Dad and Daughter Fun!

While Mommy was at a baby shower weekend for herself and a friend, Kelsey (the big sister) and I were invited to take a trip down the Ocoee River. As you can see from the picture, we didn't have 'any fun' at all!

This move on the whitewater is called "Riding The Bull". Kelsey got to do it through a Class IV rapid! She was on the nose of the raft holding on as best she could. Let's just say this was an experience she won't soon forget. Neither will Daddy!

Our visit to the doctor was fine. He is happy with her progression and has advised us to go visit pediatricians to see which one we will be taking Mary Katherine for her visits.

Mommy and Baby are doing well. Other than the normal stuff of swollen feet and being a bit tired, Mommy is happy. Baby Mary Katherine continues to kick and roll around. It's a wonderful thing.

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.

Mommy Update

Some of you have asked for a 'mommy update'...I have good news, here in a picture (and they are hard to get, as she doesn't like being photographed now) of my beautiful bride. We are a little less than 11 weeks away from Mary Katherine's birth.

Last evening, we went to our first birthing class and it was VERY interesting! I learned that as the 'Coach', I will have to remind her to breath properly, provide moral and positive support and to FORGET any 'bad' things she might say while in labor! :-)

Right now, Shawn and Joyelle (our sister in-law) are working on the nursery. They are sewing and ironing and I'm staying as far away from all of that as possible. I did fix (order) dinner tonight...pizza and wings!

We have another ultrasound in the morning and expect to get a real good look at Mary Katherine! Praise God for her continued growth.

That's all for now, we love hearing from you all, so don't forget to leave us a COMMENT!

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 :)

Practice!

Had the pleasure of babysitting our niece who is 6 months old. She is just a beautiful, little angel. It was great practice for what is in our VERY NEAR future. She woke up a couple of times overnight and we're somewhat sleepy today! :) We learned how valuable the bassinet and crib are going to be for not only Mary Katherine, but for Mommy & Daddy! Enjoy the pictures of our sweet niece.

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! :)

Big Sister's Artwork

This is an awesome piece of artwork done by Mary Katherine's big sister. She made this for the bathroom they will share. Tomorrow (Monday), Mom and her sister in-law will begin the sewing for the dust ruffle, bumper pads, and trimming out the curtains. We're getting CLOSER AND CLOSER!!

By the way, we've registered at Babies R Us, Target, & Wal-Mart. That was fun! :)

Update on Baby's Room

The nursery is really coming along nicely. Randy helped me finished up the 'cutting in' of the pink walls. The area around the ceiling still had the original color bleeding through ever so slightly and Shawn wanted it covered.

We are supposed to pick up the last piece of furniture for Mary Katherine's room soon. The only thing we lack other than the tall dresser is some kind of rocker/recliner. We're still in search of that!

Mary Katherine's big sister painted a flower on a canvas along with several scriptures. We've hung that in their bathroom. I will get a picture of it and post it here!

Mom is growing and is doing very well. Thanks to all of you for your prayers. Words cannot begin to express how grateful we are for this time in our lives and for all of you.

Nursery Update

From this fan

To this new one. Notice the new curtains, too!
Her nursery is coming along nicely!
We appreciate Randy's help.

Award Winning Blog

As you can see on the right side of this post, we were honored with a "BEST BLOG OF THE DAY AWARD"....on July 17th, Bill and his gang over at Famous Blogs gave us that high praise and we appreciate it. We never realized when we started this thing that anyone other than friends and family would read it, much less award us for it. We are humbled by the attention.

Mary Katherine, Mom, Big Sister, and Dad are all doing well. We've settled back in to our normal day to day routine since our return from vacation. Mom's fire ant bites are looking a whole lot better...hard to believe that was 7 days ago!

We registered Mary Katherine's big sister for school last night. Can you believe it is that time once again? She's really looking forward to attending her new school. It is alot larger than her previous school, but she is thrilled about meeting new people and making some new friends. I believe she'll have a great influence on those at her new school.

We (my brother in-law) and I are putting up a new ceiling fan in the baby's room. May take a picture or two and post it! :)

Vacation Pictures

Hello Friends and Family. As some of you know, we've just returned from vacation in Venice Beach, Florida. Here is another link to Venice. It was a wonderful time. I'm posting some pictures here from our trip. All of them are 'people' pictures (that is, one's with us in them). Later, I'll post some sunset pictures along with photos of we stayed.

Didn't know this at the time, but Shawn and Kelsey were wiping off fire ants from Shawn's arm. To answer your obvious question, yes...they hurt.
This was before the fire ant attack...Mom and Daughter enjoying time together.

Taken at Gus and (cousin) Patty's home in Venice Gardens. They have an incredible number of Orchids. We have some photos of them and will post later.

Mommy didn't know I snapped this picture! :)

Picture of my beautiful bride and me!

The family on the Venice Pier!


More photos and fun stuff coming soon!

Back From Vacation!

Baby Mary Katherine's family is back from vacation. We have some fun baby news and will be sharing that by Sunday! Talk to you then!

Photography

We had a wonderful lady from our church come over and take pictures today of all 4 of us! Then in a couple of weeks, she'll be back to take more. It is called Progression Pictures (hope I'm not fouling the name up). We were pleased with how these will turn out. Lots of fun and quite simple. I believe my wife and daughter could make great models! :)

We're going to take some R & R, so if you don't hear from us for a few days, it's ok!

Back From Chicago

Mary Katherine's big sister is BACK from Chicago. We really missed her. She went there with her grandmother and cousin. They had an excellent time. She brought back some gifts for her Mom. Two more maternity shirts. One is perfect for the 4th of July and one is perfect fall colors! Big Sister loves the nursery.

My wife and I came home today for lunch and ate a bite with Big Sister. Mary Katherine began to move around and her big sister felt her move!! EXCITING!!!

We are glad she is home.

Baby Room UPDATE!

Crib has been assembled by Daddy and Uncle Randy!

Left to Right: Aunt Karen, Cousin Abbi, Mommy w/Mary Katherine.
Changing Table

Mommy is VERY happy....woo-hoo! :)