even after 13 nephews and nieces, it’s difficult for eileen and me to express the joy we feel when a new baby arrives in our family. so we try to express it in images. abigail arrived just in time — days before we had to catch a plane to guatemala for our film project, which would have caused us to miss those precious (and photographically crucial) first weeks. upon hearing the news, we loaded the prius (which feels like moving house with our one child; i can’t imagine what it’s like with 4 or more!) and raced to virginia. one day to photograph abigail and family, one morning to enjoy snuggling and horsing around with the “big” kids, then we raced back to atlanta to catch our flight. short.. but sweet! i blame abigail’s mother, my sister rachael, on both these counts: she’s the one who first dragged me down to guatemala where she worked at an orphanage, giving me a desire to return there at such an inconvenient time; and she together with her terrific husband, my bro-in-law jamie, are the ones responsible for this wonderful and precocious cackle of kids whom we can’t get enough of. so thanks for making our lives that much more difficult, rachael. and thanks for letting us share the whole crazy mess with you! we love you!