Thursday, August 23rd, Johanna McKay Shiffler entered our lives. She was born at 10:18am, weighing 7.1 oz. Bobby thankfully rushed home the night before from a business trip to be with me during my contractions. Bobby and I felt blessed with how my labor turned out. We worked hard together that night! And Johanna came after 4 pushes, into the bright noisy world, completely healthy! And yes, Bobby's favorite name, Johanna, won. Thankfully it has really grown on me.

Caroline was thrilled to see mommy after her time away. I was so grateful to feel so healthy and strong after the delivery to pick up and hold my little girl.

Daddy couldn't be any prouder. Two daughters-- who would of thought!
Yes, that excitement from Caroline is genuine. She was thrilled to have a real baby to take home.
Caroline is taking a picture of her new "pet". She loves to show Johanna her toys, "read" books to her, and pick her up (before her mommy stops her.)

Today was the perfect day for Caroline's second birthday party. There was barely any humidity, quite unusual for these parts, as Caroline's friends came for the morning to play games and eat cupcakes.


Don't be deceived by the small group of duck, duck, goosers. Once everyone arrived, Bobby kept a group of 17 kids at bay with his charming antics.
Butterflies and bugs were on the cupcake menu. Martha Stewart, of course, is to thank for the inspiration.

This was honestly one of the happiest days I've ever seen our daughter have. Friends playing outside, mommy and daddy close by, birthday songs, candles, and gifts truly lit up her face with joy.
And what a way to end the party but with Caroline's very own butterfly wings from her cousins!

I would like to thank all of those who voted in our baby naming poll. The people spoke, and we listened. The winner, by a huge margin, is Johanna. In 2nd place was Jacqueline, followed by Rabolutia (I typed letters randomly to come up w/ that one) and Turtle (that one was obviously ridiculous, but some of you jokers voted for it.). So it looks like we'll be naming the baby Johanna, which is my favorite. Well, we'll go with that one if I can convince Nicole. You, yes you, could save us some marital strife by suggesting another, non-partisan, name. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Check out our new Poll for this week.

Amy, Rob, and Meredith drove down this weekend for one last visit before they have their baby girl in a little over a month. It was so exciting to see Caroline and Meredith actually interested in each other this visit. Both Caroline and Meredith and our second girl and theirs will be roughly 2 weeks apart...well, based on the due dates!

It's official. I am no longer a dirty car salesman. Yes, it's true. I've escaped the greasy clutches of the Sun Motor Cars gargoyle that has held me captive for so long.

In 1 week, I'll start w/ a company called Ultimate Sales & Services. It's a food brokerage company based in Fredericksburg, VA. I'll be a regional sales rep, covering the greater D.C. area. I'll be maintaining and growing the convenience store business in that area. No, we will not be moving to D.C., at least not imminently.

For all of you who were putting off getting that friends & family discount on a new $100k Mercedes, your time has passed.

Notice on the right column there is a poll that we will be updating frequently. Use the power of democracy to influence things like the name of our 2nd born!

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Welcome friends to our blog. I know, I know, with Bobby as my husband, we should have had a blog when they first came out! Alas, here we are, catching up with the Jones'.

Stay tuned for more Shiffler news-- hopefully any day now a new baby Shiffler at that!