You're so Vain...

"I'm a cool dude!" I can't believe he's already so concerned about fashion and making sure he has the perfect tan.

We have a hunch that our little guy is developing a case of jaundice. After contacting my sister-in-law, who's a nurse (I suppose I wanted you to know that we got this informtion from a reputable source before deciding to do something on our own.), she suggested short periods of time in the indirect sunlight. We wanted to ensure that we protected his eyes so we pulled his hat down over his eyes, to keep it there we put some elastic banded sunglasses over top. He looked so cute we had to take a picture. We have our first peditrician appointment tomorrow, so we should get a better idea of what, if anything, is going on.

Things continue to go well for us. I've really appreciated all the horror stories I was told prior to labor & bringing him home ie. no sleep, 30 hour labor etc. Everything seems so much easier compared to some of the things I've heard. Sure sleep is limited, but we're a least getting some. We have seen God's provision for us throughout our lives, but we can certainly see his protection and care now more than ever.

Physical Characteristics

I am beginning to realize how much extra time everything takes with a child. This journey is going to be amazing and filled with new experiences.

I can't recall what I've said before so I apologize. My water broke on Saturday around 11:30 and we were admitted to the hospital by midnight. Not much progress was being made so they gave me pitocin and I started having contractions by 6am. Hard labor started around 2:30, but the little guy wasn't quite in position. He measured 19 3/4 inches long when he was born, but they expect him to loose at least 3/4 of an inch over the next couple of days because of his "cone head". We stayed in the labor and delivery room for quite some time (my body was having a diffucult time with all the hormones & adreneline), and arrived in the post natal unit around 8am.

Dexter has daddy's brown hair, brown eyes and the Shinabery trait of long eyelashes. He has a cleft chin which was an interesting surprise. Well, Cary Grant & Jude Law move over... here comes Dexter to join the ranks of those with a cleft chin.

It is now 6:15am on Monday, time for some shut eye. Thanks for your paryers & support. For those of you who have a facebook account... we apologize. We are unable to get onto that site at the hospital, but will update it when we arrive home.

Also, a quick prayer request- we know of two families who very recently had babies and are going through some difficult times right now. These two families are in the middle of a jungle right now and need as much prayer and support as they can get. Thanks in advance.

He's here Dexter James Shinabery

Well Dexter James Shinabery finally came at 4:37 pm on sunday 7/26/2009. Weighing in at 6lbs 6oz, and measuring 19 3/4 in. Momma and baby are doing well, and both are resting for he time being. If we ever find the time again, we will keep updates coming.

he's coming

Well were in the hospital now with some regular contractions. More info and pics to follow.

-Stephanie here, its about 4am. My water broke about 11:20 last night. Kind of a strange event, you know your baby is on the way, but you aren't having any contractions. We arrived at the hospital and got settled into our room by midnight. I've been resting my eyes since then. I figure I'm not going to get any kind of rest for the next couple of years at the least so I'll take what I can get. The contractions are starting to get closer together and more painful, but we still have a ways to go.

I keep thinking about those in the Bible who endured lots of pain without the satisfaction of having a baby at the end. Job comes to mind... covered in boils from head to toe, and the many other non-physical things he had to endure. Although Job is a tough one because I can't recall a song about him that I can sing through the contractions. There are songs about Jonah, Daniel, Zacheaus, Joshua & the battle of Jericho & even David & Golith- but they didn't the physical pain. The one song that continues to come to mind however is based on the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthenth me!" Phil 4:13

Well, that's all for now. We are unable to get on facebook for some reason so we'll be sure to keep this updated.

No Baby...

Many are calling and asking if the baby's here. Nope. After gettting the internet recently and finding our 10 year old computer just wasn't cutting it we got a new computer (a laptop even). James is super excited to have it in the hospital with us so he can update everything. So rest assured, we'll be emailing, blogging & facebooking.

Last night was eventful and full of contractions. They're definately getting stronger, but just aren't quite strong enough or close enough together for the one hour the Dr. requires. I had a regular Dr. appt today. James and I were secretly hoping the Dr. would send us to the hospital. As a matter of fact, we didn't even bring the hospital bag because we figured we'd jinx it. Needless to say she did not. She did say to go ahead and schedule next weeks appointment, but was hopeful that we will have to cancel it!!

Some days you wonder...

As I pulled out the driveway this morning I noticed one of the neighbors horses was out. After calling them and leaving a message I decided I'd take a look to see what was going on. When I pulled up their driveway the horse looked very anxious to get back into the pasture and the fence appeared to be in good condition. I figured I'd open the gate and see if he went in by himself, but I wasn't about to try an wrangle a horse when I know nothing about horses and I'm 9 1/2 months pregnant. The horse went in all by himself and as I was closing the gate the other one decided it wanted to come out. I wasn't about to let that happen so I quickly maneuvered so the gate was between the horse and I and quickly closed it. I thought "That was a crazy start to my day" until later in my drive. As I neared the office I realized something was in the middle of the road. "Is that a horse?" Nope, it was a cow!! What's with the livestock wandering all over the place this morning??

So here's my 38 week photo. No real updates from the Dr.'s this week. The baby's heartrate has dropped slightly for the first time throughout the pregnancy and was in the low 140's.

The carseat is in the freshly cleaned car, bags are packed for the hospital and the house is the cleanest it's been since we moved in. We're ready, let's get this show on the road!

Dr. Appt Update

Dr. appt went well today- heart rate 150's (as always), weight gain 34 lbs, 1-2 cm dialated. They also did the strep B test, I'm guessing I'll have the results in by my next appt (next week Tue). He said everything is looking very well, everything is measuring normal and he'll see me again next week.

Happy July!

I realize that all of you are wanting a baby related update, but we'll try a different subject for this week.

We were quite late planting our garden this year because we've been so extremely busy. We did finally get it planted and have started to see the little things poking their heads out of the ground. This year we've planted: corn, snow peas, pumpkins, zuchinni, butternut squash, tomato's, broccoli, carrots, radishes, green beans, stringless beans (these were given to me in a brown paper bag so I have no idea what these are, they must be old seeds because only 1/4 of them are up), lettuce, and several varieties of flowers. I'm realize this year our garden is smaller than last year and I also understand that I will not have as much time for it, especially when the little one comes along. My theory is- you make time for the things you want to do. I'm not going to be disappointed in myself if the garden doesn't get quite as much attention this year, there's always next year.

We have already seen evidence of a small deer in the garden. We have a small fence surrounding the garden but it's purpose is to keep out the rabbits & coons. We will soon be hooking up a "jumper" wire to our neighbors electric fence. Maybe the deer will keep away if the thing is electrified!

James's dad gave him a lathe within the last month. An example of things that are made with a lathe are- balusters & spindles for railings, rosettes, wooden bowls and other things. He has been scouring the internet for ideas on how to get better at his new found craft. He stumbled across a school textbook from the early 1900's which has been fully uploaded to the internet and goes over the fine art of working on a lathe.

James found a peice of ash and began working on a softball bat. The completed bat was a standard size, but was significantally heavier than the typical bat. He and others likened the bat to swinging a log instead of a bat. He also used a wood burner and burned in a lightning bolt and "Wonderboy" (after the greatest baseball movie ever "The Natural"). Just like in the movie- James broke his bat. He really enjoyed breaking the bat for some reason. The piece ended up going down the 3rd baseline and just past 3rd base. He's been trying to locate a better peice of wood to use for the next one. We did find out you can purchase baseball bat blanks. The plan is to make a few more bats, get good at the craft & then make a really good bat with a purchased blank. He'll have to hurry up because this years softball season is coming to an end.