Our New Life

Obviously there have been many changes since our last post since Carson is already 2 months old!!! Here's a quick summary of our past 4 months or so (although we will surely forget to include something...):

April - 4 baby showers filled with family, friends, food, and gifts; we truly felt blessed by everyone's generosity.

College Station Shower



Work Shower



Dallas Shower



Dallas Shower #2



May - Chris' cousin's wedding (our last couple's getaway before baby) and Chris' 28th birthday at the Arboretum; we took this month to fully enjoy our last moments as a family of 2.

Ryan's Wedding



Maternity Photos
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June - Carson's arrival!!! With his presumed large size, we were induced the night of June 12 (which barely happened because L&D was full). Things were progressing, but not exactly as they should so Katie was given an epidural and a very small dose of Pitocin the next morning. Carson kept us on our toes all day with his heart rate dropping occasionally, but Katie was able to move around, breathe deep, and pray to keep him happy while Chris watched soccer :) Things progressed steadily all day, and around 5pm we were ready to push. After about 15 minutes of pushing, he was moving in the right direction, but we had to stop to free up our nurse to help with an emergency c-section. While she was gone, a heavy hail storm hit Dallas giving the whole family a bunch of love dents while we waited for him to arrive. An hour later we were ready to push again, but this time Carson was over the whole labor experience. His heart rate dropped to dangerously low levels during contractions and we were prepared for an emergency c-section should the next few pushes not deliver him. Luckily he arrived on that third push, healthy and crying. It was the best feeling in the world! We also celebrated Father's Day and our 5th Anniversary this month.



First Family Picture



1st Father's Day

July - Carson's first 4th of July fireworks and he loved them! He also had his first roadtrip to Houston (slept the whole way there and back) and live soccer games (one in Houston and one in Dallas). Over the month he was able to meet lots of friends and family.



4th of July



1 Month Old



August - Again this month Carson got to meet new friends and family and Katie returned to work. That brings us to the present...We are loving our new life as a family of 3 and are getting settled into our routine. He is smiling, cooing, and generally bringing so much joy to our lives. We are blessed to say he has been healthy (aside from the left kidney that is still being checked on, but no symptoms) and is letting us sleep quite a bit at night. Here's to all the fun times to come!



Our Happy Baby





Family at Church



Growing Bigger & Counting Down



Profile at 28 weeks



Looking straight at us with those chubby cheeks

Last Friday we had our 7 month check-up, thus the fun pictures you get to see here! Everybody is doing well, and baby is packing on the pounds - up to 3 lbs already! From what we were told, his kidneys are the same size they were at 5 months and with him growing in size, they are looking better. This was great news, but we are not out of the weeds yet. We will have another sonogram in a month to check progress, so hopefully we will still be moving in the right direction! The nursery is starting to come together, and we are anxiously awaiting our baby showers this coming month.

24 weeks - now a bit bigger...



Nursery decor starting to come together...



Katie has been working as a nurse now for about a month and is loving it. With the initial anxiety out of the way, she is beginning to get more comfortable with lots and lots of practice! Chris is back in the office after a 2 week expedition at sea doing research for work. He LOVED being out on the water and out of the cubicle for awhile. After almost a week, he is finally getting his balance back and not swaying constantly. He is also deep into soccer season, and the team this spring is doing great. It is not only fun for Chris to play on, but even more entertaining for Katie to watch.



Standing beside the ship



Hard at work



Chris waiting for the game to begin (far left)



The flowers are blooming early here and we are loving the spring weather! Hope you are enjoying the scenery wherever you are too...

Snakes, and Snails, and Puppy-dog Tails

So there's no question about it, we will be welcoming a little boy into the world this summer! He was cooperative during the ultrasound, which made for an amazing experience for his Mom and Dad. With kicking, turning, and thumb sucking we got a glimpse into what our baby boy is up to in there. We are now almost 23 weeks and closing in on 6 months rather quickly. He continues to be active and we are able to feel more and more, which we love. The other day we both jumped when we were watching Katie's belly and saw one of those powerful little soccer kicks. There was one issue found on the ultrasound that we ask for continued prayers about - at the time he had developed mild hydronephrosis, or dilated kidneys. The doctors say that this is more common in boys and usually resolves by birth, but if not it may require surgery afterwards to keep his kidneys functioning properly. He wasn't worried enough to send us to a specialist, but he will be doing another ultrasound at month 7 to check on the progress. At least we get more pictures!

Another big change in our life recently was moving into a bigger apartment to make room for our coming addition. Thank you so much to our family and friends for helping us move! At this point we've been here about a week and things are in much better shape than a week ago, but we still need to hang things on the wall and make it feel like home again.

Quick recap on other areas: Christmas was fantastic as always, allowing us to spend time with all of our family. Our New Years trip to El Paso was fun and let us catch up with family we don't get to see near enough. Chris ran the Houston Half-marathon for the third time, and despite the injuries that have been haunting him, he finished with a good time and more importantly in one piece! Katie took and passed her State Board Exam, so she is officially an RN now. She will start working this month (prayers appreciated). Chris will start the spring soccer season soon, which is something we both look forward to. Until next time, may we be filled with the peace and joy of God...