The Three Best Brothers.

There isn't much I have to say about these pictures other than that the paper prints of these images are hands down some of the most priceless items in my possession. You see, brotherly introductions didn't go at all like I had planned them out in my head. 
I envisioned breathtaking video of their first meeting in the hospital room. I dreamt of perfectly captured smiles and first touches. I couldn't wait to have their sweet voices recorded, saying how much they loved their new baby brother and how he was "finally ready to come home," a question that, for weeks, plagued me day in and day out. 
The Big Brothers couldn't wait for that day. 
Unfortunately in the days leading up to my admission in the hospital, both boys began battling illness. Maclane, a simple upper respiratory infection that turned him into a walking snot faucet. Carter, battled asthma versus allergies versus croup and was treated with steroids and a nebulizer, our pediatrician unsure of what exactly was the cause of his incessant cough, congestion and shortness of breath during activity. 
While my heart broke for my sick boys, it also ached for the First Meeting that wouldn't happen as I had spent weeks dreaming of. 
In fact, the boys didn't visit me in the hospital until the morning of my discharge and even then it was under the strictest of rules. "No touching the baby! Kisses on his feet only!" were my first words to them when they arrived to take us home. Maclane never even left the confines of the stroller.
It went nothing like I had anticipated. 
It was almost a week before we let the boys handle Collins. I spent much of the day time quarantined upstairs in our bedroom until we were certain that any and all traces of sickness had vacated. 
Finally I thought it safe enough to scrub the boys down with hand sanitizer and let them hold their brother. I'm so happy we waited because it was this moment, this series of images, that means more than the world to me. It was absolutely worth the wait and so what if it didn't happen immediately?   Because this "first meeting" turned out even better than I had initially anticipated. 

Personalized name blanket from Jennifer Ann