baby tour

last week sophia and i headed to the west coast on a baby tour. ava miller, sister to olivia, was due to be born and we wanted to be there for the birth. also, there was a celebration for my niece, hannah, so we hopped down to join in on the party. daddy stayed home to hold down the fort with the older kids.

it was a great trip for many reasons. i loved getting to be with sophia all by herself. getting to know her, enjoy her stage and study her a little closer. it was also great for the rest of the family to get to know sophia on her own and spend some one on one time with her. she's quite the little lady...

grandpa sharing his pocket watch with sophia. it was actually his grandfather's watch. everyone has memories of walking up to grandy and having him hold the pocket watch over your ear and cup his big hand over your other ear. dad passes that on to his grandkids.

soph, listening to the watch.

we stopped by to see grandma at work. when sophia was born mom was in the middle of a surgery. she put me and sophia on speaker phone and shared her first cry with everyone in the operating room. we got to meet the surgeon and other nurses who shared that moment.

snuggling with auntie hallie.

bouncing in cousin hannah's bouncer.

being a big girl and taking a bath in grandpa and grandma's bath tub.

the birth of ava was one of the most amazing experiences i ever been a part of. it's hard to put it to words. a mix of relief, amazement, joy and celebration. seeing her face, smelling her skin, hearing her cry. all births are joy-filled, but ava's was different. set apart. she entered the world into a community ripe with anticipation and love. and never before have i heard of champagne being popped in the labor and delivery room...until now!


getting to see hannah with my own eyes was such a treat. laura and hannah were not expecting us to be there and that made the meeting all the more fun. i loved seeing laura with two kids. she's an amazing mother, who i look up to. she's doing an amazing job with the hard transition from one child to two. it was a quick trip but we got lots of hugs and kisses in.


at the end of the tour we all were ready to be back together again. we continue the process of trying to move into our house. we're almost done with the school year and are ready for summer to officially begin!