(For the best part, skip to the end of this entry.)

As many of you know, I had my birthday last week. It was on Wednesday and we had a great day! Flo took the day off for me and we woke up late and he ran to the bakery and bought two chocolate croissants for breakfast. What a guy! Then it was time for opening presents. I got a whole bunch! I got a journal from our church leaders and this fabulous book from Audrey. On the day after my birthday, I read the book… from front to back… from beginning to end. Heh… it was good! (For more pictures, click on any photo.)

I also got a lambskin, a DVD, a candle holder, a cookbook (for grilling -- yum!), a game, flowers, and a Marcard family ring. Well, technically the ring still has to be made at the jeweler. And that wasn’t even anything from Flo yet. Flo got me a bunch of good stuff, such as a nice top, a minidress, an aloe plant, and the Rhythm del Mundo CD. He also got me the Lonely Planet guidebook to Brazil (where we’re going in September).

That stuff was all good enough already, but my husband really loves me, so he really went over the top!

He bought me a new iPod! My old one broke a while ago and he got me this great new one. It’s amazing how much music fits on that little 80 gig thing. I sure wasn’t expecting that. And then my parents added right on and got me the docking station so I can hook it up to our stereo system and use a remote to control it. Cool, huh?

Benni and Annka also had the day off and we hung out with them for the rest of the day. First we went playing minigolf.

I was shocked to see what the minigolf course looked like, but they said that’s normal here. It’s just these cement fairways with metal sides, no landscaping, no water traps or waterfalls or fountains, no windmills or pirate ships. Still, it was really fun. Afterwards we hung out at the lake for a little while and then went for dinner. It was such a great day.

We waited the whole day for news from my other brother-in-law, Sebastian, and his wife. They were expecting a baby and the due date was actually July 21st, but they went in the hospital around 6 AM on my birthday. Most of the family was worried that the baby would have to share his or her birthday with me, so it was getting very interesting as the day wore on and still no baby. Well, on Thursday, July 24th at 12:34 AM, after 18 hours of labor, little Emil Marcard came to the world.
Weight: 8.5 lbs
Length: 23.3″
In case anyone should worry, his widow’s peak and adorable little excited eyebrows give it away completely that he’s a Marcard. Benni, Annka, Flo and I went to the hospital on Saturday to visit him and his mom. He actually stayed awake for a little while for the uncles and aunts. We felt really special because of that. Since the most important thing is to see his cuteness, click on the photo to see more pics.

And since possibly even cuter is his lonely little cry, we’ve got a couple short video clips here, too.