More Baby Fun! :)

Is sleep deprivation ever worth it?

YES!

How about getting jarred awake by a screaming infant?

YES!

How about poopy diapers?

YES!

What did we do before she was born?

Great question!

Is big sister proud of her little sister?

Just look at the last picture! :)

Mary Katherine goes on her first big trip today to Knoxville, TN to see her big sister compete in the State Championships for Middle School Cross Country. Congratulations Kelsey...we are so proud of your accomplishments!

Final Tally

Here are the final results on the poll question "What Will Mary Katherine Weigh?"

• 49% of you guessed between 8 and 9 lbs
• 26% guessed over 9 lbs
• 23% guessed less than 8 lbs

Thanks for voting! At my office, Helen won the birthdate sweepstakes with a guess of 10-11 (missed by just one day). Danny guessed her weight EXACTLY!! Way to go!!

Alot more pictures coming soon. Also, we'll have a site you can visit to see all of them in one sitting. Baby doc visit today to 'weigh-in'...we'll let you know how that goes. :-)

Sunday Visitors

This first picture says it all! We have a beautiful and sweet child. Can you tell her Mommy is quite smitten with her?



Mary Katherine had several visitors today. Her Grandpa and Grandma Detwiler stopped in for a visit (pictured above), her Uncle Randy and Cousin Abbi came by. Also, we saw Uncle Heath, Aunt Joyelle, Cousins Eli and Isabelle (pictured below with Mary Katherine).

Food was brought tonight by a fine family from our church. Our church has been awesome! I'm going to end up a fat boy if they don't stop! :) We are very grateful for their generosity.

Life With A 3-day old Baby and 13 year old!

Life couldn't be any better! :) She keeps getting prettier and prettier each day. I am one blessed father to have two wonderful daughters. My sleep deprivation continues, but GOD is good and in charge. Miraculously, I am not tired.

Early this morning (on very little sleep), I traveled with the big sister up to Lafayette, TN for the Middle School Region Championships for Cross Country. As you can see above, the big sis competed. We are pleased to announce that she has qualified for the State Championships to be held next weekend in Knoxville! WAY TO GO BIG SIS!

Look What We Saw Today

We heard from friends and family that a billboard went up here in Cookeville with Mary Katherine and Kelsey (the big sister) on it!

Shortly thereafter, I received a call from the General Manager of my office and he said one of my great customers wanted to do something special for us to announce the birth! It's humbling to see how kind people are to offer up their advertising space to announce the birth of your child.

When we were released to go home, we drove by and saw it! Too cool! :)

Thanks to Whit Carlen and the fine people at Carlen Chevrolet in Cookeville. Your generosity is wonderful.

Mom and Baby are doing excellent. We are thrilled to be home. I'm working on posting ALL of the pictures somewhere for you guys to see. I'll let you all know when it is complete.

Beautiful Baby Mary Katherine!

(Daddy kissing Mommy seconds after Mary Katherine was born)

Her arrival was grand! She is such a cute and tiny creature. Her Mommy has never looked more beautiful.



It was a wonderful event last night when Mary Katherine was born. Two nurses in training who we had never met cried like they were her relatives. One of them had never participated in a delivery while the other had helped another girl earlier in the day. Our RN is a close, personal friend and was such a blessing. Our Doctor is a wonderful man who called our little girl 'his miracle baby'!!



I have all sorts of pictures and will share them as time goes on. For now, Shawn is doing GREAT, Mary Katherine is doing GREAT, and me and the BIG SISTER are just ecstatic!

Mary Katherine is Here

Mary Katherine was born October 10, 2007 at 7:38 p.m. CDT. She weighed 8 lbs 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. Mary Katherine and mom are doing great. God is so good!!

* Posted by a proud Uncle Randy!

Baby Update

At 1:00p.m. CDT, Shawn had progressed to between 5 and 6 cm. She's had an epidural and is progressing nicely and resting. Will update when more information happens.

*This post made by Uncle Randy.

The Time Has Arrived

We'll check-in tonight at 6 pm at the hospital as the arrival of Mary Katherine is imminent. You may ask what happens tonight??? I'm not real sure, but they expect her to be born sometime tomorrow. More later.

And The Countdown Begins....

To borrow a NASA term, we are "T minus 48 hours" from the birth of Mary Katherine! :)

Life will be different, as we know it, with a newborn around our home. My wife and I both have said that we don't think it has quite hit us yet.

One interesting story from church on Sunday. We had a wonderful group in to minister at our Women's Conference over the weekend. They also spoke at our morning services and led Praise and Worship. Their drummer was quite good and Mary Katherine was HOPPING around in Mommy's belly quite a bit during church!! :) I think she really enjoyed the high energy church service.

The group, called Chosen, is with Karen Wheaton Ministries. They are from Hamilton, AL. Their website can be accessed by going here. Karen's website is available by going here.

Doctor's Appointment

***Breaking Mommy News***

Great report from the Doctor today! Mary Katherine weighs approximately 8 lbs. 14 oz. and she is OVER 40 weeks according to the ultrasound machine measurements.

This puts her in the 90% percentile in relation to her size. Guess we're having a big ole baby!

We are scheduled to go in on Tuesday evening for preparation for a Wednesday delivery!!! :)

Breaking 'MOMMY' News

*UPDATE*
Our Doctor has scheduled for Shawn to go in to the hospital on Tuesday evening, October 9th for induction on Wednesday morning, October 10th!!!!

Of course, we could before then if she goes into labor. :-) Keep on posting your guess in the comments section below!

My officemates have decided to try and guess Mary Katherine's birthdate and size.

The rest of you may also participate. Here is how:

• In the comments section, put your FIRST name, DATE of her birth, and SIZE..that is, the amount she weighs at birth.

From the gang at Lamar, here are the guesses:
Michael (daddy) 10/08 9lb 7oz
Brad 10/15 7lb 11oz
Ashley 10/06 9lb 4oz
Ron 10/05 8lb 5 oz
David 10/05 8lb 2oz
Helen 10/11 8lb 7oz
Danny 10/07 8lb 12oz

Shawn is doing well. She is definitely in that FINAL stage of being pregnant. Those of you ladies who've had children understand exactly what the 'final stage' is. She is quite a bit more tired than normal and tends to wake up several times throughout the night.

Final Road Trip

Mommy took her final road trip today to see Mary Katherine's big sister compete in a Cross Country match in Smyrna, TN. While it was a short trip (just over 1 hour), the time in the car at 38 weeks pregnant is almost too much.

Kelsey finished 14th out of nearly 100 runners. Her time of 10 minutes and 44 seconds was a personal best today. Her team took home 3rd place honors out of 13 teams. Not bad for the first full season of Cross Country at her school!

We have another appointment this week with our OB Doc along with an ultrasound.

Friday Mommy Update

As I type this at 7:00 pm, my beautiful bride is napping! I am cooking dinner...well, Stouffers made dinner in some factory (Lasagna).

Anyway, all is well. She feels good, is all packed for the hospital when that time comes. I love my planner wife!

Latest Doctor Visit

We had a nice visit today at the OB.

First off, Shawn had an ultrasound to measure the fluid. All was just fine. Also, they measure Mary Katherine's heart rate. It was good.

Next, we were taken to a room to measure movement, heat rate and contractions. Mary Katherine slept through the first half of these measurements, so it took a little longer. All was fine with this evaluation.

Finally, we saw a Midwife. She encouraged Shawn to 'take it easy', to put her feet up for at least one hour, three times daily. She encouraged her to take a break after getting home rather than just going right in to fixing dinner. She encouraged her to work less and relax more.

We are progressing nicely and are right on track. Next Friday, we go for an ultrasound that will measure Mary Katherine's size. That should be interesting! :)