Meet Millie!

This is Millicent Mitchem Valentine. She entered this world from the friendly confines of her mother's tummy at 7:55 AM on Thursday, August 19th, 2010. The picture above was when she was about an hour old.
In this picture she is about 5 minutes old. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 7.8 ounces and measures 18 and one half inches long. Mother and daughter are doing fine as you can see below.

Her brother Finnegan is having a bit of trouble with his definition of the word "gentle" but is otherwise thoroughly enthused.

Momma had a hard day, but is as lovely as ever and has made her husband very, very proud. As well a slew of grandparents and great grands.

There will be more to come. Thanks to all of you who have already called with best wishes and congratulations.

Summer Fun So Far 2010: The Indiana State Fair

Today we went to the Indiana State Fair.
Finnegan and I were part of that special crowd that breakfasts at the fair. A little Dairy Barn action and make sure that's chocolate milk.
The DNR pavilion was lotsa fun, but mostly because now we know he wants an Arctic Cat four-wheeler for Christmas.
It was cooler, or at least as cooler as it was gonna get all day, so we rushed the joint and saw ourselves some livestock. The donkey's were a lotta fun but the boy was mainly drawn to their little wagons.
Finn was all about the goats. They were about his speed.
Only you.
He got kinda mesmerized near the end of the day by this sleeping calf. It was eerie. He'd not touch or pet it but, stood motionless watching it sleep for like four minutes, which is like standing still an hour to a not yet two-year-old.