new life

i am sitting in our hospital room with an amazing view of san francisco across the bay, the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge...and in the foreground, our hospital parking garage.

today i celebrate new life!

first, after a very painful but very fast labor (let's just say that we decided to head to the hospital at the right time, since we got to the maternity floor at 5 :15 am and our baby was born at 6: 23 am!! yes- you read that correctly...an hour later!!!), our new daughter was born!

ruby adelia

was born yesterday morning...

may 24th...

9 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches...

a full head of thick black hair & sweet big eyes...

feisty like her big sister, she kept us up all night last night and snuggled with us all day

{ruby is in honor of ruby bridges

(you can read about her courageous story here if you aren't familiar with it);

adelia is a family name on my mother cornelia's side of the family

(& is pronounced uh-deel-ia)}

we love this little beautiful bundle of baby

& now it is matt and the girls!

second,

today

marks five years that one of my dearest friends in the whole world,

adriane,

has been cured of leukemia.

i spent a few hours with her on sunday afternoon (pausing once in a while for the contractions that i kept telling myself were no big deal), and as we hung out with our kids underfoot, thought about what a gift she has been to me. her fight against leukemia was long and brave, and i wrote about it a few months ago if you'd like to read more here.

she is an example to me of such inner and outer beauty.

i am so incredibly grateful to call her a friend -

to have walked together through some very treacherous seasons

only to emerge in grace and strength,

and to call today a day of great hope and celebration.

new life comes in all sorts of forms...

joy for this newest, wonderful little baby asleep a few feet away

joy for the rebirth and healing in adriane's body

(thank you all for your very kind comments!

i thought i brought my camera cord to the hospital to upload some photos,

but alas it looks like i didn't. pictures of little ruby to come soon!

now i am going to sleep for a few hours while i can!)