A week in the McL household...

Here are some recent shots of life at home lately. Time with daddy, time at the piano with little buddies, and the day that Soren and I picked 256 tomatoes from our garden (yes, I said 256 and those were just the good ones!!!).

On Mondays, I take Soren to the "Busy Babies" class at the library. She certainly fits the bill. :) She is such a little explorer. While all of the other babies sit in their mamas laps or on the floor looking at books and toys, Soren roams the room, pulls things off of the teacher's bulletin board, pins the teacher's doll (prop baby) to the floor giving her kisses. AND she is SO very loud. Every class and when we go to pals' houses, everyone comments on how vocal and animated she is. She likes to sing and squeal. She is such a happy baby and it just cracks me up!

The point of this blog is twofold…

(1) to document Soren’s life and to capture our feelings and experiences in one place

(2) that Soren would someday be able to read these pages and know about herself, know how we feel about her, and know about the love within her family

So, Soren, this one is for you that one day you will know the love that your daddy and I share...

Soren, your daddy and I celebrated our anniversary last weekend – 7 years! There is something called the 7-year itch. Thankfully, I would say that has not been the case. (Unless, you’re referring to that mosquito-bite-kinda-itch that feels pretty good and keeps scratching you but somehow something about it feels enjoyable. Does anyone know what I’m talking about?) I’m crazy about your father and my love has grown for him exponentially. He has been such an amazing husband and, now, daddy. To watch him with you makes me love him more. It makes me love you even more too. The way you light up when he comes home is amazing. The way he lights up is also extraordinary. I hope that someday you find someone that is selfless and grateful and cares for you the way he has for me. At about this point when he will read this blog, he will point out times where he’s not been selfless and grateful and all the while prove, ironically, that he is. And then he’ll be embarrassed that I put this stuff on here. And I love that about him too. One time when I was working at Grace, someone was telling us at a staff meeting about a couple who was annoying in a conversation because they complimented each other in front of one another. That was awfully confusing to me and I guess I hope I’m super annoying then. One of the pastors leaned over and whispered "it doesn’t have to be that way". I grinned because I like to think that Jeff hung the moon. What’s bad about someone knowing that?
Your daddy is so fun. He’s got voices he does with you and he is silly. He’s witty and dry and goofy and those that know him best love that sense of humor he's got. We lay in bed and stay up late laughing sometimes.

For our anniversary, he planned 7 destinations for me with 7 letter clues to commemorate our 7 years. We stayed downtown at the Indpls Hyatt, went to the Eagles Nest, swam, went to the IMA gardens, and danced to our first song - your daddy had brought the i-pod, speakers, and cables just to make memories a part of our special night. Soren, it is a gift to parent alongside your papa.