Anna Noel

Six years ago today, our daughter Anna was born. She was born overseas on a Sunday. We didn't know ahead of time that the hospital we were going to normally "closes" on Sundays. We had arranged for our friend, Cindi to meet us at the hospital to help us translate if needed. (I didn't trust myself to actually remember any of my language skills in the middle of labor.) It turned out that it was indeed good to have Cindi meet us there. She made it to the hospital before we did and quickly realized that the gate at the entrance of the hospital was closed. Fortunately, she was able to convince the guards to open the gate for me since I was about to have a baby. (Kind of worthy of opening the gate for, don't you think?)
Meanwhile, our good friend Tina was at home with our 3 other children. We called her "Aunt Tina" because she was very close to our family. We found that when we lived overseas we tended to bond a little closer with our friends....something about the greater need that we felt for each other in a land where everything was so different from what we were used to.
Anna was born very quickly which was a very good thing for me. It meant less time for the hospital staff to do things that were normal for them....but not so normal for me. I'll be nice and polite and leave out the birth details.
I will mention though that neither my husband, Shane, nor Cindi were able to be in the delivery room with me. But, since Anna was my 4th baby it wasn't such a huge deal to me.
Anna weighed in at 7lb 9oz. I think. I could be making that up. I would have to go find her birth certificate and then translate from kilos to pounds. Not going to do that right now.
More importantly, Anna was born healthy and from the get go she brought joy to our lives. My nick name for her is Smiley. She is one of the smiley-est children I've ever met. She is not easily offended and is very kind hearted. She loves to give to others and is an encourager. She really enjoys digging in the dirt and "boy" toys such as monster trucks. She is a sensitive girl, but doesn't cry at the drop of a hat. She is learning to read and it's opening a whole new world to her. She is studious and adventurous.
I'm so glad to have her in my life!