Anderson Vincent Glover!!!

So, my life is now perfect. Anderson arrived on Jan 7 at 10:52 am. Weighing in at 7lbs 10 oz and measuring 20 inches, he managed to completely change our lives instantaneously. I had no idea that I could simultaneously feel so many things-happiness, awe, satisfaction, contentment, joy, unconditional love-when a little bundle of perfect was handed to me wrapped in a striped blanket. When I was pregnant, people lined up to warn me of the upcoming exhaustion, frustration, expense...of having a baby. Nobody warned me to be prepared for falling head over heels in love.

Little did we know at the time, but the story began on Jan. 6....we went to work, I taught a little colonial history, ran some errands after school, met a friend for dinner since Brandon had SWAT training...then-out of nowhere-I almost died. Another thing nobody warns you about is the pain of contractions. I heard a lot of, "You know, I think I just forgot about the pain" or "It's all worth it" leading me to believe that it was going to be tolerable. Wrong. At 10:45pm Wed night I got my first real contraction. Forgetting I was 39 weeks pregnant, I diagnosed myself with an exploded intestine because the pain was so bad. Then it passed and I thought I was cured. When the second one hit, I began to realize the truth...I was going to die of pain. Time passed...the pain intensified...Brandon was concerned as his hand was crushed every 5 minutes and we decided to head to the hospital about 2am. I'd rather not talk about the hours between 2 and 6, when I finally got the drugs, because it was not pretty for anyone involved. I can say that I am blessed with the most perfect husband ever because there is no way I could have survived this without him. He was with me being wonderful the entire time. Once I was paralyzed, it was actually a rather cozy set up. I had ice chips fed to me and could get even more medicine with a push of a button.

I highly recommend having parents who are willing to drive 6 hours after you call them at midnight to make it to your side by 6am.

Then he was here and everything made sense.

It's not often that you have a picture of the first time you met your best friend. Lily and Anderson connected immediately. Especially after Nicole held Lily's hands to prevent her from hitting him. Love pats, of course.

Aunt Manda proved her photography skills by setting up Anderson's first photo shoot on my hospital bed. Preciousness.

A louder version of preciousness.

Not my most flattering look, but I was starving for the next few days and demanded lots of healthy things like pizza, macaroni and cheese and what appears to be blackberry cobbler.

Anderson is so lucky to have 2 sets of grandparents to love him!

Anderson and Aunt Manda-our personal photographer and lover of newborns-she gives lots of helpful (and realistic) advice! We love her.

Uncle Zack drove all the way from Birmingham (in snow/ice...) to see Anderson's first days! We love him so much that he is going to be Anderson's godfather!

So, when you have a twin sister, I suggest calling her early enough to where she can make it for the delivery because it is a little rough if you don't. I was looking out for Lily and the fact that Nicole did not need to drive her in the snow at 3am, so I didn't call until 6am. She was a teeny bit upset. She got over it once she held him. He has that kind of effect on people. I also suggest keeping an Aunt Cole around because she is pretty handy with knowing exactly what I am feeling and need to hear, so she just takes care of that. You know, one less thing.

Noni with the newest grandson. Everyone should have a mom who stays with you for a week-she did all my laundry, cleaned, kept me calm, took care of everything-she even cleaned the toilets. Such love. I guess that's what you do when you are a mom. So many things I have to look forward to...

Anderson and GG-being the first grandchild has lots of perks! Anderson is already so loved by GG as she has spent lots of time welcoming him to the world. She is the best kind of family person because she sees everyone as family-she let most of mine stay with her during his first few days!

Anderson and Bop! We were definitely thankful for Bop, as he took care of Chloe & Gabbi while they were here. This requires a special kind of person due to Chloe's special needs so we were thankful for him!

Everyone needs cousins and Anderson is so lucky to have so many! I think they are all waiting until he is old enough to do something, but they love him!

J Pa and Anderson! Again, being the first grandchild makes you pretty special so Anderson has a spoiled future ahead of him!

Great Aunt Donna and Great Uncle Jeff came to visit and brought presents!

Uncle Curtis!

Great Aunt Lori came to visit at the hospital and when we came home! In addition to all the goodies she has already bought him, she had flowers sent to the hospital!

I just like this picture.

It took forever for us to get discharged, but Anderson looked stylish while we waited.

Because I am so lucky, I have this wonderful extra family in the form of the Farragut cheerleaders who organized dinners brought to us for the first days!

A final shot of Anderson (and Brandon's hand...)-from Aunt Manda's photo shoot. This has a little Elvis flair to it, which just proves his versatile personality.

Our family. Perfect.