a baby & a name.

abel means “breath”

& he sure has taken mine away.

i am absolutely, positively in love with our baby.. and falling deeper and deeper with each day that passes. i am a lover. i love deeply & i love quickly. as much love as i had inside me though, this love still caught me by surprise. it’s INSANE how much bigger your heart can grow in just a moment. one life changing, never forget it, amazing moment.

it truly is the most amazing thing i have ever experienced, and each day brings new emotion. i’ve always been a bit of a cryer, and let’s face it… i’m currently a hormone sandwich, but i find myself in tears atleast once a day. tears of pure joy. just looking at him & his innocence. thinking about chris & i’s story... where we started out & who would have thought we’d end up here? && now, what the future holds. i find myself loving my mom more than i ever have before & different than i ever have before, & i feel like i have never wanted time to just stop more than i do now. he’s so sweet & perfect. he looks a little different every day.

he is brand new. he has only been outside of my tummy for 5 whole days! i can only imagine how much more my heart is going to grow for him. i love him so much. i love chris more than i ever have. life is probably the best it’s ever been.

sweet abel, you’re here now. you have changed mine & daddy’s life forever, in the best way. i love you! love, mommy

ps… lots of you have told us that you love his name, (thank you sweet friends), and some of you have asked why we chose it! great question too :)

in the book of genesis, abel was the first person to please God after the fall of adam & eve. even though his story seems small, we felt like the legacy left behind is big. on top of that, the name itself means “breath”, which is what he is to us. a fresh life, a new breath. followed by maddox which means “good & generous”,which is what we hope to raise him to be. all these reasons combined with the fact that it’s just a rockstar name… abel maddox salvaggione.

i could go on & on, and i am really having to refrain from posting 12,375 photos a minute, but wanted to stop in and say hi! hope you’re having a happy thursday! we sure are! we are going on our first family outing :)

a guest post on motherhood by megan…

*i couldn't be happier for my beautiful sister-in-christ hillary and her husband chris. abel is so lucky to be the son of such God-fearing parents. not only will he be loved in the most tremendous way - he will have the joy of seeing God's love ignited through and by his parents on a daily basis. may God continue to bless you on this journey of parenthood as you cling to one another as ONE family UNDER God! remember to look UP for guidance and to your LEFT and RIGHT for help! you have family and friends who are willing to lend a hand and be there to encourage you along the way. don't blink too fast because pretty soon you will be saying *the past 10 months have been...*

the past 10 months have been the greatest and most rewarding 10 months of my life. before we got to this place as a family of three- it started as a young married couple of two, who came together in prayer- in the hopes of being parents someday! and that all began in april 2009. it was a journey that had brought patience- as my husband and i kneeled together to pray for our son when he was just a twinkle in our eyes and a beat in our hearts- it had brought (what i never thought would end) tears- tears that flowed during the months that i still wasn't pregnant. it had unfortunately, brought bitterness- bitterness in wondering why i wasn't yet- all the while seeing others around me become mothers. but in that bitterness, beautiful restoration and renewal in my faith broke through! so, i kicked ms. bitterness right out the door! it had brought strength- strength that i thought didn't exist in me- but by God's power, i felt strong in Him when i was weary. it had brought a more fervent prayer life- when all i could do to get my emotions out was lift up my hands in prayer to Him. it also had shown me, that in His timing, I could see his perfect plan unfold...<looking back, i wouldn't have it any other way!>

{fast forward}..... a beautiful, very still morning in july 2011, brought me down to my knees- with my hands lifted high to the Lord- as my eyes welled up with tears of utter joy... we found out we were pregnant!

{fast forward again..... i will spare you all the pregnancy deets- trust ME, you definitely don't want to know all of them;) } in march 2012, brennan was born!!!!! {we actually spent the previous night with hillary and chris- and as i pigged out on every item on the menu, that was truly the LAST SUPPER before my contractions started at 1 am.....} but back to my first moment with brennan in my arms and my husband by my side....this moment is a moment i will never forget.... it is indescribable. it's the moment right after giving birth- where all my tears of joy and love radiated from the top of my head, through my eyes and down to the bottom of my toes, for my sweet boy who we just welcomed into this world. i can remember it so vividly. the nurses handed me our son and as i wrapped my arms around his soft body - i wept. this precious, pure, beautiful, handsome baby who we have been praying for is here!

it was one of the most still moments ever.

such happiness transcended over both mine and aaron's bodies as we looked into our son's eyes- such innocence. such purity! what a perfect moment for us as a family - we knew we were the proud parents of God's creation! the one creation he specifically made for us! it is the utmost calling and so humbling, such an honor and a joy to be parents.

each day is a true gift from God and something i try not to take for granted. the years will fly by, and as we grow our family with more kids {lord willing}, may i always hold close to my heart that moment. that moment where time stood still. the moment where we knew God had given us a beautiful blessing to be parents to. this journey of parenthood won't be easy, but it will also be the most rewarding! and as aaron and i lean on the Lord for strength, may we continue to grow and be renewed in our faith- so we can train brennan up in a way that when he is older, he will not depart from it {Proverbs 22:6}.

*dearest hill and chris, hold on to each still moment you have with your son and enjoy what the Lord has blessed you with! sweet abel, i cant' wait for brennan to meet his best buddy!*

love and blessings to you all, friends - may you see the beauty in today!

xoxo

meg

(Visit Meg’s Blog HERE)

a few moments worth review.

soooo, new years came & went, & i never had the chance to do a yearly recap of some of my favorite moments in 2012 that were documented here on the ol’ blog. so now that i’m in babyland, i felt this would be a great time to do that. it just wouldn’t be right not to! so here it is folks! 2012 in review, and what a great year it was…

^^in january we traveled back to charlotte from our holiday visit in colorado, we celebrated our EIGHT YEAR anniversary, and participated in some fun photo challenges that instagram had going… you know, when they were new & didn’t have them going EVERY single month of the year.

^^february brought strawberry cupcakes and valentines day, quite possibly two of my very favorite things. harlow got a haircut & a fancy new dress, my lovely friend margaret came for a visit, and i had some fun on the train tracks. oh! and twilight number four came out on dvd.

^^our friends had a baby in march on the very same night we hung out with them and did our very favorite thing… eat. i learned how to better use my camera after only 3 years of having it, we met the future mrs. bloom (now the current mrs. bloom) for the first time & enjoyed some more what? … food. i visited family back in colorado.

^^april is big around here, and 2012 was no excuse. soccer season came back around, my sweet cousin brianna came for a visit to charlotte, we celebrated easter for the second time at the winter’s home (see 2011 here), and also did something off my bucket list… picked fresh strawberries! cupcrazed, enough said. husband had birthday number two-five, & we celebrated him with a morning birthday party complete with some of our favorites… i’m talking about the people of course :)

^^then came my birth month! may! & it was no less exciting. i visited home in colorado to help throw my little sister’s bridal shower… win & do lots of family time. husband and i celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. cindo de mayo & we celebrated my birthday… twice!

^^next up, might have been my favorite month, because on the first day of june i took a test that would change our lives forever! then my camera went on hiatus & iphone captured a week of events here, here, & here… including one of my favorite “little dates”.

^^in july i vacationed in new york: here, here, here, here & here. you really got to know me & my little sister got married! oh yea… & we told you guys our big news ((here too!))!

^^love letters, bump alerts, & jumbled thoughts filled august. we also wondered if baby sal was a boy or a girl? my best friend got showered, we said goodbye to charlotte & all of the wonderful things & people that came with it. i made it to trimester two! fruit charting began & i spent the day in estes park.

^^in september we went bowling, saw baby on camera the first time & announced baby was a HE! i reached the half way mark in my first pregnancy, enjoyed the perks of being “with child”, harvey had a playdate & WE enjoyed another “little date”.

^^for the first time in forever, we didn’t dress up for halloween… womp womp. instead, october included a last minute trip, s’mores, haunted corn maze, some real talk & a farmer’s market, complete with pumpkin patch. not to be forgotten!

^^in november i had my baby shower & i wondered if this was real life?! harvey got named the cookie monster, & i had my first trip in to the hospital…

^^december, december! my favorite month! i wrote love letters to baby boy & got excited about the topper on our tree! we spent 8 days in the hospital but were out in time for christmas with my family, stroller building, & a house to call home!

see ya later 2012!

2013 is panning out to be a great year already :)

xoxo