She's a chick rocker... "born to be loud"... she is making Jeff's drummer face in the 2nd pic!!!

What an awesome Thanksgiving we had today. Here's a pic of our little turkey...

We enjoyed time at our house and both of our families were here throughout the day. Here are some shots of us enjoying the day...

Much to be thankful for...

What an absolutely amazing few days we've had... Soren Michelle McLaughlin was born on Friday, Nov 16 at 4:37pm. She entered the world and rocked ours. :) She is beautiful! 8 lbs even, 22 inches (yes, she's super long with cute long legs and toes), cute chubby cheeks, and loads of dark hair. The day was amazing. Labor and delivery went very well. Sarah was in labor for about 12 hrs and was able to experience natural childbirth (no drugs or pain intervention) and was thankful for this incredible experience. Jeff was an awesome coach and partner in this! We were also accompanied by a doula (person who assists in labor for massage, relaxation, positions, etc.). Here is a pic of Soren yesterday (Nov 20)... aww....

Here are some more too... she loves sleeping on Daddy's chest, she watched her first Colts game in the hospital on Sunday (she kicks better than Vinateri right now... ouch), and there's one below immediately after her entry to the world. We've affectionately named her "Bruno" from that shot. Thank you for your prayers!

IT'S A GIRL!!! Soren Michelle McLaughlin was born on Friday, Nov 16 @ 4:37pm. More to come...

So, what have I been doing while I wait on baby??? (click to enlarge... wait, isn't that belly big enough???)

12 days until DUE DATE

We have officially 12 days until our due date... sooner? later? Only God knows! Here is a pic of me in the nursery this week. Still growing! :)

There's also a pic below of Jeff with Eliana last night - our new little baby friend. He has such a sweet way with her!

All I can say about the pic of my belly is "wowsers!"

Finally, there's a pic of Zan (my sis) and me celebrating our birthdays together this week. My 29th and her 21st. We're excited to have one more to join this birthday month!!! Zan and I have always enjoyed celebrating together. Here we are in matching jackets that Mom and Dad bought us. Mine doesn't quite fit around my belly...

Still waiting...

We have been getting everything ready- the room is there, my body feels there, our minds have turned toward baby. So, now we wait. :) (Here is Jeff getting the car seat together... he's a professional folks, don't try this at home...)

This time of waiting has actually been incredible. Last week I felt a weighty sense of loss about closing this chapter of it just being the two of us. I felt a sadness to let that go. I wondered "are we doing everything that we really want to do before baby comes"? In the last week I feel like we've really experienced the Lord's kindness in having amazing moments together. Because the doctor said "it" was coming soon, I stopped working a little earlier. Grace was amazing about embracing our family and working things out easily to support and accomodate this decision. Because my body has been a bit unpredictable with being dilated, having a couple of other things come up, and having a dropped baby, we've taken time to rest up. We've had time to watch movies at home and cook dinner. We've had time to see a movie, prepared the nursery, taken long walks... here are some pics of our almost 3 mile walk yesterday. (That seemed like a better idea than spicy fire sauce and taco bell to get things moving...)

I also feel excited about the way that a baby carries your love forward. I feel excited thinking that somehow God's design included 2 people in love helping to create life and the baby being evidence of that love. How amazing!

Here are some pix of our nursery (click any pic to enlarge) - other than needing a crib mattress and a couple of other things with that and collecting some of our around the world pix, we are pretty much all set! Yea!