Congrats in order!

Our good friends from grad school Peder and Colleen had a baby girl, Lilia Isabelle, the night before last. From what I hear, everyone deserves a big pat on the back (Colleen especially!) because Lilia chose to keep everyone in suspense for a while before finally making her appearance. We've yet to see pictures, but can't wait! Peder is a resident in emergency medicine at U Chicago and has had to go back to work some already, although he tells me some of his wonderful colleagues are covering many of his shift hours. Colleen is an assistant professor at Loyola University so we assume she gets at least this week off! We continue to be grateful that Aiden's arrival was timed between jobs for me, and that Hopkins grants a week of paternity leave to residents so Brent could be there for both of us when we got home from the hospital. We can't imagine how hard it must be for Peder to go back to work so soon!

A belated congratulations also goes out to my dear friend Lauren, who got engaged to boyfriend Brian over Christmas. You'll remember these two came to visit us in September. Anyway, after graduating from UofI, Lauren took a postdoc position at West Virginia University in Morgantown--and it looks like now that she may be there a bit longer than originally thought! Brent and I would like to get over to Morgantown to see them--Brent has had a hankering since he drove through WV in the dark en route to the east coast from Illinois last May. Apparently that was a stretch when the cat wasn't yelling, so he could concentrate on the moonlit scenery in peace....

Finally, those of you who know Aras & Kristina Mattis (now in San Francisco as Aras started residency in pathology at UCSF) will be pleased to learn that they are expecting a baby in June. And, Bob & Erin Mihelich (architects in Elgin, IL) are also adding a new family member in a few months--both Kristina and Erin looked fabulous when we saw them over Christmas (perhaps we were trendsetters in this whole start a family thing...!)