Logan

Good friends and clients, Mica and Lori, had their 2nd child yesterday, the adorable baby Logan. I was a bit shocked to hear he came because she wasn't due for another month. Logan made his grand entrance, Lori made it all seem easy, and they are both doing great. Today I got to pop over to the hospital and meet the new addition, and he is simply precious. Seeing a new life never gets old, and it always moves me deeply. He is so little; I could not help but tear up.

Baby Logan, I love you, I have prayed for you, and I know that God has got big plans for you. Welcome to this world. Mica, Lori, and Isabelle, I adore you all; congratulations on your new addition. I can't wait for our photo shoot after you all get home from the hospital!

Sliced Strawberries on a Croissant

Sometimes my husband reminds me that he is indeed brilliant. Contrary to his humble opinion, this does not happen daily. ;) However, today it did. He was sweet enough to pick up my favorite summer dessert: sliced strawberries wrapped in whipped cream and tucked into a croissant. Yum! Yes, it was delicious, and, yes, it is already gone.

Thank you honey for sweetening up my day with this surprise; you are awesome! Doesn't this just scream delicious?

Emily Touching Her Nose With Her Tongue

Well, this is pretty self explanatory. However, I guess I could mention that Emily enjoys doing this to bother me; it kinda freaks me out. Maybe it is because it looks so strange. It is only one of several of her freaky tongue tricks. Ah, the blackmail photos, they are numerous. :)

A Nice, Relaxing Bath

There are those days when so much seems to go wrong, you wonder how anything managed to go right. The sort of day where you face disappointment after disappointment. The sort of day when you would promise that your parenting is in vain, and you wonder if there is a boot camp for that. The sort of day when you really don't want to get out of your PJs, let alone your bed. The sort of day when muscles you didn't realize were important 'til they started hurting. The sort of day when you want to imagine yourself on a tropical island somewhere instead of facing what you are.

Am I the only one that has those sort of days? Well, today has been that sort of a day for me.

The one saving grace that I know awaits me at the end, though, is this blissful invention called a bath. Simple, yes. Easy to get, no. The relaxing water, a few salt cubes to help the muscles, a couple of candles that happen to smell delightful, and a solidly locked door, and I have myself a little bit of heaven on earth. Yes, it really is that good. :)

Beautiful Anna on Daddy's Lap

First, I want to give an incredible heartfelt thanks to each of you who have written to us of your prayers and encouragement in this matter. Thanks seems small for something that means so much. And yet a thank you is all I have to give.

Second, we have finished our second day of court. It is good to have it over, and thankfully it seemed to go by quickly today. I am grateful that we have an attorney that is passionate about her work and does an awesome job. Regardless of the outcome we know she has given this her all. I am also thankful to an awesome birth mom, Petra, and her mom, Grandma Grayce, for treating us to lunch after court; that was totally sweet, huh?

Coming home to our children's hugs, kisses, and general excitement rings even more precious on days like this. We have had 28.5 weeks, 200 days, 4,805 hours with Anna since her birth. Why is that important? Because we are keenly aware that each moment is truly a gift which gives joy that we do not have the words to describe. And we will continue to enjoy each moment as the gifts that they are.

We return to court the beginning of August to hear the judge's ruling. Until then we wait and pray.

Isn't Anna adorable? If you look closely you can see her tooth, it is that small white line on her bottom gums, and today we noticed that there is a second tooth coming through right next to it! :)