5 years!!

Five years ago today, John and I exchanged our vows to each other at the 88th Street Beach Pavilion in Stone Harbor, NJ. It has been an amazing five years, and when we got married we hoped that one day we'd be able to add to our family. One adorable dog and one magnificent Katherine later, we can't imagine being any more lucky. To celebrate, the three of us went to Cafe Jasper for brunch....so good!



And, today we also celebrate Winston's 3rd birthday! He'll blow out three candles on his peanut-butter puppy ice cream treat later today. Happy Birthday, old man!

Katherine's Paparazzi

Ever since Katherine came home from the hospital, she's been lucky enough to have many visits from her adoring extended family. I wanted to post some picture now that all of our parents and siblings have been able to come and spoil, I mean see, her. We are so lucky!!

Dad and Carol - Dad is known as "The Baby Whisperer" in this house...as the second oldest of 7 kids, he's amazing with babies and kids!

Johnnie and Colon - Johnnie loved rocking Katherine...I think it brought back the days when she rocked John.

Vann - Vann would lull Katherine into a trance with his booming singing voice.

Mary-Mitchell - MM took Katherine and I out on our first adventure to the mall!!

Brian and Heather - Brian may have taken more pictures of Katherine than I did...he's clearly smitten.

Togi, the Alaskan Prince - Togi was Winston's favorite visitor.

Happy girl!

Katherine really is amazing! It is so much fun to watch her develop and learn something new, every single day. These days, she totally gets a kick out of talking with John. She and her Daddy will go back and forth, saying "Hey" until she breaks out into a huge grin and makes some adorable noise/squeak that must be the beginnings of a laugh. I become more smitten with her every single day.

This is her "I will NOT poop on the new couch, I promise" face.

Smiling for Daddy!

Talking with Daddy!

Katherine chillin' with her BFF Winston.

Smiles smiles smiles!

We have been so happy to see some smiles from Katherine!! It's great to finally get some sort of feedback from Katherine that she either likes us or finds our silly faces entertaining enough to humor us. There are so many milestones that she'll be starting to reach, and I'm so excited to watch her go through them and learn about the world around her. I'm so in love! As for John and I, we're a bit pooped out now and then, but we're managing to keep our heads above water. As for Winston, he's been a good buddy and always accompanying Katherine around the house.

4 weeks old!

Katherine is 4 weeks old....our little girl is growing up!

Daddy's little girl

Who wants more Katherine? I do!

The magnificent Katherine!

Now that we've all been home a while, and trying to get settled into some sort of "normal" routine, I figured I'd post an update on our lives with Katherine. First of all, many kudos to John for a great post about my labor and delivery. It really was an amazing experience, so much less terrifying than I expected. Sure, there was a lot of pain for many many hours before the epidural, and a lot of work during delivery, but I truly had fun getting this little bundle into this world. I owe a lot to 1)John, for his amazing support, 2)Dr. Coppola, for her mellow and encouraging manner, and 3)luck, that things went smoothly and my body worked the way I hoped it would. Katherine deserves a lot of credit too...that couldn't have been easy for her!

Our first few days with Katherine all sort of blur together from the sleep deprivation and excitement. We had some great nurses at the hospital who helped both me and Katherine adjust, and get started on breastfeeding (a two-step-forward-one-step-back adventure, but so worth the effort now). Katherine is amazing, and we are so blessed to have such a sweet girl in our lives. We've also been lucky to have help at home...we've had shifts of several proud grandparents helping us keep the house in order. Not to be forgotten, Winston has also been great...he shows interest in Katherine to the point of sniffing her or curling up at my feet during feedings, but not so much interest that we are worried at all. All in all, the Campbell household has been a very happy household!

More to come...