We Welcome with Love . . . Violet Josephine

As more timely announced by her aunt Kristin, our daughter, Violet Josephine, was born on August 4th! Though she didn't make her appearance until 5 days after her estimated due date, once she was on her way she didn't waste any time. Labor began late Saturday morning, and progressed more quickly than we had expected. (No complaints here!) Although it was certainly intense, we felt our Confident Birthing class prepared us well, and labored at home for as long as possible. Violet was born at 4:34 p.m., less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital! She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. She and I were both discharged, healthy and happy, less than 24 hours later.

It's hard to believe Violet is already two weeks old. Although not much of the past two weeks has consisted of sleep, it's been such a wonderful time for us. We're all doing well. Violet was nursing vigorously within an hour of her birth, and keeping that up, grew an inch and surpassed her birth weight by the time she was ten days old. She is beautiful, sweet, and absolutely fascinating. Of course Eric and I are completely enamored with her. Atticus, too, is captivated by Violet. He's very concerned any time she cries, and he's always interested in the state of her diaper. Violet now joins Atticus on his evening constitutional each night, snuggled in her sling . . . where she inevitably falls asleep.

While we certainly didn't intend to deprive our friends and family of a proper introduction to our baby girl, the three of us (and Atticus, of course) have enjoyed spending the days following her birth immersing ourselves in our new family. We appreciate your patience. Now that we are slowly (and somewhat reluctantly) reentering the 'real world,' we hope to be better about keeping in touch, and will do our best to keep the blog updated - particularly with photos of Violet - regularly.

Thanks to you all for your warm wishes. We'll keep you posted!