Introducing ... my precious beautiful new niece Candler! Remind you of anyone?? Below is a picture of Andrew at about the same age.
We just loved getting a whole weekend with cousin Candler and her mommy without having to share (no offense, Nannie!) She is a treat ... beautiful (obviously) and full of smiles and she SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT THE WHOLE WEEKEND. Here she and Andrew diverge in their similarities.
Daytime sleeping wasn't her thing, but she did decide to take advantage of Roxanne's giant dog bed for a quick snooze one afternoon.
This may be my favorite photo from the visit, taken by Andrew, our budding photographer. I'd like to say that I made that maniacal face on purpose. I'd like to say it, but I honestly can't remember. Maybe I walk around wearing that expression all the time and have no idea, my unrestrained inner exuberance bursting forth.
Two weeks ago we had the wonderful joy of visiting the Peabodys. The weather was perfection, the landscape pastoral, the friends beloved. It was heavenly. These two were inseparable during the Peabody's Atlanta years, so it was delightful to see them running off to play like they'd just seen each other the day before. And run off they did. I don't think I would have seen Andrew at all the whole weekend if I hadn't gone searching for him, sometimes finding him next to Holly, each deep in a pile of books, sometimes squinting to make out their shapes at the tip top of a magnolia tree.
We weren't sure if Els and June would hit it off or just hit each other, but we shouldn't have concerned ourselves. Like their siblings before them, they became fast friends immediately.
Aren't they the cutest?!
We are grateful to be surrounded by such lovely and wonderful friends, near and far. Closer to home, we savored one of March's more benevolent moments with Charlie and James in our own back yard. Peppermint tea and graham crackers on a picnic blanket and hours in the sandbox made for a grand time.
And in adoption news, our profile book is out and being viewed by expectant mothers and the anticipation is wearing me out. I'll get word that our book is being shown and I immediately turn into a glazed-over mush. I spend the next few days wandering aimlessly about the house, planning out our life together with one baby or another, feeling like I should be frantically getting things ready but not quite sure what to. I guess I expected things to be a little more orderly. I envisioned getting a call about one mother and baby, having my moments of delight and panic, and by the end of the day (or at least by the end of the next day) knowing they didn't choose us so I could rest and move on mentally to the next possibility. But it's not like that. For instance, right now there are FIVE expectant mothers who just might be carrying the baby that I am to hold and love for a lifetime. Five babies of different races, genders and birthdays (actually, six babies ... there are twins in the mix!) that I continue to think of longingly and pray for and name ... no official closure on any of them yet even though some of the mothers saw our book weeks ago. I notice that even when I'm going about my day as usual, my back will be sore by the end of it and my insides get all giggly every time the phone rings. And I'm sweaty. All the time sweaty. TMI? Sorry.
One thing I do know ... I'm going to need a new car.
