oh boy.

well, this is intimidating. i haven't updated this little blog in 5 months? oops. 

i'm just going to fast forward to recent happenings. most of you know everything going on in our lives anyway.

last sunday, we dedicated moses at church. dedication basically means that we are pledging to raise moses in a god-centered home and try to love him the way that jesus has loved us. we are committed to raising moses in a way that shows him the lord and be open with our own personal relationships with christ. this is different than infant baptism. we believe in believers baptism, that baptism is an outward sign of what has happened in one accepts christ as lord. so, babies don't grasp that yet. 

again, if you know us, you know how important this is to us. it was a very special time. 

i couldn't get the video to load so here are some pictures instead.

moses grows up.

four months. 

how has it been four months?!

moses is growing like crazy and changing so much. he is one happy, chubby little guy.

moses cooper.

our sweet moses finally made his big arrival. it was about time.

here's the story:

on june 20th, i woke up worried about moses. i hadn't been feeling him move (which was really strange for him). we waited a while, drank some caffeine, and he still wasn't moving so we went in to the hospital. they hooked me up to some machines and he was just fine. i guess he was a little squished in there. 

then the 21st rolled around. (keep in mind that i am 3 days overdue with a baby that i already knew was going to be big.) i woke up with some contractions and they quickly got close together. after being awake for about 3 hours and counting timing between contractions, they were finally about 5 minutes apart. (that's when they told us to go to the hospital) so off we went, for the second day in a row. i, once again, was hooked up to machines and monitored. our doctor came in and we found out that i was not dilated much. they gave us the option to labor at home for a while and come back when contractions were 3 minutes apart. they ensured us that our baby boy would be born within 24 hours. 

we went to lunch, just the two of us, for the last time for a while. i looked really strange having to stop every couple of minutes to breathe through a contraction. 

we came home, got our things together, watched some shows, and waited. after a while, we went to walk around somewhere. we packed the car and decided that we were going to stay out until it was time to go back to the hospital. our first stop was, of course, chick-fil-a. then target. then an outdoor shopping center. after the shopping center, it was go time.

we checked in to the hospital around 10 pm and got everything ready. i labored through the night, with the help of some medicine that made me really loopy. i got my epidural around 3 am. those things are pretty much the greatest. i was so nervous to get it though! they have to tell you all of the terrible things that can go wrong and you have to sign your life away. also, they made david leave the room. apparently, it's common for dads to pass out when they see it.

after the wonderful medicine, i didn't feel anything. 

moses came at 11:40 am. healthy and happy.

moses cooper brannen.

9 pounds 3 ounces 22 inches long

baby boy.

he spends a lot of his time doing this.

and i spend a lot of time doing this.

and david does this.

our hearts are so full.

39 weeks.

here I am in all of my 39 week glory.
huge belly? check.
about 3 things that fit around huge belly? check.

while we wait.

waiting is hard. we're so ready to meet our little boy but he's taking his precious time.
we've been trying to stay busy and do a lot of fun things around houston with friends.
getting ice cream. movie in the park. eating eggplant parmesan. hanging with the cutest little pup out there.

summer.

school's out for the summer! no sweeter words to a teacher's ear. I am not going back to teaching next year so this school year's ending was particularly strange. I (mostly David) packed up my sentimental things, gave a ton of stuff away, and said goodbye to a classroom. I think I am way too excited for Moses and summer to e here to be sad about saying goodbye to teaching. I'm assuming it'll hit me about mid-August. hey, I'm perfectly fine with just visiting when I get the urge to be around some kiddos.
now, on to sitting by the pool and waiting on my baby boy to be ready to enter the world.

he's a big 'un!

we had our 37 week appointment today. we got an ultrasound to check mom's weight and various other things they check.
everything was going well until my jaw dropped to the floor. mo is weighing in at 7 lb 7 oz... with 3 weeks left to go! he's a monster! they also checked me for contractions because my belly felt so hard but it turns out, he's just really big and there's not much space in there.
well, that's my story for the day. I am about to give birth to a big baby. guess that's what I get for marrying a man that is 6'4.