Visit to Virginia

The three of us returned last night from a wonderful visit with friends in Charlottesville.  Maureen and I marveled as we drove home at how good God has been to bring so many amazing people into our lives.  Katie probably met more people over the past four days than in the previous two months of her life, and she was a champ.  We hope to return soon to introduce her to more of our friends.

One very special visit was with the Lupica family, who drove up from Richmond to meet Katie for the first time. Maureen and I have known Bella and Isaac, the two youngest Lupicas, since they were infants, and I've known Johanna and Noah (who had a basketball game and couldn't come) since they were Katie's age.  I remember holding them and singing to them and playing with them when they were too small to crawl!  We love all four children like they're family, so you can imagine how special it was to see Johanna and Bella holding our daughter.

 

Katie Smiling

This has become one of our favorite sights in the whole world.  We'll call each other and come running to see it, dropping whatever we happen to be doing.  It's hard to explain exactly what's so heart-warming about a baby's smile, but here's the evidence.

What Katie Dreams About

A Great Visit!

We just said goodbye to Tim, Amy, and Malachi, who drove all the way from northern Maine to visit us and other family members who live in the area (speaking of which, thanks for a fantastic get-together on Saturday evening, Aunt Pearl and Uncle Mel).

This was Katie's first meeting with her uncle, aunt, and cousin, and we loved every minute of it.  As you can tell from the photos below, Malachi has a big smile and a winning personality.  I have a feeling he's going to lead Katie on a lot of four-wheeling, snowmobiling, playing-in-the-woods adventures when they're a little older and we drive up to visit Tim and Amy in Maine.

One of the clearest signs I've had recently that Maureen and I have entered a new stage of life is that Tim and Amy brought us a box of diapers as a hospitality gift.  Perhaps an even clearer sign is that I was thrilled to receive it!

Rub-a-dub-dub

One of Katie's favorite events is bath time.  She screams as we carry her from the changing table to the tub, but as she soon as she hits the water she quiets down.  She kicks her legs and flails her arms around, enjoying the warm water, the attention, the absence of clothes, and her friend the Fisher-Price whale tub (a gift from Maureen's former colleagues at WCAV).  

In the interests of modesty, we improvised some swimwear for these shots.  Katie didn't seem to mind, and we thought her grandmothers would approve.

New Year's Resolutions

During the coming year I resolve to drink more milk, take more naps, spit up more, suck on more things, sit up, crawl, babble, and walk.  Because I love my parents, I also resolve to do more of this...

...and much less of this.  Happy New Year everybody!

Happy New Year!

In celebration of a magnificent 2009 and with high hopes for a wonderful 2010 for all of you, we asked Katie to pose for a slightly early New Year's photo shoot!

Our lives changed permanently on the afternoon of November 10, when our family went from two to three and we first laid eyes on our beautiful little girl.  She's already brought a great deal of joy and laughter into our lives, and it's only been seven weeks!  We've been amazed and humbled by the generosity that so many of you have shown to us over the past few months.  Thank you for your gifts, cards, prayers, advice, visits, support, and love.

The three of us wish all of you a Happy New Year!

And here are a few especially good out-takes from our photo shoot that we thought you might enjoy!