Summer on the Green/Rock the Light Concert

Check out the new blog for SUMMER ON THE GREEN

It has been a long time since I have posted last and since I pretty much only use this to show pictures of Ben, I will stop writing and give you what you want.

Three Weeks

Ok, so I know that I am not good at posting to our blog, but just be happy when we do! The last three weeks have been amazing! Ben has done super well, as has mom. He has been a great baby in terms of his sleeping and crying. He really only cries when he is hungry and he is getting close to sleeping all the way through the night (well, 6 hrs!) regularly. My brother got married last weekend in Pittsburgh and it was amazing to see how much Ben had grown and changed in just the three days I was gone! They grow so quickly! He has baby acne right now, which comes and goes. He is also a pretty gassy baby. He takes after his mother (just kidding Hope!), it's probably his father! Here are some more pics of Ben and his new adventure in life!

Friends and Family

Visiting

If you would like to come and visit Hope and little Benjamin, please feel free to come by Tuesday or Wednesday. Give me a call (636-484-2924) to let me know when you are coming so that we can make sure we are available. We would love to see you and introduce you to Benjamin. Here are also some more pics!

Charles Benjamin Parsons

He is finally here! Benjamin is 9lbs. 0oz. and 22 in. long. Enjoy the pics!

We're at the Hospital

We went out for dinner last night around 5:30 with a friend and began waiting and waiting for the phone call to come to the hospital, our bed is ready! We waited at the restaurant until Hope couldn't sit there any longer. I told her that as soon as we left and got back to our friends house they would call. Sure enough, we literally pulled in his driveway and they called telling us to come in! So we got into our room and about 5 nurses swarmed Hope and started poking, prodding, sticking, questioning and who knows what else. As soon as they swooped in they were gone. It was a whirlwind 15 minutes, but there we were, alone in the room, awaiting what the next 24 hours had in store for us. We watched "Waking Ned Divine" last night and Hope slept through most of it...so that was good. She slept fairly well in her bed last night. I say in my chair tossing and turning the whole night realizing what the next 25 years of my life was going to be like. The nurses came in every two hours two check Hope's blood pressure, ect. They have been very kind here and very accommodating to all of our needs. They are great. They finally started Hope on Potassin (the drug used to induce labor) at 6 am this morning. It will probably be another 10-12 hours before we have any really exciting news. So we continue to wait, pray, and take in this amazing experience. I will try to keep you updated as the day progresses!

P.S. - Are you curious about the name yet...if you have voted with the majority, we thank you!

We're Waiting!

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Here is an updated photo of Hope!

Flooded!

This was our life this past week. The top picture is taken about a half mile down the road from our house. The second picture is a house about a half mile in front of our house! As the Mermac River began to rise, our house and area was surround with water. The Chief of Police called and encouraged our neighborhood to evacuate due to the ensuing waters. Hope is due any day now, and not wanting to have to take Hope to the hospital via boat, we decided to evacuate and move in with some generous friends, the Lovealls! Some friends from church put our dogs up for a few days and we just waited. We tried to return home on Friday to see the damage, but were unable due to the waters covering the highways and roads into the town. Finally on Saturday we were able to get back home to find that our house was fine and the water had not reached our house. The Mermac river floods at 18 ft. It crested on Friday night at 41 feet. It was predicted to reach 47 feet! If it had done that then our house and our church would have been flooded. But praise God it recessed before that point. But as you can see in the pictures, others were not so fortunate. There is a lot of clean-up happening now and the process of rebuilding for many begins. The commissioner of the Eureka Fire Dept. is a member of our church and told me that the Coast Guard had to rescue 52 people in our area during the week. It is amazing what 10 inches of rain can do! Thankfully, Hope did not go into labor during this time and at this moment still remains prego! But it has to be soon...it just has to be.

Any Day!

Last week, our doctor said that Hope could deliver anytime now. Little Benjamin (is that the name, I dunno, it did win the most votes in our poll!) weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. with three weeks to go! So he is gonna be a big boy if Hope carries to term. She is hoping she doesn't! So any advice you have for helping along the delivery process, please let us know!
I started spring break this week and planned four days of fishing! Yeah! I went out yesterday with two guys who had never really been fishing. But we caught two spoonbill and a carp in 2 1/2 hours. So that was good. Then today, I woke up and the weather had gone foul. So I had to cancel todays trip. Boo! So I am praying for no rain on Wednesday and Thursday!
I also just got Super Smash Bros. Brawl for my Wii. So if there are any enthusiasts who would like to play online, just make the challenge and I am there!
We have another doctors appointment on Wednesday, so we will see where we are then!

We're Still Pregnant (Well Hope Is)

So I know it has been forever since we last posted. I knew that this would happen if I started one of these things. But after much hate-mail from avid readers of this blog (ok, I made that up) we have posted again with new pictures of Hope "prego" and also a video of the baby's room. Some of the pictures and video have little dots on them. Sorry, I think I touched the lens and smeared it. My bad. Anyway, I hope that these pictures bring joy and meaning to your day and that the video will inspire baby rooms all across America. I am particularly proud of the changing table built into the closet (the video doesn't do it justice) which used to be about 8 in. higher before Hope had me take it all out and lower it. Lots of love, sweat, and tears have gone into that room and I am sure much more will come out of it. Anyway, vote for the new names. Some are not new, however, this is a list of names Hope and I like (but that does not mean we both like them all!) Leave your comments and let's get better at this blogging thing together!

Baby's New Room

Here it is...almost. Still have a few more touches. And a baby!