HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Season’s Greetings!

We hope this finds you all doing well. It’s hard to believe the year is already nearing its end.

Our 2006 was all about a baby. We learned on March 2, we were expecting, and from there on out… for obvious reasons… baby things seemed to take over our lives. Morning sickness, ultrasounds, and doctor visits were a big part of the first half of the year. Baby continued to grow and thrive. Kat’s belly just grew.

The end of May, we learned we would be having a baby boy. Eric and Kat were both thrilled with the news. Kat had said from day one it was a boy, so was glad to be right… and Eric was glad to be carrying on the family tradition of baby boys. We already had a name for him, but much to other’s dismay, we chose to keep the name to ourselves until baby was born. It drove both of our moms a bit crazy, but we certainly had fun with it.

Before we knew it, we were over half-way through the pregnancy and preparing for our annual Copper Harbor vacation. The weather in the U.P. was unusually warm this year! Unlike past years where we’ve done lots of sight-seeing, visiting old, familiar places, we spent much of our time hanging around camp and relaxing. Every afternoon, Eric and Pepper would go for a long walk and Kat would nap. Family and many friends were there… and while we would often go our separate ways during the day… you could count on meeting up with everyone in town in the evening for ice cream. The trip was a much welcomed break and an ideal vacation.

We returned home to baby showers and preparations. At her family shower, all 3 of Kat’s great aunts arrived from around the country along with her aunt from Utah and cousins from various states. It was a very big and wonderful surprise to have everyone together to celebrate our little one. The biggest task in preparations was to complete baby’s nursery. A friend of Kat’s came over and painted a mural of animals on the walls. Eric stripped and stained his old dresser for us to have in baby’s room and did a fabulous job with it. He also painted and hung shelves for the many bears in our Build-a-Bear collection. It is a much talked about and well loved room because it looks so incredible!

Music seasons started back up in the fall. Kat continues to ring handbells at church… but decided to take at least the fall season off from playing with the Scottish Rite Orchestra… something she started doing last year and enjoyed. Their first concert was scheduled a week before Baby’s due date… so she didn’t think it was something she could easily commit to.

On November 12, we welcomed our son, Andrew Eric Jay, into the world. His in-utero acrobatics had him wrapped up over 3 times in his umbilical cord, which meant an emergency c-section delivery… but Andrew and Kat both have done well and recovered nicely. Pictures and stories and updates on Andrew’s development are shared on our blog for family and friends to follow: (SORRY. Blog address deleted. You know my rules about Baby's Blog. EMAIL me if you want to see it.) Feel free to give it a visit and leave a comment or two!

Eric took some time off to be with Kat and baby, returning to work on November 27. Kat is now a stay-at-home mom, having left her job at KinderCare in mid-October. Pepper has adjusted nicely to having a baby around, and is quite the protector. Andrew is a beautiful, happy baby. He eats every 2-3 hours and naps in between, with a good 4-5 hour stretch at night. Every day brings something new and wonderful and we are very grateful for the blessings in our lives.

We couldn’t be any happier or have asked for a better year. Many wishes and prayers that 2007 brings all of you much peace and love and blessings.

Kat, Eric and Andrew