2-weeks old

Joshua is 2-weeks old today. He enjoys eating, sleeping, sitting in his bouncer, and looking at Dave's face.

He has spoiled us by being a very good sleeper at night. We are prayerful that all of us will continue to get sleep in large doses each night. In addition to Joshua sleeping well, Amelia's mom has been most helpful in taking care of Joshua, allowing us to have extra rest time.

Yesterday, we took a bunch of pictures of Joshua and had a really good time. Well, Amelia and Nana had a good time but Joshua did not seem to appreciate us posing him around the house. Once he fell asleep we didn't feel as guilt about having so much fun with him. The whole endeavor produced some really cute pictures though.

This is an example of Joshua's feeling about having his picture made:

1-week old

Yesterday, Joshua turned 1-week old. My sister, Gloria, started taking a weekly picture of her daughter to document her growth and it has been fun to watch Abigail grow through the weeks. So I am going to try to remember to take the same picture of Joshua every Wednesday so we can see how fast he grows.

Visit to the Doctor

Joshua had his one week check-up today. We were thankful that it was scheduled for the morning Dave was off work allowing him to go with us.

Joshua was a champ during the visit. He didn't get upset and allowed the nurse and doctor to check him out. We were pleased to learn that he has gained weight and now weighs 7 pounds. 7 pounds is a lot when you realize that 5 days ago he was 6 lbs. 8 oz. when we left the hospital.

And in another first, Joshua wet on Dave's leg during the visit. Somehow Dave has been spared being wet on up to this point but Joshua timed it just right this time.

Here is a picture of Dave and Joshua in the doctor's office:

The Adventure Has Begun

Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. All 3 of us are doing great and enjoying being at home. We were discharged from the hospital yesterday with no problems. But of course, it wasn't long until we walked into our first adventure. We soon found out that the plumbing in our house had decided to back up and not function properly while we were in the hospital, leaving us without the use of toilets, sinks, tubs, etc. Thankfully we were able to find one of the few remaining hotel rooms in Starkville and checked in with Amelia's parents after 9 last night. So Joshua's "first night at home" turned into Joshua's "first night in a hotel." On the way to the hotel Dave looked at me and said, "I don't know if this could have happened at a worse time, but I guess it really couldn't have happened at a better time." We are blessed to have both sets of our parents here to help us. We were further blessed in that Joshua slept like a champ last night and had to be awakened to eat. Praise God the Roto Rooter man works on Saturdays and fixed our plumbing problem this morning, and we are back in business at the house. We are again looking forward to trying our hand at Joshua sleeping in his bed in his room. We'll let you know how things go.

Joshua sleeping in the chair at the hotel:

Dave, his dad and Joshua hanging out at the hospital:
Joshua in his bear suit waiting to come home from the hospital: (Thanks to Uncle Chad for giving me this suit. I was so warm on the way home I didn't even know that it was only 20 degrees outside-and I looked cute in it.)
Joshua made it home after sleeping soundly in the car from the hospital to the house:

Baby Watch '09 has come to an end

Joshua Patton joined us in the world on Wednesday morning at 11:05. He weighed 6 lb. 14 oz. and is 20 inches long. He has blue eyes and red hair. He is quite cute. We are all doing great and are looking forward to going home tomorrow. We are grateful to have many family members around visiting. And I guess now we enter into a new "baby watch" phase, where we all sit around and look at Joshua. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

Enjoy a few pictures:

Baby Watch Continues...

No activity to report on the baby front. I have been walking in the mornings and eating spicy food (at the advice of the cleaning lady at the university's rec center) so we'll see if that helps things progress.

Here are pictures of Joshua's room. My mom made and hung the curtains when she was here earlier in the week and Dave hung the paintings this morning. Both additions make the room look much better and I'm excited it all came together like I wanted it to.

We'll keep you posted.

Baby Watch '09

We are currently in the midst of Baby Watch '09. I have been having contractions for over a week so, things are progressing and we look for Joshua's arrival any day now. We have the nursery ready and our bags are packed we are waiting only for the little guy to make his move. We'll keep you updated. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Here is a picture of us from Sunday at Dave's ordination service.

One Whole Year

Dave and I realized yesterday that we closed on and moved into our house one year ago. It is strange how it didn't seem like much was happening while we were in the middle of last year, but now looking back I realize we had a big year. From moving to new jobs/church/friends, pregnancy, vacation, visits from out-of-town friends and family and a new niece, God has been faithful to provide us with far more then we ever needed.

We have several things to look forward to this year (actually this month)...Dave is being ordained as an elder at our church Sunday and Joshua is due to arrive in the next 2-3 weeks. We are excited and, at the same time, overwhelmed by the thought of the added responsibility of both. I am looking forward to being able to stay at home with Joshua since God has graciously provided for us so that I don't have to work for a little while.

We wish all of you a blessed New Year and hope to hear from or see you soon.

Here are a couple pictures from Christmas. We spent several days in Jackson, allowing for some family time and for Dave to go hunting.

In front of our tree at home:

"GG" holding Abigail for the first time: