Hello Again!

Well hello there, friends.

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted, so thank you for hanging with me here as I took a little bit of an unplanned hiatus from blogging this summer. As many of you know, I had my daughter, Norah, in May, and it’s been a wonderful and hectic couple of months as we acclimate to our new normal as a family of four.

It’s about time for the official announcement for our little girl.

Norah Mae was born on May 23, 2025, after a delightfully uneventful and rather quick delivery. For those of you who were around for Will’s birth (or if you’d like to read his birth story, you can here), you know that it wasn’t the best experience, and all I wanted was to have a smooth delivery of a healthy baby - one that resulted in a baby in a bassinet in the recovery room with me in the hospital.

My prayer was answered in the very best way - with an excellent care team, the best labor and delivery nurse in the world (she also delivered Will with me, and remembered our family!), the best support people and the fastest delivery I could have imagined. Our daughter entered the world quickly and very loudly, and the whole experience was just so redemptive for me and Elliot. So many of our prayers were answered and we felt so blessed every step of the way.

We were able to bring Norah home the following afternoon, where she has joined our family, creating her own space and sharing her feisty spirit as the baby of the family. She is a sweet and snuggly little girl who like to be toasty warm at all times, and has absolutely no patience when hungry. Norah is all the magic and wonder that I could have ever imagined and I feel so honored to get to be her mom.

Since her birth, our family has taken a much needed break. Elliot and I both had leave from our jobs, so we have all been home for most of the summer, hanging out with our kids, knocking out some minor home projects, and soaking up the sun as best we can. I’ve spent the vast majority of my time with my kids and family, focusing on them and making the most of every day, whether that looks like a morning trip to the park, an afternoon with our water table, or a spontaneous pre-dinner outing for an ice cream cone. It feels very different, and much slower than my normal life to get to have this season where we are able to enjoy summer like a little kid, with a flexible schedule, plenty of rest and lots of joy. While I know this is time where we get to be a little family bubble and we will go back to our regularly scheduled programming very soon, I’ve really enjoyed this time as a family, and my prayer is that I can continue to slow down and incorporate more fun into our everyday life. I’ve realized that I get very wrapped up in everything else going on, but it’s become so clear to me that this is what’s truly important in this season - my little family with loud little kids, who are almost always late.

These days, everything takes a little bit (okay, a LOT) longer, but I’m starting to realize that’s kind of the whole point.