Any day now!

Well Katie has passed the mark where she now goes to the doctor once a week until Davis comes. It has been neat seeing Katie be pregnant around Christmas time. We were reading an advent devotional the other day and talked about how often waiting time, is preperation time (the coming of Christ and pregnancy).
Here are some pics from Christmas where we hung out with family and celebrated her belly!

Teddy Bear U

So today, Saturday the 17th of November, was devoted to Teddy Bear University. From 9am till 5pm Katie and I were in a class with 14 other couples at Parkwest hospital on being pregant, hopital terminolgy and procedure, etc... We found out about contractions and when to come to the hospital. We found out about different types of labor, how to change diapers, take care of the umbilical cord, and the list goes on.
It was pretty interesting overall and I am glad we enrolled and took part. We had videos, handouts, questions and lecture. Katie's favorite part was finding out about the pain meds and mine was playing with the baby doll all day.
Katie says, " I can't wait to swadel and bathe Davis at 2:30 in the morning!"
The one complaint I had...they thought it was appropriate to show a birthing and then dismiss to lunch--sort of ruined Jason's Deli.
Feel like we are getting closer and closer!

Around the House

So everyone keeps telling us that if we have any projects to do around the house to do them before Davis comes. So today I tried to knock one off of the list. Our driveway was in pretty serious need of resurfacing (it could probably be recapped, but for now resurfacing will do). So on this beautiful Saturday I resealed the driveway. Hopefully the little guy will like it when he falls and skins his knee in a couple of years!
Before


After


More pics



So there you go.
We've got a bunch of showers planned starting in December, Katie has started going to the doctor every two weeks now, and in less than 12 weeks we will have a child.

Crazy

heading into this holiday season there is too much to be thankful for.

26 Weeks

Wow. 26 weeks down. and only 14 to go. what does that mean? it means katie and i should nap all we can in the next 14 weeks.
here's a little info on little davis.
this week he probably weighs in at close to 2 pounds. but he will begin to plump up quickly now- the main reason for the baby fat is to adjust to the temperature difference once he is born. the nerves in his ear continue to develop more rapidly now, so he can respond more and more to sound- so you had better believe i'm going to be talking, singing like crazy, and of course telling some hysterical jokes.
katie's back is a little sore, but that just means her hormones are kicking in to losen up her joints and ligaments.

(i put this picture- because who doesn't love Dwight! Baby Einstein, the wiggles, heck no! Davis will be learning from the Office)

Baby Boy

So clearly finding out we were having a boy completely distracted us from the blog! I mean it's been a month for crying out loud. Much has taken place, Katie continues to "show", John came and knocked out the bead board in 3 hours (some call him Superman), i painted the beadboard, got a crib and changing table, completely unrelated we went to Bermuda, Katie's been back to the doctor and all seems well.
Only 16 more weeks! Are you kidding.
So here are some pics for those of you that can't swing by and see. Baby Davis is getting ready. It's neat to have an actual bed to pray over that he might be safe, sleep well, etc... Katie and I were in there the other day and there is a cross over the bed that mom gave us that simply says, Jesus Loves me. What more could we really pray that than, may Davis KNOW that Jesus Loves Him.

It's A Boy!!!!

Well after a very exciting ultrasound they were able to tell us that it's a little boy! Everything looked great, length is good, he is weighing in at a solid 10 ounces, lots of movement, heartbeat, etc...


He clearly got my flexibilty as he kept grabbing his foot and putting up by his mouth!

Alive and close to kicking

Yes we are alive! Sorry for the lack of posts, it is amazing how much more time you have in the middle of the summer than once everything gets going again. But we are doing well and the baby continues to grow. We are heading to the doctor in a week and a half to find out the sex of the baby! That will be a big day obviously.
Katie continues to do well and we heard the heartbeat again on Monday. Katie seems to be finding all the good sales, like i mentioned in a previous post she found a great day on some stuff in ATL and this week Me and Mommy to be had a big sale. So she is getting ready! Unfortunately most of the stuff she is buying is fairly "fallish" and it's 100 degress, but surely it will cool down eventually.
I know she is excited to be going to the beach later this week for a long labor day weekend with the Neely family at Wild Dunes so she can wear her new maternity swim suit!
Katie is back in the swing of things with YL and things at church are going pretty wild as well. So there you go an update.
Pray that Katie and I would use our time wisely in preparing for the child- both in preparing for the child and enjoying one another.

Where the playas play....

Katie and I had a great weekend in Atlanta. Katie wanted to go down there and just shop, spend some time, look at baby stuff, etc... It was a great weekend.
We did end up getting some things for ourselves and luckily we did not know the sex of the baby, because otherwise we would have bought a LOT of stuff for the room. But just a couple more weeks and we should know!
You would not have know that we lived in Atlanta for 3 years though if you watched our driving this past weekend. I did 4 u turns, got lost a couple of times, and were 45 minutes late to dinner with Ty and Sara Pattison!
But overall we had a great time.
This is the 15th week- At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, the baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. It's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in it's lungs. the legs are growing longer than the arms now, and it can move all its joints and limbs. That means its hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although its eyelids are fused shut, the baby can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, it is likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but the taste buds are beginning to form.
Keep praying for wisdom in raising a child, finances, what to do when, etc... And of course continue to pray for healthy development.
Peace Up, A-Town Down

14 weeks and a birthday

Well it is the 14th week. The arms will grow pretty substantially this week, beginning to be in proportion to the rest of the body. And due to brain activity the little face will begin squinting and frowning. This week the baby could begin to suck it's developed fingers!
Katie continues to do well and celbrates her 29th Birthday on the 7th. Last night as we were celebrating her birthday(early) it was crazy to think at her next birthday she would be the mother of a 6 month old! Oh how things are a changing.
We think we know how we want to decorate the nursery and will keep you up to date with pics, etc..."Pray w/out ceasing."

Lost Post

Sorry for the delay in posting. Katie had a funny, whimsical, entertaining post all composed and as we went to publish it, the computer froze! So needless to say she didn't feel like rewriting it, so here is a recap:

Katie is feeling great and feels like eating anything now! For a while some food didn't sound good to her, but now it is on like Donkey Kong! Saturday morning she woke up craving poridge from Gourmet Market and so off she went.

But all is good!

Heartbeat!

Today we had another doctors appointment and everything is going well. The craziest thing for me was that Katie LOST a pound?!?!? We think it was all the walking I made her do on the frisbee golf course at Windy Gap.
But the nurse said everything looked good and SOUNDED good! We are able to hear the heartbeat for the first time today and it was truly amazing. The little heart was beating 3x as fast as Katie's. At first the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat because the little one was moving around so much. She said it was hard to find something that moves so much that is the size of a big peanut!
So all seems well- moving around and a good heartbeat! Please pray for the continued healthy development of the vital organs. Hearing that heart today amazed me that something so small, yet so miraculous, was developing within Katie. Surely we can't take this for granted!

pick your nose!

Well, it's a big week. The 12th week. The end of the first trimester!!! They say that can be the most difficult trimester and once your through that the baby is much "safer".
This week the baby's face becomes more defined as the chin and nose become more refined. (Just a side note Katie is hoping the child get's my nose- a weird thing to hope for, but there you go!) This week also marks the arrival of fingernails and toenails- pick away little one! This week the baby will also be at around 3 inches long and the heartbeat could increase a couple of beats a minute!

We are at the end of Katie's assignment at Windy Gap and it was an incredible month. It's hard to believe it could go so quickly. We both head home tomorrow and I am sure that much of her life will consist of sleeping, resting, napping, and going to bed. Katie deserves it, she's worked hard this month and created a child all at the same time.

We go to the doctor on Tuesday for the first ultrasound. We should be able to hear a heartbeat, definitley have updates on how that goes.

Pray that all goes well at the doctor and that development looks normal and healthy.

Down w/ Baseball!

Don't worry- I am not trying to take down America's past time, just taking down some Awesome border!!! As you can see, when we moved into our house we had an extra bedroom which we had left empty. We hoped one day it would be for a child so we did nothing to it. Well now we know a child will soon be in it, so Down the the fabulous baseball border!! I must admit I had nothing to do with this- this was all the doing of Ed and Paulette, and of course Allie.

Thanks to an amazing tool that scores the wallpaper, some hot water,mom and dad's fingers, and downy fabric softner- we now have a clean slate to work with. All the frogs, princesses, clouds, racecars our hearts can dream of!!

I personally hope that we/Katie decides that a fun baseball border would go great in the room! That's funny! I hear baseball borders are the rage in Pottery Barn Kids. As the paper was coming down and Allie was walking around confused like,"What's happening?" I said, "Allie, you have no idea how your world is about to change!"
I guess none of us do- but what a treat. Even as we were in the room yesterday I found myself shooting up little prayers. Pray that the room would be a place where the child feels comfortable, that we can create a place that is more than a place to live-but a place they feel at home, a room that is prayed over for safety, a healthy place, etc... So the first change has taken place- wonder how many more are to come?!

Profile Pic

Excuse this post. This is the onlly way to get a profile picture up! I didn't want to just put a random picture of Katie and me on the blog!

11 weeks

So here we sit at 11 weeks. We now officially have a "fetus". Congratulations little one. This week your ears will continue to develop and move up the side of your head and your sexual organs will develop more fully- what an important week!

Katie has one more week at Windy Gap and is still going strong. She has had an amazing month and been amazingly healthy and energetic.

As you think of something to pray for look at the list to the side and pick one- or feel free to pray as you feel today.

thanks for praying.

The name game is still a staff favorite at Windy Gap. David likes the name Daivd, ray likes the name Ray, and the list goes on, funny how it works that way. We like some of then we change our minds, we meet someone with a "cool" name and then decide it's too cool and will be ridiculous in a couple of years. Some names sound like verbs and other names simply don't flow with Neely. But we'll keep playing the game until we land somewhere. I personally am fond of Wesley Calvin Luther Neely- talk about a theologian- and it's family!

"Baby" bible

Surprisingly the word "baby" is not mentioned in the book of Genesis. The first time the word is used in the bible is in Exodus in reference to Moses.
I doubt that we will name our child Moses, but I do pray that our child's life would be much like Moses'. Adopted (by God) into a family which they don't belong, life filled with God sized stories, meeting with God, adventure, being able to hear the still small voice, and lots of Grace.
I guess we could all wish the same! Please pray today for our child's attitude. May it have a sweet spirit, be easy to handle, a good sleeper, etc... As the child grows may Katie and I know how to care and nurture for the child in a way that brings it up rightly.

Double Digits

Well we've reached double digits- 10 weeks. The doctors told us no one really uses the whole "9 month" thing anymore, it's all about the weeks. 40 weeks is what they say is the average pregnancy, so we are 25% there, a quarter of the way, just 3x more, getting closer every day!

At 10 weeks the beginning of all the vital organs have begun and fully seperated fingers and toes have formed- WOW. Are you ready for this-- this week almost 250,000 new neurons are being produced in his or her brain every minute, that my friends is a miracle. Please continue to pray for healthy development of all the vital organs.

I have had the priviledge of being at Windy Gap for the last 10 days with Katie and "baby" is on the brain. There are two other ladies who are pregnant and 3 babies under the age of 2. It is exciting to hold the babies and know shortly we will have one of our own.

Katie finds herself very tired at times because of her job and because of the pregnancy so please continue to pray that her next two weeks would be as easy on her as they can be. Fortunately she is surrounded by an amazing team who are very supportive of her. Her team is doing an fantastic job of showing and telling high school students the unbelievable story of Jesus, I am so thankful to be a part of something like this! So there you go! A little update-

Allie

So many have asked..."How's Allie going to take it not being the top "dog" of attention?" You can see by her face, she is confused, doesn't understand and is still trying to determine how she feels about a new addition.

As you read this- please pray particulary for Katie's health today, as her body adjusts, may it be easy on her body and spirit.

Welcome!

So this may be over the top and even a little absurd! But hey- when am I going to have my first child again!? The real reason I have put this site together is for the ticker at the top- so you too can follow along and see how we are coming along.

Along the way there may be some pics of expansion (think Kt's stomach), decor, showers, JC getting toys for himself (why not) and other random things.

So thanks for journeying along- here we go!



1 Samuel 1:27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him. 28 So now I give him/her to the LORD. For his/her whole life he will be given over to the LORD."