Welcome Katherine Therese Gulde!

We are glad to introduce you to the newest member of our family! Katherine Thérèse is a delight to us all and we are very blessed to have her in our family!

Jonathan and Emelie are thrilled with their new sister. Jonathan loves to kiss her little head. The other day, she was fussy at the end of a nap in her bouncy seat, and I went in to check on her. Jonathan had put his favorite stuffed puppy, Scruffy Gordon (he named him) on the top of her head! Needless to say, we do have to watch Jonathan with her – but all he does is done in love. Emelie is so helpful with Katherine. She loves to hold her and read her books. She’s a natural mother hen! She even has the mommy coo down pat!

Emelie just began her second semester of Kindergarten at St. Joseph Catholic School. Her reading and writing are really terrific and she loves school! She even read the prayer intentions during the All School Mass during Thanksgiving week! Her favorite class is P.E. (is she really my daughter?) and computer class is a close second (she’s definitely her father’s daughter!). She is also enjoying her dance class each Wednesday. She has a new teacher this semester and I think she has given her new inspiration – she now wants to be a ballet teacher when she grows up.

Jonathan is enjoying his 2 day a week class at the Child Development Center at our church. There are only 6 children in his class, so he gets lots of attention from his very fun teacher! He really enjoys art, often impressing us with his drawings. His all time favorite activity is getting into mischief with his good buddy Michael Pettibon. Those two are quite a pair! Jonathan still looks forward to 3:30 each afternoon when Emelie comes home. Although he has enjoyed having his run of the house this year since she’s been in school, I think he’d still rather have Emelie home all day. They are sharing a room right now, which offers many opportunities for laughter and frustration. Last night we caught Jonathan playing legos in the dark at 11:30 pm!

Curt is still working hard at his job at the TAMU Health Science Center. He was recently promoted to Senior IT Manager over the entire Health Science Center. I am very proud of him! He is also training to run his second marathon on February 19^th in Austin. He has trained with 4 friends from the neighborhood and has really enjoyed it! Just Saturday he ran 20 miles, and most of it by himself. Jonathan said he wants to run the next marathon with him. We’ll see.

And me... I have been very busy with... ummm... Katherine! Negotiating her and school schedules and meals and cleaning (not to mention my design work) has been quite a challenge, but a joy all the same. Number 3 is definitely different from #1 and #2, but still a delight. Katherine just fits right in with the family.

Curt and I had a revelation when we pulled into the driveway, bringing Katherine home from the hospital. We knew there were two children waiting behind that door that were so excited to get their baby sister home – more excited than they were about the gifts under the tree at Christmas only a few weeks before. Children are certainly a gift from God. Katherine has reminded us all of that!