A group of my dear friends held a Blessingway for me two weeks before Analiese was born. For those of you who don't know, a Blessingway is an alternative form of a baby shower in which there are no gifts exchanged. Rather, a circle of women honors the Mother-to-Be, and the transformation which is about to occur when she gives birth to her child. During one portion of the ceremony, my friend Shanan read beautiful quotes about birth and mothering. One of my favorites was:
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.”
-Bhagwan Shree RaineeshI loved this quote and, now that Analiese is here, I have the honor of becoming aware that a Father is born as well. It is magic to watch Kevin with his newborn daughter - she settles down as soon as she hears his voice, or when he offers his pinky for her to suck when her mother isn't readily available. He has changed more diapers than I have so far, he wakes every time she wants to be fed to see if we need any help, and he cooks, cleans, launders, etc., all while mama and baby rest and recover from March 25th.
Yesterday, after spending most of the day running errands, returning to make lunch for my mom and I, he spent the early evening making his homemade spaghetti bolagnaise - (heaven). When it was done, he set everything up, got me and the baby settled, and as we took our very first bites......Analiese decided she was hungry as well. How cliche! Welcome to parenthood. So while I fed the baby, Kevin lovingly fed me my dinner bite by bite. Soon it was bedtime, and I walked into the bedroom to see this most endearing of images:
How grateful I am!
