nothing cuter than a baby in a bath towel

nap time

visas!!

praise the Lord for an easy time with visas this time around. i hate to even think back to a year ago and the pain it was to get our visas. today, however, was a much different story. after months of waiting (tk sent in the paperwork back in june) our visas arrived today! and just in time too, as i leave in a few days and need a new visa to re-enter canada. glad the country of my daughter's birth with continue to allow us to be here (and pay me for being on mat leave!).

sam has been doing great the last few days. she is sleeping like a champ. i can hardly belive it. last night she slept from 10:30-6:00. wow. we are two very happy parents. part of me though is a little sad if the trend keeps up. my time with her in the middle of the night was sweet and precious. as tired as i was, i love/d that time. to be with her and to pray. so we will see... but don't get me wrong - i am also enjoying these longer stretches of sleep.

i will post new pictures soon. it seems like she grows everyday.

he is alive!!

just as jesus is alive - so tim knipp is also alive (not dead and resurrected, but alive and still alive... on earth, without all the saving the world stuff either). this reality brings me even greater comfort today because tim is back from an amazing trip up and back again on mt. rainier!! tim, andy and andy's brother-in-law made it to the summit saturday at 6:30 am. tim will have to fill you in on the details, but it sounded like quite the adventure to me. pictures may be a few weeks away, as they only took one camera up but we hope to share them sooner rather than later. praise be to God for the safe and fantastic time they had!

i had a wonderful time with samantha and my family in bellingham. my hat, however, is off to all single parents (or parents who operate as single parents the majority of the time) - being a single parent, even for a few days and with amazing support, is hard work.

in other knipp related news - samantha is out of control these days with her sleeping. out of control in a fantastic way - for three nights in a row she has only gotten up to eat once! and then has slept until 8:15! it is amazing. granted with many great things there is a cost; the cost for her excellent sleeping is that she can be a bit of a grump before retiring for the night, but i understand how it is hard not to be grumpy when you are very tired.

her greater awareness is so fun! smiling, making eye contact and tracking people with her eyes are now more and more regular occurrences. again, the downfall, is when she is unhappy - she is very good at communicating her ill-feelings. grace for her and for me is something i am daily thankful for.

we are now waiting for the arrival of another baby. our upstairs neighbors, joyce and calum, are waiting for the arrival of their baby, due tomorrow. it is very fun to be waiting for a baby that is not inside my body. we continue to be thankful for such wonderful neighbors. the Lord called away our dear friends and yet graciously provided community in the house. we are incredibly thankful!

i could go on, but i will stop for now. less than 2 weeks until the wedding! life is getting very, very exciting!

practice makes perfect

monday defense, jacob, and tim traveled over to the hotel bellwether to review wedding ceremony plans (sammy and i tagged along and did our best to stay out of the way).

here are some pics i took to document the event:
sleeping baby -walking to the hotel - such a beautiful night!
this is the view from the place they will get married, not bad if you ask me.
sammy didn't want to miss the a thing
this is where the action will go downwe are SO related :)
the happy couple
mama and sammy
we will be back - sept 5th doesn't seem that far away now! yipee! we are so excited!!

hanging out with dad and other daily life

paper writing, jog, grocery store, dinner with friends, soccer game, beer brewing, sleep, pancakes

welcome to our last 24 hours. tim is working on his papers for his online courses, working diligently while sammy and i try to give him space. i have begun to exercise. the time alone is refreshing and it feels good to be outside. plus i have a bridesmaids dress to fit into (thankfully it has already been determined that it zips, but it isn't a flattering zip). :) grocery store - tim went with us but i now feel more confident for the time sam and i take it on ourselves. dinner with kurtis and erin, always a good time. soccer game: very fun. seeing tim play under the lights is always a good time and he put on a good show for sammy and i - having lots of good 'moves' throughout the game - scoring and assisting and getting knocked around. beer brewing - i wouldn't know much about this because i was asleep but i hear it is going to be good. sleep: samantha had another good night, however she prefers after 6 am to sleep/lay awake and wiggle with us. and i prefer to continue sleeping, so she gets to be in between us and is totally content and i go back to sleep. pancakes - yum.

(the pictures are from this morning, so good daddy/daughter bonding - warms my heart every time)

the Lord is doing a good work in me as he teaches me what it means to be a mom. more to come on this later. tk needs to use the computer now. hope all is well with you. see you later.

a birthday and an update

dad and sam - look at how strong her neck is becoming!

a pretty good family photo if i don't say so myself. you can do your own detective work to figure out how old i turned.

happy grandpa - moments before samantha fell asleep.

marilyn - this picture is for you - taken off the back deck of my parents' house. the deer told me they will say hello to you when you return in a few weeks.

faith and sam hanging out this morning. i had to closely watch to make sure faith did not get any closer - because i think she is as close as possible without actually laying on sammy. faith is really starting to pay attention to and (i believe) take a liking to her little sister.

i am so pumped i caught a smile on film. she is actually smiling at me and doesn't just have gas!!

sweet girl is 9 lbs 15 oz, just shy of 10 lbs! and she has grown a few inches too! today was our last appointment with our midwife. sam and i checked out great. and i continue to feel incredibly thankful for the midwives and the care we received. they were amazing!

well i am off to bed. sammy is asleep and i should be too!

samantha loves staring at books and looking out the window... already showing signs she is our child.

she and i are hanging out this morning, as tim is gone hiking (training for mt. Rainer... i won't say exactly when he is going for the sake of his mother, who only wants to know when he is done... but it will be sometime this month. i also shouldn't say that last weekend he hiked around with 2 bowling balls and 5 nalgenes full of water on his back... these are the things i just love about my husband).

sammy is doing very well. she looks bigger to me everyday. there are actually clothes that are now too small and she is almost too big for newborn diapers. my baby is growing - i am trying to be present in every moment. i am so much looking forward to watching her grow and know the time will pass quicker than i like. sammy likes to be in motion, which does not surprise me seeing as i was in motion most of my pregnancy. she seems to do best when we are out and about. she slept for 5.5 hours last night! i could hardly believe it was 2 when she first woke up to eat. she also seems set to wake up for the day at 6, but loves her early morning nap. i haven't put her on a schedule but she has found a bit of a schedule on her own. she makes the most adult faces sometimes - it kills us! and i love it when she coughs. it is so cute!

last night we hung out with our new neighbors. we continue to deeply miss the mosers, but love that they are doing so well in indiana. the new folks upstairs are a lovely married couple. the gal is 9 months pregnant -due at the end of the month. i am excited to see our relationship with them develop - they are easy to talk to, and being with them feels very comfortable.

this time with tim home - that all of us can be together a lot of the day - feels very precious. we are incredibly thankful!

one month old

slightly scary but very excited mama wishing you a happy one month birthday!
yesterday samantha turned one month old. crazy.

samantha - we love you more than we ever knew possible. we love it when you stretch and yawn and kick your right foot over and over again. you are beginning to smile and your neck is getting stronger and stronger by the day. soon your head will have nothing on your neck. we can't stop kissing your sweet face. you have captivated us baby girl.

and at this moment you just woke up and are asking to eat. so it is time to go.

a shower for danielle

this weekend jennifer, defense's best friend since preschool, and i hosted a wedding shower for danielle. it was an incredible day and i hope danielle felt special (because she certainly is!). the day was a bit more stressful than anticipated, mainly because i had not ever hosted a party as a mom of an infant and did not know exactly what to expect. samantha, however, did great and made it as easy as possible for me.

here is the food - my main contribution to the shower. and a huge shout out of thanks to mom and marilyn for their unending help! i certainly could not have done it without them!!
the beautiful bride
a taste of the decor - jenn did an outstanding job! her apartment was beautiful!
sister
sammy - just hanging out. towards the end of the shower she was more happy on the ground by herself than being held. i guess we all need a little space sometimes.
mom, d, sammy and i
marilyn and danielle - it was an incredible blessing to have marilyn at the shower (traveling all the way from southern california).
best friends
mom, d, jenn, lois (jenn's mom)
the shower was very fun - and it brought me such joy to celebrate danielle and jacob. her kitchen is now one step closer to being complete - now if she only wanted to cook...

meeting great grandma peg and great grandpa rid

Sammy met her great grandparents this last week! she slept through the visit but so it goes... she sure looks cute in her outfit her cousin ellis loaned her and her new bow from auntie christina!