Aunt, uncle and cousins-to-be

Today, I met with aunt, uncle and cousins-to-be in Brenham, TX (home of Blue Bell ice cream). We had a nice visit and they passed on some baby stuff to borrow-Thanks Heather and Toots(I hope you got home in time to see Tiger play)!

Ahoy!

We had a chance to go sailing this weekend with the Findlays (friends from church). Despite an ominous morning of thunderstorms, the afternoon turned out sunny and beautiful (and breezy, which is always good for sailing!)

Taking a Walk...

As I have been feeling a little more energetic and sleeping a little bit less, Paul and I have enjoyed taking Liberty for walks in the neighborhood...It's soooo hot right now that we have to wait until evening and then the mosquitos get us!

Astros

Last night we went to an Astros game sponsored by Shadow Creek Ranch (our neighborhood). We got tickets and T-shirts and enjoyed meeting some neighbors that live in our section--And the Astros beat the Pirates 5-2!

A word from Mommy...

I am 15 weeks along today and still feeling good. I've been very blessed to have made it through the first trimester with little to no morning sickness! I had been quite tired, but Paul has been wonderful and let me take my 3-4 hour naps on occasion after work while he did some housework. I am now starting to get my energy back and then some (I guess this is like the Superwoman phase I read about). I am getting a small belly now--enough to be uncomfortable in my regular clothes or have baggy maternity clothes....aagghhhh! I am looking forward to my growing belly--it's exciting to see the changes I am going through (not all of them particularly fun:).
At my last Doctor's appointment we got some news...First, it's a girl! Wow--so William's can produce a girl! I never thought I would get to shop for cute girl things!
The second piece of news was about the genetic testing. I had tested slightly abnormal (still very low) for my age etc. for Down Syndrome. The Doctor suggested an amniocentisis. After much thought and prayer we have opted not to get the test. We know that God has created a beautiful baby girl and we are choosing to not create additional risk. Please be in prayer for our peace of mind about this decision. Love Caryn

It's a Girl!

It was the day before our fourth anniversary that Caryn leaned in with her elbows on the table at the Johnny Carino’s restaurant in Pearland and told me the news. She had a sly grin on her face and instantly I regretted not going to the doctor’s appointment.
“You know?” I asked.
Caryn nodded as my heart dropped down an elevator shaft and everything suddenly became real. The sounds of the restaurant disappeared, the clinking of plates, the waiter asking the table next to us if they wanted ground pepper, the low murmur of a crowd…all silenced.
Caryn had told me the other news first…the scary stuff. The test to determine the probability birth defects had come back. Typically women her age, twenty-seven, have a one in a thousand chance of Down syndrome. Her test indicated that she has a one in one hundred and forty three chance (less than 1%). Not high, but the doctor recommended an amniocentesis, a somewhat routine test of amniotic fluid-but is not without risk.
So we decided that we would research it and hold any decision off for another time. I thought about my former college professor, David Hurd, who has two twins that are confined to wheelchairs and who speak through a keypad on their chairs. I thought about our friend Becky, who has a child Ella, a beautiful girl with Down syndrome. I thought about all this and more as Caryn sat poised and ready to reveal the gender of our baby.
And I’m back to falling down the elevator shaft. The ride is amazing and uncertain.
“What is it?”
I said ‘it.” ‘It’ referring to the gender. Right?
Caryn has these amazing blue eyes that you can get lost in. She uses them to hypnotize me so I will take out the trash. The pepper waiter was moving closer to our table.
“We are going to have a baby girl,” she said.
A baby girl. A daughter. My daughter, the first female President of the United States. God Hallelujah!
Love, Daddy

Baby's First Picture...

This is the first image of our baby! I was only 7 1/2 weeks along but when we saw that first ultrsound picture it all became real! This is our little peanut (as the youth girls so cleverly nicknamed our little one)!

Welcome!!

Welcome to our first website. Paul and I are new at this blogging thing, but look forward to sharing many of the exciting new adventures that we are about to encounter as we emabark on parenthood!! Prior to this current journey that we are on, we have had many adventures along the way, and we'd like to catch everyone up on the recent happenings in our lives. Enjoy and keep coming back for new entries!
Love,
Paul and Caryn







Multnomah Falls--We just returned from a great
trip to visit some friends in Portland, OR. It was Beautiful!