Meeting Family and Friends

Susanna Cate is very loved by our family and friends!  BeBe and PopPop (my parents--as named by Lydda Grace) were able to meet her right after she was born (they drove to Atlanta in the middle of the night when I called to say I was in labor!). Grandpa and Grandma (Mark's parents) and Uncle Wyn came to meet her when she was three days old.  It was wonderful they were able to meet her when she was so young since they live so far away.  Susanna Cate had both sets of her grandparents with her to celebrate her first Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving indeed--we are so thankful for her and for all of our family and friends!

 PopPop and Susanna Cate

 Uncle Wyn, Grandpa, and Susanna Cate

 Susanna Cate's first walk, on Thanksgiving Day

 with BeBe and PopPop

 with Uncle Wyn, Grandma, and Grandpa

A HUGE "thank you" to our family, especially BeBe and Grandma, for taking such good care of us during our first week at home!  BeBe and Grandma cooked and cleaned all week, and even cooked a great Thanksgiving feast for us.  Thank you!!

Rebekah, Javier, and Isaac were in South Carolina for a wedding the day after Susanna Cate was born, so they were able to meet her the day we came home from the hospital.  I was so grateful for Rebekah's encouragement--as a new mom herself she knew my worries and insecurities with a brand new baby and had exactly the right words to lift me up.

 Meeting Isaac.  Someday Isaac and Susanna Cate will be great friends and have tons of fun together.  But right now, he looks SO much bigger than her.  What a difference six months makes!

 Isaac and his littlest cousin

Susanna Cate met Aunt Emily, Uncle Jon, Lydda Grace and Wade, and Uncle Joel and Sean, via Skype.  We can't wait to introduce her to Uncle Joel, Aunt Monica, and Sean in person in January!  Then she will have to wait until the summer to meet Aunt Emily, Uncle Jon, LG and Wade.  We will have many Skype visits before then--so thankful for the internet!

Susanna Cate has also met many of our friends.  We are thankful for the encouragement and community of our friends in Atlanta!

Meeting Aaron and Caroline Swiger.  Susanna Cate is hiding behind the Clemson onesie they brought her.  It was a little big for her to wear for the Clemson vs. NC State game but she will wear it soon!  :)

Meeting Laura and Michael Patterson

Meeting Abi and Mark Spears

Welcome Susanna Cate!

We are thrilled to introduce:

Susanna Cate Boerckel

Born on November 16, 2012, at 7:13 am

7 lb 10 oz and 20 inches long

We really can't believe what a precious gift Susanna Cate is to us.  We feel blessed beyond words to be her parents.  She is the sweetest, most precious little baby.  (Of course, we're not biased at all, right?!)  We love her so very much and fall more in love with her every day!

Susanna Cate is named after my mom, sisters, and grandmother, as Susan, Anne, Catherine, and Cathey are all family names.  These names also stem from even further back in my family (a great-great grandmother and great-grandmother.)  We are still trying to decide whether to call her "Susanna" or "Susanna Cate"--right now we call her both of them.  :)  Opinions are welcome, as we can't seem to make up our minds!  It seems like both names fit her very well.  

It's hard to believe that Susanna Cate is already over two weeks old.  Time has flown by and our little girl is growing so quickly!  She already looks very different from when she was born.  We think she looks like both of us--I think she looks more like Mark and he thinks she looks more like me.  

Here are some more pictures, starting with the day she was born:

 Just a few minutes old

First picture as a family of three

 Susanna Cate looks so tiny when Daddy burps her!

 Ready to go home from the hospital

On the way home!

 Ready to go to the pediatrician for the first time

Susanna Cate's first Thanksgiving at 6 days old

 Cheering on the Tigers

 She loves tummy time!

She always stretches her arms over her head when she wakes up.

 Bath time!