 In updating my blog, I came across a page in which one week I listed all the things I loved about Ruthie Lou, and in the next post I listed all the things I love about Reid.
So here it is Adam, I love you this much too! I never want you to think that because you are the youngest that you aren't as loved, adored and appreciated as your siblings. You are amazing! I love the way you "coast" when you wake in the morning. I love your smile when the morning light turns on. I love how you snuggle your body close to mine. I love the smell of your baby head of hair. I love how you "talk" when you wake. I love how you grab my hand, my shirt, my hair. I love how you hang on tight when I am holding you. I love your laugh every time your brother does anything silly. I love the bond that you and Reid share. I love your little cough to get our attention. I love that you listen to "Little Light", your sister's song, to fall asleep. I love your chunky body, the rolls on your legs and your "rubberband" wrists. I love your excitement (and a little fear) when you roll from back to belly. I love your grunts when you shove your toys in your mouth. I love your forced laugh when I oil your body after bath time and I hit a ticklish spot. I love how you watch me cook dinner from your seat. I love that you let me eat ;) I love nursing you. I love when you rub my chest as you breastfeed. I love your focus when you play. I love your determination when you try to do something new. I love the way you smile at everyone, making them feel so special. I love that you love Xavi, you let him kiss you all the time! I love watching you splash in the bathtub. I love the piece of the puzzle you have brought to our family. I love the joy that you bring into our life. I love you, I love you, I love you.
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 He's here, he's here, he's here! Adam Waid Lands is here!
This sweet little boy that I felt grow inside me arrived July 27th at 9:58am. Weighing 8lbs 14oz & 20 1/2 inches, he's the perfect mix of brother and sister- the spitting image of his brothers size and his sisters sweet profile. I still can't believe he's here, that 40 weeks have passed and we did it! He did it! He made it to us, safely, healthy, whole and alive. I can breathe freely now. His pregnancy (falling four years after his sister died) has allowed much of our life to return to normalcy, not the normal it was before Ruthie Lou, but the normal that we have grown to know and be grateful for. But that said, my fears felt so much greater this pregnancy. The combination of Ruthie Lou dying and Reids delivery being traumatic, left so much fear of the unknown as we waited to see if Adam would survive pregnancy, then survive birth, and be born to us healthy with all his chromosomes. It was a huge and heavy burden to bear, all while creating a space of peace and faith for him to flourish inside me. Chris and I process our grief so differently. We were both just waiting for our boy to arrive to exhale. It's hard to feel your own feelings, all while allowing space for your partner to do the same, and doing so with patience. Both of us were unable to really tend to the other, except for supporting each other from afar. Even saying we were scared that Adam might die felt like tempting fate. This pregnancy was private. We never announced that we were expecting. Although my belly was a walking billboard, unless you saw me, it was not something I wanted to talk about other than a select few who probably heard my worries more times than not. I can't explain why, other than I was holding my breath and it took all my strength to maintain my emotional sanity in this pregnancy, that I couldn't dare speak about it publicly. I am happy that I held Adam quietly inside me, it felt safe. He felt safe. We have lived in the public eye so much with Ruthie Lou and in our love obsession of Reid, it felt good to hold this baby close before he met the world. Adam felt different than his siblings. Like them, he is so sweet, but he also holds such a gentle presence. He seems like one of those strong silent types that goes with the flow but when they speak up, you listen because they're only expressing them self when it's truly important. His story is completely different than his siblings. I was so certain he would come early as his brother and sister did. I never considered the alternative of going full term. I expected his labor to mirror theirs too, and imagined what that would feel like for the third time, but that never happened. I worried that his delivery would be as scary as theirs, was but it was the most beautiful of all deliveries, even in a surgical operating room. I thought I would feel crazy for lack of sleep but instead, other than sore from a poor latch, he spends all days nursing and most of the night sleeping. He is nothing as I expected, and everything I could have ever wanted. I love Adam. I don't get to write in my journal as much as I used to; a toddler, a husband, a career, a non-profit business, and the book that is near completion, take up all my time. My days are beyond full and the nights to recover are far too short but each day, I am pulled to moments out of this life as I feel this baby move, bounce, jump and tumble through my belly reminding me of life's fragility. It pulls me back to the core of my being, the person I now am and the person I have wanted to be my entire life-a mom.
I am a mom to the most perfect children, THREE of them now! My daughter, the girl who made me a mama- she changed me. She changed the trajectory of my life, what I thought would be, who I thought I was, what I was capable of achieving and the passion that now fuels me. My son, the boy who reminded me of the simple joys in life, who makes me laugh, who challenges my very patience, who makes me strive to be the best role model I can muster. My baby, the one in my belly, who has given me renewed hope that good can be returned to us, that we are worthy of a joy-filled life, that although what was taken from us can never be returned, we can still be a family and give our boy a living sibling. It is not easy to balance all these obligations, these responsibilities, and this overwhelming love that pours through my soul, but I do it, perhaps not gracefully, but I do it eternally gratefully. All I ever wanted was to have a good life, and to create a family, to be a mom. I am a mom now, to three perfect children who are the reason I strive to be my best and to live my best life. For them. All three of them. |
Amie LandsI am mama of three beautiful babes; two sons whom I have the privilege of raising and my daughter who lived for 33 sacred days. Archives
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