William’s mama knows that she is blessed.  Do you know what she texted me today? “I certainly don’t take it for granted at all.  It really almost brings tears to my eyes that God gave me him and the opportunity to be a mama!  It was worth the wait. :)”  With her permission, I’ll give just a little back story.  Most parents feel blessed by their children, but I think it is even a little more apparent to those who didn’t have a smooth path to parenthood. I’ve known these two for a number of years, and it has always been obvious that they would be amazing, loving, patient parents.  As time passed and it didn’t happen, I assumed something was going on and began praying for them to get pregnant, unbeknownst to them.  I know I was not alone in lifting them up.  One day I decided that I wanted to sit down with Anne at lunch and tell her this– that I just really felt they had been laid on my heart to pray for.  We both were busy and hadn’t gotten to catch up in a while (she was a schoolteacher at the time), so we met with a mutual friend on a beautiful day and ate at Tazikis.  That day, Anne told us about the IVF round they were in the midst of (which I hadn’t known about).  When I told her that I had been praying for them for months (or maybe a year at that point), she became teary eyed.  The three of us cried and celebrated the possibility of new life.  Lo and behold, William was the fruit of those fertility efforts.  A moment doesn’t pass for these parents without realizing that they are blessed with this precious boy. William is about to turn 7 months old next week, and he is a perfect blend of his mama and his daddy.  What a lucky boy.

PS: I’m avoiding posting whole-family shots in case they get used for Christmas cards. 🙂