New Pictures

This was five minutes ago. He is such I cutie, though I might be bias. :)
Here he is with his PawPaw.
This was his first time eating cereal. He loves it! He actually would rather eat cereal than his formula.

It is hard to get s picture of his smile, so I was happy with this one. He is a happy boy and smiles a lot...until you put the camera in front of him.
I'm terrible about remembering to take pictures. I'll hate to see how many I take of the next one if I don't take many of my first. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pictures.
He was dedicated on March 8th. He spend most of his time sleeping, eating and drooling. What a life!

Sorry it has been so long!

This was today. His smile melts my heart!

This was last week. He is a happy boy!
In this picture he just rolled over from his belly. What I an exciting moment!

Here he is riding his horse. This was about three weeks ago.

I took this picture today so you could see how big he has gotten.

This is Thomas hanging up his first Christmas ornament.

Merry Christmas!

This is Thomas watching an OU game with MeMe over the webcam.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I have been enjoying mine time with Thomas. I go back to work next Monday, so pray that I do alright. I'm sure it will be much harder on me than it will be on Thomas. :) We can't believe how big he has gotten. We take him to the doctor on Wednesday so we will get his latest weight. I had to take him to the doctor two weeks ago because he is allergic to protein in milk and soy formulas. He has to be on special formula, but anyway he was 9 and a half pounds and 21 inches long then. He has grown since then, so we are excited to find out how long he is.

Thomas is still doing great. He is getting chunky because he eats all the time and hasn't really gotten any longer. Rob is trying hard to get him to crawl during his tummy time. Yesterday he did move a few inches when Rob put his hand so Thomas could have something to push off of. We are enjoying him even when he keeps us up most of the night. :)

The delivery

I just realized that I hadn't posted on how the delivery went. So here goes. (I ended up writing more than I thought, so you can skim it if you don't want every little detail.) On Wednesday, October 29th I started to have counteractions that felt different and I little painful. I started feeling them before school started, and started timing them during my first class. They were about 20 to 30 minutes apart, but were not consistent. My second hour is a team planning time and Wednesdays are the days that the administration come in and talk to us. I was trying hard to pay attention, but I just didn't feel right. Before that period was over I decided I should go home. Whether I was in real labor I didn't know, but I knew something wasn't right. I called in a sub for the second half the day and then went back and taught my next two classes. I didn't tell the kids because I didn't want to freak them out if it wasn't real labor.
Wednesday's are Rob's days off, and he sometimes helps a friend work on houses. I gave him a call to see if he was helping Perry and let him know I was coming home. He was dropping stuff by Perry's but wasn't going to help him that day, but they were about to go out to lunch. So I met Rob, Perry and his wife Suzy at a Chinese restaurant on my way home from school. We kept timing the contractions, but it was staying about the same. Rob and I ran by Toys R Us to pick up a Christmas present I saw was on sale then headed home. We worked around the house getting some things done that we wanted to before the baby came. I then drove us to Goodwill to drop off some stuff we had sitting around. (yah, we know I probably shouldn't have been driving). We came home ate dinner then went to the park so I could walk around and see if that made the contractions speed up any. Rob played disc golf while I walked with him. By this point the contractions were about 10-7 minutes apart and little more intense. We still weren't sure if it was real labor, but we thought we should go to the hospital. The worse that could happen is that they send us home.
By this point it is about 7:30 pm. We load up our labor bag in case it is real and head to the hospital. They check me in and put the monitors on me to watch the babies heart beat and my contractions. The nurse said I was still 3 cm dilated, which is what I had been on Friday when I had went to the doctor. She said they would watch me for an hour and see if anything changed. Rob helped me breath through the contractions which were now seven minutes apart. At 9 the nurse came back and said that I was still 3 cm, and my contractions weren't regular, so most likely they would stop. But, they wanted to keep me over night to make sure. We called our families to let them know I was staying the night in the hospital, but that it wasn't real labor yet.
By midnight Rob was getting really tired, so he pull his "bed" over to mine and thought we could try and sleep every seven minutes between contractions. Then at 12:15 I had a really hard contraction and then they started coming every minute to two minutes. Rob called for the nurse, and she checked me again to find out that I was 5 cm and was in real labor. By this point I was already pretty tired and wasn't handling the pain very well. I didn't yell out, but I was getting nausea from the pain and almost passed out. I asked for the epidural. They had a hard time finding a vein for my IV, which was making me freak out even more. They finally put it in my wrist which is still a little tender. I got the epidural at 1:40 am and it was wonderful. Rob and I could finally relax a little. My parents got there around 3. The epidural had slowed down my contractions. My water broke sometime in there, but I can't remember what time. About 4:30 it was time to push. Dad went to the waiting room and Rob and Mom stayed in the room with me. Rob did a great job counting while I was pushing. I think the whole hospital could hear him. :) but it helped me push and by 5:06 we had a beautiful baby boy. Rob got to cut the chord.
It was such an amazing experience. Our life is forever changed. Rob and I were amazed that we could love this little guy so much from the first time we saw him. How can anyone go through this a doubt there is a creator God?

This is a onies that Pam sent for him. I'm pretty sure that he forgot to wake up and go to his own party. I didn't hear any music at 2 am, but then again I'm so tired I could have slept through it. :)

Such a cuttie. He had folded his hands like he is praying a few times. He is trying in this picture.

Here Thomas safe in Daddy's arms.

You can tell here he is still jaundice. We think it is gone now since he doesn't have much of a yellow tone any more.

This is a picture of his first bath.

Thank you to all of you who have given Thomas a warm welcome with your well wishes and visits. It has been amazing to see how many people we have that are there for love and support us. God has truely blessed us with great friends and family.
Thomas is doing great. He is such a sweet baby. Though right now he doesn't do much else besides eat, sleep, and fill his diapers. He sleeps pretty well through the night with getting up to eat any where from every hour and a half to if I'm lucky every three hours.
Rob was home last week with us and went back to work yesterday. He did a lot of work from home last week, so he won't be too far behind when he went back. He is a great husband, father, and was a wonderful gopher for me. :) With Thomas coming early it gives me that much more time with him before I go back to work. It was a little crazy trying to get lesson plans ready for a week and a half when I had just gotten home from the hospital. Today was supposed to be my last day of work, but it didn't hurt my feelings to get the extra week and a half off. Hope you enjoy the pictures of him.

Welcome Thomas to this world!

Our perfect baby boy was born Thursday, October 30th at 5:06 in the morning. I'll post more details later, but I wanted to get up some pictures for you all you see. He was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19.5 inches at birth. He was 5 lbs 12 oz when we left the hospital, but he is a great little eater, so hopefully he will gain the weight back quickly. He is such a cutie! Thank you for all your prayers that brought him safe and healthy.

Ready or Not Here I Come

I went to the doctor on Friday and he did and internal exam. Wow that hurt. But he did say that I was 3 cm dilated and about 80% effaced. This means that I will most likely go into labor in the next few weeks. He also told us that he is going to be out of the country from the 9th of November to the 23rd. If I don't go into labor before he leaves we have to decide if I should be induced or just have another doctor that I don't know deliver the baby. We are holding out to see if I go on my own before we make that decision. We will need to decide by next Friday though if baby Thomas doesn't come in the next few days. I have a mix of emotions from being very excited to finally meet my little boy, to fear about the delivery and if he will be healthy. God is in control and I just need to keep trusting in Him and know that His will is best.

Really feeling it!

This week has been fun for my body. My ankles swelled on Wednesday night. They look a little better this morning, but it looks like they might stay at least a little swollen until after I have the baby. I have had to sleep in a near sitting position all week too. Now have have a total of 8 pillows in bed with us. I'm still feeling pretty good. Thomas has moved so that he doesn't hurt my ribs as much, so that made me very happy. i'm countying down until I get to meet him!

Child Care

So the tough child care choice has been made! A lady at our church said she would watch Thomas for us. She is a very sweet lady that will do a great job with him. Rob and I feel comfortable leaving him with her. She has two sons, but one is in school. So most of the time that Thomas will be there it will just be her two year old and Thomas. Thank you for your prayers as we tried to find the right place.

Fireproof

I forgot to mention that Rob and I went on a date Thursday night. We hadn't been on a "date" in awhile and thought we better get a few in before Thomas comes. I wanted to put a plug in for the movie we watched. It was called Fireproof. What a great movie. Every married couple should see this movie. It was made by the same people that made Facing the Giants if you have seen that. Any, I just wanted to put a plug in for it and encourage you to go see it.

The end is near

I am on fall break from school this weekend, so I don't have to go to work on Monday. Yeah! I will be using the time to work on my maternity leave lessons though. Friday I had a doctors appointment. Rob and I waited about two hours to see the doctor for 5 minutes, but that is the nature of the poor guys job. He had a delivery that morning, so he was going to be behind all day. We tried to be understanding knowing that soon we were going to be causing the same thing for other people. Everything was normal and in two weeks is my next appointment. He will check to see if I've started to dilate them. Won't that be fun? :)
Rob and I have started our Christmas shopping. We got quit a lot of it done yesterday. We are usually early shoppers, but this year we didn't think we would want to take Thomas out in the crowds to even try and get last minute gifts. Our goal is to be finished before his arrival.
I am starting to either get a cold, or the pregnancy is causing my body to act like it has a cold. Either way I don't think there is much I can do about it other than rest. Rob made me stay home from morning service today to get extra sleep. I keep telling myself only a few more weeks. I have a month left of teaching, and then I get to anxiously await Thomas at home.

33 weeks

Here are some pictures that my dad took on Saturday. See how big I have gotten! I am not sure I can get much bigger.

Shower

My church shower was yesterday. The ladies put a lot of work into making it nice. We had a good time, and Thomas got a lot of nice stuff. He should be a well dressed little boy. My mom and sister-in-law made it down for the day. Then some family that couldn't make it sent presents. Now the nursery is full of things that I need to find places for. Now we are just waiting on Thomas to show up. Dasha is starting to figure out that something big is happening. She didn't leave my side when we were putting the crib together and she has been rubbing her head on my belly in the morning before I go to work. Hopefully she will quickly learn her new place when the baby comes. One of our friends gave her a new toy yesterday at the shower so she didn't feel let out. :) Can you tell that our dog is just a little spoiled?

The finished nursery

The crib and dresser that Rob's parent bought us came in this week. We worked last night to put the room together. I have been up since four this morning because I can't sleep, so I decided to take pictures of the room.

Knock Knock Who's there?

Last night I was laying in bed watching Thomas move. (what a strange thing to see) Rob lightly thumbed my belly and Thomas knocked back. It was too funny. Rob did it a handful more times and most of the time Thomas would knock back. We got a good laugh out of what he was trying to say. :)

I made it

Rob flies in tonight, so I have made it. I missed him a lot, but I got a lot of needed rest. I spent Saturday with my friend Bethany and talked to mom a lot on the phone, so I wasn't a complete hermit. I had a doctors appointment on Friday. The office was packed, so it was my fastest visit yet. It was the first time the doctor has just talked to be about things in the examining room. Usually he has us go and talk in his office, but he was too busy Friday I guess. Anyway, he said things were still going well. My blood pressure is fine and Thomas is still growing. Though now I don't think there is much room left for him to grow. It is becoming pretty painful for me when he moves around or I sit for too long.
I'm working on finding the right place to watch Thomas after I go back to work. Pray that we make the right decision. I'm torn between having him in a licensed daycare that has to follow certain rules or having him with a stay at home mom and I know would hold him when he cries and potentially give him more attention. It is a really tough choice to make.

All alone

Tonight will be my first night of four nights without Rob. Well, he has been gone before, but this time he is in the mountains in Colorado. That means he won't be able to talk to me. He is there for a youth pastor's retreat. I have wanted him to go on this retreat the past few years, but it didn't work out until this year. It should be a really good time for him and what he needs right now.
As life normally does, we had a few curve balls thrown at us last night. Rob's car decided that it wanted to start spraying oil whenever to was running. We didn't find this out until 5 last night when it was too late to get it fixed before he didn't at 4 this morning to go to the airport. So I got to get up early and take Rob to the airport. I didn't mind sending the extra time with him, but I'm extra exhausted right now. I was going to plan my lessons for maternity leave, though that can wait until tomorrow. Now I'll just get things ready for tomorrow and go to bed.
On an entirely different note. I had a girl in class ask me today to see my belly. I turned sideways so she could see how big it was. She said, "No, like lift up your shirt." I refused saying it was not appropriate to show the class my belly. Most of the class didn't see why, but I was just imagining all the parent phone classes I would get tomorrow asking why I showed my belly to the class.

Internet at home

After a long wait and three different companies, we finally have internet at home. Now I hope to be able to put pictures up more frequently. Tomorrow will be exactly two months from my due date. Things seem to be going by so quickly. Last night Rob and I helped with a camp out for the elementary kids at the church. Well, I only helped for a few hours and went home to get some sleep. Rob stayed up most of the night with the high school and middle school kids he had come and help. While I was serving food a lady asked me if I was the youth pastor's wife. I said yes. She then said, "So you have like five kids, right?" I started laughing and explained that we were on the way to number one and didn't plan on having five, but our friends that volunteer with youth have five kids. I told Rob that since we get mistaken for this couple (it has happened before) that we should just go ahead and have five kids. :)

The room is gettting full

Rob's parents made it up hear on Wednesday night. Rob took them around Terre Haute on Thursday while I was at work. When I got home we went out, and they ordered us the crib and dresser for the baby's room. They also got everything we needed for the bed and changing table. Dorman also wanted to make sure that the baby had a bath tub, so we now we won't have to have Dasha lick the baby clean. :) It was a fast visit, but it was nice to be able to see them and have them start to spoil Thomas before he even gets here.