A Snowy Day

After we were able to lift our heads up for air, we took Caleb outside to play in the snow.  He was far more interested in it than we thought.  Here are some pictures of the fun time in the snow!

Daddy teaching Caleb how to make and throw snowballs-Don't worry the no gloves look didn't last long.

Nice Throw! 

Davis (4 days old) will have to wait until next year to play in the snow. 

Pure Happiness! 

First Snow Angel

The finished product! 

Our Winter Wonderland Backyard 

Our Boys

Here is a little side-by-side picture of two boys.  Can you figure out which one is Caleb and which one is Davis?  It was not until we put these two pictures next to each other that we realized how similar they look.  Can't wait to see how they both grow up, change, and become their own unique boys/men.

A Joyous Day -- Monday, January 31st at 8:05 pm

We are proud to announce Davis John Wenning!! It was such a fun day and we feel so blessed to be trusted by God to raise yet another adorable child!! Since we had been waiting for weeks (Caleb came two weeks early and Julie's body had "begun the process" a few weeks prior), we knew the Lord's hand was in control of the timing. 

Julie was scheduled to have her 40 week appointment and a sonogram at 3:30 on Monday afternoon.  After Craig encouraged her to call the nurse that morning to double check that the "spotting" wasn't something we should be worried about.  The nurse said to keep the appointment and let them know if any contractions begin.  Julie continued about her day-ran errands, went to the gym, played with Caleb, not knowing that she was having contractions the whole time.  The nurse called Julie back and told her to come on in as soon as possible for the doctor to check her.  Julie decided to throw the bag in the car and be prepared to maybe not come back home. 

Julie and Craig made it to the doctor's around 1:45, where we found out that she was 3-4 centimeters.  The doctor gave us a choice to either go down stairs to Labor and Delivery and start the process or to wait and be induced that next morning.  Julie got hooked up to the contraction machine and her contractions were every 6 minutes apart.  Who knew that is what a contraction felt like?  The decision was made clear and we were down stairs and hooked up to everything by 3 pm.  It was around this time that we found out all elective inductions were to be cancelled because of the weather.  Praise the Lord #1!! 

They began the pitocin drip at 4 pm and we were waiting for the doctor to come break her water when it did it on its own at 4:20.  Julie got her epidural at 4:30 when the contractions were beginning to come every 4 minutes.  They slowly increased the pitocin level but there was little dilation.  Everyone had 8 pm as their prediction of when we would have the baby.  Knowing how quickly Caleb came the nurse was ready and checking frequently. 

At 7:49 the nurse said that Julie was ready and not to push at all.  Dr. Tillman came in, suited up, and Julie pushed 1 time starting at 8:05, which is when handsome Davis John was born!!!  He weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 21.25 inches long.  Everyone is very shocked of his huge size, big feet and hands, and his head full of dark hair, and how much he looks just like Caleb.  Praise the Lord #2-Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Our great doctor, Doctor Tillman

The Proud Daddy

Mimi there to see her 6th grandchild being born!

Davis' first visitors-the girls in our Community were meeting tonight and wanted to stop in and before the weather got bad to meet the 11th child in our group!!

The next couple of days were interesting as the weather in Dallas turned horrible-we were snowed into a very safe place. Sad that Caleb didn't get to come up and see his little brother the next day but we managed to make it home safely with a quick hospital visit on Wednesday morning. Praise the Lord #3 for our safety getting home.

Our view from our room

Caleb was able to make it up to the hospital as we were leaving.  He could not have been more excited to meet his little brother.

Caleb is opening his present that Davis brought for him-pretty much the entire pregnancy Caleb called him truck.  We would ask him what is your brother's name and he would say "truck."  We even tried to teach him to say Davis but he would still say "truck."  So it was only appropriate for Davis to give Caleb a blue pick up truck with a trailer, 2 motorcycles, 2 people, and a dog!!!  He loves it and it made him feel so special.

It was a GREAT couple of days with GREAT new beginnings!! Thanks for all your prayers for a safe delivery, safety getting home, and transition to our family of 4!

January 2011

This past month has been fun and very productive as we have wanted to "nest" and prepare for Baby 2!  There have a variety of different kinds of weather that has passed through-one week we were at the zoo with friends and fours days later we were looking at the snow falling to the ground!

My new favorite picture of Mammy making Caleb have the most precious smile on his face at our Christmas Eve dinner.  (This was on the other camera and forgot to upload it before posting the Christmas blog).

On New Year's Eve, we took a family trip to Main Event (we had a $20 game card that expired on 12/31/10) so we thought it would be a fun memory for our little family of 3!  Caleb was a tiny bit overwhelmed with all the lights, sounds, craziness-glad we were the only ones in there at 10 am in morning! 

Daddy teaching Caleb how to roll (and not throw) the Skee Ball

Daddy showing his manly strength...it is amazing how far a $20 game card would go.

Air Hockey

Golfing-someday these two will actually have to hit the real greens

 Balla Skillz

After basketball, Caleb was hooked and didn't want to let go of the ball.

A silly picture of us in the photo booth.  It was a fun couple hour adventure but maybe when Caleb is a little bit older he will enjoy it more.

Trip to the Zoo: Caleb, Mia, and Colton sitting in the jeep on a "safari" as their friend cheetah sits behind a very thin piece of glass enjoying a morning snack! Crazy!

Sweet Colton getting close and personal with his new friend. We will miss you Colton (and Meek family but are praying for the new chapter of your life in Midland).

Yes, Caleb is still enjoying to dress CRAZY!!

We all enjoyed watching the snow fall to the ground and Caleb couldn't wait to go outside to play in it (We had showed him pictures of last year when he built the snowman with Daddy).  But, once we went out in it, Caleb wanted nothing to do with walking in the snow, playing in it, or anything.  Maybe next time. 

Ready to go in and warm up! 

A fun game Daddy and Caleb love to play together-plus Caleb in a precious UT shirt!

Crazy how fast January flew by!

Waiting for Baby

We are so excited to meet the new addition to our family but are really enjoying these last few weeks with Caleb.  The room is ready, the bags are packed, the plans are set (as set as they can be not knowing the day or hour).  Julie's doctor told her that the "process is beginning" (dilation, etc)-So fun!

Caleb is so ready for his brother to arrive that he is obsessed with this baby doll that Mammy is letting us borrow.  He carries him around, sets him on the couch with "baby" type toys, wants to pray for baby (there is a difference in Caleb's baby and Mommy's baby and we pray for both), and our favorite is he will set the baby up and say "Baby, Watch this!" as Caleb runs to do some neat trick.  Caleb also loves seeing babies, pictures of babies, and hearing about when he was a baby.  We have had fun looking at old pictures when he was little and going through his baby book.  Here is a picture of Caleb, the naked baby-he changes clothes often but is typically naked, and a bowl of Christmas decorations Caleb thought were for the baby to play with.  (We pray often that Caleb learns to be gentle with his brother than he is with the baby, as well as being a good big brother, a leader to him, and that they would be great friends).

Here are a few fun pictures of us being silly.  Julie is 37+ weeks! 

Doesn't Julie's belly look fake in this picture? This is a picture of Craig asking her to "look confused with why she is pregnant."

We are so excited to meet this little guy and our loving/cherishing our last few moments with Caleb having our undivided attention!  We will keep you all posted for the any new news.

Baby Sprinkles

A few weeks ago the sweet girls from our Community took Julie out to a yummy dinner at La Duni and they all really enjoyed the quality girl time that was much needed in many of our lives.  Thank you girls for being such a wonderful support to us and our growing family! Y'all are the best!

Julie's amazing Co-Leader of our Sophomore girls, Cori, threw a Baby "Sprinkle" party for us last night.  The girls had a blast making Julie feel small as they stuffed their shirts with balloons, ate baby food, went on a scavenger hunt around the house, created bubble gum babies, took their prediction of the day/weight/name of Baby 2, and prayed of our family and our boys.  Such sweet girls and we are so grateful to have them (and their families in our lives!)



Caleb's Kidney Update

Monday was a long but good day!!  Caleb had a VCUG (Voiding Cystourethrogram is an x-ray examination of the bladder and lower urinary tract by putting a die through a catheter into his bladder and watching the flow). 

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am (with a very empty stomach), at 9 am had a renal sonogram to measure the size of his kidneys, and at 10:15 am had the VCUG (which he was sedated for).  We were finally released at 11:15 am and had time for a quick bite to eat at Brother's Pizza (Caleb's favorite-he would have eaten an entire pizza if we let him but we were told to go slow in giving him food).  Caleb took a quick nap in the car on the way to the urologist for our appointment at 1:00.  We heard a glowing report that he still has an enlarged kidney, but that is something his little body will grow into.  We were told that we could take him off the antibiotic that has helped to reduce urinary tract infections (which he has been on his entire life).  Dr. Strand recommended he stay on the Miralax to keep things flowing until he is potty trained.  He wants to see us in 6 months to double check the progress but this is far better than we expected!!! Praise the Lord!

Caleb was a trooper--there were only a few hard parts in the day: getting the oxygen level from his finger, sitting still for the sonogram, and wearing the mask over his face to receive the sedation.  He fortunately, came out of the anesthesia really well and was incredibly brave despite being hungry, confused, and able to understand a whole lot more than when he was a baby.

Thank you all for continuing to ask for updates, for praying for healing, and for supporting us through this long road.  Again, we just thank the Lord for his provision, comfort, healing, and the medical team that served us.