Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to your and yours.

Last year, the first few Sundays of Advent gave us a truly new appreciation for the practice of "waiting for the babe to be born."  As it so happened, our sweet girl came that second Sunday, December 6th, on the Feast of St. Nicholas.  Hadley Jane has been a gift like we could not have imagined.  We celebrated her first Christmas with family from far and near.  She was oblivious to the comings and goings of the holidays, but she sure liked looking at the sparkly Christmas lights!  This year, however, she had a little more fun with toys and new clothes waiting for her under the tree.

 

Here are a few highlights and details from our year:

Hadley: I really enjoyed some good times with my grandparents, aunts and uncles this year.   This summer I had fun in the neighborhood pool and going on walks with Mom and Buckley in the stroller.  I started off this year with virtually no mobility and I'm about to be walking! 

 

My favorite foods are cheese and avocados.  My favorite books are Dear Zoo and the Elmo puppet book.  My favorite toys are my stacking boxes and Dad's iPhone (though he doesn't like it when I chew it).  My favorite song is ABC's and the songs Mom and Dad make up when they change my diaper.  My favorite stuffed animals are Osito, my teddy bear, and Buckley – he lets me climb all over him, and in exchange I throw him food from my highchair and let him lick my face.

 

 

Jeff and Katie:  Needless to say it's been a year of changes.  Just a few months before Hadley was born, I (Katie) lost my job as Programs Director at a small non-profit.  I had hoped to return there part time once I was settled in with Hadley, but as it is, I've been thankful to have the time with her that I enjoy.  I am fortunate to have had some freelance writing jobs, as well as some paid singing gigs. 

 

Jeff is still at Emory University.  He works in Research Informatics, an exciting field that he really enjoys.  Despite the economy, he was able to hire someone to help with his increasing workload.

 

Jeff and I both still volunteer as musicians at our church, and like to sing and play for Hadley.  We also both enjoy playing soccer:  Jeff plays in a recreational league on Thursdays, and we both try to play pickup on the weekends. We made a number of trips to North Carolina this year to stay at my parent's cabin.  We love the cooler weather and beautiful hikes up there, and Hadley does as well!  We're hoping she'll love the outdoors as much as we do. 

 

Speaking of hiking, in August Jeff joined his brother and two good friends on an expedition to summit Mt. Rainier in Washington.  They had a wonderful trip and returned with great stories and fabulous pictures from the top.  I am so proud of Jeff.  Meanwhile, I embarked on an equally daunting task – flying by myself up to Pennsylvania with an infant so Hadley could visit her Grandma and Grandpoppy. 

 

A few things other than our infant that we enjoyed this year:

 

Stieg Larsson's Millenium book trilogy.

30 Rock, Fringe and The Sing-Off.

The Suburbs by the Arcade Fire (whom we also saw in concert)

Go by Jonsi (who awed us with his live show at The Tabernacle)

Trying our hand at a vegetable garden.

Watching the World Cup.

Making pies for the holidays.

Quality time with good friends.

 

We hope you had many things to enjoy in 2010, and wish you much more goodness in the coming year.

 

Peace & Joy.

Jeff, Katie, Hadley & Buckley

 

I Can Post from My Email!

This newfangled technology (okay, it's probably not that new) may mean I actually update this thing more than 2 times a year.

Oh, and here's a pic of Hadley in her halloween costume.

Hadley's Turning 1

Elephant Talk Birthday

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View the entire collection of cards.

Ten Months In

Our baby will be 10 months old tomorrow.
In a related note, I haven't updated this blog since November of last year. Pitiful, really, but I promise it's not for lack of writing. I've actually been keeping a nice journal of these baby days. Recording things like first sounds, crawls, what types of food the little girl eats and when, frustrations with napping schedules, etc. But really, does the world wide watching web really want to know these things? I'm assuming not, so keeping said journals to myself. UNTIL NOW!

Here's what I wrote today.
Some thoughts in no particular order:
The other day I came in to get Hadley out of her crib and she was standing up, grasping the railings smiling at me like it was the most normal thing ever. Bless her.
Today was a blissfully gorgeous day. We lay together on the trampoline in the backyard and I squeezed my baby so tight I was worried I might hurt her. She is just so beautiful and glorious I feel immensely blessed to be with her as much as I am. And incredibly fortunate that it serves only to increase my love for her. Sure, sometimes it's trying, and completely cliche (like when I'm waiting for that 5-ish hour for "the husband" to come home from work and take the baby..yea, it's a total cliche / stereotype. But what's that about stereotrypes, they only become so because they are cloaked in some truth, right? )

She gets new sounds or faces about everyday. It really makes life exciting. Yesterday she had this pursed-lip look..like she was about to whistle, her mouth that can become so gargantuan when she is smiling, becomes tiny and focused on God-knows-what. It's sickeningly cute. Today she gained a new sound. A clicking noise akin to some East African language. Can you imagine the exponential growth and development of a baby. It's astounding, really.

Jeff got a motorcycle. Were it smaller and /or did we have a King bed, he might sleep with it, like in the excited little boy sense. It's cute. I can't help but think of when my family had our red Yamaha Mo-ped. I waited for the day when I would be able to ride the mo-ped myself. When I would be grownup enough to experience the speed and wonder of the swift Yamaha. Our driveway was so bloody long, the motorized bike was the only reasonable solution for collecting mail and the paper, or going to see neighbors without jumping in the car at every turn. The Christmas before I was to be "of age" to ride the mo-ped, I got a helmet for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it was bright red (the other was metallic blue). I slept with it in my bed that Christmas night. I loved it that much. So if I mock Jeff, or disparage him in some deep place of my heart, I must always remember the moped and my red helmet. I crashed that moped a few years later. Sliced my ankle, at which point, seeing my bloody sock, I passed out from the shock and adrenaline of the moment. I still have the scar.