the birth of

Isla Olive

c o n c e n t r a t i o n

Colleen

and I have been

friends for a very short

time. I think she is one

of the strongest people

I’ve ever met. This day

and the memories

of it will never leave

me. I watch two very

important people in

my life make one of the

most amazing changes

right in front of my face.

Adam and Colleen met

at a folk school in North

Carolina. I met Colleen

soon after and spilled a

huge glass of red wine

on a beautiful dress

she wore to dinner. We

have been bound ever

since. Adam was the

best man in Bowie and

I’s wedding. Baby Isla is

on the way.

Isla is on the way

Colleen was in a trance. From the moment I walked in the house she was in the whole other world. She was in so much pain and I was not prepared for what she was going through on my 45 minute turned 30 minute drive over to their house. Adam was a dream - pushing Colleen and telling her to “dig deep” through every contractions. He was a ROCK!

Meet Colleen and Adam’s amazing team. Charlotte Sanchez and her assistant made sure Isla arrived safely. They were her support team as well as her cheer leading coaches! The honey in the top left is from Adam’s mother. She is a bee keeper and they fed Colleen spoon fulls of honey for boosts of pure energy. After hours of labor she was exhausted.

Yes, that is Colleen LAUGHING during contractions. She has no drugs, and nothing for pain what so ever, yet she still had the energy and positive out look to laugh. I love her.

contractions

If you’ve never experienced a birth, watching some one you love in a lot of pain is a very hard thing to do. You want to take that pain away - help miss Isla Olive get out as fast as she can so mom can rest. Charlotte and her team help Colleen through every contraction. Charlotte push Colleen to make every contraction count! I sat quietly in the corner and watch as my two great friends took one step closer to being parents.

l a s t m o m e n t s

These are the last few moments of Colleen and Adam being “expecting.” Seconds after the photo of Charlotte was taken Isla was born. I don’t know how many of your readers have ever been at a birth but the moment a baby is born, from my experience, everything changes. I don’t mean life in general, I mean two people become instantly connected for the rest of their lives. These two very important people change in a matter of seconds. You could feel it in the room. This moment is one I will never forget.

Isla Olive10.5 lbs

h a p p y d a d

This is one of my

favorite photos from

the day. Adam is

thrilled and making

his phone calls like

a good dad should.

All the tensions

from the whole day

was washed away

during the first call.

He was such a mess

just a few seconds

before this photo

was taken. A terrific

man becomes a

thrilled and

excited dad.

dad’s first moments

These are the very first moments of daddy and daughter. I remember Adam being in the state of disbelief. Adam just sat and stared at his new little Isla. It was so amazing to see such a dear friend at the height of happiness!

This was one of the coolest part of the whole day. Charlotte and her team did the new born exam that consisted of weighing, measuring and totally inspections miss Isla from head to toe. We also found out at this point that miss Isla weighed a whopping 10.5 pounds. WOW, GO Colleen!

new born exam

today!Isla Olive

Isla is a bundle of pure joy. She is now activity crawling all over the house. She is pulling her self up to stand as well. She loves technology, as in my iPhone and my iPad. She also loves electronic music, as well as many other types of music. She dances with me all the time and I taugh her how to high-five! I get to hang out with her two times every week. She is the sweetest little baby Isla in the whole wide world. I’m so happy I’m a part of her life and will be for years and years to come. Cheers to the happy family from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bowie!