From Hannah's hospital room on Feb. 25, 2013

Day 1: Today is Haven’s first day of existence. She was born last night, February 24, 2013. I’m so excited to have her in our family. The birth went smoothly, she was healthy and hasn’t had any problems feeding.

It’s such a joy to watch Hannah and the baby bonding. She’s been nursing, and I’m really glad. I can tell those two are going to be really close for a long time.

I thought today about how anxious I am to give her a blessing. I hope to be able to do that soon. I specifically wanted to bless her with good friends in her teenage years. When I was young I didn’t  understand how important that was. My mother did, and I’m grateful for it now. She put up with years of me angry at her for never approving of Quinn, who although in many ways was a great friend, in many ways was not a good influence on me. The friendships I made in high school definitely helped define me, and I pray Haven will be blessed with good friends in those same pivotal years.

It’s a strange experience being a new father. You want the whole world for your child but the heavy part is knowing that any good you want for your child will in large part come from you- how you raise them, how you treat them, what kind of example you set for them. It seems logical that if you want an intelligent child you need to help them develop their intellect at home. If you want a spiritual child you need to teach them the gospel and how to live and love it in the home. If you want a physically sound child you need to create opportunities for them to grow in those ways, but it all comes down to the home. Know these things I worry that I won’t have enough time with her. Not that I think my life will be short, only that I know I work a lot, and my selfish nature often takes me to extracurricular activities before and/or after work. Looking at my little girl now none of those extracurricular things seems to matter in comparison to what kind of home life I want her to have and how present I want to be as a father.

I think I will have to pray every day to be more selfless because I have a long way to go. Thank goodness she has Hannah to make up for what I lack.

We look at Haven and talk about her features and potential as if any aspect of her tiny being really reflects her capability. I’m not sure that it does, but it doesn’t keep us from having high hopes. She has a strong grip, beautiful long fingers and fingernails, long feet and a beautiful long body. She seems to me to have big ears, but they’re the same shape as Hannah’s ears so I think that as the rest of her body grows her ears will not. Hannah and I were both surprised at how much hair she had when she was born. I was very much looking forward to that, to seeing how much hair she had. Although I think the color will stay (same color as Hannah’s hair) I think her hair will probably fall out then grow back in in the next few months.

I’m so excited to be a father. Getting the house and everything ready, collecting all the baby stuff this past month has been a great part in helping me prepare. There have been many friends and family members who were more than happy to offer help and advice. We had two beautiful baby showers with lots of generous friends and family in attendance. We are very very blessed. I hope we can be the kind of parents Haven needs. We love her so much!