Well, last night was a LOT better...we now have a routine down that works pretty well. We are super excited that we got 5 hours of sleep last night!
Libby had a chance to see her great grandma last night, and received her first email from her great uncle yesterday, grandpa is already talking about the status of her bank account...oh yeah...and was invited to her first party...lol

I was able to upload a short video of Libby after she got home Tuesday...CLICK HERE!

Going Home

Ok, so Libby stopped crying last night in order to breathe, and that's it. Janelle, her mom, and i are about as wiped out as we could possibly be! thanks for all the comments and well wishes...we feel very loved!
Janelle is still in a bit of pain, but is getting better. Chris has changed a whole lot of diapers, and Libby is currently sleeping soundly...thank you Lord!

Below are some pictures of when we brought Libby home...enjoy!

Little Libby in her car seat. She actually was great on her ride home.
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While driving home, Libby decided to "saw some logs" and Janelle had to keep her head from tipping over.
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Mommy, Daddy, and Libby all ready to head home.

Day 2

Yesterday was a fun day for everyone. Libby got a chance to see the grandparents again and meet some new friends. Here are some pics we managed to get on the camera.

Pat & Libby

Momo & Libby

Grandpa & Libby

Larry B & Libby
(Larry says "this one's for you Duane!")

Liberty Grace!

Well, she's here! Our precious bundle of joy arrived at 6:15pm Sunday, June 24, 2007. Libby weighed in at 7lbs 15 oz, and is 20 1/2" long. She is absolutely adorable (not that I'm biased or anything). She is doing great but poor thing is so tired after almost 12 hours of labor (that would explain why mommy and daddy are so tired too!).
Thank you so much for all your prayers on our behalf, we covet them still as we start to adjust to being a family of three!
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. (we will post more soon)

Mommy, Daddy, Libby, and Uncle Dan

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Libby's first bath
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Libby sleeping...we'd sure like to sleep as well!
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Time to burp!
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I swear her lips are not that big anymore! They were pretty swollen when she was born.
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Libby holding Daddy's finger
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Grandma and Libby
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The whole big happy family!
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The doctor, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist
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Daddy and his girl
=)

The Nursery

Just thought I'd give you guys an idea of what the nursery looks like. This is not the finished product, but I thought I'd better get something on here before the baby comes and I start updating about baby. Hope you enjoy!



PS: only 4 more days until the due date! (Chris will be updating the blog for me for a while so you'll have the most up-to-date info on baby!)

Quick Update

Ok, so I know it has been forever since I've updated but things have been SUPER crazy! And when I say super crazy I mean, bought a new house, moved, bought baby furniture and put it together and have almost finished getting the nursery ready for the baby, and working like a maniac at work (it's VBS time which is our busiest time of year) and doing the "graduation thing" (since Chris teaches seniors we always have lots going on at the end of the school year - lots of fun, just crazy busy).
Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that as of today I have 22 days left until my due date... we'll see if she comes on time. Also, I thought you all would like to see a picture of me in my very pregnant state. (mum took this pic of me last night). When I finish with the nursery, I'll put pics of it up.
Oh and one more thing, when the baby comes, Chris will be loading pics on here for me so you all will know what's going on. So be watching for it! The day draws ever nearer!

Posting Comments

Ok, it has come to my attention that some of my loyal readers out there are not aware of the importance of the little thing we bloggers like to call "Comments." So, in this post I will do my best to shed some light on the issue by imparting my knowledge of them to you... then you will no longer be in the dark on the matter.
As an author of a blog, one may occasionally enjoy rambling on about the happenings of one's life, but it does get old. You see, the primary purpose of my blogging ritual is for YOUR ENJOYMENT! However, I have no way of knowing your thoughts... no matter how many brain waves you try to send, I'm just not getting them. Apparently other blogger authors were experiencing the same trouble since the Blogspot came up with the brilliance that is a link for Comments. Now this is a little link at the bottom of each post (it has a little picture of a pencil next to it) designed for your convenience. What you do is click on the little "comments" link and a small window will pop up and there will be a space for you to write in your proverbial two cents. After writing your thoughts, you will see a word verification (this is to keep out the spammers) and you fill in the random letters in the appropriately marked text box as you see them displayed above. Then you click on the button to select "Other" and there will be a place for you to fill in your name (you don't have to put a web page unless you want to). Finally, you click on either "preview" which allows you to preview what your comment will look like, or you can click on "Publish Comment" which will do exactly as it says it will... publish your comment.
You see? Very easy! These simple steps, as I have described them above, will make for a much better author-reader relationship. I will know that you are enjoying the post (or not, whichever the case may be) and therefore I will continue to write for you. It really is a beautiful thing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed our little lesson on Comments and I hope to see more comments in the future!
Thanks for being my loyal readers, you are loved!

PS~ next prenatal appointment is April 2. More news after that.

Babymoon 2007!

Ok, so I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have been waiting for several things to happen before I did. Now, about two weeks ago Chris and I went on what's called a "Babymoon." (the idea is that a couple would go off on a retreat to spend some time together alone without the craziness of life and relax one last time before their baby is born - WONDERFUL idea whoever thought of it - I highly recommend it if you get a chance)
Anyway, Chris and I thought of a number of different options but finally settled on going to a Bed & Breakfast out in the hill country of Texas (about 3 1/2 hours from home). We went to a precious little B&B in Canyon Lake. Our room had a terrific view of the valley and part of the lake, the food was great, the service was fantastic, and overall it was a wonderful experience!
We got there late Thursday night and stayed through Saturday. Friday we had a leisurely morning with breakfast, we went outside on the property and fed the deer, walked around a little, and then went back to our room to read and relax for a while. In the afternoon we headed out to San Marcos to have lunch with a friend, Alex, who attends Texas State Uni. and to go shopping at the San Marcos outlet mall. Lunch was great with Alex - we went to Zuko's burrito place and had delish monster-sized burritos. (hmmm, now that I write that I wish I was having a burrito now... ugh, these pregnancy cravings drive me nuts!) And after that, we spent the remainder of the day shopping.
Breakfast on Saturday morning was great and so was the company - all the guests eat breakfast together - then we packed up, checked out and headed for the lake. We drove about 10 mins to get down to the lake. We parked and got out to walk around. The day was absolutely perfect! Temperature was nice with a cool breeze (well, ok, more like a "knock-you-over gust of wind" but hey let's not be picky shall we?) , the sky was blue and the sun was brilliant. After walking around for a while, we got on the road to head home. Overall, it was just a wonderful weekend... Chris and I talked the whole way home about how we wished we were spending the whole WEEK there instead of just the weekend. We definitely plan to go again sometime.
Lastly, here are some pictures of the trip for your enjoyment!

This is what the room looked like when you first walk in the door

This is a little alcove that separated the room from the bathroom... during the day the view from these windows was amazing!

This is the bathroom...
I know guys don't really understand this, but girls, you know we get curious about this sort of thing.
(the toilet was through the double doors behind me in the pic and the double sinks were in front of me)

Chris & me in front of the fireplace in our room (too bad you can't see the fire!)

Chris and I thought it so fun that they provided complimentary bathrobes! Ha!
We never actually used them, but felt it would be a shame not to ever even try them on, so we did and took a picture to prove it!

Me with the bucket of deer corn to spread on the grass

The deer eating the deer corn spread on the grass

Us on the deck at the back of the house watching the deer eat the corn.
(can you tell we were quite fascinated with the deer?)

The fantastic view of the valley and part of the lake taken from our private deck.
(and me looking pregnant)

Chris at the water's edge of Canyon Lake.
(who knew there was a lake in Texas that had blue water instead of brown?)

Ok, so, the "knock-you-over gust of wind" I was telling you about... look at our hair!
(no, we don't normally wear our hair like that)

This was the view taken from the top of a lookout made by the Army Corp of Engineers.
There was a nice little park and it had this wonderful view so we decided to take the photo opp.

Well, hope you enjoyed the Babymoon recap with pictures. We will soon be starting work on the nursery so when we get that in progress I will update with pics. Until then!

Ultrasound pictures

Just thought some of you might like to see my baby girl! These are the two prints that the doctor gave us from the ultrasound this past Monday. Hope you enjoy!

It's a.....

Well, loyal readers... it's the moment you've all been waiting for. The moment that I tell the world what gender my precious baby is... check out this video and be sure to turn your sound up - WAY UP (or you won't hear the announcement.) I know, I know, I'm so mean to torture you so... :) Enjoy!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1889265422

Acquire The Fire 2007

Wow! What a weekend! God showed up and it was AWESOME!!! First, for those who are unfamiliar with Acquire The Fire (aka: ATF), it is a youth conference held every year in the Houston area. It is run by Teen Mania ministries which is led by founder and president, Ron Luce. The principle purpose of ATF is to challenge and inspire young people of this generation to rise up within their generation and be great young men and women of God. It challenges students to go deep with their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to accomplish great things for His Name and His glory; and by doing so, live radically different from their worldly counterparts. To go against what the popular culture is teaching them about life, money, sex, power, and self, and to instead, base their existence upon the principles and values taught by God in the Bible. (You can check out the link called "BattleCry" over in the sidebar of this blog if you are interested in learning more)
That said, let me tell you about a couple of things I found to be extra cool that God did for us this weekend.

• 1st and foremost, this weekend recharged our "spiritual batteries." Both students and leaders were challenged to continue to grow in our relationship with the Jesus. We all learned more about how the culture today tries to convince us that we need worldly things in order to "be cool" or to feel good about ourselves and how God in His Word says that those things that the world offers may be fun for a while, but in the end we are left empty and damaged on the inside.
• 2nd, God did a miracle for us which I feel that I have to give witness to because it was so awesome. The weather-guessers had been saying for days that Saturday was going to be rainy all day... and let me tell you that morning when we drove from where we were staying overnight to the convention, it was miserably dark and raining. Well, we had packed a picnic lunch to eat in the parking lot that day. So I had been praying and had asked a lot of others to be praying as well, that God in His power would clear the skies and that perhaps even give us some sunshine as well during the period of 11:30am until 2:00pm so that we could have an enjoyable lunch. Well HE DID IT! It was beautiful! It was a little cloudy when we first went out there at noon and within the first 15 mins the sun started to come out and by the end of lunch there was barely a cloud in the sky. PERFECT! What a wonderful and powerful God we serve! We praise You Jesus!
  

• 3rd and lastly, all the pieces just fell into place. We had one extra person that signed up to go last minute and I was concerned about being able to get a ticket in the area where I had bought the other tickets. Well, we got one! I wasn't sure how the transportation was going to work out with the number of people going. That too worked out perfectly. I needed to provide food and beverage for all of us and so I had made a request at church concerning our needs and 4 wonderful ladies from the church stepped up to the plate and provided a wonderful feast for us at each of the meal times! (we even had leftovers after everyone was full).

Overall, it was just a fantastic weekend... the speakers, musicians, performers, and event volunteers were great. Above all else, I believe God was glorified in it all, and that makes for a FABULOUS weekend!

Below I've included a couple of pictures from the event... enjoy!

hanging out between sessions

Becca the beautiful!

the other end of our row just chillin' between sessions

Hard core RED fans

RED in concert!

RED's lead singer on the big screen

Update on Baby Ultrasound

Ok, I know everyone has been looking forward to finding out if the baby is a boy or girl, but the appointment for the ultrsound has been postponed. It will now be on Monday, Feb 5th. Now for those wondering what the heck the hold-up is, I'll tell you. My brother, Daniel, attends university in Australia. He is currently here on summer break (strange to say when we are in the middle of winter, but yes, he is here for the Australian summer break). Daniel will be going back to uni mid-Feb and thus will be missing out on my growing belly, baby kicks in-utero, and other 1sts. Because of this, Chris and I have invited him to come to this special prenatal appointment. The only problem is, that the original appointment time (this coming Monday, Jan 29th) will find Daniel skiing the slopes of Colorado! So all that to say, we have decided to move the appointment to the following week. So hang tight, and we shall know soon!

PS~ we have Acquire The Fire this weekend so please be praying for a divine work in the hearts of all those attending. I'll post pics from ATF when we get back.

Problems viewing the blog and other news...

Ok, so a couple of you have told me that you are having trouble seeing my blog in it's entirety. I have discovered that the problem only seems to exist with those viewing my blog with Microsoft's Internet Explorer... (stupid microsoft)... anyway, I will tell you that there is a superior internet browsing program called Mozilla Firefox (which I use religiously) that you can download and use if you go to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/. I highly recommend you converting to this program as it is more secure and has less problems than IE.
Now, for those of you who are quite happy to continue using the "sub-par" IE, you may do so, however, you just need to be content with seeing my blog's sidebar at the bottom of the blog instead of at the top. Dumb I know, but I haven't been able to find on blogger where this is an issue or how to fix it... who knows, it may not be a blogger fault, could just be a IE fault.
Finally, I feel the need to explain my sarcasm, since when typing one cannot adequately express voice inflection and tone... all that to say, I really don't have a personal vendetta against IE, I just think that Firefox is a better program, and I don't really care what anyone else uses, but I just thought I'd offer a great alternative for you. Bottom line is, I have not idea why some can see the sidebar just fine and some can't so until I figure that out, switching to Firefox is the only solution I could come up with! Sorry!

Ok, now, just a brief baby update... At this time I am one week away from getting an ultrasound where we find out the baby's gender... I really have nothing else to report at this time but will surely post when I find out. I know you are all on the edge of your proverbial chair waiting to hear my announcement... ha ha ha... anyway, will let you know soon and will post ultrasound pictures at that time too... Thanks for being my loyal readers! I love you all!

More winter updates...

Well, it's definitely COLD! Last night (Tues night) it froze... when I got up this morning all the leaves were frozen on the trees and on the big bushes in our front yard. It was pretty to see the icicles hanging off of them. But unfortunately it's STILL RAINING!!! I am anxious to see the sun again... haven't seen it in about a week!
Also, was going to tell you that I've added a little weather box to the sidebar to help my out of town readers know what the weather is like for us here... yes, I know, I'm a weather nerd... but I really love to follow the weather. Anyway, hope you enjoy that little piece of info.
Well, that's really all I have for now. Take care! And for all those in Texas, hope you stay warm and dry!

Ice Storm - Jan 2007

Ok folks, this post is specifically for those of you not in residing in Texas who would like to know what's going on with this crazy weather here! (it's also a way for me to keep a sort of digital "newspaper clipping" of what happened in January before my first baby was born).
To begin, let me give you some background info... the past week or two the weather has been unseasonably warm... we're talking around 70 degrees F and sometimes even warmer! But last night and continuing in to today, the temperatures are continuing to drop. They are expected to reach the high 20's and hover between 28 and 32 for the next 24 hours! That's bad news for the greater-Houston area because ice is not exactly our forte, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I'm feeling exceptionally fortunate that my job allows me to work from home several days a week so I don't have to go out into this mess in order to go to work... thank you Lord!
Not really sure what is going to happen during this ice storm, but they (the weather-guessers) are predicting possible sleet/freezing rain and possibly snow in some areas. In any case the roads are supposed to be in bad shape for commuters. Many schools and businesses are closing tomorrow for this very reason.
Chris, Daniel (my bro.), and Cameron (family friend from Australia staying here with us for a month) went out this evening and covered all the plants in the front yard with old sheets and a tarp to keep the plants warm and dry. We've wrapped the pipes and we've gone to the grocery store and gotten supplies for food for the next two days so we should be set. Now I've included below some articles from various news stations on the goings on. Hopefully we'll not see any tragedies and we'll all just get a day off! (and hopefully this post is not all for nothing and we really do get something exciting!)

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Article taken from www.khou.com

Ice Remains A Threat for Greater Houston Area
8:44 pm CST on Monday, January 15, 2007
By Adrienne M. Cody / 11 News

Counties northwest of Houston are under an ice storm warning through 6 a.m. Tuesday

Temperatures in the northwest counties will drop to and below freezing after sunset

"The temperatures are expected to be in the upper 20s there tonight so if there's precipitation it looks like it will be in the form of sleet and maybe freezing rain," said 11 News Meteorologist Dr. Neil Frank.

Harris, Fort Bend, Liberty and Wharton counties remain under a winter storm watch tonight.

"Everybody, all the way to the immediate coastline, has a good chance for sleet and ice and maybe snow Tuesday," 11 News meteorologist David Paul said.

The temperature drop and the wet weather looks like it will combine early Tuesday morning and last off and on through the day.

Cars coming into Huntsville from Dallas had ice on them.

"So far the reports in our northwest counties have been of snowflakes and not ice or sleet," Paul said. "That's good news because the ice, the freezing rain is what could really ice over those bridges and overpasses.

"We're looking at one-tenth to one-quarter of an inch of ice accumulation, which would be enough to bring down power lines and of course make the bridges and overpasses very dangerous," he said.

Harris County sent sand trucks out Monday afternoon to get a head start.

The county also closed three locations until the threat of ice has passed: The Eastbound Westpark flyover to 59/Southwest Freeway Northbound; The Harris County Fort Bend extension from the Sam Houston Tollway to 90A; The direct connector from Southbound Grand Parkway to Eastbound Fort Bend Westpark Toll Road.

Along with slick roads, ice brings the threat of power outages.

CenterPoint crews are on standby to respond if ice covers power lines and tree branches.

Most larger school districts were watching the forecast and waiting to make the decision about classes Tuesday.

Due to the weather, flights at Intercontinental are delayed 31 to 45 minutes.

Residents were evacuated when Lake Creek washed over the road.

While most of the Houston area braces for a possible ice storm, it was heavy rain that left some Montgomery County residents stranded.

The Woodlands Fire Department rescued several people from a neighborhood near Superior Road and FM 1488.

A rain-swollen Lake Creek flooded part of the road, stranding the residents.

Emergency vehicles were sent in to get them out.

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Taken from www.abc13.com

Winter Storm Watch

Periods of freezing rain and sleet will continue to move across southeast Texas overnight. With temperatures dropping below freezing, some roads could be slick for the morning commute. The evening commute could be worse as more freezing rain and sleet falls during the day. Don't expect the weather to improve until the end of the week.

Tim Heller
Chief Meteorologist

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Taken from: National Weather Service

Hazardous Weather Outlook

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
336 PM CST MON JAN 15 2007

TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-161300-
AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND-
GALVESTON-GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-MADISON-MATAGORDA-
MONTGOMERY-POLK-SAN JACINTO-TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON-
WHARTON-
336 PM CST MON JAN 15 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

...ICE STORM WARNINGS AND WINTER STORM WATCHES HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR
INLAND COUNTIES AND SOUTHERN COASTAL COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

...WINTER STORM WATCHES MAY BE EXPANDED SOUTHWARD AND POSSIBLY
UPGRADED TO ADVISORIES OR WARNINGS LATER TONIGHT OR ON TUESDAY...

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

WITH THE EXPECTED APPROACH OF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE FROM THE
SOUTHWEST...FROZEN PRECIPITATION IS LOOKING INCREASINGLY LIKELY
ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE TONIGHT...EXPANDING
SOUTHWARD ON TUESDAY. SEE THE LATEST ICE STORM WARNING...WINTER
STORM WATCH AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ALREADY ISSUED BY THIS
OFFICE FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS DEVELOPING HAZARDOUS AND POTENTIALLY
DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION. THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE UPDATED
AS IT BECOMES NECESSARY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE WINTER WEATHER PRECIPITATION AND FREEZING TEMPERATURE THREAT CONTINUES
TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. SEE THE ABOVE WARNINGS...WATCHES
AND STATEMENTS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

Big News!

Well, to all my readers out there.. I owe you a huge apology! I admit to badly neglecting you... but have no fear... for I have returned! And returned with BIG NEWS! I am having a baby! I will tell you that this is largely the reason that I have been so negligent in my blogging... first trimester was absolutely miserable! But I am now 16 weeks pregnant and baby and I are feeling much better these days. I am easily worn out, but other than that I feel great.
Last Tuesday was my most recent prenatal visit and there Chris and I got to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time! It was a most exciting experience. And I want to mention that coming very soon (Jan 29th) we will be going in again for my 20 week ultrasound when we will hopefully learn the gender of baby (provided baby cooperates).
Well that's all for now, and I have included some pictures for your enjoyment. Will write again soon. Until then! :)

Baby's 1st ultrasound (@6 weeks)

Me! (8 weeks pregnant)
I know, I know, you can't even tell!
(I'll post more pics of me when I start to show)

Chris & I telling my brother Daniel the news that he is going to be an Uncle!

PS~ check out the nifty baby-counter at the bottom of the page!
Also, I've added some links to the sidebar... the one that says "fetal development" is pretty cool.

Prayer Requests

Just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine, Beth, has given up the next 9 months to serve the Lord in Romania... I hope that you will be praying with me for the work she will be doing. Check out her blog by clicking on "Beth in Romania" link over on the left hand side on my blog.
Thanks for praying!

Focus 2006

I know it's been a while, but I've been busy! (And my internet at home has been down)
Anyway, figured I was overdue on showing you some pictures from Focus. (Focus is a college conference)

All Access & VIP

Chris & Mike

Me! (I love Sonic drinks!)

And finally... a salute to our speaker for the weekend, Matt Chandler.
He was a great speaker!

will write some more later when my internet is working again!