Thaddeus Meets the Southern Family

Aunt Meg and Cousin Brady... 7 months old the day Tad was born. The Little Man, as he is called by Pop, ran the show while big brother Cooper stayed home with Uncle Travis.

Aunt Beth and Kit... a New Year's Day arrival, born January 1, 2009. Kit, aka "Baby Sister", was tiny but is quickly catching up with big sister Elsie. Elsie visited as well but was getting over a cold, so we did not get a photo with Tad.

Uncle David and Kit. Why won't David let Kit hold Tad? No fun!

Aunt Meg and Cousin Brady. This photo followed Tad's first sponge bath, after which I learned the importance of quickly getting a diaper on rather than posing for photos.

Grammy (Pat) and Tad on Day One. Pat spoiled us during our staying at the hospital by bringing lunch and dinner every day. So much for the crappy hospital food! Tad also met Poppa (John) at the hospital and has since, of course, met wise Uncle Rocky.

Tad is very lucky to have 6 cousins under the age of 3: Cooper and Brady in Nashville, Elsie and Kit in Savannah, and Bryce and Brooke in Atlanta. We look forward to holidays, vacations and many adventures with this brood! Tad's arrival was perfect timing as Beth, David, Elsie and Kit were in town from Savannah for Memorial Day Weekend. They treated us to multiple visits, words of advice and encouragement, as well as a delicious shrimp taco dinner.

We were extremely fortunate to have Megan and Brady come from Nashville for the weekend. Brady and Tad are just 7 months apart, so I am sure they will soon be buddies. I would have been completely lost without Megan - she was a wonderful doctor, counselor, teacher and friend.

We have already had many fun visits with Aunt Barbara, Uncle Mike, Bryce and Brooke who live just a few a minutes away. Somehow they managed to escape my camera, so I will soon post photos with them. Thanks to Barbara for visiting us at the hospital, lots of helpful advice and the amazing swaddle blanket which has brought Tad (and us) many (not consecutive) hours of sleep. After watching the nurses at the hospital, Johnny was determined to master the swaddle and has now become quite the expert. My skills are lacking and it is quite obvious when I swaddle Tad as the "little houdini" usually manages to at least break one arm free.