The Whole Family

This is the first picture we have taken of all 3 of us. The first week has been full of many ups and downs for us with little Callie. She has had some pretty calm days where she struggles to eat and many fussy days where she eats a lot, but does not sleep much during the day. It has been a little stressful on Jennifer and I, but we are hanging in there. Her jaundice is gone and she seems to be eating adequately enough to be gaining weight, so we are thankful for that. This parenting thing sure is fun, but it is not always easy (and we can say that after only having a child for 1 week). Her Gami and Aunt Laura leave tomorrow, so we will be on our own. You can pray for much patience, wisdom, and rest for us.

Heading Home

We brought Callie home from the hospital yesterday. After a nightmare feeding on the first night, everything has been going pretty well. She has a little bit of jaundice on her face and chest, so we are praying that will go away in the next few hours. She is still cute as can be, and we have enjoyed having her in our home. We think she likes being here as well. Here are a few pictures of her:

This is the same outfit that Jennifer came home from the hospital in 27 years ago

She was not happy about being put in her car seat, but the car ride ended up being pretty smooth

A few more pics of the first day

Callie has been great so far. She is spending all of her time in the special care nursery because there was the possibility that she had an infection. (Right now, all signs are pointing to the fact that she does not!) She is hooked up to all kinds of cords and wires and stuff, but she has handled it all pretty well. So she stays up there all the time and we go to see her every 2-3 hours for about an hour each time. She has been so much fun for us already. If everything goes as planned, we will take her home tomorrow (Dec. 26th) night. Here are a few more pictures:

It's A Girl!

Callie Virginia Brooks was born December 24, 2008 at 7:53pm. She weighed 6lbs 11oz and is 19 inches long. This is an early shot of her. You can bet there are more to come.

To the hospital, we go!

At midnight last night, we came to the hospital. Jennifer had contractions every 5 minutes or so for about 10 hours last night. Right now she is on pitocin and has her epidural, so she is trying to sleep through this part of the labor. I tried to take a picture of her to post it on the blog, but she was having none of it. I can't blame her though. Hopefully our next post will be a picture of all three of us.

Pregnancy 39 1/2 weeks

Well, we are hopefully nearing the end. No sign of Baby Brooks yet, but surely not too much longer. This will probably be my last pregnancy picture because if the baby has not come by this time next week, I'll probably not feel too much like posting another picture. We're praying that he/she will come soon. I will more than likely get induced on the 26th if Callie/Cole doesn't come on his/her own.

Christmas Party 2008

We had our annual Christmas Party with students on Saturday night. We got together for desserts, white elephant gift exchange, and watched the movie Elf. It was a good time to get a lot of students around our ministry. One of the best parts of the party is always the holiday sweaters that are worn (you can see some in the pictures). We also have some fun gifts in the white elephant gift exchange. One of the best gifts this year was a box with 4 dead mice in it.

Pregnancy 38 weeks

As promised, I'll continue to do week by week pictures till the end. Hopefully no more than 2 ish weeks to go! At my doctor's appointment on tuesday I found out that the baby has dropped, meaning the head is engaged in my pelvis. Of course anyone's guess is as good as another concerning when Baby Brooks makes his/her appearance.