Sophie’s story began in early December 2012 when Kevin and I, after just 7 months of marriage found out we were pregnant! We were so excited to begin to plan, prepare and welcome this new little life, our firstborn, into our arms due to arrive August 15, 2013. On March 27, 2013 at our routine 20 week ultrasound we found out the devastating news that our daughter (we found out she was indeed a little girl then… what I thought all along!) had a serious neural tube defect, where her brain had not developed and would not develop, called anencephaly. The doctor explained to us that there is no cure for this defect and babies with anencephaly continue to grow in the womb and are typically not born alive or only live for seconds or minutes once born. Our hearts were crushed. Yet, we determined that every moment we had with Sophie would be a celebration of her life and the time that God gave us her. Sophie was born on September 1, 2013 alive, kicking and crying… the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. She lived for 10 precious hours and we celebrated every moment with her along with family, friends and literally thousands who fell in love with Sophie and journeyed with us from afar. Sophie has and continues to change our lives and we are so thankful that God chose us to be the ones to journey with her as her parents on this earth. You can click on the links below to follow our journey with Sophie, our celebration of her life along with things that we were learning and wrestling with along the way. Enjoy celebrating Sophie with us!