Our Christmas Angel

Merry Christmas!! I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday. Ours has been wonderful and busy! Isabelle was baptized last Sunday, 12/21. My family wasn't able to make it, but we were very blessed that all of Ian's family was able to come. She wore the same gown that all 5 of my siblings and I wore for our Baptisms, which was really nice. Ian & I started a new tradition for her... we gave her a cross that she wore during the Baptism. Our intention is that she will also wear it for subsequent sacraments. She was such a good baby... she didn't cry at all during the Baptism itself. It was until the pictures afterward - when she was starving - that she cried at all. We did a little photo shoot of her in her gown, since the pictures at the church itself weren't all that fabulous. They turned out really well - sweet angel baby. They're available on our Picasa site.

Most of Ian's family was able to stay for Christmas. We've had a wonderful visit. I'm so happy that now all of our immediate families have been able to meet and spend time with the baby girl. Here are a handful of photos from Christmas... Aren't the ones with Sophia so cute? When Naomi & Sophia came to stay with us at the beginning of November, we discovered that Sophia & Isabelle had been given identical outfits as gifts. What are the odds? Naturally, that required that we dress them up and take pictures. Isabelle was still too little to wear hers then, but the shirt worked out well as a dress by Christmas! :) We've been singing the theme to the Patty Duke Show (they're cousins... identical cousins...) ever since!

Ian's parents and sister, Aileen, will be heading home on Sunday. After that, it will be just our little family of three, basically for the first time since about the middle of November. We love our family, but we're also looking forward to some "us time" and spending some quality 2-on-1 time with the baby girl.

That's all the big news from here. I am hoping that I'll have a little more time to keep up with the blog once everyone leaves... and there will be more people not here who will probably want updates. :) Until then, we hope you are all enjoying the blessings of the season and looking forward to good things in the new year!