
10. Trips to the zoo. Hopefully she will want to volunteer there with us.
9. Daddy-Daughter dates. I'm thinking walks in the park, Dairy Queen, movies, etc.
8. Watching Muppets and Trek. Mom will get her on Tinkerbell and Disney princess stuff, but I will help balance that out.
7. Baby blessing. July 29 is the day
6. School recitals, plays, functions, etc. This is assuming that she does some sort of performance art, which I suspect she will.
5. Trips to Glenwood to visit her namesake. I want my daughter to know the grandmother that saw her off into this world.
4. Disney World. My princess deserves to be a real princess for a day. Plus, I know Heather will be all over that.
3. All the birthdays, Christmas times, Thanksgivings, Halloweens, etc.
2. Baptism. Only 8 years to go!
1. Taking her to the temple. Whether it is for baptisms, her going on a mission, or marrying a man who is deserving of her, temples are where families are eternal, and I want her to know that.