More Of Our Sweet Baby

As I post these, Mary-Katherine is in my arms cooing! Life is grand!!!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

Getting Closer! :)

As the clock ticks down toward our due date, we are finding ourselves more and more excited about the impending arrival of Mary Katherine. Many folks have remarked that Shawn appears that she'll go early. In our birthing class last evening, our nurse said this was very rare to go early with the first. She is good at providing us the facts of what they see in labor & delivery.

I must say the whole epidural thing is a bigger deal than I first believed. Wow, a little education will sure wake you up! It's ok though...I know this is the way my bride wants to go and I support her in this decision.

Mary Katherine is moving so much inside of her Mommy's belly. The interesting thing is she gets very active after a meal. Next doc visit is this Friday.

As I posted earlier last week, we've purchased a recliner for the nursery. Several times, I've gone and sat down to visualize what it'll be like having our new little one. It is exciting, very exciting.

Cute Cousins!

Here are two more of Mary Katherine's cousins! They are precious little girls who make us laugh and smile constantly. As you can tell by the pictures, these two are very close. The taller one (Isabelle) is about 9 months older than the other (Olivia).

We are down to just 11 weeks until the big day (of our due date). I guess she could come earlier or later. God will deliver her to us when it is the RIGHT time. My wife continues to do well. She feels good, she looks GREAT and is healthy. She enjoys feeling the baby kick and I enjoy seeing and feeling her kick! I won't let her lift anything (and she'll try if I'm not paying attention!).

We found a recliner for the nursery and were able to get it for about 1/2 of what we thought it would be! Thank you Jesus :)

12 Weeks To Go

Just 12 weeks to go until our due date! Mary Katherine is kicking regularly and I can see her kicks on her Mommy's belly. It is just TOO COOL! I could literally sit all day and watch this happen.

I hope she has red hair just like her beautiful Mom! :)

Doctor's Appointment Today

(click on picture for better view)

We had a 10:30 a.m. for another growth scan by the ultrasound technician. Here are the results. Baby Mary Katherine has grown from 11 oz just 25 days ago to a whopping 20 oz today (1 lb. 4 oz.). Her heartrate was 154 beats per minute and her numbers show that she is progressing very favorably as a 23 week-old baby.

We visited with one of the nurse practioners who was pleased with all the numbers. Shawn is definitely feeling her move more and more.

Thank you Lord for the continue progress of our little girl. :-)

Little Bits Is Moving Around

Little Mary Katherine continues to move around at pretty much the same times each day. We know she sleeps and wakes on a schedule. Kelsey and I are quick to put our hands on Mommy's stomach to see if we can feel her moving.

We have a short weekend trip to see some relatives on Shawn's side. It'll be lots of fun.

Shawn is harvesting squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes from our garden this morning! YAY!! :)

Continuing to Grow

In the next month, our munchkin will double in weight. Interesting.

My bride is really looking pregnant. People who we've not seen in a while will say "You're PREGNANT!" I'm thinking "No Kidding"...but I smile and nod approvingly! :)

Our next growth scan and ultrasound comes up on Tuesday. Can't wait to see our little one again. At that time, I'll be picking up a CD with a whole bunch of ultrasound pictures.

We're close to being able to paint the nursery! I think we're having a baby!!!!! :)

Friday Update

As we enter our 22nd week, I'm very encouraged with a couple of things. The first is my wife felt Mary Katherine kick several times on Thursday. Secondly, while reading her baby book last night, she kicked again...she is an active baby!

The other encouraging news is about the 2 sets of sextuplets born in Arizona and Minnesota. Both families have strong faith...both were encouraged to 'selectively reduce' the number of babies to increase survival of the others...both sets of parents said NO...if you click on the blog title, it'll take you to a story of these wonderful folks. As I write this, one of the Minnesota babies (born at 22 weeks) has passed away. The parents released a statement saying "Our faith remains strong in the midst of mourning our son"

Please pray for these parents and their children!

Good Day for Mom and Baby

Shawn got in bed last night EARLIER than usual. It helped her today! This afternoon, when I got home from work, my bride was snoozing on the couch. I'm glad she has been able to rest. Would have snapped a picture of her asleep, but I know BETTER! :) ....yeah, right!

Big sister tells me that she is wanting to knit or crochet Mary Katherine a blanket....

Monday Update (LATE)

My wife feels Mary Katherine moving again today during lunch. I guess she really loves the Fajitas and the Chips/Salsa just like us! Shawn is a little more tired today than normal. I think we've been going a little faster than usual. We will slow down over the next few days. We are more than 1/2 way to holding our munchkin.

Sunday Sleeping Beauties!

Hey, there is a baby inside that belly!

My wife and our teen decided to take a nap after church and lunch. Thought I'd snap a picture of them snoozing and post it! ;)
According to The Pregnancy Journal, we are on day 133 and have 133 days left to go. Our baby weighs about 16 ounces and almost 7 inches in length. We should be able to hear her heartbeat with just a regular stethoscope.

More updates to come soon!

Purpose

We want to keep our family and friends informed on the progress of our new baby!

I will be posting ultrasound pictures here very soon. Also, you'll be able to read Mom & Big Sister posts!

Come back and visit often! :)