Pics of Finley Claire...

Life is full of beautiful moments with our daughter...

Super crazy and insane and many times overwhelming, but such a gift!

It's hard to remember life without Finley Claire.

Sleeping Beauty

Say WHAT?

Nappin' with Daddy

First taste of a Pacifier

I already love to smile

Pics of the house...

For one week we prepped the house to get it ready for the arrival of our own furniture as well as US! We are soooooooo thankful to be in our own home.

Last night we slept in our own bed after 7 months! Oh Man, it felt SOOOOO good to be in our own bed. What is it about one's 'own' bed that just makes life better?

We have all of our stuff 'on site', but most if it is still in boxes. My folks (and hopefully Tami!) are coming on Sunday (tomorrow) and staying through Wednesday morning to help clean cabinets, disinfect everything (gotta love the 409) and line shelves. Then we get to begin the unpacking process...

I am loving the amount of storage space I have in the garage. We have a lot less closet space in our Master Bedroom, so we are having to cull clothes, hats, shoes (Tay's NOT excited about this one!) and some of about everything else. But it is just nice to be somewhat settled. This has been one heck of a month, but it is almost over. We will be so glad when our things are hanging on the wall and everything is put in its place. Soon. Soon. Soon.

Enjoy the pics pre during our painting process and pre furniture arrival...

Fin's room with crib and some baby belongings. We also put a dresser, night stand and a rocker in this room.

We loved our RED bedroom so much in Killeen that we went with the same red in our new home! It has an 'open vanity' which I was not jazzed about, but am learning to enjoy.

We also loved our GREEN living room and dining room in Killeen that we went with (what I thought was the same green! Turns our I was wrong, but we all love this new color... Guacamole is the name of the color!).

We love the big living room that opens up into the kitchen, dining room, wet bar (Hello!), foyer and hallway.

Kitchen. This is one of the rooms we did not paint. We also did not paint Fin's room or our bathroom vanity area. Not sure what we want to do in these rooms. It is amazing how paint can change the appearance of a room!

We are very happy with how everything has turned out so far. Buyer a pre-owned home is certainly a project and the 'honey-do' list is long. It's a good thing I am on my sabbatical this summer to hopefully get some more of that 'list' knocked out...

More pics of Fin...

Livin' The Dream

OH how I love to LAUGH

Besides next to mommy, this is my favorite place to chill out

I love me some pink

Posing like a model

Updated pics of our lil' princess...

Welp, we are in like Flinn!

We are in our new home and we have internet access...

So, without further blah, blah, blah, here's what y'all have been waiting for:

Sleeping Beauty

Got Birth Mark?

I love me some camera like my daddy

Chillin' like a Villian

Got booger?

Whirlwind Tour...

Welp, our world has been on a Whirlwind Tour since the summer, but especially the past two weeks...
Here's the skinny from my (Johnny) perspective:
Tuesday, January 4 - we sold our home in Killeen
Thursday, January 6 - Finley Claire was born
Friday, January 7 - Mother in laws car breaks down in the exit driveway at the hospital and I take care of all of that with a wrecker and mechanic
Saturday, January 8 - Finally get to go home from the hospital which is sweet!
Monday - First appointment at Pediatrician (whom we love by the way! He reminds us of Patch Adams...) and Taylor picks up a 'bug' at the office.
Jason and Hallie Wallace bring us dinner!
Monday at 6 p.m. - The Mayhem begins. Taylor starts throwing up and more and this 'bug' is OWNING HER. She also has a 100.6 degree temperature and her milk is 'coming in' ... which no one warned us what that even looks like or even FEELS like! I'm on the phone with the Baby Hotline wondering what in the h*ll is happening to my wife! We barely make it through the night and everyone is still alive on Tuesday.
Tuesday - Tay is recovering from the 'bug' and I am being Mr. Mom.
Tuesday - 4 p.m. - The 'bug' GETS UP IN ME! That thing OWNS ME as well. I tell you what, it is a humble posture when one is hunkered down over a turdlet just letting one's body convulse to get the foreign object out of there! Every time that I would 'hurl', I would say out loud... 'Jesus, please let this pass quickly!'
Tuesday - 5 p.m. - The Title Company shows up at our current living place to close on our Tyler Home and we CLOSE on a home in TYLER! So exciting. They leave and I head right back into the bathroom to talk to Jesus some more.
Friday - Taylor's family is back in town and I go to our new house to begin work. I clean for 3 hours that night.
Saturday - Taylor's mom and I paint and work around new house from 8:30 - 5:30.
Sunday - Back at new house working all day.
Monday - My father arrives and we work all day. I drop waaaaaaay toooo much cash at Lowe's on home repairs.
Today - Same thing at house and same thing at Lowe's. The popcorn removal guys and the carpet cleaning guys came to the house and began work.

Somewhere in there the Smith's brought us dinner as did the Heaton's and Rogers'. Tomorrow the Osteen's are bringing us a 'surprise dinner!' We are sooooo thankful for our awesome friends and their great support...

Friday - our Furniture will arrive!!! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
A guy will also be installing window blinds (he is known as The Blind Man as had a dude with a 'walking stick' on the side of his van... pretty funny. I chuckled when I saw it.) this day.
This is the same day as Finley's 2 week baby appointment. Not gonna lie, I'm a lil' gun shy of gettin' another 'bug' from that office!

Oh Yeah, I am also taking a Seminary Class with homework do every Sunday. Had to read 150 pages last week and write a 2 page reflection as well as answer some questions at the end of a chapter. Gotta do the same thing this week. Homework due on Sunday...

We also start up Young Life on Monday and then we are off and out of the gate for another few months of fantastic incarnational ministry with our high school friends...
Thank You Jesus for allowing us to do what we do!

We are blessed to have a place in Tyler, Texas, to call our Own in which to lay our heads...

Mas pics...

'That baby needs to be on a Gerber commercial!' says Precious, our hospital room cleaner!

Have you ever seen such hair from a newborn?

Chillin' with mama...

Mama smiles big with baby Fin...

Sleepin' Beauty...

Finley gets her very pampering... She IS just like Taylor!

We hope to check out of the hospital around 2 p.m. tomorrow and head to the farm. We are really ready to be at a home and in our own place.

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Welcome Finley Claire Russell...

Today was an amazing day!

Taylor and I checked into the hospital yesterday evening at 5 and began the admittance procedures... One thing we noticed right off the bat is how friendly and helpful all of the staff were at ETMC. So joyful. So willing to help. So knowledgeable. Such a blessing!

Anyhow, Tay was up about every 20 minutes going to the restroom and that made for a very unrestful evening for the both of us.

The nurses came in fairly early to get this party started and boy did it get started!

Taylor had been dialated to a 1 for the past month and this morning was no different. But this day went surprisingly quick.

One minute Taylor was a 1, then the next a 4. The nurses were blown away. Taylor's body was doing its job. Then in just one short hour, Tay jumped from a 4 to COMPLETELY DIALATED! We could not believe it...

The doctor showed up during her lunch hour and about 90 minutes later, our beloved Finley Claire entered this world at 1:41 p.m on Thursday, January 6, 2011 weighing in at a whoppin' 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring a solid 20 inches!

Taylor was an amazing Trooper and did such an amazing job! I am so very proud of her and her perseverance and endurance throughout this whole adventure...

Below are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Please help us welcome Finley Claire into this wild world!

Finley's brand new head band from Haute Totz (a baby boutique in Tyler) from GiGi Young.

Grandma and Grandpa Russell enjoy Finley for the first time...

My first few minutes alive in this world...

What happened to that warm sack of water that I've been living in for the past 10 months and can someone please get me my Hair Brush?

Mom and Dad admire their baby girl in a way that they never knew existed!

There it is! We hope you enjoyed our first blog as parents...

There will obviously be many more days to come and we hope that you will watch out baby girl grow up with us.

Peace.

Today's my last day...

Today's my last day to ever leave the Young Life Office and not be a Father.
Today's my last day to ever drive Taco (my truck) and not be a Dad.
Today's my last day as a created being to ever live on this planet and not have a child.

Today Taylor and I check into the hospital at 5 this evening to begin our time before induction begins tomorrow morning. We are both extremely excited and nervous all at the same time.

'They' say that our lives are about to CHANGE! My bet is that 'they' are right...
We shall see. We have much excitement and anticipation to meet our lil' one in the very near future!

We will spend this night at the hospital and then tomorrow is 'Go Time!' We will begin induction in the morning and our lil' bambino will enter this fallen world when he / she desires.

I have begun praying great and mighty prayers for our lil' baby already.
I am praying that he / she grows up to be a Mighty Warrior for the Father!
I am praying that he / she chases after things in this life that actually matter rather than the wind!
I am praying that he / she knows the Father at a really young age and walks with Him the rest of their days!
I am praying that he / she is obedient to the Father and craves wisdom and knowledge that surpasses all understanding!
I am praying that he / she lives with an eternal perspective and loves God's Creation really well!
I am praying that he / she would bring the Father Great Joy!

Today is my last day to pray for our unborn child...
Tomorrow I will begin speaking love, grace, truth and mercy into his / her life face to face!

To Him be the glory...
jdr

Just about 41 weeks and the final appointment...

Pregnancy Highlights: (GB stands for Gummy Bear)

How Far Along: 1 day shy of 41 weeks

Size: over 20 inches long and nearing 8 pounds

Total Weight Gain / Loss: gained another 2 pounds this past week for a total of 40 pounds

Best moment this week: We signed the papers yesterday and the official closing of our home in Killeen was today!

Gender: We've chosen to be surprised!

Movement: Baby is still moving around, though it seems less and less, as the baby takes up more and more room. Our sonogram tech wanted to take 3 pictures / videos of movement of our baby this morning and GB was not quite coorperating. But it was neat to see when Johnny would talk to the baby to get him / her moving, GB started 'breathing'. I don't think I realized that the baby only 'practices breathing' (to get the lungs ready for life outside) in the womb whenever they want to since they rely on mama for this.

Food / Drink Cravings: CFA and ice cream; I am planning on eating well over the next day since the last time I can eat will be at midnight tomorrow until after the baby is here. Bring on the ice chips!

Sleep: Still waking up for about 1-3 hours in the middle of the night. I took a shower at 4 AM this morning to get me relaxed after my mid morning snack and then went back to bed - that's been typical over the last few weeks.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting our little boy or girl on Thursday!

Symptoms: feeling pretty good and getting more excited now that the date is set and the end is near

UPDATE -
Just wanted to give everyone an update from our appointment this morning. We had a sonogram and everything looked great - baby movement, size, fluid level, etc.

We continue on with our original plans and will be checking in to the hospital about this time tomorrow evening. Since my body is not progressing on its own, (still only dilated to a 1) they will put a gel on my cervix tomorrow evening and then start the pitocin drip on Thursday, January 6 - the day baby will arrive!

I do feel much more confident in getting induced rather than waiting another complete week - thanks doc!

40 weeks and counting...

Pregnancy Highlights: (GB stands for Gummy Bear)


How Far Along: 40 weeks - we have officially passed our due date of December 31 - looks like we will be having a 2011 baby.


Fruit / Veggie: small pumpkin


Size: about 7 1/2 pounds and 2o inches long - although our doctor is estimating GB is between 6 1/2 - 7 pounds at this point.


Baby Changes: GB's skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal - the reason why some babies look a little 'cone-headish' after birth


40 Week Appointment Update: We had another appointment this past Tuesday - no changes, still dilated to a 1 and about 50% effaced.

We are scheduled to be induced on Thursday, January 6 (but actually checking in to the hospital the evening before to start the process). Now that we are past my due date, I have been a little hesitant about getting 'induced'. Part of me would like to give GB more time to come on his / her own. When our doctor gave us the option of a January 6 or January 12 induction date, I was quick to choose the earliest, anticipating GB would come on or around our due date, which still could very well take place, pretty please.

We do have an appointment / sonogram scheduled for this Tuesday and I am praying for clarity / wisdom on what to do. Obviously, for health concerns if the baby needs to come on the 6th and hasn't yet, I would like to move forward, but if there is no serious concern and the date of January 12 is still available, we may be pushing our induction date back to give GB more time to come naturally, although I realize there is no guarantee that GB will ever come on its own. It seems that your first ones could stay in your womb forever if they could have it their way. ;)


Total Weight Gain / Loss: for the very first time in the history of this pregnancy no weight gain this week! Total gain - 38 pounds


Best moment this week: We have a contract on a home here in Tyler and are moving forward. This decision / potential closing / move in date is also effecting the decision on figuring out when is the best time for GB to come if he / she doesn't get here on its own. The plan as of now is to close on the 11th with potential move in on the 16th. Lots of big transitions going on altogether for us right now!! Please pray for us - I see my emotions going all over the map in the near future.


Gender: We've chosen to be surprised!


Movement: still moving away - seems to be most active during the afternoon and early evening hours.

Food / Drink Cravings: My appetite seems to be on the increase over the last few weeks. I'm not sure if that's normal or if I am just eating out of boredom, waiting on the baby to get here. For a while, I was eating smaller portions and filling up quickly, but it doesn't seem so now. Maybe now with GB 'dropping' I have more room to fill my stomach :)

ice cream on a wafer cone, fruit, salad, pasta are some of my faves these days


Sleep: my sleep patterns have not changed much, although I have been getting some catnaps in during the day. I've been walking about 3 miles per day this week, hoping to get some things 'moving' and that seems to have given me some more energy.


What I am looking forward to: Meeting our baby and getting settled in our very own home after months of transition and temporary places.


Symptoms: the swelling in my feet did seem to be less, however, since I started passionately walking about 3 miles a day as we approached our due date, it seems my feet have been more swollen. I have been pretty sore and achy from all of the walking this week as well.

I also tried going without zofran this week, I was fine for one day, but the next, I threw up - man, I sure have NOT missed those days. So I will continue to press on taking zofran through the very end.