I rolled over!

Twas the day after Christmas and Carla was stirring. She'd been cooing and squirming and finally started rolling ... Click below to watch Carla roll over for the very first time! As John says, "Look out world and cat, here she comes!"

My First Christmas

This Christmas was very special. Often, we asked ourselves if we could just put a bow on Carla's head and stick her under the tree. She is our best gift of all! Children and marriage are two of the best everyday blessings that God gives us that many people take for granted. Receiving Carla from Him has made us so grateful that He brought us together and then blessed us with this wonderful child. On the day that we celebrate Jesus coming to earth, living a perfect life and dying a perfect death in our place, for our sins, we are reminded that He came needy and humble, just like Carla. What an amazing thought as we care for her to realize that the King of all creation was born as a man so that He could redeem us who were locked in sin. Well, we hope you enjoy viewing these pictures of our little blessing as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Me with the present that will "drive the little boys crazy" according to Grandma Penfold.




















Me, Daddy and our stockings. I'm more interested in the tree - how many of those presents are for me?




















Me, Mommy and all my presents.















Me and Daddy opening one of my gifts. I like to grab the rings.




















I'm sitting...sort of.

Unwrapping a present with Mommy.

Thank you Grandpa Schmoll for the great gifts! As soon as I am old enough, I will eat waffles and popcorn with Mommy and Daddy:)















Our nativity set.















All tuckered out.

Carla's Three Month B-Day

Carla is growing like a weed these days. Sometimes it's hard to recognize because we see her everyday, but we're sure that you'll notice a change in these pictures from her 12th and 13th weeks. Here's some of our favorite shots.














I was the hit of the party when Aunt Jan and her family visited. They came all the way from Keokuk, Iowa to see me!

Look at my feet!

I like my pretty red dress from Grandma Perry. Look out Vogue, here I come!















This is something I do a lot of these days.

Happy Gingerbaby!

Smiling at my K-State mobile.




















Getting my diaper changed.
















Oh, so you think you're gonna give me a bath huh? We'll see about that.

Our Little Elf

With Christmas coming in less than two weeks, Carla has been getting plenty of cute Christmas outfits to wear. I put some of my favorite shots from her 11th week old birthday here. Enjoy!















Carla and Daddy having fun.














Did someone spike the eggnog?



















Homey Elf says "Yo, be jolly!"



















"Hey, where'd everybody go?"



















Here's a cute pic of Carla in her KSU sweatshirt. She's growing so fast that we had to get it on her before she grew out of it!

Finally, what post would be complete without a weekly bath shot of Carla. Look at that bellybutton! It's so big that she can grab it:)

Children are a Blessing

Along with the week 10 pictures of Carla, I thought I'd comment on a truth that struck me especially hard this week. Children are a blessing from the Lord. It seems that often when I am out with Carla, an elderly person will remind me of this truth. With each passing day, their words ring truer than the day before. Of all the blessings God has bestowed, His greatest is salvation through His Son. But, as James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." God is gracious and He gives good things to us here on earth. Of those physical blessings, I think marriage and children are the greatest gifts. I am so thankful to Him for both.














We watched a movie this weekend called 'Children of Men.' The movie was a dissapointment but it did make me think. While it 's premise of the world ending because of infertility is Biblically uniformed, it did make me think about the value of children. Children are not saviors of mankind; they do not make us pure. Rather, they ought to make us look upward with gratitude to the Father of lights for blessing us with them. It has made me hold Carla a little tighter this week. Enjoy the new pictures.

Carla's First Thanksgiving

Here are some photos of Thanksgiving and Carla's 9th week.














Carla's asleep in Mommy's Big Bed!














Big yawn.














Waking up.














Power to the people!














Watching football with Daddy. Go Cowboys!














Getting kisses from Daddy.














Baths are really fun now!

New! Video of Carla Playing

Here's a short video of Carla playing with her activity gym. She is about 8 weeks old in this video. Her gym has a star that lights up and plays music which she loves to smile at. She also likes to smile at Mommy and Daddy while she plays.

Carla - The Early Weeks

Although this post will come after her 7-8 week photos, it is a photo summary of her first 6 weeks. She's growing so fast that it's hard to keep up! The pictures start at about 6 weeks old and near the bottom are of her around 2 weeks old.
Here's one of her around 5 weeks old.















Although we have lots of pictures of Carla with family, and will get those posted later, this is one of my favorites of Carla looking out the window with John's Dad.



















Happy Baby!














This is one of Nicole's favorite pictures. She calls it "Daddy's Big Hands." Carla is about 4 weeks old here. It shows just how little Carla is and paints a picture for the bigness of Jesus' almighty hands in which He holds the whole world, all matter, and His precious children together.



















The happy family! Right after we took this picture Carla spit up and filled her diaper. We were on our way to church so, needless to say, we were a little late :) Babies have the best timing don't they?














The proud Papa:)






































Carla has been a smiler from the beginning. Above is the photo we like to call her "Arrgghh Matey!" pose and below is the earliest picture we have of her so far - about 2 hours after her birth. It was a rough delivery so I don't look very good but Carla did great!














Below you can see that our little wildcat has a future at Kansas State University (so we hope) but here she's just taking a nap all decked out in her purple gear.

Carla's 7th and 8th Weeks

Here's Carla enjoying her activity gym. She has really started to smile and laugh. She is such a joy!
















At 7 weeks old, Carla really started to enjoy baths. We got through her first couple with a lot of crying but now, she seems like a fish in water...can't wait to teach her how to swim! As you can tell from the picture below, she's still trying to figure me out :)