For Abigail's one-week birthday, I set her up for a photo shoot. I thought bears would be a fun backdrop. Here are the results:
Lest you think she loved the whole thing!
Elizabeth was eager for me to take some pictures of her with Abigail.
We thought you'd like to know why we gave her the names we did.
“Abigail” means “my father rejoices” in Hebrew. We loved the idea of raising a daughter who would be a blessing to her Heavenly Father as well as her earthly one. The biblical Abigail was a woman of great wisdom and diplomacy, and we pray that our little one will share those traits. (See 1 Samuel 25; of course, one of my primary jobs as a dad is to chase off any “Nabals” who might come around.)
Her middle name is Hope, as a reminder to us of the hope that God provides, even in circumstances that are sometimes difficult. We rejoice that in Him we have a hope that is eternal and cannot be taken away, because of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:35-39)! She is also a reminder to Shannon and me that sometimes God fulfills our hopes even now, as an expression of His mercy and kindness.
Also, I thought you'd be interested in some things I've noticed about Abigail:
--She has long feet and fingers (just like her dad).
--She has a little dimple in her chin (just like her mom and sister).
--She has the "Morton" cheeks!
--She is a very contemplative baby, content during her wake time to look around or right into your eyes.
--She likes to sleep!!
--She likes to cuddle, positioning herself neatly into the crook of my neck. (LOVE it!)
Abigail Hope is a precious gift from God, and I find that I am already deeply in love with her.
ABIGAIL HOPE!
She arrived at 11:36 a.m. on Friday, January 18th, weighing 9 lbs. 5 oz and measuring 20.5 in. It was a quick delivery, and I knew the LORD was answering all of the prayers for her and me.
This precious one has a thick mane of black hair and resembles her big sister, Elizabeth.
We were so blessed to have our families and friends come by to visit us in the hospital. Elizabeth was SO proud to show off her baby sister! She loves her and wanted to hold her and kiss her everytime she was there, which was usually twice a day!
More pics to come!
Abigail comes this week, so I thought I would do a quick update to the blog here and let you see some pics from Christmas! We had a lovely time as a family and a great time with extended families.
Our traditions begin on Dec. 1st. We go to the tree farm and pick out a nice round one. This year E was particularly excited about the tree and kept noticing them in various places throughout the entire Christmas season!
Later that afternoon we decorated the tree. E was very enthusiastic about helping and was able to place the ornaments on the lower levels of the tree though most ended up very close to each other. :)
In early December, we made a visit to the George Bush Museum, where they were having "Christmas in the Rotunda." They offered crafts, cookies and punch, a balloon artist, and in a clever twist, MRS. CLAUS!! Interestingly, E was a bit nervous initially around Mrs. Claus, so I ended up in the pic as well. For my part, I found Mrs. Claus to be quite nice. :)
Now we jump to Christmas Eve when we were able to take some pics of our family and our little Christmas elf.
On Christmas Day, I dressed E up in her "Mrs. Claus" dress. She is way into dressing up, so one of her gifts from us was more dress up paraphenalia: high-heeled shoes with feathers at the toes, a beaded necklace, flashy earrings, and a tiara! The girl loves it! See for yourself!
She loves this stuff so much we've actually had to limit how much she wears it so that she'll go outside and play. Picture her also dancing in her dress, pretending to be a ballerina. Her friend Miss Julie even taught her how to curtsy. She is darling in her attempts to show me how she can do it.
That's all for Christmas. It's entirely possible that the next post will be about Abigail's birth. So keep watching!!
