Hello Baby Boy Garofalo
Soon you'll be here and be introduced to your family, who loves you very much. I'm your aunt Cat. Your Uncle Dave and I are very excited about meeting you and watching you grow up. You have great parents.

Hallo liebes Baby Garofalo,

es ist schon etwas komisch an dich zu schreiben, obwohl du noch im Bauch deiner Mama bist! Aber um so schöner die Gelegenheit dich jetzt schon begrüßen zu können.

Also zu meiner Person, ich bin deine Tante Natali! Na ja , nicht ganz Tante, ich bin die Cosine deiner Mama, aber wir stehen uns in der Familie alle sehr nahe, deshalb nenn mich einfach Tante ;). Also freu dich schon mal darauf in unsere herzliche aber auch chaotische Familie hinein geboren zu werden.

Wir freuen uns, dass du bald ein Teil unserer Familie bist! Aber jetzt entspann dich noch schön im Bauch deiner Mama, denn es wird sicher sehr turbolent für dich, wenn du dann mal auf der Welt bist. Deine Mama ist nähmlich alles andere als langweilig, da kannst du dich schon auf viele aufregende Sachen einstellen!

Na dann liebes Baby Garofalo bis bald!

Tante Natali

Grandma loves you already

Hello my sweet baby, my first grandchild! I can't wait to hold you in my arms and whisper secrets about your daddy!! He was a funny, sweet baby and it seems like only yesterday I could hold him on my lap and sing to him. Wait till he sings for you. He has a beautiful voice--we don't know where it came from.

Dear Baby Boy Garofalo,

Dear Baby Boy Garofalo, Let me introduce myself. My name is Marie - and I am a close friend of your Dad -Mark,  and your Mom - Katharina. I met your Dad in the late 1990s, when he was a roommate with my brother at Ga Tech. Later, I rented a room in your Dad's house while I was in graduate school at Emory. This is when your Dad and I became great friends, and I also got to know your Grandma and Grandpa Garofalo and your Aunt Cat and Uncle Kevin during this time, as well. Living at Marks was fun, and it is this house where I met my boyfriend of many years, Clint. Your Dad is an amazing cook (as I am sure you will discover soon) and has great taste in wine (which I am sure you won't know anything about until you are at least 21;)). Your Dad, Clint and I had many great adventures back in the day: throwing crazy Halloween parties, having amazing BBQs, and even surviving a tree crashing through the roof of the house! When your Dad met your Mom, I knew it was special - I could tell he really loved her, even from the start. I was so excited to meet her - I noticed she was everything that your Dad was looking for: smart, sweet and beautiful! It was always so much fun when she would come to visit from Germany - showing her around Atlanta, introducing her to our haunts. On mornings when she would fly out, we would be sure to have a breakfast party, filled with pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit and of course, mimosas, so she would be tempted to stay and never leave. Clint and I also took a special trip with your Mom and Dad over to Munich, Germany, to visit her home and see for ourselves the amazing Oktoberfest celebration. It is so exciting that your mom lives here in the U.S.A. now, and even though Clint and I had to move, your Mom and Dad remain close friends of Clint and I. I know they are so excited for your arrival, as are we! We all can't wait to meet you, Baby Garofalo! Love, Marie

Baby Boy Garofalo!!

If you are reading this, you are friends or family of Mark and Katharina Garofalo- Welcome! As Mark and Katharina prepare for Baby Boy Garofalo to arrive, Cat (Mark's sister - the future Aunt) and I thought it would be fun to put together a little blog to celebrate. A place to post pictures and send well wishes - a virtual baby shower! Please feel free to contribute by leaving comments for Mark and Katharina, and please send me pictures to add to the fun (you can email them to me at marie.cross26@gmail.com). A glimpse into their life together that they can cherish when they are knee deep in used diapers as they grow into a family of three! Over to the right side of the blog is a link to their online baby registry - click on over and send these first time parents a little something to help anticipate the arrival of Baby Boy Garofalo, won't you? And if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me! Cheers to Mark, Katharina and Baby Boy Garofalo!!!!!!