The Davis Family + 1 (or, The New Addition)

On Thursday, December 17th, 2009, at 10:31 a.m., Jonathan Cole Davis entered the world; he weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 19 3/4 inches long. Unlike his big sister, who came into the world with her eyes wide open (and has scarcely shut them since), he chose instead to snooze his way through his first day on earth. Also unlike his sister, he actually knows how to CRY. She screamed. Or shrieked - or squealed at the top of her lungs. But not cry. He cries nicely - although he hasn't really seen a need to to do much of it (at least not until this morning, but that's another story entirely.)

We arrived at the hospital at a few minutes past 4:30 in the morning; they admitted us, and sent us straight to labor & delivery. Once there, we were put in a room, and they started IVs (it took 3 tries to actually get the thing in my hand, leaving rather painful holes...ow.) and the nurse expressed her suprise - she said she usually doesn't have people walking in there who are over 4 cm dialated and totally effaced who aren't actually in labor already! :-) Oh, well, I guess I just have to be different! Anyhow, we sat there for the next 4 hours or so - they increased the pitocin drip every 15 minutes or so, until around 9 when they came and broke my water -"to get things moving a little faster" - and did they ever! In the space of about 20-30 minutes, we went from 5 cm. to 9! So, they called the Dr, he said go ahead and start pushing, so they all came in and started getting things ready, had me push a few times 'just for the fun of it', and then the nurse left the room. We sat there minding our own business for a few minutes, when all the sudden, the Doctor came flying through the door and said, "we've got to get this baby out of there NOW!"
Ok, now we were scared!
Apparently, his heart rate had started dropping, and though it wasn't dangerously low, they wanted to get him out quickly. Dr. Darby checked, and said he was too high for him to reach with the forceps, but said to try to push once and see if he'd move down far enough, otherwise he was doing a c-cection immediately. I pushed a couple of times, and he said he thought he could reach him. During this exchange, the baby's heart beat had gone up a bit, but after those pushes, it started dropping again.
Talk about going into high gear! Without any warning, the Dr. said, "Dad, I need you to help. You hold her shoulders with one arm, and push on the top of her stomach with the other arm. She's going to push like she's never pushed before." With Brad pushing on my stomach, me pushing, and the Dr. pulling, he was out in about 5 minutes! He told Brad he got to cut the cord since he'd done half the work getting him out, and they quickly got him under the warmer. Thankfully, he immediately started breathing and protested mightily about the treatment he was getting!
Remarkably, Mommy only tore a tiny bit - even with all the jerking and pushing that was going on - and only had to have ONE stitch!
Other than bruise on the side of his head from the forceps, baby Jonathan is in perfect shape! Not quite being 38 weeks, they had warned us that there was a slight possibility that his lungs wouldn't be totally developed and he might have to have some oxygen at first, but his lungs are in perfect shape! In fact, the pediatritician came in to check him out yesterday morning, and when she came to talk to me, she walked in the door and said "I am SO confused!" His gestational age (according to my due date) was 37 weeks, 6 days, but his developemental age, according to her testing was over 39 weeks! She said he's perfect...

But we knew that already!

God is soo good!

Juliana immediately said that we could keep him! In fact, when we asked her what she thought of her new brother, she said, "he's so cute - I lubs him!" and gave him kisses! She has been very good with him. While Im typing this, he's on my lap sleeping, and she come every few minutes to crawl up beside me -'can I see the baby brudder?'- and rubs his head or pats him. She also loves to hold him.

Now for pictures...

The official 'First Photo'

Cleaned up pretty nice, huh?

Big Sister meets Little Brother

Daddy finally gets to hold him

The whole family

Sweet Baby Boy

Kisses!

Tired Dad

Getting ready to go home

Going home at last!

And, just for reference:

Juliana at 1 day

Life, as we know it:

Where to begin? I have been woefully neglecting this thing, haven't I?
I shall now attempt to update you on the happenings in our lives over the past month or so - if I can keep from falling asleep on my keyboard! (You have to give me a break here - growing a person is hard work!)
The first week of November was revival with Rev. Larry Pettit; enjoyed hearing him preach again and feeling the presence of the Lord. (that reminds me - got to finish posting the sermons on the church website http://www.westlakepilgrimnazarene.com/ - Oh, Bother!)
The day after revival ended, we set off for Missouri. A friend that Brad used to work with when we lived there had called and asked him to come do a drywall finishing job for him, and we wanted to go spend some time with the family there, so off we went.
Juliana loved being able to stay at MoMo & Bapaw's house - and of course MoMo spoiled her rotten. She also got to rake leaves one day with Pop M&M (Brad's dad), and had a blast!

She also had a little birthday party with family (and Heidi & Emily Boardman, but they're kinda family, too :-) ), one night with a PRINCESS cake! She's very into princesses right now, so that made her day, as well as all the cool stuff she got - Heidi, she's already worn out that aquadoodle thing ya'll got her!

Of course, while we were there, Brad and I both managed to catch a nasty little bug. He was sick for several days, and I tried to puke the baby out, but somehow he stayed in there, and we made it back home without any permanant damage - I think.

November 19th, we headed south again. Drove from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and stopped to go to a Gaither concert. We had gotten free tickets for it, and our seats were front and center - 10th row back from the stage! Would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't just traveled for 8 1/2 hours to get there, but it was a good concert anyway!
Got out of there around 10 and made the 2-hour trip back to our house.

Saturday (the 21st), the ladies from our church had a baby shower for me - with a John Deere theme! :-) I didn't get any pictures, 'cause my camera batteries decided to die on me - BOTH sets of them! Anyhow, we got some lovely things for the baby, and had a good time with all the ladies. Thank you, Sis. Adamson, and all of the others who helped out!

After that came Thanksgiving, then a very special day -
On the 28th, our baby girl turned 3!

She's grown so much in three years - already so grown up in some ways - and in other ways NOT. (We aren't going to discuss the potty thing right now...) Just in the last few weeks, she's learned to draw (she can do a pretty good Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucmber), she's learning her alphabet, she can count to 20 (usually with no help, although 14 & 15 still confuse her every once in a while), and she tries to help mommy do the dishes and cook. She's pretty good with unloading the dishwasher - the stuff she can reach, at least - but she wants to play in the sink now; if I leave water in the sink, she's reaching over and dipping stuff in it and stirring...one time I even found her with one of her play cups, dipping soapy water out of the sink and drinking it! Her tastebuds definitely aren't grown up yet! :-)

As for the little guy, he's still in there - wiggling away. I've been having contractions off and on for several weeks now (enough that they told me last week to take it easy, rest lots, drink lots, and try to keep him in there 'til 36 weeks...) but no baby yet. I went in for Doctor's appointment yesterday, and when she walked in she said, "I really didn't expect to see you in here this week"! Comforting, huh? Anyway, if he hasn't come by next Monday (my next appt.), they're going schedlue a time to induce - around 38 weeks. For some reason they think this kid is going to fall out if I sneeze or anything (I've tried it and it doesn't work.).

So, I guess we'll have a baby sometime between now and Christmas! :-) We're trying to get his room ready so he'll at least have a place to sleep when he gets here.

So that's a few things that happened in the last month or so. I can't promise you I'll have more time to update in the future, but I'll at least let you know when the baby comes! :-)

The Painting

The old artist sits on his stool, paintbrush in hand. He thoughtfully looks at the canvas before him, and, ever so slowly makes a small stroke with his brush; then, another.
Nearby, in another chair, sits a young man; he watches intently as the old man paints, hoping to learn something from this great man.
Time passes. The older man is focused on his work, and rarely speaks, choosing instead to let the painting speak to him. The picture begins to unfold, but it is a simple one. The colors are muted, the scene - well, not dramatic at all.
The young man, looking on, begins to grow impatient. Why is it taking him so long? If this man is the acclaimed master artist that everyone says he is, why can’t he just paint the thing and get it over with?
And the painting- oh my. Surely there has to be some mistake! Why, it’s so… so, drab!
Finally, after several hours have passed, the young man has had enough.
“Sir,” he says to the old artist, “not to be impertinent or anything, but, to be quite honest, I believe I could have painted a much better picture in much less time than this one has taken you.”
Wordlessly, the man hands him the paint brush.
Flabbergasted, the young man looks at him with raised brows.
“But what do I do?” he asks.
“Paint,” said the artist, simply.
“But, don’t you want to give me a new canvas?”
“No,” he replied. “This one will do.”
So, the young man took the brush in hand and sits down to paint. But where to begin?
He dips the brush in the paint, and, gazing at the painting, sees a spot that looks like it could use a bit more paint; but wait a minute - he’s already put paint on his brush and it’s not the right color at all! Should he clean the brush?
He thinks about it for a moment, but…the color’s really not that bad. It’s close, just not exact. “Nobody will ever notice,” he thinks to himself, so, he puts the brush to the canvas and makes a small stroke. There! That wasn’t so bad - he can do this!
He adds a few more strokes here and there. As he paints, he thinks, “you know, really, he’s not so great,. Just look at this! So boring! What it really needs is some bright color.”
So, growing more sure of himself with each stroke, he puts a little red here, a little orange there, some purples, some greens… and with each touch of the brush the picture become more and more garish and laughable. Here and there, he sees little mistakes that he has made, but, rather than take the time to consider, and right the wrongs, he just keeps on painting, hoping the next stroke will mask the errors.
The master artist looks on, not speaking, but merely observing as his painting that was once, though not elaborate, still a thing of beauty, is covered in ugly strokes of bright color; the flowers that he had so painstakingly painted, one petal at a time, have been made into huge black marks. Streaks of paint, and drips here and there mar the surface; but still he does not say a word.
Some time passes, and the young man, surveying his work, begins to realize that his painting is not what he had hoped for. In fact, it’s really ugly. But the old man still has not spoken.
“Why does he sit there and not speak?” the young man thought to himself. “Why doesn’t he help me? If he‘s all that they say he is, why does he not show me what to do?”
Finally, in desperation, he cries, “I cannot do this thing. You take the brush and show me what to do.”
Gently, the old man takes the brush from his hand and sets it downs. Then he takes a rag and, soaking it with turpentine, gently begins to wipe the drips and streaks from the canvas. Then he takes the brush in hand once more, and begins to paint, covering the streaky places. Slowly, the painting again becomes a thing of beauty. Though it’s not what the master had originally intended, and though, if you look closely, imperfections still scar its surface, it is lovely to look upon once more.
The young man sits and watches, and finally speaks again, but this time, not with the cocky attitude he’d had to begin with - no, he is humbled. But still, one thing bothers him and he asks,
“Sir? Why didn’t you stop me? Why did you let me go on?”
The old man turns, and gently says,
“Son, I was waiting for you to ask for my help.”

One day, God, the Master Artist, began a painting. He took the blank canvas that was a life, and started to paint - just a stroke here and there, but slowly the picture came into view. It was simple, yet had the makings of a masterpiece.
The man, looking at what he could see of his life, said, “Lord, not be impertinent or anything, but honestly, I think I could do better than that myself.”
So God handed him the brush.
But the man soon found out that running his life was harder than he’d originally thought.
And the Master didn’t speak.
He tried a little of this, a little of that, and the lines of the painting began to be blurred.
Someone said, “Try this, it will make you happy!” So he tried it, but instead of happiness, he found depression and anger.
Someone else said, “Do this, it will make you feel good.” But instead of good feelings he found pain and
emptiness.
But still the Master merely looked on.
And with everything he tried, new streaks and drips appeared on the painting, until, one day, he sat back to view the painting of his life, and instead of the lovely picture he‘d started with, he saw one with slashes of black, streaks of dirt - ultimately, it looked like he was ruined.
“God,” he cried out in desperation, “I can’t do this anymore. You take it and show me what to do!”
And God, the Master Artist, took the brush in his hand; he wiped away the streaks and drips, and began the painting again.

Each one of us is a masterpiece. When God made you, he had a plan - a beautiful picture in mind.
But, so many times, we think we can do better, and we take the brush in hand to run our own lives. And we mess up.
But instead of turning to the Master, we try to cover our mistakes - and make a bigger mess, over and over again, until it looks like life can’t get any worse. In desperation we turn to God and cry, “Lord, I can’t take this anymore!”
And He takes our broken, ruined life, and makes it beautiful again.


So you’ve messed up.

It’s not hopeless! No matter how terrible it may seem - whatever you’ve done, however you’re broken, it’s never too late to be restored. Though it may seem like no one cares about you - that God’s not listening, rest assured: He’s never left your side; He’s waiting patiently, ready to make the painting again.
All you have to do is ask.
And when you do, He’ll take all the broken pieces, wipe away the streaks - the dirt that sin has left on your soul - and make you once again into a thing a beauty.

A priceless masterpiece.

I bet you didn't know that I married a cowboy...

But, here it is - the PROOF!

In case you're wondering... We had our church Harvest Party at the Langstaff's last Saturday, and Brad and Beth dressed as cowboys (I guess she would be a cow-girl, huh?). Brad said since I won't let him wear his cowboy boots out, he'd have to dress up like a cowboy just so he could wear them!

(editor's note: In my defense, I have never told him he couldn't wear them. However, I am NOT fond of cowboy boots - not necessarily the boots themselves, but the swagger that comes with them in most of the male species. If you disagree with me, that's all right. I'll still be your friend)

Wait a minute, though....

Are they cowboys, or outlaws?

Yeah, I think at least one of them is an out-law - or is that supposed to be in-law?
Who cares - they're the same thing, right? :-)

The 'Princess' got to take a whack at her first pinata - she actually seemed to know what to do with it until it broke.

Beth and I were both standing there telling her, 'go pick up the candy'.

She finally grabbed a little bit, but by that time most of the other vultures/kids had gotten most of it - but that's ok by me, 'cause that's less candy for me to have to keep her from eating! :-)

She really did start out the evening in full princess regalia - fancy dress, crown, frog prince, the whole works, but she sent the frog packing right away, threw her crown in my purse, and eventually ended up wearing, not one, but TWO hoodies over the dress (it was a bit chilly out), with her fancy princess hair straggling around her face.

Oh well. Princesses are people, too!

Playing with boys is especially hard on the princess clothes... and playing with boys and doing boy stuff are some of her favorite pastimes.

But, boy, all the boy stuff sure does make you thirsty!

Finally, they went on a hay-less ride.

Ju had a blast! She's still talking about 'the party' and wanting to know when we're going to go to another one. Every once in a while, she says, 'I 'member...we rode in a ... we rode in a... what's it called, mommy?'

(editor's note #2: I realize that the quality of the pictures is atrocious. My camera is getting old and tired, and doesn't go out much at night. I really need a new one. Maybe if I pray REALLY hard? )

In other news, Juliana got to move to a big bed today. My baby's growing up! She's been sleeping in a toddler bed since we moved, and she loves it, but she was using the mattress to the crib; I had a choice of moving her to the twin bed or buying a new baby mattress, and, since space is somewhat limited these days, I figured it would make more sense to give her the bigger bed.

I asked her this morning if she wanted to put it in her room. She said, 'no, that's Beh-beh's bed.' (It's been in the spare bedroom, and that's where Beth sleeps when she comes over, so Ju thinks that the bed is hers) I asked her again if she wanted to use it now. She said sure. But, tonight, when I told her it was time to get in her bed, she said 'No, it's BEH-BEH's bed'. She doesn't have a problem sleeping it - you just have to call it the right thing. I can't win with this one!

Now I've just got to figure out where to put the computer and all the other stuff that has accumulated in this room, or the baby might have to sleep in the living room!

Only 10 more weeks to go!

Post # 52 .... In which the author finds no time (or inclination) to blog, an doesn't even try to make excuses.

Other than the fact that I'm roughly the size of a small hippopatomus, bear a slight resemblance to an inverted camel, and am currently being eaten by a boa constrictor, I mean, small carnivorous beastie named Juliana (she's jumping on me, trying to eat my nose, and screeching everytime I try to put her down that she's 'slared' and needs to be 'resc'ed').

I had pictures of a couple of my recent projects to post, only to discover that I took pics of the construction process and failed to get any of the finished object. Silly me. So, I guess you don't get any of THOSE! :-) (They were both items for a very small person named Connor)

Speaking of Connor, Ju has been pretty adamant that she doesn't think we need a baby at our house. She's ok with a baby in Mommy's tummy, as long as he stays THERE. So, Connor Adamson was born about a month ago, and since, well, she's decided that a baby might be not be too bad of an idea. She was holding him yesterday, and said "Mommy, can we keep him?". Of course, she has baby dolls bigger than he is...

(Heather, I apologize in advance for any mental, psychological, or physical damage my daughter causes your son. And thanks for keeping her while I got to the Doctor; You've preserved some of my sanity!)

As for OUR baby, he's growing like a weed, trying to see how far he can stick his feet out before Mommy pushes them back where they came from, trying out new positions daily, and getting the hiccups on a regular basis. The hiccups are one thing I could REALLY do without. Only 11 more weeks to go! (or 12 or 13...)

Here's a few random pics from the last few weeks:

Playing with some of her favorite people - Aunt Beth, and BOYS (any boys will do - it doesn't have to be those particular ones...)

Doesn't she look comfy?

We took her to the fair so she could ride some rides... she definitely doesn't have her Dad's stomach - she was spinning so fast my camera couldn't keep up!

...and here's her fat Mommy...

That's My KING!

Here's another: an excerpt from the sermon entitled "That's My King" by S. M. Lockridge.

If this doesn't bless your gizzard, well, your gizzard must be broke! :-)





(note to facebook viewers: Click HERE if the vidoe doesn't show up)

May I Introduce...

I saw (actually heard, more than saw) this the other night and thought it was great. Just wanted to share!




(not to facebook viewers: Click HERE if the video doesn't show up)

And The Verdict Is:

(You can't see the pictures very well...but if you click on it it might show it larger.)

You guess what it is - if you think you have it figured out, let me know! :-)

Note: For those of you who didn't see my update on facebook, It's A BOY! :-)

Like Father, Like Daughter...

Happy 5th Anniversary!

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay -
Love isn’t love 'Til you give it away.
~Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music

Yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long already!

As a wise man once said:

To keep your marriage brimming,

With love in the loving cup,

Whenever you're wrong, admit it;

Whenever you're right, shut up.

~Ogden Nash

I love you, Honey, and I expect the next 50 years will be just as fun as the last 5!

$5 Dinners

Who's not trying to save money these days?
A few months ago, while randomly 'blog-hopping', I happened upon this site, and immediately subscribed to it -



Erin's just an average mom, who, in her quest to save money on their food budget, decided to try to make dinner for their family of four (soon to be five) each night for $5 or less! She includes recipes, menu plans, and a weekly account of her grocery shopping trip and the sales she finds.
This week she's celebrating her 1 year anniversary with several different giveaways, so go by and check it out!

note: I am not getting anything in return for posting this - I just found it to be an interesting site and thought others might, well!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy in the world!

Juju thinks you're great! You're her ice cream and popcorn buddy, her protector from the big, bad lions (stuffed tigers), and banisher of bad dreams. Every morning she asks me "when's Daddy coming home?" and usually wants to call you; she's excited to meet you at the door when you get back from work, and she loves to tell Mommy to get you things.

Mommy thinks you're pretty cool, too!

We love you, Brad!

And,

Happy Father's Day to 'Pop', Grandpa to 15 1/2 grandkids, Dad to 6 kids;

We love you, Dad!

Ok, so I didn't go to bed after all.

Showing off her new shirt - it's believable until you get a closer look at the dirt on her face!

(Thank you, Marilyn!)


Watching...something?? I found her all curled up like this - doesn't she look sweet?


AHA! I always knew she was part monkey!

Um, Ju? I don't think that's really meant to be worn on your head. And it doesn't exactly match your dress.


Isn't she gifted? Only 2 years old and already playing checkers.



You might not want to look right now, Kenny, but I think someone is cheating!



And, last but not least, her new favoritest thing to do. She's "simmin'". This evening she came and brought me one of her swimming diapers, then said, "Mom, where's my swimmin' poot?"

I'm not sure, but I think she might have gotten 'pool' and 'suit' a little mixed up! :-)

Mommy is thoroughly and completely (and painfully) burnt.

Juju does not care.

She says, "don't worry. Mommy, it doesn't hurt!"

Really? For some reason, I thought it did!

Ultrasound Results

We went for our first ultrasound this week! Baby looks happy, kicking and moving around already; we were hoping for a lazy child this time around - it's not looking hopeful! However, there is only ONE, something we were getting a little worried about, considering the rate at which I am growing. :)
They changed my due date to January first, which puts me right at 12 weeks. Brad's hoping it'll come early... (I think it's something to do with a tax deduction? ;-))
I'll try to post pictures before too long. I know I've been neglecting this thing horribly, and I'm sorry. I just haven't been feeling quite so great these days for some reason! (wonder why...)
I also have to update you on my gardening adventures...another day. *yawn*

Company's Comin'

Looks like the stork is planning on dropping by sometime in January!



What do you feed a stork anyway?

Ho Hum.

Yes, I know it's been over a month. I'll try to post pictures and stuff before too long, but I've just had a lot going on. (excuses, excuses...)
We were supposed to be heading to Missouri Thursday for Jessica's wedding (one of Brad's cousins), but his great-grandma, Frances Davis, is in the hospital and not expected to make it much longer, so it looks like we might have to stay here; that's a bummer - especially since I'm supposed to play for the wedding! :-0 Juju's been looking forward to seeing MoMo and Bapaw - I hate it, if only for that reason, because she's been so excited. She's always asking "We going to see MoMo n Bapaw to-monow?" Oh well, I guess there'll be other times.
I'll have post pictures of my garden, the cat, and other stuff.
About that cat...y'know how I told about Ju dragging it around, and otherwize terrorizing it? Well. One day the cat got tired of it. And he told her he was tired of it. It was just a little scratch (he's just a little cat), but it was enough for her! Now, the cat isn't allowed within 10 feet of her without her screeching LOUDLY " 'at cat's gonna GIT Juju!"!!!! :-) But it's funny when the cat 'gits' Mama - at least SHE thinks so!
Kids! What would we do without them? :-)

Happy Easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

We had a Program Sunday morning with singing and scripture readings, and so on; it turned out really nice - at least from the piano bench it seemed nice! :-) We even had a few visitors show up, including a new family that had never been before!

Sunday afternoon we had a church potluck, and Bro. and Sis. Miller graciously invited us all to their house. They have a beautiful home and all the food was wonderful (or 'berry delicious' as Juju would say!)

I couldn't get any really good pics of Juliana before she managed to go and get strawberries on her pretty new dress. (But the good news is that I washed it and it all came out!)

Here she is with our friends Kenny and Heather Adamson. (she matched them, too!)

Of course she sat and smiled prettily with them...we try to get her picture with us and she wiggles and wriggles, and pulls her dress up, etc.

Just some random pictures:

Terrorizing the cat
Gardening (which soon became a form of terrorizing the cat, when she started whacking him with her gardening tools!)

Her first skinned knee - received from running too fast in the driveway. (please ignore the tragically yucky pants her father is wearing. Pants make wonderful things to wipe your painty or tarry hands on!)