Wonderland!

This week we celebrated a very special birthday! Our niece, Miss Alice Sophia Wintrode, was born on Tuesday, January 21st and Mom, Alice, her very excited older brother Tim and her Dad are doing great. Alice is already snuggling her way into our hearts with her very obliging timing. She waited until her Grandpa was in town with her Grandmom and then she waited until her Grandmom made it to Maryland to join Grandpa and Tim so they could meet Alice together. With the help of the Heritage Guidance family, we made Tuesday an impromptu 'take your daughter to work' day so that Allie's Grandmom could go meet her newest granddaughter, and Allie joined me at the office for the day. She had an absolute blast and loved seeing her friends and showing off her smiles to new audience members. For me, it was one of my favorite days on the job.

Alice Sophia Wintrode. Born June 21st, 2011 6 lbs 13 oz, 18.5 inches and a whole lot of cute.

The HHS crew that made it possible for Alice's grandparents to celebrate her birthday with her. These guys are the best :o).

On Saturday, Grandmom, Allie and I drove to Maryland so Allie could meet her newest cousin and catch up with her wise old cousin, Tim. We had a great time and it was wonderful to see how well everyone's doing. Alice slept and ate and snuggled and we love her already.

Such a little bundle!

Tim, you're cracking me up! Have you thought about taking this show on the road...?

Look closely and you'll see a very proud 5 year old pushing his little cousin and a little cousin that's loving it.

Allie giving Tim some pointers on why little girls rock.

Allie showing off her hair-pulling talents. Tim showing off his sense of humor.

Aw, thanks, buddy.

Chris missed out getting to meet Alice this weekend as he's in Tennessee for the church's annual Sneedville Mission Trip, also known in the history books for being the location of the budding romance of Chris and Suz 14 years ago. We're keeping the team of 70+  strong in our prayers this week as they bless and are blessed by the people of those beautiful 'hollers' and valleys.

We were also fortunate enough to get to witness another very special baby's baptism on Sunday. Our good friends the Montys (Jess & Brian) had their beautiful boy Brendan baptized in the church that Jess grew up in and where her mother is still the organist/music director. Brendan was a trooper as he waited patiently through the service for his turn. Allie was also a trooper too, but our little girl has found her voice and was squawking a bit too happily to stay in the sanctuary, so her Grandmom took her out where she could flex that voice box. I'll post a video of her chatting it up when I can figure out the technology to just post the 1 minute edited version :o). It's music to my ears.

Brendan Hall Montgomery and his beautiful family on his baptism day. He did great!

Speaking of music to my ears, only one more day of work until summer break!