Isn’t She Lovely…

We’d like to introduce you to our new daughter, Catherine Joy, freshly one week old today. We are pretty sure she’s the sweetest, most precious little baby ever but we might be biased. Her name means “pure joy” and so far she has been living up to her name.

I decided that James 1:2-3 is the the theme verse for her labor and delivery because… 35 hours… and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3

I’ve had a few different thoughts since her birth and one of them is that I have so much more respect for single mothers now. I have been doing really well this week but that is only made possible by the loving support of my husband. I can’t imagine doing this without him. He has been my rock throughout this new adventure.

Just one week in, and she already seems bigger to me. I am trying to soak in and savor this newborn time because I know it is going to be gone before I know it. Last night we were eating dinner and I told Andy that I already feel like I am going to turn around and all of the sudden she is going to be 25 and bringing us our first grandchild to meet. He said, “How did you feel all of that just in the time it took for me to walk to the kitchen and back?” All I could think of was this scene from Harry Potter:

Although, to be fair to Andy, I think his emotional range has significantly expanded since he became a dad. He is so in love with his little girl. The first day after she was born, I walked out of the bathroom to find him cuddling her and I thought my heart might just explode. Just look at that love:

We love her so incredibly much and are so excited that she is ours. We are so blessed.