Daddy's at home with the Baby!

As you've probably read, I've been hanging out with Sophia while Bethany has been rehearsing for The Importance of Being Earnest, a hilarious Oscar Wilde play. They opened the show last night, and Matt and Laura Watrous were kind enough to babysit so I could be there. It was a remarkably funny show, and I was ecstatic to see Bethany back on the stage after so long.

Bethany was right - between work during the day and being at home with Sophia while Bethany rehearsed in the evenings, I've definitely experienced a long energy-demanding month. Fortunately I've made it to the beginning of my parental leave, and I have to say I'm already extremely thankful for it. I am so thankful for the wonderful opportunity to be able to spend so much time away from work with our new baby girl, and I think Bethany and I will be able to spend some much needed time together after our long split schedule in September.

I'm really looking forward to having friends out next weekend when Sophia gets baptised, and I'm hoping to find a number of opportunities to grab some great snapshots with our new camera. I've also been eager to get a cable to connect our camcorder to the computer so I can put together a compilation of the cute moments we've caught on tape so far.

Welcome the Fall

"Whoa!!"

What a September! What with Brian working frantically to get everything squared away before leaving for a month of paternity leave and me rehearsing in the evenings and on Saturdays, and both of us juggling the care of our beautiful newborn, this has been one crazy month. The Importance of Being Earnest had a wonderful opening last night, though, and it has all been worth it. October will be relaxing comparatively, with Brian home from work! What a privilege.

Here's me busily making dinner with Sophia before heading out to rehearsal:

Daddy and Sophia being sillies.

My beautiful opening night flowers from Brian!

Praise God: Morgan is finally home from Iraq and reunited with Elizabeth! We got some good pictures of him and Sophia meeting for the first time at church on Sunday. What a blessing to have him safely home again.

New Photos....7 weeks already

Well, Sophia is now 7 weeks old. How is the time already flying so very fast? What with taking care of a newborn and me (Bethany) starting rehearsals last week, we've been a bit overdue for posting new pictures for you all to coo over. The good news is that we did take lots of pictures, and we just posted some of our favorites on our flickr site (link in previous post). Hope you enjoy!

In other news: Sophia has started smiling!! What a precious gift. She's also just begun making sounds that seem intentional, rather than involuntary (ie more communicative), but that isn't exactly a frequent occurrence yet. The doctor said to start watching for more of that this month and that she should begin trying to mimick our speech soon. What fun things to look forward to!

Sophia has officially outgrown her newborn clothes :( Mama was rather sad. Though, since they were mainly summer outfits and we're starting to see the beginnings of autumn weather here, it's probably well-timed. The 0-3 mo clothes still look rather baggy on her, but her poor ankles stick out of the Nb sizes. She's lookin' like her Daddy already: long and lean...except for the chipmunk cheeks and the double chin, of course.

Rehearsals are going very well. I love my cast and my director. There's a surprising lot to sink your teeth into despite the fact that The Importance of Being Earnest is a marvelously frivolous comedy. We're all having a blast, and I feel very blessed to be a part of this show. Besides, it's so nice to be practicing my craft again.

My father made us the generous gift of loaning us his other car. He shipped it cross-country and it arrived today. Now we have a safer car to put the carseat in and a second car so that Brian and Sophia will have one while I drive to rehearsals each night. It is a tremendous blessing to have it, and we are so grateful.

We hope that everyone is having a beautiful end of the summer and start of the fall. God bless!