Kate,

You are almost 1 month old.  We are so happy and thankful that you are here... finally.  Momma has been worried a long time.  You were our first birth at night, coming at 11:30 at night.  Daddy thought you'd stall out and not come till after midnight, but you kept rushing on out.  It's been nice and quite since you've been born, except when you want to eat at 1 in the morning.  You see all your siblings, especially the loud ones have been up in N. Alabama with your Grumps and Ahna.  But that will change in a week, as they bring home the grandkids.


I can't tell anything about what your attitude or demeanor will be.  You seem to be calm for the most part.  You are starting to get more and more facial expressions.  You are starting to smile a little more here and there.  You wave your tongue back and forth and stick it out.  You have been very good at riding in the car seat for us.  We've made a long trip and a few couple hour trips, and you seem to travel pretty good for us.  Which is going to be very important in about 3 more weeks, as we are going to be taking your first long road trip - to Texas.  With us taking such a long trip, we hope that you will be able to ride so that we can enjoy driving through the countryside.  Momma's real excited because this will be our first vacation trip together as a family.

You are definitely going to make things different around the house - having a newborn, homeschoolers, and one just causing trouble.  I hope the kids are excited about helping Momma take care of you.  When Britt, Ruth, and Rebecca gets back here, all this wonderful peace and quiet will be extinct like the dinosaurs.   In fact, we might have to buy you some baby ear plugs to sleep with.











There will be alot of changes for me and Momma as well.  It's been a long time since we've had to change diapers, dress someone top to bottom, and hand feed someone.  It's going to take us a little longer to pack everything up, because when it comes to babies, it requires extra equipment.  We bought a larger vehicle just so we could carry more children, than our old little Sportage could.  And it's still not enough room.


In the next year there will be so many changes for you that it's not even worth listing.  A great trait to start out with though is to be loving with others.  You can show them that you love them not just in words, but in actions and deeds.  Loving also sometimes means you have to do hard things, things you don't want to do, but you do them because you care about someone.  I write these letters every year, just because I love you.  Being loving also means sometimes you look over others faults and failures.  You look for the good, and it makes you a better person.  You will have plenty of opportunities to practice this over the years with three older siblings.  The best example when it comes to loving, is Jesus.  Not only did He love us unconditionally, but He died so that we could live and love with Him.

We love you, Kate.

Love,
Daddy