The Best Two Years!

We celebrated our 2-year anniversary this weekend! It has been the best two years! A lot has happened just in the 2 years we have been married: graduation, moving, law school, teaching and a new little baby. I am very blessed to have Brett in my life! He is everything I dreamed of and more. He treats me like a queen and is a wonderful little daddy. I love him dearly!

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you.
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out.
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
that you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple,
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I love you Brett! Thanks for the best two years!

One Whole Month!

Abby had her first bath this month! She wasn't too big a fan of getting her head wet and there were a lot of tears, but once we put her in her towel, she was all smiles. Now she is doing a lot better with her baths and likes being clean. She's learned that getting wet isn't so bad.












Here's Abby with daddy, hangin' in her carrier. She loves peering out to check out the world. On the right is Abby, not so sure about this whole bath experience.









Abby has been scratching her face and head a lot, so she now gets to wear socks on her hands. :)

One of our good friends gave Abby what is called a 'Kiddopatamus.' The 'Kiddopatamus' is to swaddle the baby so they can sleep and their arms don't fly around, but Abby always manages to get her arms out. Here is the video clip:



Here is a video clip of Abby 'talkin' up a storm.' She loves to make all kinds of sounds and stick out her tongue.

Anniversay Celebration

To celebrate our 2-year anniversary, we planned a day trip to Philly, but I think we were being a bit overambitious with having a 1 month old. Obviously, Philly fell through the cracks after a sleepless night with a baby, but no big deal. :) The glory of living in DC is there are millions of things to do around your own home! I love it! We decided to use our free pass and head to one of our favorite places, Mount Vernon. We loaded Abby up in the car and headed out on the town. It was great to get out and walk on the shore of the Potomac River. Mount Vernon is a beautiful place to go to get away from city life and enjoy nature. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day!
After a good time at Mount Vernon, Brett suggested we go to the outlet mall. (He knows what can make a girl happy. ) We spent the remainder of the day walking through the outlets, which are some of my favorite stores. Brett is such a wonderful husband. He patiently waited in every store, surrounded by women, while I browsed through the sales. He even took Abby the whole time and made sure she was happy. It was funny to watch how much attention Brett got from all the women passing through the stores because he had a baby with him. What a man! He endured hours of outlet shopping with a smile and he did it for me. He does things like this all the time. I sure love him!









On left, Abby hit exhaustion after a long night. :) She was a good sport to come with us on our outing. On the right, we're checking out the ducks on Potomac River...a family tradition!













Hiking a trail and checking out the horses with dad.

We had a wonderful anniversary! I love you Brett! Thanks for everything!

Abby will be four weeks on Saturday...crazy. Our little girl is growing up fast. These past few weeks have been a lot of fun! Some of Abby's favorite things to do, at the moment, are: walks on the trail and in the neighborhood, car rides, looking in the mirror, and hanging out with Dad. Being a mom is so wonderful! This little girl has definitely won our hearts, we sure love her!










Here are a few pictures of Abby exploring the world around her. She is a curious little bug. (As you can tell, the backgrounds of the pictures tend to follow a common theme...the changing pad. Abby tends to really show her smiles when she is on the changing pad, don't ask me why.)













On the left is Abby during 'tummy time.' She is suppose to hang out on her tummy for a little bit every day. This picture is of Abby lifting her head a bit during 'tummy time'; she's starting to get stronger every day. The picture on the right is of Uncle Dave and Abby. Abby loves it when Uncle Dave visits on Sunday's.

2 Weeks Old!

Our little Abby is now 2 weeks old! She had her 2-week appointment at the doctor today and it went well. Abby now weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz. and is 22 inches long. Wow! She's healthy and growing fast! Time is flying by, though the nights can be long. :) Abby is a very active baby and always wants to be looking around and checking out the world. We have managed to catch her with a few smiles the last couple days and that is a lot of fun. She is already showing some personality. We love our baby girl! We are blessed to have her in our lives.

The other day when I was changing Abby, she discovered the mirror in our room. She was fascinated by the mirror, but couldn't quite figure out who that little person was looking back at her. It's fun to watch her investigate the mirror, and pull faces at herself.










Here are a few of Abby's smiles that we have caught with the camera during the last week. It's so fun to see her smile!












Sleeping and 'head bobbin' while she's being burped. Abby has a hard time holding still. :)






Daddy-Daughter bonding...I love this picture. Brett is such a great Dad!




Here is a quick video of Abby in the hospital. (She wasn't too interested in the camera.)

A Piece of Heaven

Abigail Elizabeth Hamilton

Abby was born July 19, 2008 at 2:47 in the afternoon. She weighed 7 lbs. and 9 oz., 21 inches long. We are so happy to have Abby in our little family and we love her! Emily was in labor for about 13 hours. During the last hour, the doctor decided that it would be wise to deliver Abby via c-section. When Abby was first born, she had some difficulty with her breathing, so she was admitted to the NICU for a few days, to clear her lungs out and monitor her breathing. We are very grateful that she is doing great and a very healthy baby. We have been blessed to have Abby come into our lives. She is definitely a piece of heaven in our home! We want to thank our family and friends for all the love and support they have given us through these last few days and weeks.










Waiting for Abby to arrive...











Playing games to pass time. Holding hands as we prepare for surgery





















Abby's heart beat and the contractions. On, right headed for surgery...



Brett holding Abby for the very first time.




















Emily giving Abby a kiss soon after she was born.













Brett, Laura and Dave with Abby.
Aunt Laura giving Abby her bear.














Uncle Dave and Abby bonding. Abby enjoys being cuddled by Grandma Ashton. :)


The whole gang at the hospital.














Laura holding Abby. On right, Abby in her ducky outfit.














Grandpa and Grandma Hamilton holding Abby for the first time.


Our little family going home from the hospital!












Ready to ride! We love our little Abby and we're so excited to have her in our home.

"Shower in a Box"

The other day we found a big package on the doorstep that the postman had delivered. My mother-in-law and her friends had put together a "Baby Shower in a Box." Since my family is in town, we had our own little baby shower, and my brother even enjoyed attending his very first shower. We had a lot of fun playing games and eating the yummy treats. The prize winners for the games were my Mom, Dave and Brett. :)
Thank-you for a wonderful baby shower, that was very kind of you and it was a lot of fun! We can't wait for everyone to meet our little one when she arrives and hopefully it will be soon, especially since my due date was last week. :) We'll see what happens...














"Refreshment card" on the left and Dave posing the ducky onesie...Dave has a passion for ducks.

Here are two beautiful blankets that Brett's mom and his cousin Angie made...they are beautiful!
Brett posing for the camera. He also enjoyed attending his first baby shower.:)