Adam Five Months with GPD and GMP and SWIMMING!

This weekend, Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dave came to visit. We had lots of fun... including something I've NEVER done before... we went SWIMMING!

Mom and Dad took me in this big pool thing at the YMCA. It was like a big bath with lots of people in it. It was cold, but I was brave! After I got used to it, it was lots of fun.

Read full post >>

After four and two-thirds months, we decided to see how Adam liked cereal. Bottom line, he does! I think he's watched Mom and Dad eat enough to understand how the process works.

Read full post >>

So two days ago, everything's going great. The Mom person has fed me, and I got a little nap in, and I'm on another bottle, when who should show up, but the Dad person. In the middle of the day. I mean, hey, we might go see him at the work place, but he doesn't come to the house place.

Next thing you know, they're running around all over the house, and they've got bags and boxes and diapers and all kinds of things together. Then they put me in my seat where I sleep and ride in the car. Dad puts me in the car, and Mom gets in the back seat with me, which is a little weird, but I love my Mom, so I don't mind.

I love my seat. It's so warm and comfy. Almost every time they put me in here, I fall asleep, and this time is no exception.

So I wake up, and I'm in the car, and we're driving. No big deal, we do this all the time. Mom and Dad say something about me being in my first new state to go to on a trip: Georgia.

And then, we're still driving.

And then, we're still driving. I get a little fussy, and Mom gives me a bottle.

But then we're still driving. Dad says that Mr. T says that we only have 30 more minutes, but I don't know what he's talking about, so I start complaining.


Finally, they seem to have heard me, and we get out of the car in a garage. Mom and Dad are all excited, because they say this is my first time to go to an Ikea. I understand that my cousin really likes the kids area, and when I'm potty trained, I can go too. All I know right now is that I'm wet.

We go up in an elevator and go to the family bathroom to get changed. That makes me very happy, and as soon as we get out of the bathroom, Aunt Allison is there! She hugs me and then we go up in the elevator again.

Mom and Dad and Aunt Allison roll me to the Ikea Restaurant where they eat dinner and I have a bottle. Then we walked through the store and Mom and Dad got some stuff (even one thing for me, I think) and then we said goodbye to Aunt Allison and left.

It was all dark outside, so I knew it was time to sleep. When I woke up, I was in a room with a bed and a TV and a chair and table and Mom and Dad. Mom woke me up for a bottle, and then all of us went to sleep. I only woke up once, and went right back to sleep.

The next morning, I watched Dad eat breakfast, and then Mom and I got cleaned up for the day. All three of us got back in the car (again!) and picked up Aunt Allison. We drove to Kennesaw where she and Uncle Dave are planning to move soon... but I didn't stay awake to see their new house. Mom and Dad told me later that they really liked it.

I woke up and saw Mom and Dad and Aunt Allison eating lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Then they took me to the mall to roll around.

After the mall, we went to Aunt Allison's apartment, and I got to meet my cousin Vincent. Well, sort of my cousin. He's the first cat I've ever met in real life. He didn't quite know what to make of me, and I didn't quite know what to make of him. He seemed nice enough though.

I still haven't met Uncle Dave. He spent all weekend flying an airplane again. Maybe someday I can take a trip on his airplane.

Then I hugged on Aunt Allison, and Mom and Dad and I got in the car and started driving again. We drove for a while and then stopped for my first ever visit to an outlet mall. Dad got a shirt, and Mom got me lots and lots of stuff. Mom says the best clothes come from outlet malls.

We got back in the car, and Mom and Dad ate dinner. I had just had a bottle, so I was feeling pretty good. Mom was riding in the back seat with me, and she saw me smile, so she stuck something out of her mouth at me. It was pink and shiny, and funny, so I thought, "hey, I've got one of those..." and I stuck it out at her. She laughed so big and said, "he stuck his tongue out at me!" I guess that's what the pink thing in my mouth is. So Mom did it again. So I did it again! And she did it again! And laughed! And I did it again! And laughed! It was so much fun. Then she got the camera out and stuck her tongue out at me, and I did, but the camera was too slow. We played the game for a while, and I think she didn't get my picture. Or maybe she did.

Then, after a little while, things started sounding funny. Then my ears started hurting, so much I had to cry. Mom said something about Monteagle Mountain and got out a bottle for me. That helped a lot, but my ears still bugged me until they said we were off the mountain.

Then we drove and drove and drove, and I fell asleep again, and when I woke up, it was the next morning, and I was at home. I feel like I slept for nine hours, and that's what Dad said I did!

Read full post >>

Adam is going to be a cousin again! Lydia and I both enjoyed having cousins very near our own age, and we hope that our new niece or nephew will be able to enjoy him.

Be sure to pray for the Idaho Wattses as they get ready for Reganne's new brother or sister!

Read full post >>

New things that happen on a typical Tuesday (in no particular order):

• Dad (me) takes a 30 minute nap from 7:00-7:30 p.m.
• Adam gets a real bath (first one post-drop-off-of-the-stump)
• Lots of snacking.
• Mom does laundry

I'm sure there'll be more... that's just kind of a play-by-play of the evening so far. I don't know if it'll be like this every Tuesday, but I'm thinking that the similarities will be stronger than the differences.

Special thanks to Lydia's parents for coming over today and loading the dishwasher and taking out the trash. Also thanks to the Roselles for bringing food last night (the Coca Cola cake is gone... as of... now.)

Read full post >>

This is what happens when I drink too much.

Read full post >>

I'll take sleeping stints like this any time:

Read full post >>

The new iMac is on the way! Super baby video editing coming right up!

Of course, now that I've bought one, they'll upgrade them. As long as they do within 30 days, I'm golden... that's Amazon's window of exchange.

Thanks to my wonderful wife for agreeing to this admittedly husband-centric purchase. :D

Read full post >>

This morning, Adam was up from 1:30 to 3:30.

I was not.

Lydia knows I've got an important meeting this morning at work, and she didn't keep me up a wink.

Have I told you lately that I love her?

Read full post >>

We skipped church today, surprise!

Adam had a very sleepy day... which meant lots of rest for us too. He's really getting the hang of nursing, and when he's done, he just turns into a rag doll.

Mama and Daddy and Ann Narula came over and brought us some dinner... and played with our cowboy. We also took some one week pictures, and we'll try to get them posted soon.

Read full post >>

Friday was a good, somewhat busy day. Lydia's parents came over and brought lunch and helped us get the house in order. We still had hospital bags that weren't unpacked, and had some things that never made it to the hospital that needed to be put up. They were a big help!

Then, the Owens famly came over to bring us a great dinner. When you're a bit bleary from the eat-change-sleep infant cycle, adult conversation, wonderful comfort food, and smiling faces of a five and two year-old can really renew your spirit!

Later that night, we had our first "inconsolable" stretch with Adam. He was just confused about whether he was hungry, gassy or sleepy. After about an hour of off-and-on whining, he went down. All seems to be well in the overnight stretch.

I hear noises... gotta go...

Read full post >>

Still getting everything organized at home. Since we weren't planning on having a baby last weekend, some things are still a bit in disarray. :D

Meanwhile, here are five more pictures of our big boy.

Read full post >>

So it's been eight-and-a-half months, and now that I'm out, I can finally tell my side of the story. Thanks for bringing the computer to the hospital, Dad. The keys are a bit far apart, but I think I can manage.

4:10 a.m. Sunday

- I've about had it in here. The bluetooth reception is horrible and everything I use has to be waterproof. I think I've finally found a way out. The first step is getting rid of a bit of this ammniotic fluid. That'll let her know I'm on the way. I don't want to make it too obvious... don't want to freak her out... so I'll just let a little out.

8:30 a.m. Sunday

- I guess that wasn't enough to convince her. They're still going to this "church" place I hear about once or twice a week. I hear I'm going to like it there.

10:20 a.m. Sunday

- Okay, the walls are starting to really push in now. They've done this before though, and nothing happened. Mom was supposed to keep something called "babies" this morning, but she just told her friend she's not going to do it. Mom's talking to that guy again and he's going to take us back to the house.

11:00 a.m. Sunday

- We're back at the house. The walls of this place are pushing in like crazy... it's like every two minutes. They've never been like this before. Whoa... what's that... hey... MAN I'm getting squished. What... we're getting back into the car?

11:30 a.m. Sunday

- I recognize the "bzzzz" sound of the car, but it's really more of a "BZZZZ" this time. Mom's calling the mean lady that pokes and prods on me, but she's not "on call," whatever that means, so her other mean lady friend is coming to meet us.

12:09 p.m. Sunday

- Okay, I've had enough of this. I'm ready to find out what's next. There seems to be a complete opening here that didn't used to be here. I wonder what happens if I try to stick my head out of it?

12:39 p.m. Sunday

- OUCH! This is tight quarters. Now it looks like I don't have a choice. The mean lady is unwrapping something loose from around my neck... it's all alive and stuff. Whoa! It's bright! Holy cow! I can move my arms!

12:40 p.m. Sunday

- So that's what Mom looks like. And this guy with the fuzzy face... he must be my Dad. He's the only guy in here. Everyone else in here, I've never heard before. Or seen, obviously. They're all wearing pretty masks and rubbing all over me with towels. I guess I'd better say something now. Mom wants me to talk louder, so I do. It sure is nice to be on her outside instead of on her inside.

12:41 p.m. Sunday

- Whoa, what did Dad just do? Now there's this plastic clip on my tummy where I was hooked in to Mom before.

12:50 p.m. Sunday

- Hey, where did Mom go? This lady just took me over to a table and she's stretching me out. Oh, hey, there's Dad. He looks like he loves me a lot.

1:00 p.m. Sunday

- The lady stretched me out and measured me every which way. I know I'm supposed to be a good boy, so I was very quiet. Even when she stuck me with that pointy thing in the leg... I was still quiet. She said it was the first time she ever didn't have a baby cry when she did that. I'm a brave boy!

3:00 p.m. Sunday

- It's gotten a lot quieter in here. I'm all clean and sitting with Mom and Dad and Miss Susie. I think I need to catch a quick nap, and it turns into an hour.

5:00 p.m. Sunday

- Mom and Miss Susie are going to a new room, and Dad and I are going to the "Nursery." When we get there, there are other babies there, but none of them are as smart as me. I brought my Dad! The lady who gave me a bath put a special bracelet on my arm and my foot, and she put some special radio on my leg with an ace bandage. She says that the radio is to make sure that I don't go wandering off by myself without my Mom and Dad, and the bracelet is to make sure that I go with my Mom and Dad, and not someone else's Mom and Dad. I already miss my Mom, so it was good that we went right to the room to be with her.

5:30 p.m. Sunday

- Mom and Dad and I are resting in the room. It's been a long day already. I found out that I have something on my fingers that is pokey, and it makes little lines on my face that are called "scratches." Mom makes sure that I'm bundled so that doesn't happen again. She tells Dad to get some "socks" from "home." It's way too much new stuff for me to get all at once. I rest a little, and they start talking about me to people in little boxes that light up.

6:15 p.m. Sunday

- Two new people come to our room: Papa and Yia Yia. They're Mom's Mama and Daddy. They tell me that they are "proud" of me.

7:30 p.m. Sunday

- More people! It looks like a Mommy and a Daddy and little people. Mom calls them "girls." One of them sits up on the couch and Yia Yia puts me in her lap. She is so gentle, and she sings very pretty to me - my favorite song, "Away in a Manger." I think I like girls (for now.)

8:00 p.m. Sunday

- Daddy leave for this "home" place, and the girls stay and play a little longer before they have to go home. Then Daddy comes back and Papa and Yia Yia have to go "home." Everyone's coming and going.

9:00 p.m. Sunday

- Finally, it's me and Mom and Dad. Oh, and those ladies that had the masks on. They keep coming every now and then. They are called "nurses." Most of the time, they just talk to Mom and Dad about my diapers and when I eat. They're really nice.

9:52 p.m. Sunday

- I really am pooped after this long day, so I sack out. I think Mom and Dad got a nap in too. Mom is really tired, but she's still got a lot of energy. Dad is doing great. They think I'm going to sleep for a while, but I think I'll get them up around midnight. :D

All in all, I like it being on the outside better than the inside. I get to see Dad, and I get to see Mom instead of just grunting around in the dark.

I still wonder what "home" is?

(hat tip to Julie Lankford for inspiring this post with her family emails!)

Read full post >>

We tried sending an email to a BUNCH of you last night, but the connection at the hospital didn't like our Comcast SMTP server. Trying again soon...

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of Adam!

Read full post >>

Just so you know... we're doing great! We'll tell the whole story soon, once we get more into the rhythm of change, eat, sleep, change, eat, sleep.

Suffice it to say, we actually made it to Sunday School yesterday morning, and Adam arrived at 12:39... do the math!

God has truly blessed us with a healthy, happy baby boy.

Read full post >>

Last weekend, six of our close friends threw us a baby shower at church. I'd love to give you more details, but right now, we're battling a severe stomach bug... so we're not able to go into more detail. Big thanks are in order... and forthcoming! Until then, here are the pictures that Dad took and uploaded to AOL photos! (Thanks, Dad!)

Read full post >>

If you only have three seconds to read our Christmas letter:

• We're having a baby boy in February!
• Thanks for being our friends!

If you only have one minute to read our Christmas letter:

• We're having a baby boy in February!
• Patrick had three business trips to Orlando this year, so we bought annual passes and went to Disney World six times.
• Patrick's still at LifeWay, and he's expecting too... a little later than Lydia.
• Lydia loved working all year at DaVita, but she's now made the transition to stay at home mom.
• Thanks for being our friends!

If you've got a little more time...

Dear Friends and Family,

2007 has shaped up to be quite the year for us. For many reasons, it's going to go down as one of the most memorable in our marriage.

The year started off quietly enough, with a little snow, but soon took off. We made the decision in February to bite the bullet and buy annual passes to Walt Disney World since Patrick had three business trips to Orlando this year. We ended up down there a total of six times... all throughout the year. Really, it was just research for future trips, of course. :D

Our first trip to the World was at Valentine's Day, and Lydia got to see a wedding on the steps of Cinderella Castle.

The first surprise of 2007 happened when Patrick got rear-ended on the way to work by a member of a contemporary Christian music group who, luckily, was well insured. Since we were teaching about money in our Sunday School class, we walked the walk and combined the insurance money and tax refund for our replacement car which we refer to as our baby Lexus.

Elsewhere on the home front this Spring, we (finally) painted our bedroom and entryway, and got some help from a decorator on picking out some matching furniture. The place is starting to look a little less Pulte and a little more Watts.

In April, we followed along our friends' fifteen minutes of Internet fame and my parents' trip to Australia, and had our second trip to the World. This one was about as spur of the moment as Lydia and I get.

May was the beginning of a work travel season for Patrick that took him to Portland, OR, Chattanooga, Chicago, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Ridgecrest, Orlando, Glorieta and Orlando. We also procured our Nintendo Wii this month.

In June, we went to Star Wars Weekend at the Disney Studio park. We rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Star Tours and all of the other rides. When we went to Animal Kingdom and rode the "Rafiki's Planet Watch" train, a very tame ride indeed, Lydia thought that she was getting some kind of motion sickness... something she's not prone to do. She returned to Nashville and left Patrick there for the Baptist Church Music Conference. That night, in the lobby of the Winter Park Florida Hilton, she called... and Patrick found out he was going to be a daddy!

That same day, we also found out that our church's long time music minister was planning to retire. After 30 years, it's going to be a challenge to find Mark's successor, and your prayers are appreciated.

The rest of June, all of July, all of August and part of September, Lydia was pretty much down for the count with "everytime sickness." (Forget "morning" sickness.) She empathized with one of the pregnancy books she read - during the time you're the most excited about your pregnancy, you feel the worst. The summer was a lot of travel, and Lydia was a trooper. We went to Reganne's third birthday party in Boise, ID. We probably spent 18 hours a day in the hotel room making sure Lydia had enough energy for the other six. When we went to SonPower, I made the excuse, "she doesn't want to be hanging around 1200 teenagers..." and everyone bought it (or at least they were nice and told me they did.) Luckily, right in the middle of SonPower, she did feel well enough to go to the Magic Kingdom (in a wheelchair) for the Fouth of July Fireworks.

In September, we made the front page of the Travel section with a story about doing Disney on the cheap thanks to a referral to Ms. Cheap from our friend Christina. We each had our respective birthdays, and by our fifth Disney trip of the year, Lydia was feeling almost back to normal. It was about this same time that we had visual confirmation via ultrasound that our child is going to be a boy!

October brought a quick trip to see Patrick's sister and brother-in-law in Atlanta and make an Ikea run for our son's baby furniture. We had a minor unexpected issue with our washing machine, but that allowed us to get a pretty new front loader.

November was spent preparing for Pop and Polly's 65th wedding anniversary party in Centerville, Ohio. It was a special time, not only because it was such an honor to serve Patrick's great-grandparents, but because all of Patrick's immediate family was there, unscattered from the far winds of Texas, Idaho, Georgia and Tennessee.

Now that it's December, and we've completed our last Disney trip, it feels like we're in the home stretch. In less than two months, we'll be welcoming the new addition to our family, and, as so many have told us, our lives will never be the same. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to live out God's will for our lives.

Thanks!

--Patrick and Lydia (and yet-to-be-announced new addition...!)

Read full post >>

Keep up with the 40th anniversary fun!

Read full post >>

Patrick's grandfather turns 87 years young today. He's pictured at right with his great- granddaughter, Reganne (our magical wonder-niece). I'm sure he'll celebrate with his usual 3-mile-walk and some angel food cake. Have a great one, Pop!

Read full post >>