My Isaiah Joseph,

Seven years ago today, in Missouri, I had family pictures scheduled. We hadn’t had family pictures done since Ellie was an only child. I coordinated outfits and was pretty excited to finally have updated photos.

An hour and a half before we were supposed to be there for our pictures, you started throwing up. It was the start to the stomach virus going through the house. I tried to get Ellie and Lucas out of the house as soon as I could, hoping that taking them to the park would somehow save them from the same fate.

We never got those updated family pictures, but I took a lot of pictures of the four of you. We did a lot of little photo shoots around the river in Missouri and by that huge rock/not quite a mountain. I wanted to get them done in Hawaii, but that never managed to happen. Although I don’t have any professional pictures of all four of you, I have quite the collection of pictures that I cherish.

I’m learning more each and every day, baby boy. Please keep watching over us. I love you more than anything. Goodnight and sweet dreams.