It's a..........

Girl! I (Cory) have taken the liberty to take command of "the Blog" seeing as my wife is incapacitated at the moment. It all started this morning at 4:30 a.m. - yes, extremely early in the morning - as the Doc had scheduled induction at 5:00. They hooked her up to the "pit" and but nothing was happening 'til they popped the water balloon. 7:20 the Doc came and did just that and the game was over before it started. Brooklyn Grace was born 9:48a.m. And, due to Grandma's delicious pot roast she cooked last night, she came weighing in at an astonishing..... 8lbs, 10.6oz. Yes, she was quite "healthy". Grandma's pot roast is that enticing. She was 19.5 inches tall - Girls' got some thighs!

In all seriousness we are extremely grateful for the smooth, safe, and healthy delivery. I know most babies aren't necessarily the cutest upon the immediate post womb exit, but Brooklyn really is amazingly cute and has a head of hair to follow. Any how, here are some immediate photos - I'm not all the skilled at the Blog thing so I'm just going to post the photos as is. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and we are certainly excited to welcome this girl to this world.

July is going to be a busy month . . .

Well, it is definitely going to be Christmas in July for our little family, as 4 of the 5 of us will have birthday's during this month. I know I wrote what we did for my birthday but I thought I would include a bunch of photos from Ethan's 2nd birthday, which we celebrated today instead of next week, and from Cory's birthday which was on the 19th.

This morning when the boys woke up we made cupcakes and frosting for the little monster/caterpillar cake we were going to do for Ethan's birthday. The boys sure loved licking those betters and spatulas.







Ethan enjoyed opening his presents after he realized what he was supposed to do; Briggs enjoyed it too . . .









Ohio is the birthplace of Aviation and so for Cory's birthday last weekend we took a little trip to Dayton and visited some great museums featuring the Wright brothers. It was a great 1/2 day trip and the boys really enjoyed it. This was the prelude to my gift for Cory which is an hour flight training lesson at a flight school here. He has always wanted to learn to fly; so it seemed fitting and I am really excited for him.







Here is a photo of me and the boys with my ice cream birthday pie . . .


It's been a fun and eventful month and we are looking forward to adding a little girl into the mix.

Still pregnant . . .

Well, I thought I'd post a little update since today is my "Official Due date" and I don't see the that this little girl is going to come on her own any time soon. I have been going to the doctor a few times this week and am still at a 3 with not a lot of change; and they are always so quick to remind you that you aren't really overdue until you are 42 weeks--can you imagine? I am not that patient unfortunately so, right now I am scheduled to be induced on Monday morning at 5 am if she doesn't come in the next few days on her own. We'll definitely keep you posted!

It's been a while . . .

Well, I have been needing to write another update and so here it goes. We finally have gotten settled into our new apartment. We moved the first weekend in July and then Cory went back to Kansas City for about 5 days to pick up some furniture for our place. Lets just say that it was a loooonnng week with only camping chairs and my blow up mattress, but I made it through and it is so nice to have a sofa to sit on. This past week we have spent unpacking and getting settled. I think today is the first day that I feel ready and that our place is in order if that little girl wants to come.

I have been to the doctor each week for the past 3 weeks and I am hoping that Monday will be my last visit but so far it is pretty slow going for me. I am trying not to anticipate too much and to just take each day in stride. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am feeling ready and would like this HUGE mass, sticking straight out in front of me, to go away and to finally see that little girl; we are just so excited!

Also, Cory and I received some exciting news! We sold our house in Kansas City! The timing couldn't be more perfect as we are currently in a 3 month lease with our apartment and we were hoping that things would pan out during that time and we would know more clearly what and where we should be. So we are finally ready to start looking at homes seriously here in hopes that we will be able to move into a home the first of October. So I will keep you updated; it is definitely an answer to our prayers.

The boys are doing well. Ethan is talking so much these days and yesterday was his first day in his big-boy bed and it only took us 10 minutes of putting him back into bed during nap for him to stay and sleep. He did really good. Last night during the middle of the night he woke up and I think was a little scared so it took a little longer to get him to stay in bed, but we are hoping that it goes more smoothly each day.

Briggs is going through a growth spurt and all of the sudden it seems he doesn't fit in any of his pants or shorts. He says and does some of the funniest things. Last night I was coming home from mutual and as I step out of the car I look over and I see the blinds to our room half way pulled up. Then I see Briggs looking at me through the window then I look a little closer and I see his arm up in the air and he is putting on Cory's deodorant just smiling at me. I walked through the door laughing; and as I had anticipated, Briggs was supposed to be going to sleep in our bedroom while Ethan got settled but instead he thought he'd freshen up instead. Cory and I went in and his armpits did smell good!! It was pretty cute. That's definitely going down in his journal.

Well, I better sign off. I will update our blog when the baby comes for sure.