K in LA

K is on the ride down to LA (Lower Alabama). It was a good trip. She slept for about six out of the seven or so hours we were on the road.

K is hanging out on Grandmom's couch. She was glad to get here and she is always glad to get spoiled by both sets of her grandparents.

Here K is meeting her Great Grandma Woerner. She was getting a little sleepy.

Grandpa Woerner enjoyed meeting K. She liked him.

Here is where K and daddy were up to no good. We were watching the foundation for Grandad and Grandmom's new home being poured. We had to do something! Perfectly good cement going untouched. Not with us around!

K and I decided she would see what walking in cement felt like. She did not like the feel of the cement on her feet, but she enjoyed the fact that she was out of the brace for a few minutes so we could make our mark and not mess up her brace.

Here is K with Kat. Kat got married to Brent today. Kat is Christa's best friend from high school and this is the first time that Kat has gotten to meet K and hold her.

Now there are some good looking women!

Here is Kat with us right before the wedding.

Here K is hanging out at the reception in Kat's parent's back yard. It was a beautiful wedding in the church and a beautiful reception on the water. K seemed to like the live Jimmy Buffet music at the reception. I also got to show K boats for the first time. She liked them! I am so glad. Now maybe we can convince mommy to get me one.

Here is Grandmom showing K off to everyone. So cute!

Last but not least, the two most beautiful women ever. What a great way to end this post.

The Queen of Our Hearts

When she is a little older we won't let her wear things of this nature, but I figure she is too cute why not now? If you can't read it it says: "I'm the princess we'll do things my way." Obviously, not a philosophy we hold to, but one that we could not pass up. All joking aside, today has been a pretty rough day. Actually, that would be quite an understatement. I took off from school with the thought that if they put K back in a brace I did not want to miss an opportunity to hold her. I am very glad that I did this because she now has a new one to wear. We were able to give her a bath which was really needed. Sometimes it just seems like when one door closes another one opens only to show another closed door. Have you ever felt like that? I love this little girl and I would never trade her for anyone else in the world, but sometimes I hurt for her because I know that this will set her back in some ways. Please just pray for us because this has been really difficult and I know that it will continue to be hard.

Back from Shriner's

We went today and they checked out K's hip. It seems to not have gotten any better over the past two weeks so her treatment continues. The hip is sitting in socket, but it is shallow (not that I know much if anything about what that means). K does not have to be in the Pavlic Harness anymore, she is now in a Rhino Cruiser. I don't know if there is much difference for her other than she cannot move her legs in it as much, but there are no straps going over her shoulders with this brace.

This brace is much more fixed and is three straps with foam to hold K's legs and the back of it is a plastic cast. It comes off for diaper changes and baths, but that is it. She has to be in this one all the time as well. :(

My mom told me a long time ago that if I did not have anything good to say, then do not say anything at all. So, I guess I will not say anything other than God is good all the time. Even when we have hard situations He gives us the strenght to make it through the situation. Christa and I saw today how good we have it in compairision to so many others. We also saw that K could have much worse things going on in her life than what is taking place and will take place. We are so thankful for her and for all of those who are praying for us and her through this situation. Please keep praying for us. Today has been rough and it seems like it will be a rough three weeks. Thankfully we have a great God, a great church, a great family, great friends and a beautiful girl to help us get through.

A Day in the Life of...

Here is a picture of K in her beautiful bonnet. As you can see, she is not one for putting a hat on to go outside. I think this picture definitely shows off her beautiful blues eyes. She is sitting beside me right now just talking my ear off. She has begun to squeal and she hasn't stopped since she has been awake. I don't know what is so exciting, but she can't contain herself.
Here is Aunt Amy saying good-bye to K. Don't worry Aunt Amy, we will be down to visit in a few days and then this summer we will spend time with all of you! Can't wait:)
Here K is talking to Pooh. She was also petting him on the nose and smiling at him. This was a very cute present given to her by one of my students from last semester. That makes it a very special gift for me. K is a blessing to me in so many ways and I hope that all of you get a chance to meet her soon. We will be going back to the Shriner's on Tuesday to have her hip stressed and to see if she can come out of the brace. Please pray that this will happen because I really want to have her out of it so that she can put on some of those adorable clothes!

Bye Aunt Amy

Well, Aunt Amy had to leave us today. She had to get home and see a friend who is going through a hard time right now. We have really enjoyed having her here and we know that it will be hard for Aunt Amy to adjust to no longer having this wonderful baby all of the time. We will be going down to Alabama next weekend for a wedding and so Aunt Amy will be able to see her for a little bit. We go to the doctor on Tuesday and if everything is good she will be able to be out of the brace! Please pray that everything will go well for this. K also had her shots yesterday and she is running a low fever today. Other than that, she is doing very well. She is pushing 12 pounds and we are not sure as to her length because they cannot measure her with the brace on.

Peek a Boo

Here is K playing a round of peek-a-boo with mommy. She is beginning to use her hand to pull down the cloth that we put over her face. She is laughing like crazy under that sheet. What a fun time we have.
Here you see daddy and K cooking dinner. Nate had her on his back for a little while and she enjoyed just looking at the world from a different perspective. Later Nate turned her around and she watched him cook supper. Fun stuff.

My Wonderful Mother's Day

Here is a picture of my wonderful Mother's Day presents. The rocking horse frame was given to me by K and it has a picture of her in the hospital with her grandmom. The rose was given to me by Nate. It is a real rose that was captured in gold so that it will last forever. Talk about a wonderful Mother's Day.
Did he do good or what?
Here is mommy with her chubby cheeked daughter. How squishy!

A Video of K

On K's four month birthday, it is worthwhile providing a clip of K having a great time with her daddy and her rattle. Just so you know, the look is one of excitement.

Click Here

Unfortunatley, it is posted on Geocities and they have a transfer limit that makes it stop playing if it is viewed over a certain ammount of times during a certain period of time. So please do not play it multiple times. If you would like, we can e-mail it to you if you would like a copy. Just post a comment and we will get it to you.

A Beautiful Mom

Well, K and I are blessed to have such a wonderful woman in our lives. Christa is an incredible mom and a wonderful wife. We don't have many family pictures, so we went ahead and had aunt Amy take some. Here are a few for our moms. Happy Mothers Day!


Christa told me I needed to put this picture in the post. It is windy here today, so K's bib flew up in her face while we were in the middle of our photo shoot. Darn wind. What was funny was that she started talking to her bib when it was in her face. She is such a friendly little girl.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

If people would have told me what it means to be a mother I don't think I could have truly understood. It wasn't until I held this precious gift in my arms on that first day that I realized what an amazing thing it means to be a mother. I love my mom more than anything, and I am beginning to understand the choices she made for me and the reason why she cried at my wedding. K is a gift that I could never thank God enough for. Her smile and her beautiful eyes just make my heart melt. I have a few pictures to share with you that only show part of the amazing journey we are on. This was my first Mother's Day and it was the best. Just sitting here thinking of the many things I wanted for K's life, it does show me that God's ways and my ways are not the same at times. I had wanted to teach my daughter to play the piano and yet she has already taught me what it means to love. Playing the piano is a dream, but the love I have for this little girl is so much more important than playing a piano. We will do it and I know that we will love our own way of playing, but that isn't what I desire. I desire a relationship with my daughter that will last for an eternity. Pastor Ross talked today about making a lasting impression on our children and that really struck me. I want my daughter to be with me in heaven and I want her to be able to look at me and see what she means to me. My mother was an example of a godly woman and I know that I have a lifetime to go, but I want to do that for myself and K.
K has so many things about her that I love. She talks to me and smiles at me and sometimes I can even get her to laugh at my stupidity. That certainly doesn't take much.
For all of you that are mothers, Happy Mother's Day! Those of you that aren't, I hope you are blessed some day with a little girl or little boy that is as beautiful as K. Inside and outside I mean. Being a parent is the best thing I have ever done in my life.

Moments to Cherish

Here is a picture of my little angel. The bib truly says it all. She has the most beautiful eyes don't you think?
We went shopping yesterday in Anderson and daddy walked around with K in this contraption. She got to see Sam's Club from a different perspective. She enjoyed herself in it. I think she also liked being so close to daddy.
Just a cute picture for all of you.

Update

The pic above is from Saturday at a Sunday School cookout. K enjoyed Mrs. Wilson's company so much that she even took a nap on her. We all had a great time.

Well, K's hip is slowly getting better. We have to go back again next week to have her harness adjusted and then the week after to get her out of her harness and then stress the hip while giving an ultrasound. If the hip handles the stress well, we will be done with the harness. Mommy will be going with us to that appointment for several reasons and she is excited as I am as well. Christa has had to work since she used up all her leave after K was born. Aunt Amy and I have therefore taken her to all of her appointments because my schedule can be more flexible than Christa's.

This time though K will be out of her brace for the first time in five weeks and we cannot wait to hold her close without the brace in the way of a good snuggle. This trip will be a good one for Christa to come to as well because K will want mommy when the stress her hip. I don't know what all they are going to do, but I know she will not like it.

Please be in prayer for K in that her hip will continue to heal and that when the stress test is done she will come through with flying colors. Thank you all for your prayers.

Moments of Shock and Excitement

Today we had a lot of fun with K. She was enjoying her time with her stuffed animals and those beautiful blue eyes just make your heart melt. By the way, that is a burp cloth she has wrapped around her head.K is looking quite adorable in her little cluster of friends. She is really beginning to follow objects now with her eyes and it is fun to watch her explore her new world.
Daddy experimented today with a hand rattle. It fits over the top of her hand and when he shook it her eyes just got huge! I don't know if the sound startled her or if she was just so excited about the new toy. Either way, it was a moment of belly laughter for all of us. Sometimes you really just need to experience things like this to make the rest of the week worth it.
As you can see, K is smiling wonderfully for the camera. She knows that she is cute and she is already manipulating daddy in any way possible. I might add that daddy doesn't seem to mind this too much.
If you didn't know any better you would think that we are torturing our child. That isn't a look of fear I promise. We thought it was hilarious and wanted to share it with you. Our days are brighter because of this beautiful little rose. What a blessing she is for us all. Tomorrow Nate and Amy will be going back to the Greenville Hospital for an ultrasound. Please pray that everything is going well and that we won't have much longer with the brace. I want to be able to snuggle with my baby as close as possible. Not to mention I miss bath time.

Our Little Family

These pictures are some of the more embarrassing since they were taken so late at night when we wanted nothing more than to get some sleep. The top one is K in the middle of changing. You can see her brace and how cumbersome it can make things for Aunt Amy, Christa, and I. Right now we are almost three weeks into the wearing of the brace and we probably have three more to go. We go back to the hospital Tuesday to get the progress of K's hip checked. Please pray it goes well and that we can get K out of the brace earlier. While I desire and pray for this, I prepare myself for her to be in the brace longer than we hope.

The second picture is Christa at a less than flattering time from her perspective. Let me just say that as a woman who has in the past four months been a miserable pregnant woman, given birth, had some tough surprises, and has returned to the front lines of our educational system in GA to teach senior English, she looks great! She is the most beautiful woman I know and she grows more so each day. She is a wonderful mom and my best friend. Even in a picture that would be considered embarrassing by most, I find her beautiful even if her outfit doesn't match. She likes to have fun too as can be seen in the picture below. K has been changed into an elf momentarily as her and Christa play. It was kinda freaky about how much like one she looks if you hold her ears out.


Through this situation we have found ourselves challenged spiritually. It is one thing to walk with people through a tough situation on the outside, but when the people going through the hardship are you it gives you a whole new perspective. God's grace has been evident to us in many ways through this situation and He has answered many prayers. Some times it is very tough to trust Him because we are human, but all in all He is the only one we do trust. He is the only one who can help. He is the one who gives doctors the ability to do what they do. He is the one who gives us the strength to press on when we see our little girls and our minds are flooded with questions about the future and the reality of some of our preconceived hopes for K being dead. It is not that we have no hopes for K, but that our hopes have changed and as parents it is hard to deal with the difference of reality vs. expectation. However, this does not mean that K is any sort of letdown, just a different and even greater blessing than we anticipated. She has taught us many things and we could not love her any more than we do. As daddy, I cannot help but melt when she cuddles up and goes to sleep on me.


The greatest answered prayer through this whole situation is a healthy, beautiful baby girl. K is healthy and has a few physical problems that are not health related. We are so thankful to God for this. She is soooooooo beautiful. As I was on the phone this morning talking to Pappa G, K and I were wandering around the yard and looking at flowers because she was not happy doing anything else. She was also talking a bit to me, to the wicker bench, and to Pappa G. She is a little girl full of personality already. She has even started to manipulate us, but has not realized the fact that her fake cry is different than her real cry. God has truly blessed us in her. She brings smiles to our faces constantly. She leaves us laughing more times than we can count. I have to go for now, but one more picture worth seeing is the one where she was still molded to being on my shoulder after I laid her down in her Pack-n'-Play last night. She slept like that for a little bit longer. So adorable! I pity any guy who messes daddy's little girl!