Happy New Year to all....we enjoyed a fondue party until the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Eve. There's nothing like ushering in a brand new year to make you think about the passage of TIME. I remember being pregnant last year, and feeling nauseated by the mounds of raw, ready-to-be-cooked fondue meat. This year I did not have that problem. It was fun to see Lucy interact with the other babies there, and the ringing in of the new year did make me feel a bit verklempt as I thought about all that took place in 2006. The year we became PARENTS.

The New Year also makes me think about the future, and how we are going to do this whole parenting thing. My friend Andee mentioned a book about "shepherding" your child (sorry, Andee, I don't remember the whole title...)--I immediately perked up because I am easily smitten with all things sheep- and goat-related...lambs, cloven hooves, bleating, pastoral scenes....gloria in excelsis deo, being "sore afraid" and all. Cashmere. Chevre. But I digress. Something about the idea of "shepherding" one's child spoke to me.

How do we do that? How do we shepherd a daughter towards a confident, compassionate adulthood? How do we lovingly guide her towards health & vitality in a world where Nicole Richie and MK Olsen are on the cover of every other magazine? What if she's one of those extremely talented kids? What if she's NOT? What if she gets teased on the playground? Would I be arrested for going after the 7-year-old bully myself? What if she's one of the "popular" kids and shows no concern for others?

How do we teach her about the world we live in, when so often the world is full of crap? How do we teach her to be concerned about her fellow human when she will be bombarded with the message that moneymoneymoneymoneymoney=happiness in omnipresent ads and commercials.

How do I teach her to show God's love to other people when I am so often UNloving and sarcastic? Hmmm. Maybe this is where that pesky "examined life" thing may come into play.

For now we are having fun showing her the things we love and introducing her to the people (and pets!) that make us who we are...She helped work the soundboard for a show with Brent (she was quite serious about it), and she took in her first Thanksgiving feast, complete with hot pink pilgrim bonnet. She works/learns/plays alongside us, and we hope she is soaking up some good. We loved sharing Christmas with her--all the traditions and the music and the sheer JOY of the season. I hope you soaked up some joy over these past few weeks as well.

Till next time--
Baaaaaa!