sorry...

To all of my adoring fans...
(Ok, so in reality I'm probably really only talking to various women of my family... anyway...)

I apologize for the large lapse in posting over the last 10 days or so. We've been really busy with repeatedly attempting to get Target to change our shipping address. I'm not sure why there is so much confusion on their end. They seem to have communication problems between their Registry department and their Online Orders department. Even after confirming that they had our correct shipping address, we've still had several packages shipped to our old apartment. Anyway, hopefully they will get their act together soon...

Our parents are coming to town this weekend for a shower at the church. We are really excited about seeing our parents. I have not seen my parents since Christmas. I have not seen Valerie's parents since Hilary's wedding in January. Neither parents have really seen the "Pregnant Valerie." We are also excited to be able to house them in our second bedroom!

I am also preaching this Sunday. It's going to be on Joshua 1:1-9. As usual, I'm having a small issue with writer's block at the moment. I hope this resolves soon. Please pray for me and the ministry of proclaiming God's word.

william's heart...

Several months ago on one of our first sonograms, a small bright spot appeared on William's heart. Over the weeks, the bright spot persisted. Earlier today, we went to see a different doctor to get William checked out. (Our doctor has only a half million dollar sonogram machine, whereas this other doctor has a million dollar machine, so he'd be able to tell us more.)

After meeting with this doctor, this is what we've learned. William appears to be completely intact and fully developed. There are no structural abnormalities, e.g., no spina bifida or holes in the heart. He also measures well.

The bright spot appears to only be a small deposit of calcium in the heart tissue. If the doctor had seen it 12 weeks ago, he would have doubled whatever chance of Down Syndrome we had. But the blood screen we had 12 weeks ago came back normal. Also, the 12 weeks of development since then also shows that William is not exhibiting any characteristics of Down Syndrome.

To all appearances and with the best of abilities, William is a perfectly healthy boy.

playing with Will's snugli...

I think that I'm really gonna like this snugli do-hicky. Since William is not quite ready for a ride yet, Valerie strapped a teddy bear in for a test drive.

virtual shower...

We would like to thank everyone who has participated in the virtual shower so far. We are sorry that the invitations arrived late for y'all in the East. Above is a picture of Valerie answering the phone at the beginning of the shower!

Below is a picture of all of the shower gifts we have received so far! Thank you everyone!

William's Finished Crib...

Jeff spent this afternoon putting together Will's crib! It is very pretty. It looks even prettier than it did in the store. He had it finished by the time I got home from work...yippee...just in time for me to put all the bedding on. It's a little wrinkled, but I was not in the mood for ironing:-( Maybe some of the wrinkles will fall out over the next several weeks.

Inside the crib are Little Will's first friends. Mema gave us the Braveheart so Will will have one just like his daddy! The Pooh Bear was a gift that we got Paige and she decided to let Will have it since she is a big girl now. Then there is a little Husker Beanie to get Will started out on the right foot. Go Huskers! The little lamb was a Christmas gift!

Valerie is excited to have a start on Will's room and can't wait to open more packages tomorrow during our virtual shower. Thank you Aunt Michelle, Aunt Hilary, Aunt Ashley, and Cousin Sierra for throwing us this shower.

new place to snooze...

Our new futon arrived today. It is the official piece of furniture for Grandma and Mema and the other distinguished guests that will spend the night with us.

Unfortunately, the mattress came from the factory this morning with some grease spots on it. The factory is going to replace it for us.

William's Crib...

Thank you Grand Ma and Aunt Michelle for my new crib! Thank you Mema and Aunt Julie for by blanket and bedding!

Now if Daddy will just put it together...

Baby news...

We went to the doctor. Everything is going okay, I suppose. The doc still sees a tiny bright spot on William's heart in the sonograms. We are going to see a specialist just to get it checked out. Our doctors says that she has seen a lot of this recently, but none of it has turned out to be anything. So, we are not too concerned about it at the moment.

It'll just cost us a little bit more money and another trip to the doctor's office. But at least this way we'll get peace of mind and another sonogram.

Hot Mama, part trois...

Val looked so cute last night. I had to take a picture of her. Plus you can really tell that William is in there!

Lil' Will is sleepy...

Little William was sleepy this morning. We snapped this sonogram right as he was rubbing his eyes.

Currently, William is breeched. He has still got some time to turn. But, it would be just as well if he were to stay breeched. Of course, Val would have to have a C-section, but this way she'd only have to take one trip to the hospital. (Val has a cyst that has to be removed and they'd be able to remove it at the same time as the delivery.)

Pork: the other white meat...

Today is my birthday! Valerie bought pork chops for us to have for supper. And I cooked a perfect pork chop!

I even got the diamond pattern! I'm totally stoked about it.

Lovey Dovey...

Here is a picture of us from our rescheduled Valentine's Banquet at church.