The Story of Us: Two Hands, Two Kids

I was never one of those cute pregnant ladies.  You know, the ones who look like they tucked a little basketball under their shirt.  Nope, I was just huge.  I remember a family friend repeatedly asking me if I was sure I was just having one baby and not twins.  And I smiled, prayed for grace and begged them silently to never ask me that again.

Though I had a relatively easy first pregnancy, it was a very crazy time.  I was uncomfortable and trying to get used to the idea that a baby was coming about ten years earlier than I had planned.  I remember tearful phone calls to my Mom who reassured me that everything would turn out fine.  She was right.

I remember those moments in the hospital right before Christian was born.  It was just Jeremy and I and I treasured that time knowing that soon our family would be be complete.  Since I had gotten an epidural, I was feeling pretty great and even took a nap during the toughest stages of labor.

When three hours of pushing resulted in nothing, I ended up having a C-section to deliver our 9 pound, 6 ounce baby boy.

And I have to say, it was the most amazing feeling.  It was hard to imagine that you could love someone so incredibly much that you had literally just met.  Christian was an awesome baby.  From the moment he was born, I knew our family was just the way that God had wanted it to be.

I loved those first years together.  We brought Christian everywhere with us and he was a familiar face in our church and youth ministries.

And when we decided that we needed another baby to make our family really complete, it was another easy and timely occasion.  Ellee was born two years and a month after Christian and we could not have been happier to have our sweet little girl.

Christian wasn’t thrilled at first.  But what two year old is really thrilled with anything?  When he came up to the hospital to meet his sister, he was mostly just excited that he got to have cookies and make the hospital bed go up and down.

When I had Ellee, I again marveled at the miracle of a heart full of instant and immediate love for our second baby.  It was a beautiful thing.  I also loved seeing the character traits that our kids had that were passed down from Jeremy and I.  Being adopted, one thing I’ve always wondered is what my birth mom looked like.  Getting to have my own children and see the resemblance that they had to me at their births was something that I cherished so much.

And just like that, with two children, I knew in my heart our family was complete.  I always said that I could only have as many children as I have hands, because how else would I help and hold them through life?  And thus far, it’s been proven that two kids is absolutely the perfect number for our family.  Jeremy and I aren’t outnumbered and we are so thankful for the incredible blessings that Christian and Ellee have been to us.

Thanks for stopping by to read Day Two of our story.  I’ve really enjoyed reflecting on how far we’ve come in our almost twelve years of marriage and know that I will be glad someday to have taken the time to look back.