2008: Year in Review

Another year has come and gone and what a year it's been! 2008 was full of blessings. It started off on a high note when we found out we were expecting a baby on January 5th. In April we found out our little blessing was a boy and couldn't have been more thrilled. I started my new job as a federal investigator in June, and Phil had his one year anniversary of his employment with the Warrenton Police department in July.

In July, Natalie through me a beautiful baby shower in honor of our impending bundle of joy and we were so blessed to have so many of our family members and friends make the trip to Fredericksburg to celebrate with us. After one long hot summer our beautiful baby boy Philip was born on September 4th--one of the greatest days of our lives for sure! I took 3 months off from work after his birth and thoroughly enjoyed every moment I had at home, getting to know my new son.

In November we began house hunting and on December 15th we closed on our very first home! We bought a beautiful house in a family-oriented neighborhood. We moved in on December 20th and were able to spend our first Christmas as a family of 3 in our first home!

Now as we say goodbye to this year in which we experienced so much joy, we look forward to the happiness and surprises that 2009 is sure to bring!

We wish you all much love and happiness in 2009! Happy New Year!

Philip's 1st Christmas

Despite having just moved into our new home days earlier, we were able to celebrate Christmas with mom, Natalie, Michael, Aunt Daryl, and Stacia in as merry of an atmosphere as possible thanks to Phil's hard work putting the kitchen in order and digging out our Christmas decorations.

On Christmas Eve we took Philip to our church's candle-lit midnight mass. It was a beautiful service and our sweet little guy slept through the whole thing. We suspect he was anxiously awaiting Santa.

In the morning Philip came downstairs in his Christmas best and opened his presents. He got several small toys and a couple of books, as well as a Baby Einsein DVD for later. We read him The Night Before Christmas and spent the morning listening to Christmas songs.

Later on in the day our family came up to visit us and see our new home. We baked cookies and made a yummy dinner of stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes at home.

Not a bad effort considering we're still living out of boxes!

Happy Homeowners!

We're homeowners!

Early in November we began casually looking at homes in Culpeper just to get an idea of what was out there. We happened to find a house that we loved, and decided to put in an offer on it. Flash forward to a month later and we're packing our bags and moving across town into our first home!

Our new house is on a corner lot, has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a large eat-in kitchen, and a full basement that's ready to be finished. It has a nice, open layout, a two-car garage, and a great deck on the back. It's perfect for us and we're so excited to have our own home for Philip to grow up in.

We're about to begin work on getting new carpet, painting, and adding our own little personal touches to our first home. More pictures will be posted as things move along!