Catching up...

So as you might be able to tell from the lack of posts lately, the spring and summer of 2012 has been a busy one for the McCoy's. It started out with a great loss, but - with Madeline's recent arrival - has also included the most precious gift of new life.  So here's a quick recap...

As Dan's earlier post talks about, we lost a wonderful father, grandfather, and friend when Phil passed away in late April. We miss him terribly and think of him in big and small ways every day. As I see Dan as a father to his own girls, I know Phil's legacy will live on in all he taught Dan about being a dad. I'm thankful Norah got to know her Pop, even if just for a short time, and know that Phil is now smiling down on her and Maddie, watching them grow.

Fran with the kids and grandkids

The rest of the spring and the first part of the summer seemed to fly by - not much out of the ordinary, just busy at work, school, etc. We didn't make it over to the beach nearly as much as we wanted to this year, but we did accomplish lots of projects around the house that we had been putting off. Dan called it nesting, but luckily he was a good sport about the whole thing. We cleaned out closets, got Norah moved into a new big girl room (kudos to Dan for building Norah a nice new headboard and to Jake, my mom, and Dan for helping with various painting projects), painted window trim, worked in the yard, reassembled the nursery, etc., etc., etc. I was actually more of the idea person; Dan took care of the follow-through :)

In early June, we got to celebrate with my cousin Genna at her wedding to Ben. It was a beautiful ceremony at the Carmel Mission - and also a great place to get some family photos. At the reception, Norah had a blast on the dance floor - though she wanted nothing to do with her parents, preferring instead the company of her aunts.

Summer is usually a quieter time at work for me, but with my impending maternity leave, there was a lot I needed to finish there, too, before my time off. I wanted to work as long as possible, so I ended up with about a half a week off before Maddie arrived. Norah was in school for most of the summer, with a short "summer vacation" with my mom right before my maternity leave started.  She took swimming lessons again this year, and in one week became quite a fish in the water.

Dan stayed busy at work, too, and in between tried to keep up with his running and take some classes for his broker's license. He and Norah ran a race for Father's Day (they were the second jogging stroller across the finish line), but will now have to wait until the cooler days of fall to try any more races.

Run faster Daddy!

Of course, our big event of the summer was Madeline Faith's arrival. As with Norah, we waited until the birth to find out if she was a boy or a girl. It made preparations a little trickier (most of the nursery decorations waited until after her arrival), but it was another fun surprise. Speaking of surprises, her arrival came quickly, with only an hour and a half passing between my first contraction and her birth. Luckily, my doctor had sent us to the hospital after my late afternoon appointment - or we might not have made it to the delivery room! We checked into the hospital at 5:30 p.m. on August 2, got into the labor and delivery room a little before 6, and Maddie was born at 7:05 p.m. My doctor actually didn't quite make it - she was en route and the nurses had to pull in another doctor who just happened to be at the hospital to help with the birth. It wasn't the least painful thing I've ever experienced (no time for drugs!), but all of that was (at least partially) forgotten once I got to hold Maddie for the first time. Dan was a great cheerleader through it all, and is now the proud daddy to two daughters.

On our way to the hospital (glad we didn't dawdle!)

Now we're settling into life with a newborn. After a couple nights with very little sleep, we seem to be in a better routine. Maddie, in true Klas woman fashion, seems to value her sleep more than her food in the middle of the night, so I've been able to get six to seven hours of sleep most nights in three to four hour chunks. Norah is very excited to be a big sister, and is quite the protector of baby Maddie.

As if we didn't throw enough at her by giving her a new sibling, Norah started preschool this week. She's quite the big girl now - no tears this year, just a quick "bye Mommy and Daddy" as she ran off to play. Her teachers seem very sweet, and she came home very excited, so I know she's going to have a great year.

We're so thankful for all of our blessings and are excited about our newly-expanded family. Thanks to all for the well-wishes and notes, and we look forward to introducing Madeline to everyone soon!