My name is Susan, and my husband, Scott, and I had been married for 2 1/2 years when we discovered, to our delight and surprise, that we were pregnant with little thang. Ada Joy is my first child and is my husband's third child.

Pregnancy was the pits. While pregnant I enjoyed all the attention I got and the gifts and the planning. Now, I still enjoy the attention we get when we cruise around the block on our walk/stroller ride; everybody has to look at the baby.

We opted for a homebirth using a midwife. Our prenatal and postnatal care were five star, but labor and delivery sucked sour gumdrops. It was worse than pregnancy. If you aren't afraid of an epidural, go for it. I'm too chicken, personally. Yes. That means I'm more afraid of an epidural than natural birth.

Breastfeeding and infant sleeping--no one tells you they are going to be difficult. These two are usually shrouded in positive words, like "sleep like a baby" and "mother's milk is best, and it's natural". Ain't nothing easy about either one! I recommend attending a Le Leche League meeting before giving birth, and I recommend investing in the book Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West.

For ideas about what to buy for your baby, you can visit my blog "favorite things" about things I really couldn't have lived without. Remember, that these things change as your child grows, and all socks are NOT created equal. Although I couldn't have lived without our playyard the first four months, I retired it as Ada is mobile and doesn't like being without me for too long. My new favoirte, can't-live-without purchase is the pacifier since Ada Joy cannot sleep without something in her mouth.

God's design is perfect and wondrous! For parents to bond with their children, He created children to be dependent on their parents, yet, for the sanity of the parents He designed children to grow quickly.

My favorite mommy moments include feeding Ada Joy as she looks into my eyes or twirls her hair or covers her eyes or holds her bottle, listening to her cooing sounds and new sounds she makes, dancing with her, taking pictures of her and sharing them with others, compiling a baby book for her, being the object of a smile she flashes, strolling her around the block and pointing out critters and flowers and anything neat and worthy of attention, and reading to her and watching her look with interest at the pictures. Every day she is anew to me. Looking at her is my favorite activity in life.

I look forward to the milestone moments: rolling over, sitting up, talking, walking, etc. I look forward to a million of Ada Joy's smiles. I look forward to picking up a little girl who wants to sit in her mommy's lap. I look forward to holding my daughter's hand as we cross the street or shop in the mall. I look forward to creating traditions, making memories, and sitting on the porch with my daughter before school and calling out spelling words and then sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee with my adult daughter. I look forward to relating these events to my husband so that I can retrack Ada Joy's and my blissful days together. I look forward to sharing some of these times with my husband, too. I look forward to our future.