Daddy and Daughter Day

Sorry we've been so slim in our posting this summer. Its been a little hectic and we've been spending lots of time with our families in light of recent events. As if our summer hadn't been eventful enough, today Haley's mom had surgery. Everything went well and she's feeling pretty good, so good news there. She may come home either tomorrow or Sunday and hopefully will have a fairly quick and easy recovery.

Since Haley wanted to be at the hospital most of the day with her mom, Stephen and Isla had their first entire day together. We are happy to report all went well and both Dad and daughter made it through relatively unscathed! Here are a few pics to document the occasion (plus some extra just because!)...




Isla downing a bottle. She doesn't get them often, but she still drinks them like a pro!





Isla and dad taking a nap. She's had a bit of a cold the last couple of days, so holding her helps her sleep a little better. Plus its a good photo op!!





Here she is performing her latest trick - the army crawl. Yes, we are totally freaked out that she is already mobile at only 5 months old!!






Striking a pose for the camera!






We head back to St. Andrews on Sunday, so we will (hopefully) be posting a little more regularly soon!

As the weight of my father's passing sets in, we are beginning to come to grips with the reality of life without him. We are fortunate, however, to have a few picture of him and Isla just weeks before he died. These are actually pictures of the first time he met her (when her she was awake). I remember he walked in the door and brushed passed me without saying hi and just said, "Now where's this little girl." Seeing Isla on the floor in the living room, he walked right up to her, got down on the floor, scooped her up, rolled over on his back and held her high. She giggled as she touched his face. It was special.


The real gem, though, was the video we shot of my father dancing and singing with Isla. This was taken a week before he died. I had just returned from New Zealand and he was stopping by for a visit. It is a tradition in our family to learn the fight song of my father's highschool alma mater, Atlantic City Highschool in Atlantic City, NJ. So in order to get Isla started he picked her up and began to dance and sing, "Atlantic City highschool, that is our name..." You can see it here:


We have other picutres too that we will post soon.