Miss Haven is 1

Please note the size of Sage's blueberry muffin pancake.  And yes, that woman in the background is having salad for breakfast. Only in Boulder.

This is what happens when we try for a family photo.  And yes those are rolls around my tummy...I'm working on it. 

Haven's one and only present from us...Sophie the Giraffe

We celebrated Haven's birthday at Snooze, a cute little diner in downtown Boulder.  Breakfast is more like dessert over at Snooze.  Makes me think of the Jim Gaffigan routine about pancakes: "Young man you're not having cake for breakfast, you're having fried cake with syrup."

I tell people that Haven is the best surprise I never planned.  A little about her for posterity's sake. She smiles and babbles all day long these days.  Her baby signs are just darling.  We love the sparkle in her eyes and those long, long lashes. She has what we call a "spicy" personality (spicy as in feisty).  She is always good for a snuggle, especially with Shane.  When she nurses she loves to pick on my shoulder mole (gross) and touch my cheek with her little hand (sweet).  She never stops squirming during her waking hours.  She gets very excited about dogs and Shane's homecoming.  We love her little laugh (it sounds a lot like Sage and Micah's laugh).  She loves being outside in the yard (always has) playing quietly on a blanket, observing the scenery.  Haven enjoys seaweed and beef liver among other things.  She is quite the carnivore and devours meatloaf and meatballs and lamb.

Haven birth was a bright spot in the dark days of Micah's illness.  We chose her name long before she arrived, before we knew how fitting it would prove.  In the first few weeks of her life the time she and I spent nursing and snuggling and sleeping together felt like a haven, a refuge in a tumultuous time.  I felt whole again after she was born, as if Heavenly Father restored to us the joy and peace that were missing.  Her birth is a reminder that, "...there is nothing lost, but may be found..."