family time

March and April will be fun months for us as we have lots of family and friends coming to visit before we head back to Asia in May. This past week my brother's family came to meet the baby. We had fun! Too bad I didn't take more pictures because somehow I didn't get any photos of my brother or nephew Max. But we did have another photo session with Cassandra while they were here, and I can't wait to post those pictures! Anna Kate loved holding the baby; If she lived here I'd have her come over to hold Trinity so I could get more housework done! :) Jake and Grace are quite the pair...

I thought this was sweet.

the little momma; she LOVES babies!

Papa Jim and Granna on Papa Jim's birthday

decorating Papa Jim's birthday cake

And, I'm really falling behind already on taking pictures of baby #2. I always said I'd take as many (or more) pictures of the second kiddo, but now I see why it doesn't usually happen! Here's Trinity at 19 days old. She's such a sweet, calm baby and is already changing so fast.

Yesterday we finally found a pacifier Trinity seems to love. It made last night easier!

pictures, pictures

We came home from the hospital on Sunday and are enjoying every moment with this baby girl! Thankfully, Trinity seems to be a VERY calm baby. Hey, Kevin straight-up will tell you: with Grace he prayed that God would give us the child that would most glorify Him. With this baby, he simply prayed for a calm one! :) Well, it seems this prayer has definitely been answered. Grace was pretty colicky, but thus far Trinity mainly cries when she's getting changed or is hungry. I've been proud of Grace; she's been such a good big sister so far. She's even taking to throwing away diapers for me (at times without being asked.) She's getting lots of good attention from Nana and Pappaw this week, so we haven't seen the jealousy-factor yet (which I'm sure will come later.) If you think of it, you might pray that Trinity stays healthy! Grace was running fever/snotty nose tonight. Here's hoping this is one thing she doesn't share. Enjoy the pictures!

meeting Granna and Papa Jim

Grace's first time to hold sister

Grace had to make sure Trinity met her all-time favorite Lammie!

meeting Nana and Pappaw

Kristen took off work and was there when Trinity was born!

Trinity loves to be swaddled, so at times Grace also wants to be "wrapped up like a burrito!"

We were so touched that our family in East Asia sent these gorgeous flowers. Thanks guys!

It's a girl!!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our baby girl, born March 5 at 12:29 pm. She weighed 7 lb. 6 oz. and is 20 inches long. And her name is...For those of you who have not heard, this whole name thing has been huge for us. It's been a secret from even the closest of friends and family until last night, when my 2.5 y/o daughter spilled the beans to her pappaw (Kevin's dad). You see, Grace has really been into letters lately. So any letter she sees is followed by a word that the letter starts with (for example, "D" is for "dog", "G" is for "Grace"). Well, Grace was watching a show with her pappaw and saw the letter "T". So naturally she blurted out "T" is for "Trinity". That's right, our daughter's name is Trinity. Trinity Elise. Thank you all for loving on us while we've been in the States. At this point, we are looking to go back to Asia some time in mid-May. More pictures and stories to come soon! For now, we're going to try and sleep.

waiting yet savoring the time

D-day is coming; this Thursday's the day! I have such a mixture of feelings as we wait for the baby to come. I'm ready to hold her yet savoring the last moments we have as a family of 3. And I'm trying to remember what in the world I ever did with a newborn. Somehow those first few days with Grace are a little foggy now! Before we get very focused with baby #2 on this blog, I feel the need to journal a few things about Grace. The 2's have been more challenging than I ever imagined, but I can honestly say we've had more fun with Grace in the last few weeks than ever before. These have been such happy days lately, and she just makes us laugh with what comes out of her mouth! She's grown up a bit in the last 2 months. I know toddlers have their ups and downs, but I'm willing and ready for the 3's coming in a few months. I love to watch her learn. She talks almost non-stop while she's awake: telling stories, pretending, coming up with toddler jokes, and basically verbally-processing everything we do. She's fascinated with letters right now and picks them out wherever we go. One of my favorite things right now is to hear her pray at night. And she's extremely excited to be a big sister. I hope it lasts once the baby's here. Here are just a few hodge-podge of pictures from the last month. On one of our warmer days, Daddy and Grace went on another date. She always comes back from these times very excited about their adventures! Here's Grace and her good buddy Carter reading books in his room.

She loves pajamas and/or nightgowns right now. At times I put her down for nap in her regular clothes, but when she wakes up she walks out wearing pajamas.

And on one of the colder days last month, we stayed inside and let her dress up in various outfits. Note the bright orange skirt underneath her dress. We put on coke boxes and chased each other playing "robot." It's fun to pretend with a toddler!

Next time, I hope to post some pictures of our two girls together!