'Ugliest House' Razed in Camden

By DEBORAH HIRSCH • Courier-Post • January 14, 2010

CAMDEN — The worst of the worst eyesores in Cramer Hill was demolished Wednesday -- four and a half months after residents voted it the ugliest house in the neighborhood.

About 20 community members, church leaders and students from St. Anthony of Padua parish school braved the frigid morning to watch a demolition crew topple the burned-out shell of 923 N. 27th St. and an adjacent row home.

The two buildings were the first of 23 hazardous structures that are expected to come down over the next few weeks.

Leaders from Camden Churches Organized for People organized the ugly house contest last July in an effort to draw attention to the thousands of abandoned homes in the city.

[For the complete article, please see The Courier Post.]

One Month!

Alma is growing and developing so quickly that we sometimes swear that we can see a difference in her overnight. It's been awesome to watch her grow and learn in this first month of her life. And this is just the beginning! How exciting.

We went to the pediatricians again and Alma weighted in at 10 lbs 14 oz. That's over two pounds more than three weeks ago! I feel blessed that she is such a healthy eater.







We are so in love with this little munchkin! Parenthood is wonderful.

Camden's Ugliest House Lives On and On

By Matt Katz
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Camden's ugliest abandoned house is still there, as ugly as ever.

Four months after a high-profile protest and promises by politicians to have it razed, the building on North 27th Street - winner of an "ugliest house" contest by a community group - is a reminder of the difficulty of progress in the nation's poorest city.

"Thinking about Camden's capacity to govern itself, this is a perfect example of how the capacity is still not there," concluded Brother Jerry Hudson of Camden Churches Organized for People, which organized the competition.

(For the full article, please visit the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year by going on a family walk over to Broad Street to enjoy the Mummer's Parade.

Our 2009 felt like The Year of Advent with most of the year focused on the arrival of our little Alma. (She was definitely worth the wait!)

However, in glancing at the photos we snapped this year, our year was more than simply waiting. We had a great year with family, friends, trips, work, outdoor adventures, weddings, birthdays and so much else. This might have been my favorite year ever ... I really enjoyed 2009.

Here's to a joyful 2010 with time to wonder at all the blessings in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas ... although we are in a bit of a sleep-deprived fog these days so it could have been an awful Christmas and we just didn't notice. Although, seriously, we had a nice holiday and were happy that we were able to celebrate with Nana and Padre Thompson, Brian and Bridgette and their kiddos.

The day after Christmas, Patrick and Carrie stopped by for a quick visit and dropped off some food for us, which was awesome. This week, Joshua does not have to work so we plan on sitting around house and going for long walks. Yeah holidays!

Two weeks old

Our sweet Alma is two weeks old today.

This past week has been exciting with Joshua heading back to work (sure, this was supposed to be the week he worked from home, but in a relationship-focused occupation, he ended up in Camden most days), wrapping up last-minute preparations for Christmas since half of our gifts needed to be mailed cross-country, and the largest snowstorm since 1993 with 24 inches falling in Philadelphia.

Alma has been enjoying our daily walks with the dog. She isn't fond of the bundling process but then she immediately falls asleep as soon as we head out the door and sleeps soundly the entire trip.Yesterday since the snow was too deep to use the stroller, Joshua wrapped her in his jacket as we went to the grocery store for more baking supplies. It was fun to be out and see everyone shoveling. At our last doctor's visit, we learned that Alma is up to 8lbs 11 oz. This is up from her birth weight of 8 lbs 1 oz. Based on how hardily she eats, we are guessing that she is going to continue to grow quickly. They also told us that she is almost 19 inches, which surprised me because when she was born we were told that she was 21 inches. Ends up the hospital mis-measured and she was really 18 inches when born. Ha! Evidently, this happens often.

To make a birth announcement, Alma and I did our first photo shoot in her beautiful Christmas outfit, which was a gift from Alma's Nana Thompson. Not wanting to spoil the winning photo, here is one of the out-takes. She seems to enjoy saluting in photos, which I find endlessly humorous. She did the same thing in the hospital photos.

Here is a short video of our household that we took today. Enjoy!

World, Please Meet Our Daughter, Alma

To celebrate her first week of life, here's her story from the beginning ...

Since we had an ultrasound appointment on Monday morning (December 7) to have some tests done [since I was one week "overdue" with my pregnancy and there was a chance that we would be induced], we wanted to decorate the house and get all the last minute items together over the weekend. On Saturday we went to Lowe's to get a Christmas tree and all the trimmings with our wonderful neighbors Randy and Erin. Sunday was spent decorating, going to a prenatal yoga class and attending Mass. By Sunday night we felt we were finally ready to go into labor ... and so we did!Monday morning at 4:40 a.m. I was sitting up in bed reading when my water broke. (I woke up at 4 am most nights of my pregnancy, usually for a bowl of cereal.) As requested, we waited until 6:30 a.m. to call the doctor so that we wouldn't wake him up. He told us to come into the hospital right away. Here I am in the evaluation room right before switching to hospital clothing. I wanted one last photo of being pregnant.We were able to have an awesome birthing experience. My body was well-prepped for the day -- all that prenatal yoga paid off! -- so I didn't need any pain medication and labor progressed naturally and quickly throughout the day. The only intervention the doctor decided to do was re-breaking my water since my natural water break was higher in my belly and not effective enough. I only had 25 minutes of pushing at the end of the day, which I hear is quick for a first child. I feel so blessed by how (relatively) easy the process was for me.

We were also blessed to have the same nurse for the entire delivery. Debbie was such an angel/ peaceful spirit/great cheerleader. I'm bummed that we didn't get a photo of her. Honestly, I don't think that I would have been able to have a completely natural birth without her encouragement.

But more than anyone else, Joshua was my pain medication. He stayed so calm and was extremely attentive. With his constant positive attitude and soothing massages, I felt comfortable enough to do the things which eased my contractions, like singing and swaying to stay loose. I don't think that nurses have seen many women sing as much as I did. It felt natural for me to use music as a way of relaxing.Alma was born at 6:24 p.m., weighing in at 8 lbs 1 oz, 21.5 inches. She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice but that was quickly resolved.When the doctors and nurses were completing the paperwork, they stamped Joshua's white tee-shirt with her feet. How cute is that?! After Joshua and I visited with her for an hour, we invited my parent's back to the delivery room to meet her. It was fun to have them there and see them glow over their newest grandchild. We had to part from her for a few hours so the medical staff could evaluate her and my parents had to leave because it was the end of visiting hours. Joshua and I went to our recovery room and were so geared up that you might have thought that we just won the Super Bowl. We ate some dinner and recapped the events of the day. It was nice to have that time with just the two of us. Our hospital stay was great. Joshua was allowed to stay overnight in the room with me and we didn't have the share the room with any other patients. It was nice to have those two night to get used to parenthood in a little cocoon of care.

The following day, Brian and Bridgette came to visit. It was wonderful to see their excitement and feel their support.On Wednesday evening, we left the hospital. My parents stayed with us for two nights and provided invaluable help -- cooking, cleaning and shopping for us so that we could simply concentrate on taking care of Alma. The only problem with having both my father and Joshua in the same house is that they are too funny. I feel like my healing was delayed from all the laughing. Sounds corny, but it is true!

Then Kate and Neal came from Pittsburgh to cook us meals, show us a few pointers for taking care of the baby (Kate is a pediatrician -- lucky us!), and share photos from their recent trip to SE Asia. It is always good to see them, even when sleep-deprived.

The pets are handling the new addition well. Shanti the cat is keeping her distance. Simon the dog is also keeping his distance ... with a little prodding from us.

Overall, the transition to life with a baby has been super. Sure we aren't sleeping much, but we didn't expect to. Alma is very sweet and too cute to comprehend. Here are some photos from today. Since I needed some fresh air, Joshua and I took the dog and the babe to a local park. It felt so good to be outside and walk around a bit.

And, since this was a hot topic prior to her arrival: No, she doesn't seem to have red hair. It is a beautiful shiny blond color. Although, it is difficult to tell at this stage what color it will be when she grows up.

We will be sure to post more photos soon!