Introducing... Asher Corbin Ingalls!

AWESOME! This has been the most awesome experience of my life. I awoke this morning to the sounds of my whimpering brand new baby boy, who was previously asleep beside me. While Anna prepared to feed him, I held and bounced him. His hunger drove him to crying and soon I found myself bouncing higher and pacing faster, trying anything to bring him comfort. When I decided to take my bundled babe to the outside for a front yard tour the results were overwhelming for both of us. His crying subsided and his eyes opened wide. A shock of clean crisp air kissed his cheeks. The sky was filled with soft light and the color blue. I spoke out, “Asher, I want to introduce you to the world outside. Look, this is the sky! Look at this, this is a tree; a lemon tree!” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized just how awesome all of the things are that I get to share with my new son. “Just look at how beautiful it all is! God created all of this for you… To enjoy.” I am literally in awe of God’s father-love for me as I am freshly experiencing it through being a new dad.

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Because Anna has longed to hold him from the moment we found out we were pregnant, pregnancy felt like it would never end. I love that we have spent a lot more alone time together awaiting his arrival. These past few weeks have been good for us, but they have been long. We just couldn’t wait to see him, kiss his cheeks, hear his voice.

Our official due date was the 21st of November. Because I leave for a wedding in Australia on December 1st we really wanted him to come extra early. But we have learned that among things you can’t control, a baby’s entrance naturally into this world is on the top of the list. We have been praying he would arrive before his scheduled induction Monday the 23rd, exactly a week before my trip. We worked hard to make everything primed and ready. Anna must have walked 30 miles the past couple of weeks and I had been catching up on work with every spare day!

Sunday came and I felt a little disappointed. We went on another coastal walk and I confessed to Anna that my faith wasn’t full enough to believe that he would arrive before Monday night. I questioned why God would give us peace about booking this wedding, but then allow us to go through the risky process of induction. Anna, on the other hand, had peace and faith and assured me that it would all work out either way. We went home after watching the sunset over the ocean and settled in to watch a movie. Halfway through our movie Anna’s water broke! We both let out laughter and cheers of joy! After a couple of hours we checked into the hospital at around 11:00 p.m. Anna labored mildly through the night and things really got going around 5:30 a.m. (Since I’m resisting the gravitational pull to turn this into a Mom-Blog I will sum up ;)

After 6 hours of labor and an hour of pushing, I was able to pull out our baby boy and hand him over to my exhausted and elated wife. What a crazy awesome experience it all was! Anna just kept saying through tears… “We’ve been waiting sooo long to see you baby!” Anna did amazing. She is my hero! I could never go through pregnancy and labor.

Asher Corbin Ingalls was born on November 23, 2009 at 12:33 p.m. He weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 21 inches long.

Thanks to twitter and facebook we were able to announce his birth without calling and texting people for hours! Instead we spent time holding and loving our newborn. His first inter-web picture was posted minutes after his birth and satisfied the eyes of hundreds of family, friends, clients, and blog stalkers. It was so fun to read everyone’s congratulations and comments!

Everyone who sees him tells us just how beautiful he is, and we of course agree! I can’t stop staring at him and taking pictures of him. It truly feels as if a new place is opening in my heart. It’s like what it feels like to fall in love, except without the selfish motivations of romance. This love is about what I am going to give to my son. I’m so excited to let this all sink in and develop. I can’t believe he is finally here and that I get to spend the rest of my life getting to know him!

Today we are especially thankful…

Newsom came by to photograph me giving him his first bath.