John the Baptist

Not the one from the Bible, but my brother John, who just happens to be a Baptist. This post is all about him.




Here is a little background information. John graduated from Auburn in May of 2008. He came back home to work and live. In the Fall of 2008, he was called into the ministry. In January 2009, he began taking classes at New Orleans Theological Seminary at the extension center at Brook Hills. Throughout this time, he has been involved with the youth at our church as well as a Sunday School teacher for 5th and 6th graders.


This past Sunday (June 28th), he spoke to our congregation for the first time. His message was titled "God's Superheros". Here are some of the points from his message:

• Superheros are powerful, they save lives, they have a supernatural ability, and most important, they always have a task to accomplish; but they are fictional
• We are similar to superheros because WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE A TASK TO ACCOMPLISH WHILE WE ARE HERE ON EARTH (Matthew 28: 18-20)
• We must go out and make disciples. We must be the hands and feet of Jesus (Matthew 25:35-40, Romans 10:15)
• Our task can be intimidating but we have the POWER of Jesus (Philippians 3:10)
• We must be strong and courageous, we should not be terrified and discouraged. We can stand firm for our LORD because he is with us wherever WE GO!!! (Joshua 1:9)
• We are God's Superheros!!!!
  

I thought that he did a really good job. He did have a bit of cotton mouth, and because I am his sister and I love him, I had sympathetic cotton mouth. My family and I are so so proud of him. I can not wait to see what God has in store for his life and how God is going to use him.

I am so proud to call John my brother!!

Swimming and Sleeping...but not at the same time!

Will sat in a baby pool while four adults hovered around him went swimming for the first time this week at the lake (obviously not in the lake). He liked it for about 10 minutes, then he was over it and threw a fit. He cracks me up.

And because I know people will ask, Clay was taking these pictures. I was literally 6 inches from my child the entire time. Also, Mom and Cousin Richard were right there too. These were just the only two shots where I am not in them because I would prefer to not show pictures of myself in a bathing suit. I am not that brave to have those type pics on the internet.

Also, there was a big change in our house Sunday night. Will is now sleeping in his crib. The pack-n-play has been put away. It will only make appearances on trips and for when he starts moving and we need to contain him. He has done really well with the transition, me not so much. When he was in our room, I would only wake up if I heard him moving around or crying. Now that he is in his own room, I get up at least every hour to check on him. I am trying not to worry so much but I still need time to adjust. I guess it is a new mother thing, but I need to see if he is breathing. Plus, he has started rolling over so he pretty much rolls to his stomach at some point during the night. This totally freaked me out the first time it happened. He is definitely a mover and is never in the same place where I put him.

Will's Nursery

Over at Kelly's Korner, she has been showing different rooms in her house each Friday. I can't really blog on a schedule, especially right now with work being so crazy. A couple of Friday's ago, she showed her baby girl's nursery and I remembered I haven't posted about Will's nursery. So here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Looking in from the Hallway.

His crib.

His bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.

Side table with his Bibles and iPod. Picture by Pawpaw and CC (Dan and Celia).

His changing table and dirty clothes basket. We have wooden letters of his name to go above the changing table but haven't put them up yet.

Shelf above the chair.

The other shelf. His toy box that Pop built him!

Hope you enjoyed seeing his room!

An Uncle's Prayer

John sent this to Will and I thought I would share it. It is so sweet!

An Uncle’s Prayer

To God and to Jesus for all Heaven to hear,

I offer this prayer for a little boy

We call him, Will.

I first thank God for bringing you to us safely,

Your Mom and Dad definitely thank him too.

I pray firstly, that when the time comes that

You truly see Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

I pray you accept Jesus into your life

And follow him all of your days

Because I know He has already chosen you!

I pray, you grow to be big and strong,

And I hope you never do any wrong.

The Lord commands us to be strong and courageous,

And I pray you are, no matter the circumstance.

I pray that Jesus keeps you under His wing,

And no harm comes to you.

I pray your days are long and

That you make a huge impact in this world!

I pray that you make your family proud,

But most of all, I pray you make your Heavenly Father proud.

Lastly, I pray that you live life with all the

Love, joy, passion, and peace that’s in your heart.

I pray you do all things with a 100% of your heart, mind, and soul because,

You are fearfully and wonderfully made and

Our God calls us to give our all.

Thank you again Father God,

For bringing us this little boy

We call Will.

And this is an Uncle’s prayer,

Offered up to God in the powerful name of Jesus

Amen!!

Celebrating 4 Years of Marriage

On June 11th, Clay and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Last year at this time, we were at the beach celebrating our 3rd anniversary and making plans for the next year. We talked about things we wanted to accomplish at school and work, places we wanted to go, and projects we wanted to do around the house. Well, God's plans were bigger than our plans. We didn't get our school goals accomplished because we took time off due to the pregnancy, and work is still work. We went to the beach a couple of times just to get away, but no trips to Disney World or Italy. And we got to complete one big project at our house: creating a nursery. Life doesn't always turn out the way we plan, but I am so glad Will came into our lives. Who needs Disney World, I will take my sweet boy over that any day!

This year we celebrated our anniversary with a steak dinner at home with Will. Clay cooked the steaks on the grill, and I made the potatoes, salad, and dessert. I think it was our best anniversary celebration so far!

(Can you see Will in the background? Too cute!)

On Saturday night, Grandmother (what I am currently calling Pat) and Pop babysat Will so that Clay and I could go out to dinner. We settled on Outback becasue we had no been there in a while. We did not say maybe two words to each other on the car ride there, and then barely talked over dinner. We weren't mad at each other, we were just so so tired. Having a 3 month old will do that to you. After dinner, we went to target to buy a car seat for mom's car and then headed home to see our sweet boy. We were in bed by 9:15. So sad. Nothing to exciting, but we enjoyed ourselves.

I still can't believe we have been married 4 years. Every year gets better and better and I am so happy I get to spend my life with Clay. He is the best husband ever!!

Birth Story

Many of the blogs I read are documenting their birth stories as a way to promote Baby Week on the Discovery Channel (I am not promoting it, but I will watch). I have loved reading other people’s birth stories so I thought I would document Will’s here. (Sorry, it’s long!!)

Monday, March 2, 2009
I went in for my 38 week check up. My blood pressure had been running high at my last couple of appointments, so it had been a small concern. My doctor, Dr. Hoover, wasn’t overly worried about it, but she had me checking it at home just to see what it was at different times during the day. That day is was higher than she liked, so she sent me to Labor and Delivery to be monitored for a couple of hours. Clay and I were not prepared to have the baby that day, and luckily my blood pressure was cooperating for the most part so they sent me home on strict bed-rest. That is where I was to remain until I reached 40 weeks. I had orders to return on Wednesday for a blood pressure check.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009—Will’s Birthday
I went in around 9 am to have my blood pressure checked. I figured it would be the same that it had been—high but not dangerously high. I was wrong. As soon as I saw the numbers flash on the machine, I knew I would be having a baby that day. I don’t remember the exact numbers but it was around 170/100. Not so good considering days before it was 140/90 and usually I have extremely low blood pressure (110/60). Also, I had gained 6 pounds in two days due to water retention. Swelling was also a big concern.

After talking with Dr. Hoover for a few minutes, they got my paper work together and sent me over to Labor and Delivery. Clay and I walked from The Kirklin Clinic over to the hospital (only about a block and a half). On the way, we made all the necessary phone calls and were ready to have a baby. I had packed my bag in the car and we had installed the car seat the night before. When I arrived at L & D, I was given a hospital wrist band and sent to my room. My nurse was great!! She helped me so much and really calmed my nerves. Around 10:15 am, they started my IV with Pitocin to get my contractions going. Up to this point I had not had any contractions and was not dilated at all! My doctor wanted me to go ahead and get an epidural because she said there was 50/50 chance I would have to have a c-section due to having a small pelvis. So at 10:45 am I got an epidural and I was happy as I could be.

Dr. Hoover came to check on me during her lunch. I was already 3 cm, so they broke my water. She said that I could have a baby in my arms by 7 pm (she was right). I was so excited. By this time all the family started arriving and Bro. David (our pastor) came by to see me.

Because of the epidural, I never felt a thing. Between 1 and 2 pm they slowed the Pitocin and then stopped it all together because I was having contractions back to back. At 3:15 pm, I was at 7 cm. I was really proud that my body was really doing this and that I was going to be able to have this baby without the c-section. Will had other plans.

Between 3:15 and 4:15 things changed. My epidural had worn off a little so I was starting to feel some pressure from the contractions but it wasn’t terrible. It was like a 1 on a scale of 1 – 10. During that time, the nurse got concerned because Will’s heart rate would drop dramatically during the contractions. At its lowest I believe it dropped to the low 50s. Not good. So the head nurse and on-call doctor came in to evaluate me and the baby. They decided it was time to call Dr. Hoover and see how she wanted to proceed. They all came to the same conclusion: C-SECTION. Not my first choice, but if that is what was going to get my baby here safely, that is what we were going to do.

The on-call doctor was very dramatic. She yanked all the monitors and cords that were attached to me out of the wall, and they literally ran down the hall pushing my bed. I, of course, started to panic and cry because I wanted Will to be okay. Once we got back in the OR, they hooked Will’s heart monitor back up and his heartbeat was back in the 120s. They started getting me ready for the surgery and Dr. Hoover showed up. She ran over from the clinic and said she was going to deliver this baby. I was so happy to see her because I knew she would take care of me.

At 4:38 pm, Will entered the world wide-eyed and screaming. I got to see him for two seconds and I cried. They needed to take him to evaluate him since he was a tad early. I told Clay to go with him and to not let him out of his sight.

Side note: Dr. Hoover told me after he was delivered, that the cord was wrapped around his neck. That is why his heart rate would drop when I would have a contraction. Since the contractions were coming so close together, he didn’t have time to recover between them. He was fine after delivery. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9, and he came straight to my room after getting cleaned up.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur, due mostly to a little thing called a morphine drip. Here is what I remember. Dr. Hoover told me to try and go to sleep while they closed me up. When I woke up in recovery it felt like it had been a few minutes, it had been an hour and a half. I stayed in recovery for maybe an hour and got to hold my baby for the first time. I cried again. At around 8 pm I was taken to my room. All the family was there and Will got to meet everyone. It was my favorite day!!!

And for making it this far, your reward is a picture of me and my sweet boy on his birthday:

4 years ago today...

3 months old and other random thoughts

So I have been absent from the blog for a while. I feel like we have been super busy, but don’t feel like anything has really been accomplished. This week was my first full week of going to work every single day. Due to this, I am drained. So here is what we have been up too:

1. Sunday, May 31—Will’s First Day in the Nursery at Church

He enjoyed it. Clay and I did too. We were both actually able to focus during the service. When we picked him up he was smiling. Mrs. Robbin said that every time another baby would make a noise, he would get a concerned look on his face. I guess he is not really used to being around other kids. So far the only other kids he has been around are Gavin and MA, and they are pretty easy going.

2. Monday, June 1—Will’s First day of Daycare

Clay and I were a little apprehensive about it. I thought I would totally freak out, but I surprised myself and was actually okay with it. It helps knowing that Tabitha is there to watch over him and I know she would go into “mommy-mode” if anything were to happen with him. He has two teachers, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both have given us good reports everyday and I hope that continues. He is smiling when we drop him off and pick him up, so things seem to be going smoothly.

3. Thursday, June 4—Will is 3 months old

My baby is growing up! These last 3 months have flown by and I feel like I am going to miss something. Will is a happy baby and we are enjoying watching him grow and learn.
Here are a few things about him at 3 months
□ He will sit in the high-chair like a big boy
□ He loves being outside
□ He is grasping onto things
□ He smiles all the time
□ He slept through the night a couple of times
□ He watches TV—This is so funny to see. I think it is the colors or the sound he is drawn too. We were at mom and dad’s, and mom was holding him and he was so focused on the television. Then we would try to get his attention and he would just lean in closer and would ignore us. It was hilarious.
□ He loves staring at his mobile--We didn't even know he would like one of these and he didn't have one, but they have them on the cribs at daycare and he loves them. So we bought him one. He will just lay in his crib starting at it and smiling.

4. Thursday, June 4—Judgement House

A local ministry (Extreme Ministries out of Pell City) in our area did a Judgement House this week. We decided to go because John and Ashley were counselors there and some kids in our youth group were part of the drama. Two of the youth, Dan and Cynthia, played two of the main characters in the classroom scene. The rest of the youth were the other students in the scene, and Robbin was the teacher. They all did a really good job and Clay and I were very proud of them.
This particular Judgement House was focused around 3 teens who die in a car accident. Two go to Heaven and one goes to hell. John had given me some information about it before we went so I thought I could handle it. Clearly I could not. There were 9 room/scenes. I started crying in the first room. We will just chalk that one up to my raging hormones. Then in room/scene 9 (Heaven), I totally lost it. I am sure all the people playing angels thought that I was a lunatic. Here is the reason I started crying: we walked in and I looked around, and there was a women playing an angel and she was holding a baby doll dressed as an angel. Immediately I thought of Will. I guess just the thought of him being an angel (and what that would mean) totally sent me over the edge. As we were walking out, I composed myself, but it really hit home. Things are so different when you have a child to think about and it really changes your perspective. It makes you want to be a better person for them.

5. The upcoming weekend

Clay is headed to the lake to help my dad with some projects and due to some painting that will be happening, Will and I will be staying home. This is not the first time that it will just be the two of us overnight, but this time it is two nights.
I am actually looking forward to it, because I have missed him so much this week. It will be good bonding time, and we might even do some shopping!


Well I think that catches everyone up. Hopefully it won’t be so long until I post again!