P.I.E.

(Points of Interest on Ella)

- She was born precisely on her due date - according to our doctor, this happens with 5% of babies.

- When she popped out our doctor discovered that her umbilical cord was tied in a complete pretzel knot. He had only seen 1 or 2 of those in his entire career. (And, yes, praise God that this fact is only showing up on an inconsequential list of interesting details)

- 5 days ago, we had no idea what she looked like. Though she slept in bed with us every night, we had not met. She was unborn, living inside another. 9 months ago she did not exist. There are eyes now that were not, ears that now hear sounds in a unique way, a mouth that recently did not contribute to the world, hands that will do what otherwise would not be done. A person has come to be. We are really enthralled with this right now and are repeatedly adoring her Creator, as her grandfather prayed on her first night home, "for her fantastic mystery, glory, and complexity."

P.I.E. from Dad's perspective:

- Being born at 7 lb 11 oz, she and Dad will likely be going on lots of Slurpee dates.

- In 5 days, her mouth has made approximately 832 different, adorable expressions. Dad has counted them.

- Meanwhile, Dad breaks out in the same redundant super-goofy grin every time he sees her.

- Her nose has tiny tiny pale dots on it, making it look like the most precious miniature strawberry you could ever imagine.

- How could a simple sneeze make a grown man melt all over the floor, forcing grandma Sherry to get the mop out and start all over again?

- Momma Anna is Dad's new hero - nursing, sleeping, eating, not sleeping, healing, and operating as chief commanding officer for everybody else all at the same time.