Visit to the Sunshine State!

Ellie and I went to Florida to visit my sister Ashlei. Ashlei hadn't seen Ellie since she was born, so it had almost been 4 months! Ashlei works at a primate sanctuary called Jungle Friends. It is a place that rescues monkeys and lets them live in a more natural environment. These monkeys are mostly ex-pets, but there are some that come from research labs. It was a great experience to see monkeys and interact with them... even touch them! Ellie definitely was very interested in them. Here is one monkey Jack, that was one of my favorites:

Ashlei had to work while we were there, so whenever she could she would come in and visit with Ellie. Here is a shot I got of Ashlei playing with Ellie (she gets so dirty she put on a robe so Ellie wouldn't get all the dirt on her!):

Ashlei did get a few days off, so we visited St. Augustine. It was a beautiful historic city that we didn't get to see much of since it rained almost the whole time we were there, but the few hours it wasn't raining we headed to the beach right outside the city. Here are some great pics of the family at the beach:




Ellie and I had a great time, we were so glad to see Ashlei! Ellie slept well every night and loved flying (she was asleep the whole time in the air every time)! We hope to get to go back soon!

July 11- 23 years and 3 months!

July 11th was Zach's birthday, as well as the day Ellie turned 3 months old. We celebrated his birthday with a few of our friends. Here are some photos to enjoy:

Madison rocking Ellie... she even got to hold her :)

Singing happy birthday to the birthday boy... I made him cookies

Then he blew out the candles and got the hot wax all over me!

Daniel and Mikel are good friends celebrated with us

Along with John and Kelley our neighbor's (with Daniel and Mikel's little girl Madison)
What great friends and wonderful memories!

Ellie's First Baseball Game

Today we went to the Durham Bulls baseball game. Ellie did so well... she slept at first, then woke up and watched a little baseball. It ended up getting rained out in the 6th inning, but we still had fun :) Here are some pictures from the night:

Finger Lovin'

Ellie is just way too cute to not share these photos of her sucking her thumb while she was sleeping. She loves her hands in her face, so sorry about not being able to see her face...she's still super cute though :)

The New House!

So here are some pictures of our new house, I haven't taken pictures of the living room or kitchen... those will come later.
This first picture is of the hallway to all the bedrooms. The first door on the left is the second bath, then the green room is Ellie's room, next (last door on right) is the office, and then last (first on right) is the master bedroom.

Here is the second bath:

Ellie's nursery:


The office:

The master bedroom:

A year goes by so fast...

This past month has taken us for a whirlwind. We were home for a week for Justin's funeral, which was extremely exhausting, physically and emotionally. We got back to Holly Springs on Friday June 13, just in time for Ellie's doctor appointment and my own doctor's appointment. Ellie weighed in at 11.5 lbs (70 percentile), measured 23 inches long (70 percentile as well), and a head that measured in the 50 percentile (not too big, but not too small :) just right!). Everything looked great! She also got a few vaccines which she had a mild fever from, but otherwise did great! Here's a shot of Ellie with her band-aids from the doctor:

We left that Sunday for Zach's IBM graduation in Washington, D.C.. Zach had classes and such during the day, so Ellie and I just hung out in the hotel or went walking around the city. It was on this trip where she actually slept 8 hours one night and started sleeping 7 hours every night after that. She had her first visit to the White House, on the metro, and to the Capital (well maybe her second visit since she was in my belly in February when we went... I guess this was her first time seeing it). Of course she went many other places, we actually went on a tour Saturday where she got to see all of the monuments and important buildings. Here's a few pictures from the trip:

Oh and I can't forget that Ellie got her first sunburn (just on the top of her cheeks)! Yes, we are terrible parents... I didn't bring sunscreen and I forgot her hat for the tour! So here's the result, terrible but very cute :)We got back from D.C. on Sunday and headed to Winston on Monday for our 1 year anniversary! Zach and I stayed at Graylyn (where we got married) and had a romantic dinner at Fourth Street Filling Station (where the rehearsal dinner took place and many memories while we were dating). My mom took care of Ellie for the whole night! Ellie didn't even cry while we were gone, I guess she didn't miss us :( It wasn't very hard for me to leave her, Zach had a little bit harder time but after she was out of his sight, he barely thought of her! I on the other hand missed her extremely by the morning! It's so fabulous to have some time for just the two of us, especially on our anniversary. I will have to say that I am not surprised it has been a year... it's been one heck of a year. Let me just recap what has happened this past year: first we graduated on May 12, got married on June 23, got pregnant sometime in the beginning of July, started our jobs in July and August, bought a car in November, had Ellie on April 11, moved on May 31, and lastly had a brother pass away on June 8. I hope we won't have this much going on for a very long time all in one year. The Lord has given us strength and sanity and we are praising Him for all that he has given us. We are ready for this next year as a married couple and hoping for many more!
Here's Graylyn a year after we tied the knot... looks empty...
We also were sad because we couldn't get the room we stayed in our wedding night...

Now we are finally back at home, got back June 25... gone for 17 days! It is so good to finally be back into our new house (which we have only been in 1 out of the past 3 weeks)! We did buy new couches in IKEA on the way home from Washington. We are excited to have something to sit on finally. I'll try to take some pictures of the house and post them now that we finally are home. Look for them soon :)

When Sorrow Like Sea Billows Roll

This is the blog you never expect to write. There are few words that accurately explain the emotions my family feels right now but after a few days I have come to terms with the reality of God's plan and wanted to share this with those who read about our lives.

On Sunday morning I was notified that my brother had committed suicide by hanging himself. The pain pierces deep into your soul. It is a sad reality that always seems to happen to "other people."(This is a picture of Justin)

The grieving process is difficult because emotions seem to change so rapidly, sadness and sorrow quickly turn into resentment and self loathing, anger to depression, and confusing to frustration. Perhaps the most difficult part of this situation is that there are so many questions that will not and cannot ever be answered. We have cried many tears, we have hugged many friends and family member and we have sought to understand this situation as best as we can.

Laura and I are so thankful for our friends and family that have supported us and we firmly believe the peace we are experiencing right now is a direct result of the prayers on our behalf from people like David Baber, Danny Franks, Bobby Farr, and many others. These prayers and condolences helped set our perspective early and encouraged us to pursue God and cherish Christ rather than allow this to drive us into isolation and sorrow.

It seems that the sudden tragedies are the ones that hurt the most. While I have been going through this I wanted to use this event to make a few points and give words of encouragement to anyone who reads this blog.

1) Don't waste the death of a loved one by taking comfort only in each other and not in God. Entrust your souls and your comfort to a loving God who Hebrews tells us we can approach with confidence to receive mercy to help in a time of need. (Heb. 4:16)

2) Don't waste the death of a loved one by refusing to think about your own mortality. Psalm 90:12 tells us to number our days so that we may get a heart of wisdom. How sweet a face-to-face meeting with the creator of the universe will be, we should meditate on the glories of that day.

3) You will waste the death of a loved one if you don’t understand that it is on the very edge of what appears to be a curse that we receive God’s greatest gifts. That we have peace and comfort and salvation and joy not just in troubled times but for eternity because one man accepted a curse on our behalf.

4) The manifestation of sin is different in each of our lives believer and non-believer a like, but the reality is that apart from Christ, in this world or the next, we face a dark, lonely, desperate situation. The idea of eternal death is not scary because of what we might encounter but rather it is terrifying because of what we won’t encounter. Apart from Christ death is a spiritual separation from God and there is nothing more sorrowful than that.

5) Take opportunities like these to renew ties with friends and family, if we loose a loved one and don't value the relationships we have more, what have we learned?

6) Understand God loves us and has a plan for us but we are sinful and separated from Him. Gods word tells us that we have all sinned, whether it is the little white lie or the blatant active rebellion and the wages of those sins is death. This death is not merely physical death that we will all encounter one day but a spiritual death. Spiritual death is eternity remaining separated from God, there is no pain or suffering imaginable worse than existence in a world absent of God.

7) Understand that as God love you so much that he doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves, he doesn’t leave us to try and be holy. You see, our sins place a divide between us and God so great that no man can cross it but he has provided a way through his son Jesus. God sent Jesus to live a perfect, holy, blameless, selfless, righteous life on this earth and then having no sin Christ gave himself as a suitable sacrifice to God for our sin.

8) Understand that there is hope and peace and grace and mercy in Christ and that by placing faith in him as payment to God for our sins then you too can experience those things.

9) Understand that by individually placing you faith in Christ you can stand before a dead loved one and savor 1 Corith. 15 when it says O death, where is your victory, O grave, where is your sting? This is something Horatio Spattford understood when he wrote the hymn, It is Well With My Soul...


When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul

We have moved!

We are finally in a house! We moved on May 31st into a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house! It definitely has been tough moving with a little baby, but it is done! I will post pictures of the house as soon as it is decent enough to take pictures of. We are pleased with it, although we have had to do some small repairs. Kayla absolutely loves having a yard and being able to roam around our neighbors' yards.

So an update with Ellie... she is now 8 weeks old! She will be two months old June 11th, it seems like it has flown by so fast! Her 2 month check up is on Tuesday, I'm looking forward to seeing how much she weighs and measures... I'll definitely post that as soon as I can! So Ellie definitely smiles now and has been a lot more interested in her surroundings. I have a few videos of her that I thought I would share:

This first one is of her on her play mat, she is extremely fascinated with the musical star light.



These next two include Ellie smiling:

Cute as a button :)

Ellie is now 6 weeks old! She is definitely more aware of her environment and she loves to look around. She still is keeping mom and dad up at night, but we are excited that she has dropped her 2am feeding the past two nights... going 5 hours between the 11pm feeding and the 4am feeding, which means we get to sleep 4 hours straight! It's crazy how excited you get about sleeping only four hours.

This past week I went home for a few days to spend some quality time with my mom, especially since she hasn't stayed with us at all since Ellie was born. It was so nice to get some help from her, and I know she loved spending some time with Ellie. The picture to the left shows Kayla looking after Ellie on the drive to Winston, what a fabulous dog we have!
We went to a boutique baby store in Winston-Salem called Gazoodles and purchased a little pink bow. I just had to get on here to post a picture of her in it. She is just too cute... nobody better ask us now if she is a boy or girl!

P.S. I created a new album on facebook, you can go to it using this url: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2199121&l=fe33f&id=11802813
I also updated the album with some new photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196073&l=41bbb&id=11802813

Ellie Action

Today Ellie went to her first wedding! Our friends Andrew Felton and Melissa Roberson exchanged vows in Rocky Mount, NC. It was such a beautiful wedding on a perfect day! Although we had a rough night last night (Ellie woke up at 3am and didn't want to go back to sleep... we even tried the vacuum but it didn't last long), we enjoyed getting to see our friends. We didn't take any pictures (I know we are terrible!), but to make up for it here are a few videos we have taken of Ellie that I thought some of you might enjoy seeing, especially those who don't get to see her much!
This first video is of Zach with Ellie at 2 weeks:


The video below is just of her doing some mouth action at 4 weeks:


Here is Ellie with the hiccups:



Also for those that haven't seen pictures, I have a few albums on facebook that anyone can see by following these links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2189960&l=65e8a&id=11802813
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196073&l=41bbb&id=11802813

Why "Marriage" Matters

Today it was released that the California State Supreme Court ruled in favor to strike down Proposition 22 which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

As discussed below, upon review of the numerous California decisions that have examined the underlying bases and significance of the constitutional right to marry, we conclude that, under this state’s Constitution, the constitutionally based right to marry properly must be understood to encompass the core set of basic substantive legal rights and attributes traditionally associated with marriage that are so integral to an individual’s liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the Legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process. These core substantive rights include, most fundamentally, the opportunity of an individual to establish — with the person with whom the individual has chosen to share his or her life — an officially recognized and protected family possessing mutual rights and responsibilities and entitled to the same respect and dignity accorded a union traditionally designated as marriage.
- California Supreme Court Chief Justice J. Kennard

At the risk of sounding like a religiously political zealot I think the issue is important enough to elicit a response from my family. This response was greatly formed by texts, sermons, and interviews of J.D. Greear, Robert P. George, Al Mohler, and Norman Geisler.

It is import to clearly understand both the legal extent of the ruling as well as its broader implications.

First, this ruling states that it is an individuals fundamental human right to establish an officially recognized and protected family with the same rights as traditionally married couples and families. The ruling does NOT attempt to define or restrict that family in any way but rather states that an individuals sexual preference should be considered, along with race, nationality, and gender, a suspect classification eliciting explicit protection.

Second, this ruling does NOT state how this "officially recognized and protected family" should be classified (i.e. Homosexual "marriage" as Marriage or Civil Union).

Therefore, if there is not an appeal within 30 days, San Fransisco County California will have to start issuing marriage license to non-traditional couples. The overall spirit of the ruling is to protect and ensure equal benefits (e.g. tax status, medical/insurance claims, etc.) typically limited to traditional marriages to individuals who desire non-traditional marriages.

There are numerous concerns with not only this ruling but rulings of this nature. I CANNOT stress enough my desire to represent the gospel by showing respect and love to individuals who would benefit from this ruling BUT I have so many concerns, both religious and pragmatic, with this decision.

Let me say this: from a Christian perspective the benefits of marriage are inherent in the covenant its self not in financial or legal standing granted by the State therefore I am in total support of granting those same State issued benefits to every individual. To clarify, I mean that the virtue of marriage is that it honors God, represents our relationship with Christ, and facilitates ministry by defining roles and responsibilities based on the natural ordering of society. A Christian marries for these purposes not legal or financial standing so it would be inconsistent with our faith to try to limit the classification of marriage for these purposes.

My concerns:

First, marriage in every state is regulated. Many states restrict the marrying of close relatives or even the marriage of those people with certain STD's. My point is that I think it is extremely irresponsible of the California court to not be more specific with its definition of "officially recognized and protected family." The implication of making undefined sexual orientation a suspect classification and fundamental right means that the government has to present an extremely convincing argument or compelling evidence in order to make any regulatory changes or restrictions to any associated fundamental right. Whose to say my sexual orientation can't include partnering with multiple partners?

Second, the implications of this decision are far reaching. Beyond the court room and even beyond California we will see effects this decision if it is not countered. As stated by Maggie Gallagher, culture consists of words and ideas and images and categories. By broadening the definition of "marriage" to an undefined point so as to avoid the appearance of condoning a relatively new social impropriety is actually infringing on the ability of traditional parents to educate their children as to what Biblical marriage looks like. Our ability is not gone but our word will soon be taken because we won't be able to compete with the definition society is giving them. The definition of husband will no longer mean what it has traditional meant, a wife will no longer be a wife, a mother a mother, a father a father, or parents parents. These words will mean new things. Words are important, the world can change or not because of words.

Third, by elevating sexual orientation to the status of suspect classification, those who hold a traditional view of marriage are placed on the same level as hate mongers, racists, and xenophobes. Homosexuality, until the 20th century with the exception of specific Roman and Greek instances, has been considered a social perversion. With the advent of organizations like the ACLU and individuals like Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennet, and Richard Dawkins who fight for "individuals rights" have eroded away social structure to the point that those holding traditional, conservative, Biblical views are not expressing individual opinions but promulgating inferior, archaic, and morally inferior beliefs. The have not added to the progression of society but rather its digression.

Fourth, I agree completely with the courts dissenting opinion that the majorities opinion is founded upon rationale that has questionable constitutionality. A major piece of the reasoning for the courts decision is based on the current status of gays and lesbians as well as the Legislature's trend in passing more progressive civil rights protections and thereby in effect, "
the majority gives the Legislature indirectly power that body does not directly possess to amend the Constitution and repeal an initiative statute" (J. Baxter, Associate Justice California Supreme Court Justice). Further, "the People, directly or through their elected representatives, have every right to adopt laws abrogating the historic understanding that civil marriage is between a man and a woman." The ruling equates to a judicial fiat justified by a quickly changing society.

Finally, the government needs traditional families because these families produce what is needed for gov't to properly function - "upright, decent people who make honest, law-abiding, public-spirited citizens" (Robert P. George, "First Things", Jan. 08). No marriage is perfect, not even Christian marriage. In fact Christians who marry are exactly as likely to get divorced as non-Christians in America but children are well nourished spiritually, emotionally, and physically under the care of a mother and father. When these traditional families fail to form both parent and child often become unstable. Absentee father become a serious problem, out-of-wedlock births become more frequent, and many other well documented social pathologies follow including an inability to form emotional connections, inability to maintain monogamous relationships, disrespect of authority, and apathy towards expected responsibilities.

I value the collision of varying ideas and perspectives because it facilitates vigorous debate about important issues, however, as Isaiah Berlin thought, the person is dynamic blend of body, mind, and spirit. The ability to only spiritually and emotionally come together does not represent a complete unity of persons. Marriage represents this unity and can only be accomplished by one man and one woman because it is founded upon physical oneness that is procreative in nature, regardless of effect, and facilitates the unification of rest of the persons into "one flesh."

Legislating against "gay marriage" will neither alleviate homosexuality nor the joining of homosexuals couples in a marriage-like relationship and we shouldn't expect it to. Legislating against "gay marriage" will however sustain the value of that traditional view which has been the central unit of family for thousands of years for future generations.

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We Survived the First Month!

The days seem so long but it goes by so fast! Ellie is now 4.5 weeks old... it seems this first month has just flown by! There have been many ups and downs along the way... here is what the past month has entailed:
Ellie came home on Sunday April 13 and it is amazing how much has changed since then. Babies are so sleepy at first, so all she did was eat and sleep. I am breastfeeding her and the first week was a huge struggle given the fact that I am a new mom and I had extremely sore nipples from the hospital. Breastfeeding has been one of the most difficult parts of being a new mom (that and no sleep!) and I can definitely see why so many women give up on it so quickly! Your body is recovering from such a traumatic experience and you have to wake up every few hours to feed and have no clue how to do it right! All the books and videos only can guide you, but I felt like I read it all and watched the best videos and still had a lot to learn... I guess you just have to learn through experience.
Ellie had her first trip to the doctor Monday April 14 where she weighed 6 lbs. and 13.5 ounces... the doctor was content with the weight loss (they don't want your baby to lose more than 7% of their birth weight) and everything else was perfectly healthy! She did look a little jaundice, but the doctors weren't concerned... only me! This doctor visit outing was quite an experience though, Ellie got hungry during the visit because we had to wait quite a long time for the doctor. So I began to feed her while we in the doctor's office, which then was followed by 3 poopy diapers within 30 minutes! We went through so many diapers, luckily I had enough with us! Everybody told us we would be going through a lot of diapers, but I guess you don't realize what that actually means until you have your first baby!
So we had our next check up at 2 weeks on April 25... this visit didn't go as well. First it started with Ellie pooping all over Zach, the floor and I. Then we learned that Ellie was not back up to her birth weight, but instead weighed in at 7 lbs. 3.5 oz. The doctor didn't pressure to supplement then but said by next week if she hadn't gained enough, we would need to go that route. This put a tremendous amount of pressure on me since I am the one providing the milk and feeding her! I had thought breastfeeding had been going so well then (my nipples had healed, she was having plenty of wet diapers and we had a good latch!). They suggested that I try to nurse longer on each side to be sure she was getting the hind milk that makes her gain weight. Everything else looked good though, she was in the 50 percentiles (which means right at average) on her height and head circumference, but she was only in the 14 percentile (which means 96% weigh more than her) for weight since she was still low.
The next day we headed for a long day trip to see my great grandpa, PawPaw Keller. PawPaw is now 98 years old and is not in very good health so we wanted to make sure he could meet Ellie asap. He lives in Hickory, and we picked up my parents and my grandma along the way, so this was a very long day. It is very hard to travel with a newborn since they feed every 2-3 hours... so this was a very challenging task. You cannot feed her while driving since she must be in a car seat, so we had to plan everything out. On top of the challenge of making sure she was fed enough, the feedings were not going well at all that day. Ellie wouldn't go more than 5 minutes on each side, and the doctor had just told us to try to get her to go 15 minutes on each side! This stressed me out tremendously because I was trying to get her to gain weight, not lose it! I learned a lesson though, next time I definitely will wait to travel on a long trip if I can for the next baby until 4 weeks! But this was such a special moment, one that we will cherish for a long time... we had 5 generations together! (My great grandpa, my grandma, my dad, me and Ellie!) I definitely wouldn't give that up especially since it is so rare!
Well the next day (Sunday), nursing was not any better. I basically cried all day because I felt like nursing was failing. Ellie started clamping down and I was starting to have pain again in my nipples. I decided on Monday to call a lactation consultant to come out and help me. I did not want to give up on breastfeeding! I knew this was the best for her and the cheapest for us, so I was very determined! I definitely made the right decision because the consultant weighed her and she was already back at her birth weight, which took a huge amount of pressure off of me, and she seemed to be getting enough milk even though she wasn't staying on very long. Now the other problems with her clamping and my pain we weren't too sure about. There was nothing she could tell that was wrong with Ellie's tongue or mouth, and my latch looked good. So she left and decided just to make sure we have a good latch and that we could see some specialist to relax Ellie's jaw to prevent the clamping. The nursing did improve... and I felt oh so much better.
That week had many ups and downs with nursing, I started having this burning sensation after I fed when I felt cold. I talked to the lactation consultant about some symptoms I had and she thought I could have Raynauds' syndrome. Now after looking this syndrome up online and experiencing the symptoms for a few weeks, I am almost positive I do have it. It is not very painful, so I will continue to breastfeed... but it is something that makes nursing not very enjoyable. I will discuss with my doctor this coming Friday about possible treatments that will hopefully take the pain away. Pray that we will find one that works!
Since Ellie did not weigh enough at her 2 week visit, we went back in when she was 3 weeks to check her weight again. This time she weight 8 lbs. 3/4 oz!!! She had gained over 12 oz. in one week (they only expect babies to gain 1/2 to 1 oz per day). I was so excited and so relieved! It was definitely an answer to prayer, so there won't be another doctor's visit until she's 2 months.
So enough about all this medical stuff, Ellie is just beautiful and is awake a lot more! She still keeps us up every 3-4 hours at night, but I guess this is to be expected. Zach and I feel so blessed by this little one, she truly is a gift from God. Our wedding photographer, Abigail Seymour took some amazing pictures of her last Tuesday (May 6th). You can look at these pictures online by going to http://www.abigailseymour.com/pickpic/gallery/jump.php

and click on Ellie's album then use the password, Hamilton, to view it. It is so wonderful that I can have such beautiful pictures of her at this age.
So we have survived this first month! Being a mom is definitely harder than what Zach and I ever thought it would be (it's even up next to teaching!). Getting married you learn how selfish you are, but you can still get your way and not sacrifice much... but becoming a mom you realize even more how selfish you are, and this time you don't have an option... you must sacrifice almost everything! Moms don't get sleep, they have to do oh so much while recovering, you no longer get to choose when you can eat, shower, read, relax, clean, etc. You always have someone to think about above yourself! Even though this is extremely difficult to come to grips with, it is something that I am so thankful I get to realize and to learn. The Lord is making me a better person by becoming a mom, plus I get such a beautiful daughter to go along with it! I would definitely recommend to all newlyweds to wait a year before getting pregnant, but there's only so much you can do! I would never take back having Ellie, but this has proven to be the most challenging life experience so far. Getting married and having a baby all in the same year is tremendous emotionally, enjoy that first year just as a couple and enjoy your pre-pregnancy body! So much changes after having a baby and most of it is good, but there's just no need to rush each phase of life. Oh but I can't end with that... I have to end with something positive... even though this has been such a challenging time, I don't think I've felt so much love and joy! I don't even know this little person, but I would sacrifice anything and everything for her! This is definitely one of the best experiences of my life and I wouldn't trade her for anything! I mean look how beautiful she is:

The Life of a Baby Human...the Ellie Baker Story

There were bodily fluids everywhere, it was gushing from my wife while she screamed in pain...nah, thats not what happened but our beautiful daughter, Ellie Baker, was born 7lbs. 7oz. at 11:04am on April 11th.

Earlier that morning, around 1:30am, Laura's water broke which was great because we didn't have to deal with second guessing about false labor and the authenticity of her contractions. After a brief conversation with the doctor and verification that her water had indeed broken we took our showers and drove to Rex Hospital around 3:00am. Laura was in full champ mode at this point because her contractions were increasing in intensity and were sustained at about 2-3 minutes apart. This trend continued until about 6:00am when she got the epidural. I think this is an appropriate time to personally advocate that most every woman get one, the epidural totally changed the dynamic of our labor experience for the better. Laura was able to focus and rest before pushing, not to mention she didn't have to feel the contractions she was having every other minute.

At around 8:00am Laura was 3cm dilated, at 9:00am she was 9.5cm dilated. We were finally able to start pushing at 9:30. For one hour and thirty-four minutes Laura pushed on every contraction until Ellie Baker was born at 11:04am. It was a sight to see, going through labor is a laudable experience but Laura surpassed all performance expectations you could have for a rookie. If she were a lesser woman we might still be in the delivery room but alas, I married a woman of great perseverance.

At 4 days old EB is sleeping well, nursing well, and pooping well. She also received a clean bill of health at her first doctor visit. When she isn't sleeping she is normally getting her diaper changed, getting wrapped up like a human burrito, or getting her favorite book, The Age of Revolution, the History of English Speaking Peoples, by Winston Churchill read to her. We have had a ton of support from our family, friends, small group, and co-workers, we truly thank all of you.

Dancing EB! - 39 weeks

Here is a video we took that somewhat shows how active little EB is! You can see her foot going across my stomach, but she is moving a lot more than you can tell in the video. Enjoy!

A Swiss Chard & Liberation Through Love

Here is the latest BabyCenter.com e-mail update on EB's development:

Congratulations! Your baby is full-term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. He weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

Can anyone tell me what the heck a swiss chard is? And why would they choose it as a size reference?

The questionable choice of a swiss chard as a size reference is not whats on my mind, though that is surely an interesting conversation that im sure will take place later. After talking with the man who has absolutely most influenced my life for the better I thought I would pass on the long and short of our conversation.

Understanding the love of God is not always an easy thing. Scripture and history tell us that Christ died a terrible death for mankind but rarely does that knowledge really change our lives, rarely does that knowledge help us understand the depth of the Fathers love. After talking with a Giant of a Man today I am anticipating the arrival of my daughter more than ever.

Today, Daniel Bass, explained to me how the first year of parenthood has been instrumental in helping him get his head and heart around the love God has for us. Apparently he has experience what appears to be an endless amount of patients, grace, and love directed towards his daughter. Everyday she becomes more clearly rebellious yet Daniel is not upset at her. Her selfish and sinful nature can be seen in a lot of what she does yet no matter how many times he has to discipline her he does not cease to love her more. How many times have we felt that God is disappointed in us or if we were God we would be pissed at people like us because we continue to make the same mistakes?

No one is under the delusion that Daniel will raise his daughter through adolescents and not be frustrated or disappointed in her but right now he is able to experience the closest thing to what we are told God feels for us.

With that being said, the anticipation of being a father is ever greater because I hope that I can experience what Daniel has. Imagine how drastically different our lives would be if we all understood the depth and breadth of God's love for us? If we really understood and believed that God isn't ashamed of us know matter what we do then we would be liberated to share the Gospel no matter how hypocritical it felt, to truly approach the thrown of Grace with confidence, and to love others knowing how undeserving we are of the love God has given us.

We are more flawed and sinful than we ever dared believe, yet we are more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope at the same time.

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3 weeks to go...hopefully!

I am now 37 weeks pregnant! It is hard to believe 9 months have gone by and our little girl is about to enter the world. We have had a lot going on this past month.... showers, birth class, birthdays, and holidays. I have felt so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends surrounding us and supporting us. We have gotten everything we need and then some, and still have another shower to go! Here is a picture of my hosts and I at my first shower:(from left to right: Mikel Bass, Anna Pepper, Me, and Kelley Eanes)

We did have a little bump in the road about 3 weeks ago when the doctor thought I was measuring too small. We did an ultrasound to check if everything was ok, and everything was PERFECT! I was exactly on my due date and EB was measuring in the 48 percentile (which means she is right at average size). Everything has been perfect since then. I have been feeling great and am still going strong at work. I will definitely be working this last week of March and then have spring break. We are hoping EB will come a little early during that first week of April, but if not I might go back to work one last week before the due date. It all depends on how I feel. We are extremely excited and getting anxious to see her little face. We will let you all know whenever something happens :)

Here's some picture we took on Easter (today) that show my HUGE belly: