Cute Little Cullen Faces

Batteries Not Included

Cullen wishes to say thank you to Grandma Cave for the cool chair. He'll like it even better once it's empowered with a powerhouse D battery!

Two ideas I'm becoming quickly acquainted with:
Bad directions and
Batteries not included.

Who has D batteries laying around the house, anyway? Parents, I guess. This explains why I haven't needed one since I was a kid...

First Bath and the Aftermath

First Day Home

We're home now. Here are several pictures of Mom and Cullen on the way to the pediatrician's office this morning. (He's doing fine, by the way!)



And here's Dad and Cullen too, from yesterday.

Across the Finish Line

This is Cullen with his Aunt Joni, who won the "Race to Cullen" contest this weekend. Congratulations to both Joni and Cullen!

Measuring Up, Part One

One of Cullen's friends had a great idea. We're going to take a picture each week with the same stuffed animal to watch how Cullen's growth progresses. Was it Ross or Judah who came up with this?

To be continued...

Ready for Prime Time

Cullen is easier to subdue now that he's arrived. Wow, I never knew babies would be so easy!

And below are Cullen's earliest visitors. This is the host, cameraman, and director of "A Baby Story." Cheryl watched this show a lot recently, and boy was I surprised that she consented to have the delivery filmed for a national audience:



Actually -- that's my sister Joni and her husband Charlie, and Howie from our church. Joni and Charlie arrived the night Cullen was born (though they had to wait till the morning to visit). And some of you may remember Howie -- he is the handyman who did so much around our house to help us get settled in here. What a guy!

Cullen James Shomo - Putting the "A" in TBA

Cullen James Shomo
Born August 17, 2007
10:02 pm
8 lbs, 3 oz
20 inches long

The picture above shows Cullen new to the world and pondering his new environment. The picture below shows him at about 15 hours old. The pediatrician says he's in great health. Mom and baby are both doing impressively well! Thank you, Lord.


Cullen is just getting used to his own skin. He's been through many colors already!

TBA's Future Accomodations Unveiled

I can't unveil TBA.... but here is his room! I am so pleased I was able to get it completed before his arrival. Hopefully he will like it as much as his old room, which he is rapidly outgrowing :-)
This is sort of a 360 degree view as best as I can manage.


His 0-3 month clothes are all washed and in the dresser, his car seat is in the van, etc. I live my life usually always feeling like there is one more thing to do, but in this case I actually feel prepared at this point, and mentally ready to meet him (my poor feet and ankles, along with my digestive system, have been ready for a long time). Even though I really DO have just one more thing to do... this shelf needs one more coat of paint and then it will be hung on the long wall over the crib.

As Ken alluded to, things seem to be starting to "happen"....so let's get this show on the road TBA, we are ready and waiting for you!

Labor

False labor, that is. I can't believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book! We thought for sure that yesterday was going to be a TBA Birthday Spectacular. But... it wasn't.

Things are certainly progressing, however, and TBA has clearly developed an exit strategy.

Please pray for us, and especially for Cheryl - waiting can be painful. Literally.

I Like Kids. I Like the Bible. I Like VBS.

This was VBS week at New Covenant.

I'm a pretty big fan of VBS. It's a land of opportunity:

1) Opportunity to teach the Bible in creative ways
2) Opportunity to test for superpowers. Today two water balloons bounced right off me! Am I "unbreakable"? It's worth asking, even if one (and only one) did in fact hit me.
3) Opportunity to get to know kids -- you can't as easily sit down and talk to them after church, but you can put shaving cream on them and throw fruit loops at them, perform drama with them, and talk to them over snacks. (Carol, thanks for the fruit loop game!)

Here are a few pictures. My class of 5th graders:


Of my drama troupe (Ani, Meredith, Alyssa, Hannah):



And of the one piece of artwork I made for the week:

Ultrababy Update

Everything went well with yesterday's ultrasound! Thanks to those who were thinking of us and praying for the baby, if you read Thursday's post.

Some of you may know that down here in VB, people are very into midwifery and natural childbirth. For example, at our practice there are four doctors and three midwives. To our surprise, the stronger emphasis on natural methods even affected the ultrasound. Down here, when they do the ultrasound they simply sketch a picture of the baby rather than using all the electronic devices. So for those of you who wanted to see TBA, here is the best we can offer:


It's probably for the best. He's rather shy. The ultrasound we had earlier this year really caught him by surprise, and he's been kicking and screaming about it ever since.

The countdown continues! Sixteen days till the due date... and if he's going to be early he has a maximum of 15 days.

Ultra TBA

A major expose on TBA is planned for tomorrow. At 11 am, an ultrasound will reveal quite a bit more about this little kid is who's been so busy these past 9 months. I'm sure he's going to be upset that his secrets are exposed!

The countdown is also on for the "A" in "TBA." He's due on August 20. My calendar now says August... wow. Yet while we are largely in the dark concerning TBA, it is profound to realize that God knows all about him. Jeremiah 1 and Psalm 139 have plenty to say about this.

And so does Psalm 71:6, my personal favorite: "Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you."

See you tomorrow, you little rascal...