UPDATE: New Photos, new layout
Enjoy!
Born Thursday, June 23rd at 7:55 PM
6 lbz, 2 oz; 18 inches long
IQ 186 (I estimated)
Sophia was born via C-section after some pretty complicated labor, and both Gretchen and Sophia are doing well. They’re actually both sleeping peacefully in the room as I type this.
Praise God for his many wonders, so often disguised up as the normal stuff of life.
Hearty congrats… she’s beautiful.
Congratulations! I know you are proud and very happy. What a tremendous blessing!
Greggo
Awesome. Praise God. I wish you and her God’s blessing, and will be praying for your family.
Mike and Gretchen,
Congratulations! We are so happy for you. Your baby is beautiful.
Best Wishes,
Dana, Emily, Ian, & Gabriel
Congratulations Mike and Gretchen! She is so beautiful, and you are truly blessed. We are so happy to have our first Neice and the boys’ first cousin!!
She must be brilliant; she chose wonderful parents.
She is beautiful!! Congratulation! :0)
Congratulations Mike and Gretchen! She is beuatiful!
What a beautiful name .. and from what I see, she lives up to it! Did she come into the world singing? Congratulations!!
We are so excited for you both!!
well done, everyone. congratulations, congratulations.
Just wanted to say congratulations! What a beauty! So many joys await you!
Yahoo!! And only an IQ of 184??? She’ll far surpass that! Congrats and praise God!
What a beauty. May her Wisdom and Grace be a blessing to all who know her…including her parents! We love you.
What a cutey!! Can’t wait to see her.
Congratulations you guys!
Congratulations Mike and Gretchen! I was thinking of you this weekend (I had the due date written on my calendar) and wondering… then I checked my email! What a beautiful baby. We are very happy for you and can’t wait to meet her… give us a call in a month or so when you’re ready to bring her out, and we’ll all meet at the Hofteigs or our house for a barbeque.
I’m so happy for you two. Welcome, Sophia. What a beautiful girl. Cerise
Congradulations you guys, she looks beautiful! Is she good at the keyboard yet Mike, or is it too early to tell? See you guys soon (all 3 of you now).
beautiful baby, beautiful mother, um, good dad
congrats!
Beautiful. Congratulations!
Congratulations and welcome to the family Sophia.
Love, Carol and family
She’s beautiful! Congratulations to both of you. Gretchen…take advantage of those mornings to feed and then snuggle in and sleep some more! (It will never happen with the next one.) The girls can’t wait to see her. love ya!
We were at a wedding this weekend and when we returned we found your email…Gretchen, a thousand congratulations, Love! Mike, you are so blessed. And little Sophia, welcome to this big beautiful adventure. We love you all so much!
Mike and Jenn
So now I am a real “Great Grandmother”!!
She’s beautiful.
Congratulations and many, many loving wishes for all your happiness.
omg i’m an uncle
What a beautiful baby. We have all been blessed more than we know. Congratulations and lots of love to all of you. I can’t wait to see this little one. Hold each other close and enjoy every moment because it zooms by so fast. Sophia Grace…I can already hear her belting out those gospel tunes. Love from one of the Grandmas and “Grampish”
Wow, what a beauty!
We’ve all been blessed.
As my mom said…she’s a “Great” Grandma,
I must be a “Great” auntie now. :)
Give her a hug from great-auntie Carolyn.
With Love,
Auntie-Carolyn, Amanda, Sarah, and Matthew
Michael, Gretchen and Sophia,
We are so happy for you. Congratulations on your own little miracle, she’s beautiful. We are praying for you and wishing you rich and deep blessings.
Congrats!! She is beautiful! Can’t wait to meet her. God is good!!
Fran
Congratulations to you on the safe arrival of Sophia. She is beautiful and so is her mom. God bless you!!!! and the grandparents too.
Love, Karen and Alan Hearl
Congrats guys…she is beautiful. We are so excited and can’t wait to see her! Isn’t it so great to be blessed :)
YEAH! She’s absolutely adorable, I can hardly wait to see her in person. Did the grandma’s get to be there and the aunties too. Oh, how we love and miss you both and now you three - thanks for including us in your announcement. Blessings to you darlings - you’ll always be in our hearts, history and longings to fellowship with - hopefully one day in the not too distant future. Gretch, give me all the scoop one day when you have an extra moment (ha) - are you done with teaching, doing floral designing? Fill us in when you have a moment - Michael, still at B.P. and APU - congrats on graduating again! - give our love to all and LOTS of hugs and gentle kisses to Sophie - cute name! - Mucho love - The Salley’s
We are so excited for you! You will be wonderful parents to precious Sophia — you chose a beautiful name, too! :) Much love and many blessings to you ALL.
S he’s
O ne
P erfect
H eavenly
I mpressive
A arrival !
We are thrilled for the three of you. Thanks for
the pictures!!
Love, Bob and Grace
Congratulations Mike & Gretchen on your precious little daughter!!!! What a thrill!!!! I’m just so happy for you. Enjoy!!!
Love,
Nancy & Lynn
Good work you guys- another beautiful cousin for the clan- may you have sleepful peace
OH MY GOODNESS!!! Can I have one that comes out that cute??? She’s beautiful and I only wish that I got to see her in person. What a sweet name! I’m proud of you guys~ what wonderful parents Sophia has~ Love, Julie and PJ
A baby is better than a blog.
Congratulations! She does look beautiful. We are very happy for you and can’t wait to see her in person.
Welcome to beautiful little Sophia - and congratulations to the Mommy and Daddy - She is a gift from God like any babe, but she’s special and as she begins her journey in life with you guys, may she be blessed as she learns to love and share herself with others.
Sophia will always share a special place in my heart as she was born on my Mum’s birthday - My Mum would have been 89 this year but she is now with Jesus and so the cycle of life keeps going.
Mike - just love the photo of her hand in yours - a symbol of fragility, strength and trust.
Mrs. Lee,
Your baby is beautiful! Congratulations! I bet you’re very excited like my mom was when she had her first child. Sophia is tiny like I was…I was only 5 lbs. 12 ounces. I know you’re going to be a great mom to Sophia. I hope I get to meet her.
Love, Alexis
Congratulations! What a beautiful baby and a beautiful name! God bless you and your new little girl!
Gretchen,
Congratulations! You did it! (Sorry about the incredibly LONG labor & surgery–but you did it!) My mom forwarded your site to my email. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I’m imagining you are very sore and exhausted by now… Know that many friends and family are cheering you on.
I’ll be in the same boat in November, so lead the way, Sister!!!
Hope you savor each moment.
Blessings to you and GREAT JOB!
Sharon (Loux) Junginger
Dear Gretchen & Mike,
Loving Congratulations to you both. Sophia looks just beautiful. A huge welcome to her and God’s richest
blessings to you all.
I have so enjoyed opening this website tonight and
looking at the photos. Please continue to put photos
on so that we too can enjoy her from ‘Down Under’
My love to you both - Ruth xx
Congratulations to you both! A beautiful baby! So glad all are well after such a dramatic birth!
Love,
All the Leestma’s
Dear Gretchen and Mike,
Congratulations to you both on the arrival of little Sophia! She looks beautiful. It was a real pleasure to meet you both at Sally & Scott’s wedding and we wish you every blessing as you begin this new phase of life’s journey. It is fantastic to be able to see photos of her when so far away.
We wish you all the best, Sue, Geoff, James and Katherine xx
Hurray!
What a beautiful baby- I hope to get to see her in person soon. I am proud of you guys. The Lord doesn’t always promise an easy road, but the outcome is definitely worth it. Enjoy your new blessing- a up close view of God’s miracles. I remember feeling that I was born to be a mommy when I saw Emily. Congratualtions- Sophia couldn’t have neater people for her mommy and daddy. When your up for company, let us know.
Have fun with your new family,
Love, Christine ( Duane, Emily and Landon McDonald too)
she’s beautiful. thank God she takes after her mother.
…rich blessings on you and your family.
Congratulations! We’re all so excited for you. She really is beautiful. This is really the most precious of all times. It might be hard sometimes (breastfeeding, ouch!) but try to cherish every moment. Many blessings to you and your new family.
Sophia, is truly an angel from God! You are so blessed. Enjoy a life time of happiness. Love Sherry and Chantel.
Congratulations to all of you, special blessings and welcomes to the little one. May she live up to her name, particularly when she hits those teen years!!
she’s so cute!!just browsing the net and accidentally here i am sending a ms to you…God bless you!!!
I miss you so much Mrs. Lee. The picture of you and your baby looks pretty. Have fun with your baby!
Dear Sophia,
Welcome to this big, beautiful world. We know the love that surrounds you. You’ve already given something special to all of us—to read the names of everyone sending you greetings brings us all together again. Hope we can see you this summer! Sincerely,
Mike,
Hisako,
Hanna Thompson.
WOW! a beautiful child and a sweet name too.The next 20 years will be full of trying times and joyous celebration,all the stuff that comes in family life.Wishing you a full measure of the very best that can be.Hope springs eternal in a heart that has faith.
we all miss you Mrs. Lee!…Every single one of us!!!….I hope some time you can come to WCS to show us in person!…I am so so so so so so so happy for you….I know both of you will be great parents because you were SUCH a great teacher! WE LOVE YOU MRS. LEE, MR. LEE, & SOPHIA!!!!
LOVE,
ELLE, GUY, AND SAM FARRAR
I didnt even know your wife was pregnant! guess we didnt get into that in Tech. I really wish i could take another class with you…but since I know you’re not fond of students… we would all just sit around and “discuss” and of course there would be no homework! haha
Well other than that I just wanted to say congratualtions on a beautiful daughter. What a blessing from God! I hope your wife and you are doing well and I’ll see you around school soon! Even though you’ll probably forget my name…haha ttyl Mike
Lisa
Congratulations, you guys! She’s breathtaking and perfect. I can’t wait to meet her….and to catch up with mom! Hint hint. Love you all, Kristin
Yay Mike & gretchen! But I had to find out through the grapevine about the new breakthrough artist in your life!
That’s okay, since you probably didn’t know we have 3 now…. :) Welcome to the Parenthood Club! How are you
doing with the poopy diaper changes, Mike?
new photos uploaded, in an easier format for quick viewing.
I was hoping for some newer photos. the 8/29 entry suggests new photos uploaded, but, as usual, I am not smart enough to find them. Help!
opps, went back to start of page and found the link. Duh! Great format, easy access - should have expected it. However, nothing since august 29th? Come on!!!! Oh, by the way - Sophia’s beautiful photo done the old fashioned way now risides in our hall of grandchildren - definately my favorite youngest granddaughter!!
I didn’t know about leaving comments about my absolutely adorablee neice! I loved making her giggle and smile- your Auntie Heidi loves you very much and can’t wait for more kisses and hugs atChristmas- you are beautiful little Sophia XOXO
And here we are one year later! Can you believe it? :) It’s been awesome!