Slumber Party

Andrew's first week of life, he decided that he only wanted to sleep while being held, so I went over there a couple of nights that first week to do some baby-holding so K and B could get a little bit of sleep.

 I mean, seriously.  Who wouldn't want to snuggle with this little nugget???

This is what we called "alert baby bird" face. :)

 Sweet snuggles in the wee hours of the morning. :)

I was quickly reminded of why sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture. :/  I think God helps you to block that part out, or no one would ever have more than one child!  :)  I spent the night over there 5 nights over the first two weeks...and I loved being able to help out, snuggle that sweet boy, and go home and go to sleep in my own bed at 5 AM each morning. :)

Looking forward to MANY cousin sleep-overs with P and A!

Dr. Scates' Last Sunday

The same day that Andrew came home was a bittersweet day at our church.  Our Senior Pastor, Dr. Ron Scates, who had been at our church since 2000 had his last Sunday with our congregation, responding to God's calling that his time in the pulpit at HPPC had come to an end.

I was a junior in college when Dr. Scates came to the church - and sitting under his preaching and teaching for the past 13 years has had a profound effect on my walk with the Lord.  His message of God's love and grace have significantly shaped me as a believer.  Ron's desire to speak truth in love and proclaim the good news of the gospel is something I will never forget.

Ron married J and me, K and B, and baptized P.  He played an important role in some of my family's major life events, and it was very hard to see him go.  You can ask J...I cried at some point in every service the 4 weeks leading up to his last Sunday, where I was a complete blubbering mess. :)

Here we are with Dr. Scates in 2005.

 Bulletin for his last Sunday.

At the end of the service, all of the members of the congregation worshiping in other places in the church came into the sanctuary, and all the pastors and lay people prayed over Ron.  It was truly moving.

There was a picnic afterwards to show appreciation for him and his family.

One thing I will never forget about Dr. Scates is the benediction that he closed the service with every week, and I'll share it with you:

Now go in peace, and bless the world.

And remember, you go no where by accident.

Where you're going, God is sending you.

And where you are, He has placed you.

God has a purpose for your life right where you are.

Christ Jesus who indwells you has something He wants to do in and through your life, right where you are.

Believe this.

And go in His grace, and in His love, and in His Power.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Baby Andrew Comes Home!

That Sunday night we went over to K and B's house to welcome them home with fajitas from Mi Cocina.  Yum! :)

Now I can't quite remember (which is what happens when you write a blog post in mid-October trying to recount something that happened two months earlier), but I'm pretty sure this was the first opportunity my dad had to meet Andrew since he had been out of town for work.  He liked him, too. :)

 Andrew with Papa.

 PaPa and Share Share with Andrew.

 There was lots of admiring...

 LOTS of admiring...

 And who can blame them!?

It's hard work having people stare at you all day. :)

Visiting Baby Andrew in the Hospital

The next day the whole family headed up to the hospital to meet Andrew...who will probably forever-more be known as "Baby Andrew" since that's what P calls him. :)

I love baby snuggles! :)

 Uncle J with Baby A.

 At first P was more interested in his snack than the baby...

 And with a face like this, I don't know how that's possible!

 Angelic little face.

 He's such a tiny peanut!

At the end, P came around and came over and said hello to his new cousin, who will surely be a partner in crime sooner rather than later. :)

Best Birthday Present Ever...

For my 33rd birthday I got a nephew!!! :)  Well almost for my birthday...he decided that he didn't want to share a day with me or with our Uncle Kevin the next day, so sweet Andrew made his appearance on August 23rd.  He was worth the wait!

 

This is the sunrise on a very important day...since Uncle B had called us from the hospital around midnight the night before, we knew that Andrew would be making his appearance this beautiful Friday...and the world would never be the same. :)

 

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I must make a confession...I already had plans on that Friday.  For my birthday, I told J that the only thing I wanted was some time to myself.  So J took the day off work and had a whole day planned with P.  I had scheduled a facial and a massage for my birthday (using a birthday gift card from LAST year! :/) and was ready to spend a day relaxing...but then Aunt KiKi had to go into labor on MY birthday celebration day...the nerve! :)  Not to worry...while my sweet sister was laboring on Friday morning, I got that massage and facial. :)  Hey - at least one of us needed to be relaxing...I was just trying to even things out.  For what it's worth, I felt totally guilty about it, but I talked to sister, and she told me to go for it.  I told her to work on pushing that baby out - not really, I told her to not have the baby until after my massage...she was a great listener and indulged that request of mine.

 Here's my leg and my family waiting in the waiting room at the hospital.

 Happy Baby Day!

 Here is a picture of my mother fretting... :)

 Here's another picture of my mother fretting...think she was anxiously awaiting the news of this baby's safe arrival? :)

  And a smile. :)  My mom's dear friend Linda came to keep her company before the rest of the family got to the hospital since my dad was in Colorado for work.  Fun fact: B's mom actually taught all 3 of Linda's kids!

 Lolli and Pop. :)

 My grammy and me.

 

 Aunt Becky came to meet the little man, too.

 LOVE this picture.  I wanted to take a picture to post to Instagram with a caption saying something like, "It's 2:17 and we're still waiting on this baby..."  Turns out that at exactly 2:17, sweet baby Andrew made his grand entrance into the world!  How cool is that!?

 Uncle B. (proud daddy) came out with pictures...and the NAME of this baby, which was also a surprise! (Love the grandmas in this picture!)

 Of course we all thought he was perfectly wonderful!

 And then everyone jumped on their cell phones to share the good news with the world. :)

 About 30 minutes later a nurse came out and said that the two grandmas and the sister (that's me!!!) could come back to see this baby in person. :)

 Andrew with his Lolli.

 Showing us that his lungs work.

 Sweet snuggles.

 Adoring grandmas.

 Sweet punkin.

 Super mom seeing Share Share hold Andrew for the first time.

Share Share loves her grandsons!

 Me multitasking...the world needed some cute pictures of this munchkin man!

 Loved him from the moment I saw him!

 I mean, how cute is he!?!?!

 Precious boy.

Welcome to the world, sweet Andrew!  We are ALL so excited that you're finally here. :)  We love you!

We're Back!!! :)

You thought I'd totally given up on blogging, didn't you? :)  You thought you'd seen the last of P.W.E.'s big adventures, didn't you?  Rightfully so, rightfully so...but we're back!  And I've got pictures!  And so much has happened!  So stay tuned...and get caught up!

First flashback...I turned 33 at the end of August!  Happy Birthday to me. :)  P and I celebrated with a free lunch at a local Chick-fil-a, or as P calls it - Chick-ah-fil-a. :)

I love this kid to pieces.