I'm late in getting this post up today, but I'm excited to share a few photos from this past week. Thank you for bearing with me as I've been "hit and miss" with my posts. Ivy Grace is about the sweetest little thing in the world, and getting to be part of her first week of life with my daughter, Lauren, and her husband, Robert, has been one of the highlights of my life.
Here is Ivy, brand spankin' new - just minutes old on May 16.
Breathing in baby-ness. She smells sooo good. Lauren's expression in this photo is priceless...Oh, I love that girl and I'm so proud of her.
I loved every second I got to help hold, diaper, burp and cuddle. I've already invited Ivy to tea parties, cookie-making lessons and sleep-overs at my house. She was delighted to accept, and plans are already in the works for the next 20 years.
This photo, along with the other black and whites here, was taken by their doula, Heidi Thaden-Pierce. She did a fantastic job documenting the labor and delivery...she captured the emotion and the beauty of this event perfectly. It was a very tough labor, with a rare complication that added hours to the pushing stage. I'm so glad they have these photos so they can remember it all in a way that embraced the difficult process and celebrates the incredible miracle that came from it.
I had to include this one because this is where Tom and I got to meet Ivy for the first time, and congratulate Lauren on a heroic labor and delivery.
Robert - the new Daddy. He is already a great father and seeing him love his daughter gives me a lump in my throat everytime.
She found her thumb right away.
My heart was really full, when upon close inspection, we determined that this fuzz is strawberry blonde. I've been hoping for at least ONE red-headed grandchild, and it appears my prayers have been answered.
I could not stop marveling at the perfection of this baby, and the beauty of seeing Lauren become a mother. I almost have no words to describe it....but in those moments of wonder I felt a little piece of God there with us. There is so little that I understand about the world and the things that happen here.
But this I know:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139: 13-18
Thank you, Lord. You are good.
