One Happy Family

Thanksgiving is two days away. It's my favorite holiday for two reasons. One, you get all the glorious food that you get at Christmas without the worry and expense of buying lots of presents. I think presents ruin Christmas, but they are a necessary evil. Presents are the bait that lure relatives to Christmas get togethers.

Two, I have so much to be thankful for. That's the purpose of this entry today.

The two pictures we have here are what mean everything to me. My wife who is beautiful and the most caring person I've ever known. She was my inspiration to grow spiritually and in character. And she still is.

My son is the joy of every day. He's absolutely hilarious with his boundless imagination and tenderheartedness. I don't even know if tenderheartedness is a word, but it ought to be just for kids like him. God brought him into our lives to teach us what it feels like to love with everything you have. And knowing that, helps me know how much God sacraficed for me. Lord help me to never forget it.

My daughter is a reminder of how beautiful innocence is. She is so serene (most of the time) and there is simply nothing that beats holding your own baby and feeling her warmth. I know that my job will be to protect her innocence by teaching her who her real Father is. As important as I want to be, I have to be second.

We have a home, cars, cable TV, internet, etc. But those things are trivial things. We have healthy, safety, love, hope and faith. Be thankful for those, because you have them too.

Big Brother Bathes Baby

Everyone enjoys entertaining entries. Especially entertaining entries with alliteration. Don't we?

That goofy introduction out of the way, Aiden was helpful in giving baby Isabel her first bath the other night. We captured a few of the shots on the digcam (my new shortened version of digital camera, which seems too long and too formal.)

Also in the interest of time (since I'm supposed to be working here at work) I'll just skip the captions for the photos. Enjoy!

How's Aiden Doing with the Baby?

The most frequent question we've heard since Isabel was born is, "How's is Aiden doing with her?" It's a very legitimate question and one that we were worried about ourselves. Aiden is a great child and has been as easy as a two year old can be to raise. But you worry after almost three years as the only child how he would react to a baby sister being in the house.

So here is an illustrated story to answer that question.

At first, Aiden wasn't sure he liked this whole baby situation. He took a long time to warm up to the idea. After Daddy brought Isabel out from the delivery, Aiden didn't say a word about her. He looked at her only briefly and seemed disappointed that his playtime with Papaw Bob was being interrupted.

Even after Momma got out of recovery and into the postpartum room, Aiden seemed content to play by himself. While everyone else was clamoring over Isabel, Aiden read a book. When he got around her, he would look at her then walk away.

But before we left the hospital, Aiden had grown fond of his little sister. He adapted to sharing the attention. We are very proud of him and how mature he's been in accepting and loving his sister.

As Aiden became more enamored with Isabel, one thing he's done is pepper her with kisses. Lots of kisses. WHOLE GREAT BIG BUNCHES of kisses. Which doesn't surprise me or his mother. He's a very affectionate child.

And now they're just like, well, they're just like brother and sister. Exactly as it should be.

Halloween Pictures

What do you do with a scurvy pirate?

What do you do with a scurvy pirate?

What do you do with a scurvy pirate?

Make him trick or treat!

Captain Aiden of the Pirates of Barren River.

Pirates love clowns. Seriously. Most people don't know that.

After scoring some booty (that's candy) Cap'n Aiden wore a proud look.

Welcome Isabel

Wednesday 10/29/08 our family was once again blessed by a loving God with our daughter Isabel. Mom, baby, Aiden and I are all doing well with the exception of Liz's soreness.

Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers, especially Liz while she recovers.

Here she is.

Nana, Brother and Isabel.

3/4 of our happy family. Aiden was still at Nana's house when this was taken, which is probably best since we could barely fit our three big heads in here.

Less than 12 hours away!!!

Little Isabel will be delivered via C-section at 7:30AM Wednesday morning. We are excited and nervous, but mostly we're ready to meet our little girl. Thank you to everyone who has kept us in prayers and thoughts throughout this pregnancy. Please remember us tomorrow.

Love,
Travis, Liz, Aiden and soon-to-be-born Isabel

Baby Update

Our latest ultrasound estimated our little girl to be 7 lbs 6 ozs. That is around the 65th percentile. So Liz's doctor is monitoring things and has decided we will not carry to term. If Liz doesn't go into spontaneous labor by the 39th week (about a week and a half away) then a C-section will be scheduled.

Some advice for those seeking a quick buck. Design a better way to estimate fetal weight in utero. The aforementioned weight estimate of our little girl can be off as much as 20% either way. Let me put that in plain terms for everyone. That means she may weigh as little as 5 lbs 14 ozs or as big as 8lbs 13.6 ozs. That my friends is a HUGE gap.

So if you can come up with a better way to do that, it'd be GOLD, GOLD I tell ya'.

The Horror Movie OF THE YEAR!!!!

Some People Will Scream....

Some People Will Run....

Some People Will Hide...

But it will do you no good.

You can't run from....

You can't hide from....

THE BELLY!!!!

That people is why pregnant women have backaches, aching feet, swollen ankles, no energy, etc, etc, etc. Baby countdown is now less than one month to go. We appreciate everyone's continued prayers and thoughts.

Hilltoppers vs. Murray Mules

When Dear Ol' Murray makes a trip to Bowling Green to face the Hilltoppers, hilarity ensues. At least it does if you're a Hilltopper fan. Tops win 50-9 this time.

It was our first home game of the season so it was our first opportunity to tailgate. The menu was a season opening tradition of bratwurst and burgers. It was also Aiden's first chance to see Big Red since the end of the basketball season.

Aiden couldn't find a thing to wear. He tried on his football jersey but it just swallowed him whole.

New stadium expansion, a white out game, and our first meeting with Big Red in over 6 months. Maybe the excitement was just too much for Aiden.

Baby update: As of today, Oct 4th, we are just about five weeks away from the due date. Which means Liz is very tired and ready for this pregnancy to be over. But she's done very well throughout with keeping her weight gain in line with what the doctor likes and watching her diet. Thanks for any and all of you who have kept us in your prayers over the last 7+ months. Isabel will be here before we know it.

Aiden's Moving!!!!

Like so many American's struggling with their house payments in the shadow of the subprime lending meltdown, Aiden is getting evicted from the nursery where he has slept most nights of his life.

Gee whiz, kind of sad when I say it like that. But the nursery will be for his baby sister, so he's making the move all the way down the hall into his brand new "big boy" room. He's welcoming the idea...so far.

We took him for a LOOOOOOONG shopping trip at Lowe's. He wanted to paint his room blue. Momma wanted to paint his room more of a neutral color. Daddy wanted to paint it more of a coral orange color. So we all compromised and painted it blue.

Aiden wanted to help, and help he did. Both Sherwin and Williams would be proud.

Like a true artist, Aiden does his best work when he is unencumbered by material things like shirts, shorts, shoes or socks. Underwear is worn to protect the innocent.

Much gratitude to Aiden's Uncle David who was very helpful. And to my baldspot (obnoxiously seen here) for providing extra light through reflection of the sun.

Circus

Here are some recent pics of Aiden at the circus. He got to enjoy it with his friend Carter Durrett. It was his first trip to the circus.
















Aiden and I had a good time. He really enjoyed the elephants and tigers.















I don't typically like posting pictures of myself but
I thought this one was cute of Aiden.

Dinosaur World Adventure

Aiden & Daddy in front of some harmless herbivores.


Aiden & Mommy were more adventurous standing in front of this large carnivore.




Seeing as we live so close to Mammoth Cave, this picture of Aiden and some mammoths seemed entirely appropriate.



At the end of the day our credit card was declined so we offered Aiden up as food for the dinosaurs in lieu of payment. (That's not actually true. We paid cash and Aiden is still alive.)

Trip to Texas; Siblings Class

Aiden on South Padre Island (isn't the seaweed lovely this time of year?)

Aiden and Liz enjoying the coolness of wetsand on a hot July day. Aiden enjoyed throwing the sand back into the ocean in an exercise of pure futility.

This is just a picture we snapped at Aiden's Buelito and Buelita's house. I'm partial to this picture. Wonder why.

Those were our pictures from our July trip to San Benito, Tx to visit my inlaws. It was predictably hot and the mosquitos were ubiquitous. Despite that we had a great time. It's always a dual pleasure of spending times with loved ones and getting away from home for a while. Aiden does great on the plane ride there and back, which sure makes life much easier.

We were fortunate to leave exactly one week before Hurricane Dolly arrived. Liz's family suffered some structural damage to their home and a nearby storage unit, but everyone remained safe, praise God. Fortunately between the small congregation where Buelito preaches there in Texas and some help from other congregations of Christ's church, they were able to make all the necessary repairs. Again, praise God.

Well that was way back in July. Way back last week, we took Aiden to a siblings class at the hospital. We both felt like that was helpful for him to get familiar with the hospital and to get to see what his baby sister will be like, sort of. Let me mention that that class is free. That is a great thing to offer to parents free of charge. I would gladly pay for a class like that.

Next post: Aiden poos and sees dinosaurs.

Fishes & Friends

No real posting to do here, just displaying some pictures of our trip today to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tn. with our friends the Durretts.

Angels and Devils

The yin and yang. The good and bad. The angel and the devil. It is the dichotomy of every toddler that can demonstrate in one second angelic sweetness and kindness then in the blink of an eye display behavior that requires the attention of a young priest, an old priest and some holy water, a la Linda Blair.

However, it is a rare occasion when you can visibly see these two facets of your toddlers personality. Below is one such rare occasion.

Ultrasound (First & Second) Pictures

Here we are on the final days of our summer vacation. Rested, rejuvenated, bitter about it's ending and I have finally found the time to actually post the pictures of our ultrasound(s).

For the ultrasound picture impaired (that means anyone who has never had a child) you will be unable to tell much of anything from these pictures. Even though the second and third pictures are very clearly pictures of a baby, you won't see it. Don't feel bad. You're not alone.

This first picture is from our first ultrasound. As you can see, this happened way back in April. If you have trouble telling what the image is, imagine the baby is looking at you from a horizontal position and waving as if to say, I'm coming and the feeling of impending financial stresses are coming with me!!!!!

This picture is from ultrasound number two, just a little while back on June 25th. The day we found out that God had blessed us with the coming birth of our first daughter. This is again, the baby's face looking straight at you.

Our final selection is a profile picture of the baby at the second ultrasound. It's a real nice, clear picture that says to me, "I'm going to wrap you around my little, itty, bitty finger for the rest of your natural life Daddy." (I just smile and nod)

Daddy's Birthday Post

Yes, this post is nearly one month to the day too late. But I wanted to share the picture, so I am posting it anyway.


The cake was provided by my sister-in-law whose sick sense of humor seeks to humiliate those of us who recently turned thirty, and makes us think we honestly look like Dabney Coleman (see picture on the right.)

Yes Mr. Coleman, my cake, and me are all losing our hair. I think the similarities end there.

My therapist says I'll get over it in time.

Aiden pointed to the picture on the cake and said "Thats DaDa." Talk about piling on.

It was a great birthday and thirty is not a number that bothers me in the least. Who can be upset when you've got a quarter-ton of Red Velvet cake to eat and a great family to share (a little bit of) it with?

It's a GIRL!!!!!

Ultrasound confirmed that Liz and I are expecting a baby girl this November 7th. We are thrilled and Aiden is too (as well as every family member we've contacted.) Please pray that this pregnancy and child be as healthy as Aiden/'s.

Praise to God that our family feels His blessings every day.

Countdown to Ultrasound

We're counting down to the ultrasound, as I write this only 96 minutes away!

And Aiden pooped in his potty at the babysitter's house yesterday then pooped in his potty at home. He's a champ I tell ya'. A champ!

Potty Update & Baby Update

Aiden is getting it. He's finally wrapping his head around peeing in the potty. He sometimes needs to be reminded that he needs to go to the potty, but he does bring it up on his own and doesn't like to be wet! (Trust me new parents, this is a big step.)

This weekend we even pooped in the potty. And we did it at Jason & Heather's house while Mommy and Daddy were on date night.

This Wednesday we'll head to the Medical Center for our second ultrasound of the pregnancy, this time finding out the gender of baby number two. So place your bets ladies and gentleman. Will it be Baby Boy Numero Deuce or will the women even up the teams in household.