Friday, December 25, 2009





Christmas in California

Auntie Lizzie and Miss K hanging out Christmas morning

Snuggling with Papa Joe

Auntie Rena, Jacque & Kathryn getting ready for Christmas Eve

Four Generations-Granddaughters named after Grandma- Jacque, Kathryn, Jackie, and Kathleen

Great Grandpa Gregory and Kathryn

What an amazing Christmas we had! We arrived in Fresno, CA on December 22nd and headed down to Costa Mesa the next morning for a visit with Auntie Erin and Uncle Steve(Jacque's grad school room mate and her husband). Kathryn loved meeting both of them and especially liked being serenaded with an aria from Eugene Onegin(Thank you Uncle Steve). She also loved the adorable cat hat that Erin made for her.

Christmas Eve day started out with a visit from Jenny and Daren Stemwedel(my dear friend from Fresno & Calvin Crest and her husband, who are expecting a baby in the springtime!!!)

That evening our family got together for a meal. It was so amazing to get to see my uncles and aunts and especially my dear cousin Jake who I have not seen in 13 years. After dinner we headed to church. It was so much fun to sing with my sister Rena again! Paul, Kathryn, and I also portrayed Joseph, Mary and Jesus in the service(It was Kathryn's first performance as a boy-taking after her mother already!) After church it was so great to come home and relax with the family and open up our Santa pajamas. For those of you who don't know about this, every year Santa delivers pajamas to my parents house on Christmas eve for us to be able to wear Christmas day. We all headed to bed and awaited the arrival of Liz who arrived around 4:30am after driving home after her 11pm service at church. It was so great to know once she arrived that the whole family was under the same roof!

Christmas morning started with a great breakfast of fresh breads, my Mom's fantastic scrambled eggs and a cup or two of coffee, brewed by my Dad. Then we shared gifts with one another and Kathryn enjoyed watching everyone open their gifts and loved all of the fantastic gifts her grams and papa, and Aunties Liz and Rena and Uncle Brandon(Uncle B) gave to her. She also loved snuggling with them!

Around noon all of the rest of the family arrived and we enjoyed sharing a meal with 25+ members of our family. Once again it was a great time to reconnect with family members and reminisce over childhood vacations and times spent together(my cousins Jake and Alex used to go on a lot of Wilson family vacations).

Wow are we blessed, I know I keep saying that, but it is so true! God has given us a wonderful group of family and friends to encourage us and to help shape us into the people we are becoming and to also help strengthen us as we begin the journey of parenthood.

Sunday, December 20, 2009





Mom Connection

Friends from Mom Connection(all four babies were born within 3 days of one another!)


One of the new additions to my schedule this year is Mom Connection at Newton Presbyterian Church. This is a great chance to get together with fellow mothers to chat, pray, and generally enjoy one another's company. I am so blessed to have these women in my life.

Saturday, December 19, 2009





Early Christmas Celebrations with the Scharlach's

Daddy and Uncle Mark playing with Miss K

Special Snuggles with Gammy

Enjoying Relaxing with Auntie Jen

On the 19th we enjoyed sharing an early Christmas celebration with Paul's family in New Hampshire as we would all be heading to different places for Christmas(Paul's parents went to Georgia with Paul's sister, Dawn and her family, and Paul's brother Mark was with his wife Jen's family in Georgetown).

We enjoyed playing trains and running with our three year old nephew Jeremiah. He is getting so big and is very articulate, it gives me a fantastic insight into the exciting times of toddlerhood. We also had a great time visiting with one another around the dinner table and later around the fire. Kathryn also loved sitting in the swing during dinner which allowed her to be part of the meal but gave everyone their hands to be able to eat all the great food!

Unfortunately due to the storm that was supposed to be heading through Massachusetts that evening we cut the evening shorter than usual. We are so blessed to have such a great family and we just love spending time with them.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009





Fun Pre-Christmas Goings on

Miss K and her friend Dahlia

The Dad's with their little girls(Paul and Ryan)

Miss Kathryn wasn't sure she wanted to go meet Santa!


We have been enjoying celebrating the Advent season with friends and family. Two weeks ago we had a great time going to a Christmas party at our friends Dan and Christina's. Then this past weekend we enjoyed getting together with friends from church for a party at our friends, Jeff and Bethany's, house. We had a highly involved Yankee swap and tons and tons of good food and hanging out. Kathryn loved all the noise and slept through the whole party either in one of our arms or that of one of our friends. Kathryn has a special fondness for Yumin Choi and loves falling asleep in his arms.(in fact she did at both parties!)

We also made a stop by to see Santa at the Natick Mall. Kathryn loved him at first and then wasn't sure if she liked him anymore! I love that she is already learning stranger danger, even with Santa!!





2 Months Old



Kathryn is officially 2 months old, what a ride!!!! Today we went for her two month check up, and it is amazing to see the numbers reflecting how she is growing. As of today she is 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 25 inches long! She was also a trooper today getting a couple of shots. She is a little fussy this afternoon, so I am just giving her tons of snuggles.

It is so awesome to see her little personality develop. Right now as I sit here writing this she is smiling at me and looking at me with such love. She has quite a list of faces that she makes, and whenever I see a new one it reminds me of my childhood(my mom used to have to close the blinds during dinner because my sisters and I would make faces into the window!)

Kathryn is has also been sleeping in her own room for the last two nights. It has been going well, except for a minor monitor mishap last night(the battery died and we didn't realize it until I heard Miss K crying). We remedied this problem by plugging it in!!!

We can't wait for our upcoming visit to CA next week and for the chance for Kathryn to meet all of her extended family and friends out there.

Monday, December 7, 2009





8 Weeks Old-Loving Life




Well Miss K is just a few days over 8 weeks old. It is so fun to watch her grow and learn. She loves sitting in her bouncy seat and looking at the different stuffed animals above her. Paul and I will sing her songs about the animals and her whole face lights up and she smiles really big. She absolutely loves lots of noise and sleeps through just about anything. This past weekend we were at a friends Christmas party with a full house of people and she slept in one of our friends arms the WHOLE time! She also just had a huge breakthrough last night, she slept from 10pm-5:30am. We were both surprised as I woke myself up at 5am looked at the clock, thought I was dreaming, and realized she hadn't woken up to eat once in 7 1/2 hours!!!! Unfortunately it was short lived, as she woke up two times last night. She is also getting used to our crazy schedule and so are we. Paul works two half days from home so I am able to go to work. He has also taken some vacation days so I can finish my teaching semester at USM and do some sub work at Dean College. He is such a great life partner and I am so thankful I didn't ever break up with him(I almost did because I thought he was too good to be true, he obviously is that good!)

On other fronts we are all happy to announce that Paul has finished his master's degree in software engineering. Three plus years in the making and lots of hard work is at an end, with the fantastic reward of a degree.

Thanksgiving was wonderful as well. We had a fantastic meal at Paul's brother and sister-in-laws house. Kathryn slept in the sling during dinner and then was passed around from family member to family member, she loved it. The next day we spent visiting with Paul's parents and enjoyed relaxing by the fire and visiting with the two of them. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. That weekend we also had a great visit with our friends, Kev and Jamie Coleman, who also live in NH. We were so excited to celebrate with them the upcoming arrival of their baby in May(another playmate for Kathryn.)

Friday, November 20, 2009

Kathryn is almost 6 weeks and I am Back to Work!


Relaxing in her bouncy seat- Thanks Miss Shauna!

What a wonderful and crazy week. Kathryn will be 6 weeks old on Sunday and I can't believe how time flies when you are having fun. She is getting on a little more of a sleep schedule and now usually does a 5 hour stretch in the evening. This is a wonderful gift she has given us because it gives Paul and I a little couple time together(or sleep time depending on the day!).

This week I also started back to work at University of Southern Maine and at my private studio in Northboro. It has been great to work with my students again, but it is an adjustment after getting the chance to be with Kathryn all day for the past 5 weeks. It is also is giving Paul and Kathryn some great daddy/daughter bonding time. Paul has had fun giving her bottles(Thank you Jenneth for the breast pump) and putting her on his lap as he works on school work or finishes up his work day from home.

I have also started back to singing and will be singing Hansel this weekend in a concert version of "Hansel and Gretel". Being a mom has also allowed me to work on my posture and breath support while carrying around 8 pounds, as I nursed Miss K the other night while singing the 3rd act of H & G(thank you Andrea for teaching me how to sing well enough to be able to do this.)

We also love Skyping these days and have gotten into the habit of talking to my parents or my sister Liz at least once a week on it. It is so great to be able to see your family as you talk to them, and I know it will help Kathryn to know her California family better over the years and miles. You have got to love the internet!

Parenthood is a daily lesson in humility, unconditional love and the importance of prayer! I am continuing to love learning all these lessons.

Looking cute for the camera!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

One Month Old Today!

To think she was this small only a month ago!

Wow it is so hard to believe how time flies!!! Today Kathryn is one month old! She is 7 lb. 14 oz and 21 inches long. She is developing well and the pediatrician is pleased with where she is developmentally. We feel so blessed to have this healthy baby and know it is truly a gift from God. We are also so blessed with the friends and family who have been there to pray for us, encourage us, make meals, and come by for visits.

On other family notes, Paul has two more weeks of class and then he will have his master's degree in software engineering. Three years of hard work will come to completion. We are soooooooooooo excited. And for me whenever Kathryn is down for a nap I am trying to practice for "Hansel and Gretel" which will be performing on November 22nd in Lynn with Mass Theatrica, and also starting to put the schedule together and begin working on blocking for the production of "Die Fledermaus" that I will be directing in June. I figure this is a good time to do this while Kathryn is not so mobile!!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Fun week so far

Hanging out with friends Alisha and Dahlia.

After successfully rolling over!

Listening to Mom practice "Hansel and Gretel"


What a fun week and have had already and it is not even mid-week. On Sunday we got to see lots of friends at church and went out to lunch with a large group of them, what a fun time. We also got a chance to visit with our friend, Alisha and her daughter Dahlia who is two days older than Kathryn. Alisha is also a big reason why I started this blog, as I so enjoy reading hers and finding out what is going on with their family.

Today we have already had a lot of stuff going on. We had a visit from our friends Autumn and Scarlett. They were very encouraging of Kathryn and she ended up rolling over not once, but twice today. I must have been the most giddy person on the planet.

After they left, Kathryn actually listened while I practiced "Hansel and Gretel" and she let me get a whole hour of practicing in. She is really enjoying the music and loves it especially when I sing the opening section of the opera. She also likes when I do the Witch's voice and sing about the mice nibbling the house. It is exciting to think that she was exposed to all this music while inside of me and that she actually likes it(either that or she is bored out of her mind so she decides to fall asleep to escape it!!!)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Free Nursing Cover

I know crazy post, but if anyone is looking for a nursing cover for a mother-to-be or for themselves you should check out www.uddercovers.com. You can get $32 coupon by entering the word thanks into the coupon code and get a cover for free. You only have to pay for the shipping, $8.95.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Fun day!

Cousin Jeremiah and Kathryn

Uncle Mark and Kathryn

So Kathryn is officially showing off her personality and independence. Today she tried to postpone sleep for a good 5 hours!!!! But on another note we are excited to report that she took her first bottle today without any trouble. She and Paul enjoyed this bonding time while I went to teach a lesson.

This evening we also had some special visitors, her Uncle Mark, Aunt Jenneth and cousin Jeremiah. We had a great time, I colored with Jeremiah and he and his parents all took turns holding her. Family is such a blessing! We have so enjoyed getting a chance to hang out with all of our families and friends and have really appreciated there help, the meals, and their loving support. We are truly blessed.

Friday, November 6, 2009

New Family



Little Miss K


Gotta Love this Face!

With the new addition of Kathryn I thought it was about time to start a blog. I figured this would be a great way to keep family and friends connected with the comings and goings of us and also to seeing little Miss K grow up.

Wow, what a blessing it is to have her in our life. She is so full of personality and energy. We our surprised each day as she grows physically and developmentally. This last week she has begun to really look you right in the eyes, and I get so excited whenever she looks right at me. It gives me chills!

Hope you enjoy our blog!