Life in the McL household...

Here is a shot of Soren today in her crib. She is a happy girl! Below are a few pics of the globes and animals in her nursery.





















Soren loves her some sweet 'taters! I started making our own baby food a couple of weeks ago. I always considered the people that did that to be tree-hugging nuts! Either I was wrong about it or I'm nuts now. At any rate, it's super easy (just process what you have!) and really really cheap and, most importantly, it's the best Soren has taken to baby food yet!




















Here is a pic of Palmer, our new little friend. He is 5 lbs 10 oz - wow! Soren was never even close to that little by the way. But, regardless, I sure enjoyed holding a newborn again! How precious, how miraculous!





















Here's Soren flying through the air with Uncle Jon.
We were matching this day while we were in Ohio. :)


















Soren's first trip to the zoo - she kept trying to catch the fish. It was SO fun and so hilarious!


















Grammymac takes Soren around the pool. Who is having more fun here?




















We recently celebrated Father's Day and took a day to the Wilbur Wright Aviation Museum... looks like this father is enamored with his precious girl!


















Aunt Zan and Soren grinning up a storm...


















Cousin Maria with Soren on our trip to Detroit. Soren gave her first kiss to Maria that week!
























Here is my new PR rep. We got our new CDs shipped back to us today. We will be releasing it very soon; don't you think that Soren would make it easy to sell them now?

Playtime...

I've enjoyed making a little play area for Soren. It's the land of "YES". In other words, it's the place where she can get into anything, crawl around and pull up anywhere, browse through (and bite) books, play with empty boxes (um, tell me again why the toys even need to come with their boxes???), bite on fabric baskets, and explore everything without getting any "no, you can't get into that" sayings. It's been amazing to see her explore the world. As she figures out the beautiful intricacies of life, I do too.

I had an amazing opportunity just a few weeks ago to go to Guatemala with an organization called Orphan Outreach (http://www.orphanoutreach.org/). There were 30 mother/daughter teams from all over the U.S. that met in Dallas and then headed to Guatemala City from there. I was privileged to go and lead worship with my friend Carmen D'Arcy from Grace Community Church. We shared music both with those women and at each orphanage with the children. The point of the trip was to take school supplies to various orphanages around the city and to enjoy time together playing and hanging out. It was both amazing and heartbreaking. See in the pics the following shots: Soren wearing a handmade necklace I brought back, Carmen and me at the hotel, the way that the cribs were arranged at the orphanage for babies (yes, they were lined along walls and stacked on top of one another), giving each other manicures, and 2 beautiful girls who are orphaned and living at Los Angelitos.
It seems an impossibility that Soren will ever be orphaned. I know this will sound terribly morbid, but I have to admit that if something were to happen to me, then to Jeff, then to our parents, all of our family, all of our friends, etc., I still know that Soren would be taken care of. We are fortunate and grateful that Soren has so many caring hearts that love her as if she was their own. This is not the case with many many many children in Guatemala City. There are cribs lining the walls... who's bed will the little one crawl into when he has a bad dream? And when she wants to tell someone a secret from the depths of her heart, who will listen? And when they want to snuggle, who will be there with open arms?
While I'm grateful, I wonder how my gratitude directly helps those children. There are beautiful people there making huge strides in raising up a new generation of Guatemalans - helping to educate and provide for the children. How do I live with respect for the poor and orphaned? I'm processing again. My prayer is that I would be changed as a wife and mother and that I would pray to leave a legacy with my precious Soren... that she would see those Guatemalan children as her sisters and brothers. Pray for those children and pray that I may be changed.

The Soren Mobile

Ok, Soren's mobile! Pardon the pun and check this out... watch the eyes at the very end especially!

We had a fantastic trip to Texas to visit Jeff's family. Soren first met Memie & Papa and aunts, uncles, and cousins in January. We enjoyed flying this time - it was about 2 hours instead of 30 to get there! Soren made friends with everyone on the plane it seemed - here is a shot with our flight attendant. Some other shots of our trip... there are also some pics of our trip to Monticello, IN for a vacation with Jeff's fam. It was great to be together. Soren has found a good new sleeping position on GrammyMac's lap! :0

watch out for our busy bee!

Here are lots of pics... mommy and Soren time... bath time... 1st trip to the pool... 1st kiss!!!... 1st bike ride... life of the party!!!

Hi everyone,

So, I realize it's been awhile. The last month has been a whirlwind! We spent a week in Texas with Jeff's grandparents, a week on vacation with Jeff's parents, and I went to Guatemala last week on a mission trip. Until I can write in a little more detail, here's a new pic of Soren...

she laughed and smiled in every photo we took... she is just a bit familiar with the camera!