Wow.............almost forgot!

Congrats Justin and Jo...................brand new mommy and daddy as of yesterday early morning.

Good luck catching Mason's 8 consecutive Masters titles!

Early morning rambling

I was sitting here, on the couch, having been up for about 3 hours now and I was just thinking...........we are really blessed. Thank you Lord for all you have done!

Thanks for the moment.............carry on!

Got a moment?

I am sitting here with the little man sound asleep and a barrage of snow outside, when I got to thinking........I better post something. We have some new photos and maybe a video if this site will finally upload video again, but first and foremost...............

We are praying for you Justin and Jo! T-minus is a wonderful place to be. Make sure she holds out till Friday so I have a chance in the pool will ya??!!!

We are so proud to call you both friends and we are so excited for your new lives to start. Here's to the first of many wonderful days ahead.

On to the fun stuff!

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!

This one is Julie's new favorite.

This is one of my new favorites...............Julie catches the best photos and sets up the best photo shoots. She might have a career after swimming?

Thanks for checking in and God bless you all!

Photo updates.........

So.................not a whole lot to report in terms of the little man. He is doing great and his pediatrician is saying that he is doing very well.

He has graduated into one solid food meal per day. Rice cereal is the only item on the menu and is served in the morning for breakfast. He tends to wear more than he eats and I promise to get a photo of that as soon as I can. It is quite funny to see.

He has a very healthy immune system as he has not acquired the cold I have had the last few days. My immune system is about as strong as a soaking wet cardboard box so it is nice to see that he inherited the immune system of his mother.

I have a few great photos for everyone here and we will be checking back in soon:

Taking after his dad...........

Hey everone.........

Well along with inheriting his dad's great looks, bald head, sense of style, and musical ear (he is starting to love the baby Pearl Jam) he also must have got his perfect memory of important dates.

With that, Mason wants to wish a happy birthday to his Nana.

A happy V day to everyone else!

This was his reaction when I told him we missed Nana's birthday..........I had the same look moments before.

Thanks for following along. It is great that there is nothing to report more often ha ha. Though it may make for more boring than usual reading, it makes for more smiling than you can ever imagine.

Play Time

I went to work yesterday and it sounds like Mason, Asher, and a couple of mommies had a blast on the first of many play dates in the future of these little boys.

The two of them partied like rock stars on the floor. Mason apparently drove Asher to tears with all the talk of 8 Masters titles in his future.

They both chatted themselves asleep at one point.

The two of them played so well together. I wish I would have been around to see it and not at work. Thanks so much Crystal and Asher for coming by and sharing some time with Julie and Mason.

When I arrived home late that night, I got to see one of my favorite sights...........

I can't get enough of the two of them sleeping together. It is so adorable and tranquil. These kind of moments are ones that I can just sit back and watch all the time. They slept so comfortably for about an hour once I got home......awesome.

In all it was a great day and it was great to have him share some time with Asher.

Roll it over.......

While the lyric concludes with "my soul," our version ends with "our son!"

That's right, he rolled himself over today. He was doing some tummy time and got himself up and pushed himself right over, no sweat!

I was doing dishes so I missed the first one, by the time I found the camera we had seen him do a second one and then he was exhausted and started whining to eat ha ha.

It was such a great moment! I hope to get video proof next time.

Doctor, Doctor

Well another doctor appointment came and went. This was a "high-risk" follow-up appointment. It was set up during our time in the NICU and was a heart doctor visit. We were scheduled to have an EKG and an Electrocardiogram to be sure that Mason's heart is working according to design.

With that, the little man ended up looking like this.................

Yeah, that is about 12 cords attached by 3M tape sensors to the little man. He kind of looks a little like a Terminator's arm here, but he handled it like a champ. Though the look on his face in this photo is one of "someone please explain what is going on here in a language I can understand," he settled down long enough for the doctors to get the information they needed.

Then the doctor came in and listened to his heart after the EKG and determined that there was no reason to do an Echocardiogram as she heard nothing that made her believe that the PDA was still open in his heart.

This was a HUGE answer to prayer as this was one of the real pitfalls that we thought we would be encountering time and again. To dodge this one, after ALL the others, is only the hand of God.

Julie took a few other great photos that I want to post here;

This is while he is in his car seat. The cover keeps him warmer and tends to sheild him from wind and bright light.

He has taken to look up as us while we hold him. For me, it is one of the most amazing moments I have ever had and the fact that they continue is simply incredible to me.

I love the photos where he holds hands. This one was perfect and Julie caught it beautifully.

I hope this finds everyone well and thank you all for the prayers and well wishes. Talk to you all very soon!

Steady as she goes

Not a whole lot to report the last day or so. We are loving sharing time with Mason and I especially love coming home to see he and Julie sitting together cuddling. It is moments like those that really stick in my memory all day.

I am going to try to write more often now, but I can't promise it will work out. I might write more like this post, short and sweet, rather than my long rambling posts. Who knows?

At any rate, things are going steady and so there is not a whole lot to report.

I will write more later but for now, take care everybody!

Hearing with different ears..............

"They" have told me that fatherhood would change me. That I would never be the same. That things would take on whole new meanings and that I would see things in a whole new light. "They" said that having a child would alter my reality forever.

I can tell you "they" are right.................

Yesterday I was at work. A room full of people and I broke down..........completely. It started with a little blubbering and that all too familiar "holy cow......I am going to cry" feeling and culminated with a "you'll have to excuse me for a few moments."

I cry, it is something I have no problem doing, but to cry in front of complete strangers is something I rarely do.

The media used to affect me this way has made me cry before, but not like this.........not like this.

We have a radio in the back where I am working at the moment and this came on.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke-r2K0ymWc

I had heard this song a million times before and, to be honest, hated it and was never a big fan of the band. This day, though, this song took on a whole new meaning in my life and I heard it in a way I had never been emotionally available before.

Anyway, I don't expect everyone to understand, its just that music plays a big part in my life and I love how different ears can hear different things in it. My ears were tuned to a different frequency, this day, than they had ever been, maybe yours will be too.

Sorry for the delay

It has been a busy last week for us. We have both been working and trading off "baby watch" so finding a bunch of free internet time has not been a priority. On top of that, he has been doing great and so there is not a whole lot to report of real substance.

We can report that he had a round of shots today called Synigest (sp?) which protects against a variety of virul infections including the Rhoda virus. There may be a host of mispellings in there but I am not about to take the time to webster.com anything today ha ha.

So we went to the doctor and little man took it like a champ. He got 2 shots, one in each thigh, and he wailed at the first one louder than we have ever heard him wail. He full on screamed. It was very interesting as he is not a crying baby at this point. He does his share of whining, but he seems to take after our own personalitites and not do too much winging. That last one is for my brother in law and my sister LOVE YOU GUYS!

The doctor said that things are still doing well in terms of his growth (21") and his weight (9 pounds 14 ounces). He is growing so big! He is also doing well in terms of his strength. That tummy time is paying off.

He even rolled over for the first time at the doctors office today! He has been close before but every time he almost got there he would seem to get a bit scared and face plant to stop the unknown from happening.

The next step is to have our follow up echo exam and an EKG. The doctor feels that his resting heart rate is a tad high and so he wants an EKG done when we have the echo so he can be sure his heart is working properly and that things have developed according the grand design. God built it so you know it will be perfect in his eyes!

Other than that, not much going on round here. Julie is an awesome mother and I could not have asked for a better partner through this journey. Thank you Jules for all you do and have done!

I will leave you with some current photos of the little man.............enjoy and we will check back soon!

All quiet on the western front

He really loves that swing!

"Tummy time, is a special time, not just for baby boys, but for Mrs. Flynn too."

This is a good example of his typical cry or whine.