Maymont Park

hi baby=)

daddy has a super fancy camera, and i'm always wishing he'd use it. (he played with it all the time when he first got it, but you and i weren't really in his life then so we did not benefit at all...) so today he decides it's time to start taking advantage of the fact that it can take really incredible pictures, and he took us to maymont park for a little photo shoot! he, and the camera, did not disappoint=) here are some faves.

what a beautiful little lady you are.

love you babe-

mommy

molars?! already?!

so i'm running my finger along your gums this morning (strict instructions by your speech/feeding therapist to help you get over your "sensory" oral issues and hopefully start feeding by mouth) and what do i feel? A MOLAR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! how did you get so big already? growing molars is what big kids do. goodness.

i love you. i'm super proud for your first molar=)

mommy

catherine goes to the river=)

today you went to the james river with daddy, josh and me. we took you to pony pasture and it was so much fun! we didn't stay there too long-you needed to eat and take a bath and go to bed (but i'm writing this at 10pm and you're still not asleep!)...but it was beautiful weather and we got some great pictures. what a fun memory-we will go back soon for sure!

you liked watching the rapids and people swimming=)

you liked having your feet in the water!!!!

you liked josh's sunglasses=)

you and your boys=)

hazel marie davis=)

your new cousin is here! hazel marie davis was born last night (on father's day!), june 21 at 10:15pm. she weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. and she is beautiful=) we are so excited to have a new precious little girl in the family. and we are rejoicing with your uncle kelly and aunt misty that God has given them such a blessing. here are some pictures: http://kellymisty.blogspot.com/2009/06/hazel-marie-davis.html

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us..."

~1 John 3:1

happy father's day=)

hey baby.

today is father's day, and i figured it was a good time to tell you about some of the father figures in your life. so here i go...

my dad is one of the most incredible men i know, and i often times think about how lucky i am to be his daughter. i remember the morning of my wedding i wrote grandaddy a letter telling him how much i loved him and how honored i was to have him walk me down the aisle that day...that i was fully aware how integral he was in getting me to that point, and that he, maybe more than any other human being, had molded my heart to be attracted to a man like your daddy...honest and ambitious and loyal and reverent for Jesus. daddy's have such an immeasurable worth that many people never quite recognize or live up to, and those around them could either soar or suffer because of it. especially the daughters of these men. in a very direct way i think these little girls eventually choose husbands that will represent what they grew to love in their own dads. how blessed i am to have had a daddy that pointed me towards a man like yours.

as you will start learning in the not-so-distant future, a dad's inherent role is to represent our Heavenly Father, which is unfathomable in itself. what an overwhelming honor. and while no man could quite fill those holy shoes, mine does a better job than many. i'm sitting here right now shaking my head with tears in my eyes because i know so many people who haven't had the absolute privilege of having a daddy worthy of being called one. but i have. and so do you. i remember before i started dating your daddy i watched him. i watched him with his family and with his friends and i watched him worship Jesus and i especially watched him play with children. it really was unlike anything i'd ever seen before. he was incredibly patient and it seemed like he had a special section of his brain that he tapped into in order to communicate on the level a child needed. i was in awe, and a little jealous that it came so easily for him;) i couldn't help but become drawn to him. i had never met anyone quite like him, and i knew that if i was ever fortunate enough to have him fall for me, i would marry him for sure. choosing him to be my husband and father of my children was and always will be one of the better decisions i've ever made.

so here's to our dads. how lucky we are to have the ones we ended up with=)

he's pretty cute.

this was one of my favorite memories with grandaddy-watching my hubby walk into the church before we walked down the aisle. i knew that my dad was just about as excited as i was, and that made me so happy.

ready to walk!!!

my favorite picture with my daddy of all time. this is us praying together before the wedding.

you like him a lot too=)

this is one of my favorite pictures ever. you holding your daddy's hand. you were probably about a week old.

i think he would've crawled up in that crib with you if they would've let him.

you had just gotten put on cpap. he was pretty excited.

he wanted to kiss you on your lips=)

he loves you so much!!!

your daddy loving on his sweet swollen-faced girl.

this picture is of you and libby, but i included it because...can you guess who the lucky person is that's making you laugh so hard??? it's your daddy=) you think he's pretty hilarious.

daddy playing with you today outside of church. you have on your "daddy's girl" bow=)

he likes to run you around everywhere. you laugh at him more than anybody else=)

there are no words. but you do love being upside-down!

family shot on father's day

and happy father's day to grandy-pa...he's not so bad himself and deserves so much more than a passing remark at the end of this letter;)