The day that changed our lives forever

I am going to attempt to recap the last 8 months since Alyvia has been born so that I can move forward and update this blog weekly with current events (at least that's my goal). I feel guilty that I did not start this earlier but as the saying goes, better late than never. Let's start with July-when it all began.


Alyvia Marie Orth was born on Saturday, July 16, 2011, at 11:10am. I have the details in a journal (and most of you reading this already know them so I will spare you) but everything worked out perfectly. I will never forget the moment she was placed in my arms. Ed and I both started tearing up as the emotions hit us all at once. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. Nine long months leading up to this. We have a healthy baby girl and our lives were (are) forever changed. 


I have experienced many happy moments in my life. I have seen many different places, tried many different foods. I had the wedding of my dreams and I remember the natural high that I was on for months after. I even remember saying "it can't get much better than this".  I was oh so wrong. Although my wedding ranks high up on my all time favorite days, giving birth to our first child, Alyvia Marie, trumps the wedding day.  As a matter of fact, it may trump every other day for the rest of my life. Welcome into this beautiful world baby girl! We love you more with each passing moment!

Here goes nothing...

Alyvia turned 8 months old three days ago (March 16th) and I have been beating myself up over not starting a blog yet. I wanted to start one when I was pregnant and then right after she was born. Instead, I have been putting reminders in my phone every time she had a "milestone" or did something cute or made us smile. Right before we left for our cruise I almost had a panic attack because I thought my calendar was lost forever along with all the Alyvia events. It has since been restored and now everything is in the cloud (thanks to the Iphone). Anyway, the reason for wanting to start this blog is because I wanted to keep family and friends in the loop about our life...ok, about Alyvia's life...since both Ed and I know we are chopped liver now =) Since we have family and friends spread out across the US, we figured this blog was the best way to communicate the Orth (or, Orse) family happenings. I can't promise it will be updated every day, but my goal is to at least post something once a week. If you made it here, thanks for reading and ENJOY!
PS...The reason for the title "Forever Young" is twofold--It was a song we played during our wedding slideshow which at the time was the best day of our lives and also we have realized over the past 8 months how much a child can keep you "Forever Young"--physically, mentally, and emotionally--and it is an amazing feeling!