Merry Christmas!

Birthday Photos

Nervously waiting to see if Canaan's heart rate would come back up... we ended up being rushed back for an emergency c-section two times before we eventually were able to deliver naturally in the OR (just in case). His heart rate kept dropping because I was progressing so fast - at one point I went from 5-8cm in 20 minutes (normally it's 1cm per hour).
Our little guy... finally here.

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Welcome to the World Canaan

Our son Canaan is finally here! :) He was born on Tuesday at 6:15pm after 3 months of preterm labor and just over 4 hours of active labor - when the time came it came quickly! Now we're just spending our time soaking in every moment. He's been such a blessing and a wonderfully easy baby! We are completely in love. More photos will be coming soon!

About the name... :)

Canaan (pronounced Cane-N), in the Torah / Old Testament scriptures, is actually both a name and a place (though we chose it because of the meaning behind the place, not the name). It was the name of the Promised Land that God gave his people after their long captivity in Egypt. More recently, African-American slaves sometimes sang of Canaan in their spiritual hymns to symbolize freedom from their bondage. For some, the word Canaan is imagery for heaven (because of the comparison between the earthly Promised Land and heaven). For us, it represents the fulfillment of God’s promises. Though He never promises that this life will be perfect or without suffering, He does promise that He will be there with us and that He has a loving hand in our lives. God has revealed to us His faithfulness in so many ways. He is so good and now He has blessed us with our beautiful son!

Check out the lyrics of “A Song for Canaan” by one of our favorite artists, Matthew Perryman Jones. They make me cry every time…

Inside the night, across the holy river
When you arrived, a promise was delivered
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

For you, I’ll fight; I’d face a thousand armies
I’ll hold the light, and nothing can disarm me
I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.

I waited for you, dreaming away
All the while, how I adore you my lovely little child.