the next american idol

I can see the video montage and hear the Ryan Seacrest voiceover now..."her parents knew she had music in her blood from a very young age". What do you think: a cross between Brooke White and Katharine McPhee?

the future's so bright...

I gotta wear shades

Better Late Than Never

So after much harassment from my wife and the plaintive urging of others across the country, I'm finally trying to bring our blog up to date. So much has happened since our last post in February that I can't show it all. But I'll try to hit the highlights in this and the entries that follow. First up is Anna's dedication to the Lord at Harvest Community Church on March 7. The Nazarene Church performs both infant baptism and baby dedication, but after some deliberation we opted for dedication largely so that the exhortation "Remember your baptism" might actually have some concrete referent in her memory. Our pastor, Derek, gave beautiful voice to our faith in God's grace toward Anna and our hope that she will grow up to walk in the way of Jesus. For her part, she hammed it up throughout, clapping her hands and pulling up her dress. She's got Gina's flair for the limelight!

I've also thrown in a few Easter pics for good measure. The bunny ears were Gina's idea, not mine. Who knew heresy could be so cute? Enjoy!


Pretty girl in her dedication dress


The family and in-laws representin'


First Easter...you can glimpse the living cross behind us


Cadbury ain't got nothing on her!

Everyday is Valentine's Day in Our House

Even 2 weeks later you can still feel the love... :)

Obama Attracting Younger Voters

That's right. Apparently Barack's appeal extends beyond the young adult demographic to the "I don't have teeth yet" age group. Gina gave Anna a head start on her civics lessons by taking her to the neighborhood polling station on Super Tuesday to cast a ballot (bold prediction to follow) for the next President of the United States! The three of us matched the rest of the day with our "I'm a Georgia Voter" stickers proudly displayed.

Snow Bunny

No, the national news reports about snow in Atlanta yesterday were totally unfounded (fascinating that I had 2 non-Atlantans ask me about snow when I didn't hear a word about wintry weather predictions on our local news stations). I guess the global information network can't replace good 'ol local journalism. Anyway, these pics are from the only snowfall of the year to date, back around New Years. It was Anna's first encounter with the white stuff, and she was relatively unphased by the whole thing. Hopefully, that'll change. We did teach her how to make the perfect snowball and launch a surprise attack, though. Daddy will make a hurler out of her yet!

First Christmas

They've been a long time in coming, but finally here are a few pics of Anna's first Christmas. She followed Santa clear across the country, nipping at his heels first in Portland, OR, and then in Nashville. She actually caught up with him at Macy's in downtown Portland and snagged a picture or two with the man in the red suit. The trip to Portland to be with Gina's family marked Anna's first flight in an airplane...a big deal. Gina was understandably nervous, but mother and daughter did very well on the flight out. The flight back wasn't quite as pretty as Gina was miserably sick and had to hold Anna in her lap the entire time. But they made it home safe and sound, which was all we could ask for.

Anna got plenty of attention over the holiday from both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, so much so that when we finally settled back in Decatur I think she was disappointed to find only Gina and I available to entertain her. We only intensified her frustration with our decision to let her "cry it out" in order to break her habit of waking up multiple times at night. She surprised us...after only 2 nights of parental and infant anguish, she began to sleep for a solid 8 hours. We really do have the perfect baby :) We've moved on to sampling solid foods now with mixed results. Spitting and bright orange carrot mush is a lethal combination! More on this new culinary adventure in a later post.