4 months!

just wanted to say happy birthday to my little amelia joy! we love you!

she may live in the country...

but she's a city girl at heart. we were amazed at how well both girls did in the tube stations, on the escalators and getting on and off the trains. but even more so, i couldn't believe how fearless maggie was and how she had a perfect "downtown face." no smiles. no frowns. no eye contact. just the face.  love that girl!

london!

we finally went to london for the first time last week. we had to visit the u.s. embassy to apply for amelia's passport (which we received in the post today). after a 2 hour stay at the embassy, we headed over to oxford street. it was very cold and very crowded and we were overwhelmed! we had just a few hours before heading back to our friend's house so we braved the tube so that we could at least see big ben. the girls did great and i'll never forget coming up out of the tube station and there it was: big. ben. we walked around for a bit and saw the thames before getting back on the tube and going home. we just kept praising the LORD for giving us such a smooth visit.

happy birthday, gwyneth!

due to illness, gwyneth's birthday party was cancelled last friday night. this photo is from our new year's pork and sauer kraut dinner(postponed thanks to illness)/ goodbye to the nicholsons/ birthday party from sunday. it's been a rough start to the year but we are still very thankful for our crazy, not-so-little girl who was actually my "easy" baby! she is loads of fun, speaks with a bit of a british accent and falls down more than any child i've ever seen (to quote our neighbor). she doesn't sit still for long but she admires her older sister and loves to take care of her younger one. her sun rises and sets on her daddy (as with all of the girls in this house). she is easy to love but a little hard to keep up with. happy birthday to my little sausage-gwyneth grace!

a few firsts

first passport photo

first sunday at church

first smile (6 weeks)

first trip to starbucks

thanks, em!!!

starting her young

we had our first outing while my mom was here. it was to tk maxx, of course! you can see that steve is thrilled=) we even went out to eat afterward. i regret to report that i did not take any photos of our first trip to ikea on the way home from the airport. oh well, we'll just have to go back!!