I took some new pics of Katherine playing this weekend. She still pretty much sleeps the day away...when she's not eating or pooping. But when she is awake, she's very alert. She loves to watch the faces of her family, and in this case, she was watching the dangling bear faces hanging from her pack n play. She's still a tiny thing - I can hardly remember Abigail this small - when I didn't groan while picking her up. :) But she's gaining weight and is generally a very happy baby. We feel blessed to have her join our family.

Katherine upclose

Here are some closeups of Katherine's face. Although there are differences, I see so much of Abigail when I look at her. Actually, Scott and I are both struggling to call her by her name...a problem I'm certain we will have for years to come. Now I understand why I was Br..Heather for most of my life. I've also included photos of Katherine's first bath, with big sister Abigail "helping".

Katherine Avery

Hello friends and family!

At the advice of a friend, I've started a family blog to post updates and photos of our growing family. This way, you won't recieve large emails with bunches of photos - just an occassional message to check our blog for new stuff.

Now...the good stuff....

We are thrilled to announce that Katherine Avery Martin is the newest addition to our family. She arrived Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 12:47 pm. She measured 8 lbs, 2 oz and 20 inches long. After 3 days in the hospital, Scott was tired of sleeping on the hospital's foldout couch and I was tired of constantly being poked and prodded. Not to mention, we were desperately missing our firstborn, who stayed with Ouiser & Peezah.

One funny note about Abigail and Katherine.... Abigail has been asking to hold Katherine a lot, so we let her as much as possible. However, the first time Abigail was holding her and Katherine started to cry, Abigail said, "I don't like her," and pushed her away. It was too funny. Clearly even two-year olds have strong opinions about crying babies. :)

The first few days home with a family of four was a bit of adjustment, but we managed to get everyone fed and bathed and put to bed...at some point. We even went to Katherine's first doctor's appointment as a family. Although I was warned that having a second child made life 10 times more challenging, it doesn't seem to be so for us...yet. I'll grant you, it's definitely difficult - especially since their needs are so different right now. But so far, we are doing well. And we are very lucky that Abigail is quite fond of her baby sister.