brannon's arrival...continued

More pictures from Brannon's birth:

This is Meredith's "oooooohhhh!" face! She was so happy to meet her brother!

Proud grandparents!

Meredith kisses her new baby!

The double-chin is only a result of the angle of the camera...I mean, he weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces for cryin' out loud!

Daddy, his girls, and his first grandson!

baptism

I have tutored and taught ESL to every member of this family throughout the past year since they moved to America. There are 12 people living in the home together - mom, dad, grandmother, and 9 children! They are a super sweet family and have been such a blessing to me. A few weeks ago, one of the girls approached me while I was at her school tutoring and said, "Miss, Musa baptize. You come?" "Come," I thought, "Of course I'd come!" And I was honored to be invited!

I attended their Tumaini International Church service and was blessed to see that so many of the African refugee families we serve are a part of this church. The service was similar to an American Baptist Church service - which in some ways, was disappointing. I could imagine missionaries going into Africa and recreating a Western church among these people. None the less, they love Jesus!

And, Musa, decided to follow Jesus a few weeks ago and get baptized! What a sweet memory to have with this family!! Thank You, Jesus.

aunt kim & uncle daniel - part dos

My sister had a little boy today - Brannon David Cohn. She was a champ!

I made the road trip to Ruston yesterday (Thanks to Meg for riding with me)! And then hopped in the car with Mom and Dad to go to Baton Rouge. Jenny & Brian left for the hospital early this morning and we played with Meredith, took her to school, and met them at the hospital around 11:00. Jenny was dilated to 6 cm when we got there and within 3ish hours, she delivered a beautiful baby boy!

came at 2:18 p.m.
5 pounds, 12 ounces
19 1/2 inches long.

He has beautiful thick, black hair and a beautiful complexion. He looks great. And Jenny looks great too! Thank you to those who have been praying for her and for Brannon's safe arrival today!

Baby's Room

This past week I was off of work, so I got to dive into some creativity that has been buried for over 10 years - I painted a couple of canvases for our son!

me, exercising my buried artsy side

Since I was a child, I wanted to have my own pet monkey. That never happened, but I did sleep with a stuffed monkey until our wedding day. Daniel asked ever-so-politely if he could replace the monkey. It was a sad day, but 'monkey' got retired to sit on the pillows in the guest bedroom. And, that's been his residence for the past two years. However, he's now moving into a new room in our home - the baby's room! And, along with the stuffed monkey, there had to be some other monkey decor. So, I saw some great paintings on a website, and did my best to duplicate them.

the small canvas on the shelf in the picture below

We're getting his bedding made. The stripe is his bed skirt and the paisley is the outside of his bumper. He'll have a chenille fabric that is off-white on the inside of the bumper. I love his fabric! We're hoping to have it sometime in October, so pardon the incomplete crib. Here is his bedding and his bedroom so far!

fabric for his bedding

crib and canvases

the wall opposite the crib

Stories of the monkeys:

The monkey on the shelf above the crib is one that we saw in the boutique store at the hospital on one of our visits to the midwife. Daniel bought it for his little boy. This monkey comes complete with a diaper and a pacifier!

The monkey on the shelf above the couch was my monkey growing up.

The monkey on the couch is a gift from the baby's aunt and uncle who live here in Fort Worth - they made it at "Build-a-Bear."

We will get a big mirror to put above the bookshelf and I also painted 5"x5" canvases for each letter of his name that will go on top of the bookshelf.

We'll announce his name on his birth date! Until then, there are a couple of names we refer to him as...."Tommy Chuck" or "Baba-Ganoush". "Tommy Chuck" comes from our Hispanic neighbors who came over to meet my parents and my sister and niece one weekend they were in town. Mom asked Remon, a 2nd grader, what he thought the baby's name should be. "Tommy," Remon replied. And she asked Giovani for his opinion. He replied, "Chuck." So, for the remainder of the weekend, my dad referred to our son as "Tommy Chuck." "Baba ganoush," well, Daniel named him that. :-) We must have been eating some Arab food when someone asked what his name would be. And, since Daniel is always quick on his toes, he replied, "We'll refer to him as Baba Ganoush until he's born." Baba-Ganoush is a dip Arabs dip fresh bread in. It's really good! Why our son is nick-named after a dip is beyond me...but, I like it! And Daneil came up with it. You can feel free to refer to our little one by those names as well.

33 weeks

Labor Day Weekend in Ruston

Whew...we had a packed weekend this past weekend! Two showers, a football game, meeting Anna Banana's boyfriend, and hanging out with family - all in 48 hours!

Saturday Shower

My family and my mom's good friends threw us a church shower on Saturday. I don't have many pictures to post now - most of them are on my sister's camera. I'll post more when I get them.

After having this shower and the one on Sunday I was reminded of the showers we had for our wedding and of the overwhelming feeling of being both loved and blessed. Our friends, my parents' friends, and our family are so incredibly generous to us and we are humbled to be given such nice gifts to help us begin this new chapter in our lives and welcome our son into this world!

Here's the great spread.

And the girls.

Meeting Trigger

It's boy fever in our family this year. Garson, our cousin, delievered Cole Trigger Woodard on July 29. This weekend Jenny & I got to meet him. He was 5 weeks premature and weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces. He's gained 2 1/2 pounds since he was born, weighing in at a big 7 pounds now! Here we are with Trigger and Mamaw. Trigger is Mamaw & Papaw's 4th great-grandchild. She'll have 6 by the end of the year!

Tech Football & Meeting Christian

Louisiana Tech played Mississippi State Saturday night. Meredith was such a good sport at the game, even though it was pretty warm. Anything to hang out with her 'Papa' - she's definitely a 'Papa's girl!'

The bulldogs came out on top...GO DAWGS!!!

Daniel and I met Christian, Anna's new boyfriend. And following the game, the four of us joined Heather, Chad, Molly, and Brandon at Heather's house. Anna deserves a great guy...she's really a catch. So, it was fun to get to meet Christian and get to know him a bit. As far as 'the four friends' are concerned, Christian passed the test - we all like him!!

Sunday Shower

Sunday my best friends and one of their moms threw us and our son a baby shower. Check out the fabulous decor!!

A stork holding the invitation welcomed guests at the door.

A beautiful wreath and "It's a Boy" on the front door.

Check out the spread!

And these are some of my friends from high school who came to the shower: Karen, Molly, me, Anna, Heather, & Suzanne.

And all the sweet gifts.

And the ladies in my family - me, Jenny, Mamaw, & Mama.

We can't wait for him to come!!!