The First Ever Atwood Family Newsletter

Phew! What a year 2006 has been for us! We started the year off with a bang by looking for a house to buy in expectation of needing more room with a little one coming in May. John and I had a lot of emotions those few months while we searched, but finally found a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house in Plainfield, IL. Plainfield is a great "up and coming" town that 10 years ago hardly had a spot on the map. Now it is one of the fastest growing towns in IL. We finalized our house at the end of March and moved in the next day. The new house and location took a bit to get used to, mainly because of the considerably longer commute to our jobs. Both of us had and hour+ drive at first but now, thankfully, we have found the short cuts and it takes me 45 minutes to get to work and John just about an hour, hour 10.

On April 30th, our daughter surprised us by making her debut 13 days early! Labor started at 9:30 am with me feeling "off". I laid down trying to determine if it was labor, but the question was answered for me about 45 minutes later with my water breaking. John scurried around the house trying to get everything ready, calling the Dr, trying to fill up the baby pool for me to labor in, and calling our doula. Anne Lyneth Faith Gap Atwood didn't waste much time at all coming; four and a half short hours after feeling "off" she came into the world, all 5lbs 8ozs and 18 inches of her. Anne was born lovingly in our home; the first sights she saw were her parents and her house and she got to spend her first night in this world in the home she will grow up in. We loved birthing at home and plan to do it everytime, Lord willing.

Anne is now 8 months old and is a wonderful baby. She sleeps through the night, going to bed around 6:30 and waking at 7 am. She does wake up once to eat, but John is so helpful. He changes her and then I go in and feed her. Right now she is very into sitting up, grabbing at every single thing she can get her hands on, and discovering she can make things in her world happen. She loves the kitties, getting very excited when she sees them. Her culinary world has grown leaps and bounds from the first offerings of sweet potatoes. She now eats apples, peaches, pears, bananas, prunes, apricots, avacados, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, pumpkin, carrots, peas, and her new favorite: baby yogurt. I look forward to starting finger foods in the next few weeks.

John continues to enjoy his job and family. He is an Account Representative for Tribune Direct Marketing and manages over 3 million dollars in accounts. Although that is a tremendous amount of responsibility, John is very happy with it and thrives on the challenge. In addition to work, John still loves his video games. He plays several times a week in short spurts. Usually while I am busy with the house or baby! John has started to get back into running and is thinking maybe 07 will be the year to try a half marathon.

I am back at work part time now. I am a Family Support Worker for a great company called "Teen Parent Connection" located in Glen Ellyn, IL. I visit with adolescent parents, in their homes, to offer support, advice and just another person they can count on to help them in the journey of being parents. I also have gotten back into running, but do not have my sights set on any long race at all. I am happy to be able to run my 3 mile runs for now! When I'm not taking care of the baby, the house, or working, I rest up! Usually with a book or a bath. Although John and I love the show 24 and often watch that on DVD until the new season starts in January.

We hope that all of you had such a good year as we did, although hoefully you didn't have as many life changing events! We look forward to relaxing in 2007, hopefully with no major events. We could use a break! May all of you have a blessed new year and feel the love and peace of Christ everyday.