Waldroup World

Waiting

2011-10-28T21:55:00.003-04:00

So, I had sort of planned to not update the blog until we actually had news (meaning a referral), but we still have so many people asking (and because it's been almost 5 months) how things are going. I thought it was only fair.

We are still waiting for a referral. We did update a bunch of our paperwork a few weeks ago. Here is a picture of the sweet women at the Boyle County courthouse who helped authenticate the updated documents from our home study agency (Adoption Assistance in Danville). The updates came from three factors. First, the home study agency license expired in September (annually renewed). Second, and most positive, our agency opened up two new regions (orphanages) from which to accept referrals for children. Third, a couple of the documents prepared early in the process (homestudy and psychological evaluation) had my name listed as Dana Creech Waldroup, when it needs to match my passport that reads Dana Elizabeth Waldroup. The Russian level of detail never ceases to amaze me! All in all, we had to redo 37 of the 60 original dossier documents. Now, it is much easier to make a quick change (add a region to a list, change a name, etc.) and reprint than to prepare the documents the first time. Since we did have to have all those apostilled at the Kentucky Secretary of State's office, it did mean we are getting very close to the unofficial record that their office told me was 120 documents (also for Russia) for an adoption (60+37=97 and we still have "Dossier Part 2" to complete after our first trip to Russia...we may break it).

We also received the quarterly update from our agency. They do not give waiting list "numbers" like some agencies, but they send out a list of how many families are in which stage of the process. There are three families waiting to make their first trip, so three referrals went out in the last couple of weeks. There are 5 families (including us) waiting for referrals. This still doesn't give us much timing detail, but there are referrals going out. We'll see when God has ours ready.

The good news was that our agency has already placed 22 children in 2011. They had been averaging around 15 a year when we began the process, so we're thankful to hear more children are finding forever families.

As far as our feelings about the wait, I think it was harder for me when we finished all our paperwork than it is today. After working hard to finish everything, it was an adjustment to be just waiting with nothing we could do. Now, I feel like we've settled into the season. Also, I think God has made me realize that having one fairly compliant 2-year-old means life is pretty easy. And, we know that as we make all these trips, bring this new son home and help him adjust to a wildly different life as part of a family and living in America, there will be plenty of challenges on the horizon. We certainly will be thankful to add our second son, for the challenges will more than be worth it. But, it will not be an "easy" season.

Another help in the waiting came as I was able to attend the Lifeway .mom conference in Birmingham last month. There were around 50 breakout sessions to choose from (and only 4 times to attend...talk about decisions!). One of those I chose was a panel discussion on infertility, adoption, and miscarriage. They had an amazing group of six women on the panel including, Chris Adams (matriarch of Lifeway Women's Ministry) and Heather Platt (David Platt's wife). The discussion was varied but much of the session was simply each woman sharing her family's infertility and adoption story. The unanimous opinion of all the women and their final encouragement was that God's timing is perfect in sending children, even if that means years of infertility, birth mothers who chose to keep a child they'd planned to adopt, or a host of international adoption delays or closings. When you heard it from someone on the other side, it made waiting seem like a gift from God. We are so thankful that our trust is in a Sovereign God who knew His plan for our family before time began. We thank Him for peace and patience that we know is only from Him.

(Might I also add that per Chris Adams one of the planned panel breakouts for .mom 2012 will be a group of adult adoptees--including her twin daughters--called, "I'm adopted. Ask me anything." I'm planning to be there for that and the rest of the conference if any mom friends wants to join me.)

Please continue to pray for our son, wherever he may be. Continue to pray for us to trust God and open our hearts to His peace as we wait to begin our travels. We are so thankful for all of your support and prayer for us through the adoption process.

Also, for those who have not spoken with us the last few months, Andy has responded to God's call into full-time ministry. He'd had felt pulled at different times over the past few years but this summer, God made it abundantly clear to both of us that God wanted this for his life. He enrolled at Southern Seminary in Louisville this semester, driving up for one night class a week and taking one class online. He has kept his engineering job at UK for now and will work there at least through next semester. Please be in prayer for God's direction for him and for our family as he determines what God has for him after that. Thank you so much!

Dossier Complete!

2011-07-06T15:42:00.003-04:00

After around 5 months of paperwork, we have finally completed our applications and dossier. We had 59 original documents which all had to be individually notarized, authenticated and apostilled. This was far more than some of our other friends who have adopted internationally, but apparently this is typical for Russian adoption. The woman at the KY secretary of state's office (in the capital building) said she had one family that had 120 documents, which is sad for them, but made me feel a little better :).

I spoke to our program director this afternoon, and our dossier has been received and approved, so we are officially on the waiting list. Our paperwork will be in Russia early next week where it will begin translation. She reconfirmed the time line of referral for a little boy at 3-8 months. From our referral, it will take us at least a couple more months to travel and have our child home. So, as I've told several of you, we are looking at the end of this year at the earliest, but more likely, we won't bring our new son home till the first half of 2012.

Only the Lord really knows our time line, so now it's up to us to rely on His sovereignty for patience and peace through the waiting. We will also finish up our education materials, get all of our shots for travel, and get our home ready. We should have plenty of time for all of this.

We continue to appreciate everyone's prayers for us. Here are some of our ongoing requests:

Pray for our child in Russia, wherever he is. Pray that God will provide for his needs and provide love from his caregivers.

Pray for patience and peace for us as we wait.

Pray that we will fully trust God's sovereign plan and timing for our adoption.

Pray for us as we prepare for the adjustment of caring for our new child with his specific needs and challenges.

Pray for us as we continue to parent Joshua and hopefully, in small ways, prepare him for his new brother.

Happy 2nd Birthday Joshua

2011-03-13T17:28:00.005-04:00

Our two year old is one of God's greatest blessings to us, and we love him more than tongue (or keyboard) can tell! He talks constantly, loves to sing (ABC's, Jesus Loves the Little Children, the B-I-B-L-E, and a dozen other songs), runs most of the time, and can count to 20 (usually skipping 15 :). He loves to "read" his Bible and other books with us of by himself, which often involves pulling most of the books out of his bookcase. He also loves to play outside and see his friends at Mom's Day Out, Sunday School, and other church events (I can almost always get him in the car if I start naming the people he is going to see when we get there :). He loves his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members and friends and wants to know the name of everyone he sees in person, in pictures or in his book ("Who's that?" is probably his favorite phrase). He loves to "help" mommy in the kitchen by taking pitchers and containers out of the lower cabinets while I cook, but he is getting better at putting things back. He is eating well and growing more independent in that area among others. He does love to say, "No", whether or not he really means it. He is relatively compliant for a 2 year old. When he does go to the tantrum, it doesn't usually involve screaming; he simply lays down, leans his head back, and says, "Fit". He loves to color and play with stickers...and I'm sure he'd love markers or paints if his mom had the courage to brave the mess :). He knows all his letters and can usually name one or more things that start with each one, and he's beginning to understand counting (which is so dear to mommy's heart :). He loves to watch Elmo, anything Sesame Street, and his "Bible Movies" which we usually watch when he wakes up so mommy can finish reading her Bible. While there are challenges every day, we know more and more why God tells us that children are a blessing. Joshua certainly is that in our lives!

Exciting News

2011-03-13T16:16:00.009-04:00

We want to share some exciting news - Andy and I have begun the process of adopting a child from Russia!

This has been a work in progress for about a year now, but we firmly believe this is what God is calling us to at this time. About a year ago, Andy began thinking about the possibility of adopting, but I was not in favor of it at the time. Andy dropped it for the time being. However, a few months later, God began to impress upon me that this was what He wanted us to do. However, by that time, we had begun taking some fertility medication to enhance our chances of becoming pregnant, so we opted to continue with those plans for the time being, knowing that God was still in control, as He always is. As you know, we experienced a miscarriage in November. Since that time, God has continued working on our hearts and has clearly shown us that He wants us to adopt at this time. Looking back over the last year, He has used friends who have adopted, books we have read, speakers we have heard, and circumstances to bring us to this point. We have seen God more clearly throughout the journey, and we know He has good things in store for our family, even though the road may be challenging.

So now I'm sure you may have a lot of questions. Let us answer a few.

First, why Russia? Well, Andy and I talked about this and explored various adoption options but through some doors being closed, the age of the child we were looking for (younger than Joshua), etc. we kept coming back to Russia. Russia currently has 750,000 orphans, so it is a huge need there. We considered adopting from America, but personally felt uneasy with some of the complications as well as felt excited about being a part of God's work in another nation.

Second, what "type" of child do we want? We would like a child as young and healthy as possible. For Russia, that means the youngest child we could bring home would be about 1 year old, though the child might be closer to 18 months by the time we bring him or her home. Also, we did not specify a gender preference on our application, but due to the high demand for Russian girls in adoption, we will probably be referred a boy.

Third, how long will it take? We have been told that it could take anywhere from about 12 to 18 months from start to finish, so it will be a long process, though not as long as many other options we looked at. We began our process in January, so we expect to travel possibly by the end of 2011 but more likely in the first half of 2012.

Fourth, what agency are we using? We were looking for a reputable, Christian adoption agency, so Andy researched and called quite a few to gathering information. We settled on Buckner International, a Baptist organization which some of our family members have ties to. They have been doing adoptions for decades and came recommended by reputable charities like Shaohannah's Hope. We have heard nothing but good things and have been impressed with this organization thus far.

Fifth, what are the steps in the process? While we can't say for sure exactly what the process will look like (since we've never done this before :), this is how we presently understand it. We finished "Application Part 1" for our agency in January. This was a relatively short, introductory set of documents to make sure there were no red flags before we really dove into the paperwork. We will mail our extensive "Application Part 2" tomorrow. This has taken us about a month to complete. It contains many of the background information and documents that our agency will need for the US and Russian governments. We are also working on our Home Study, which is part of the process for acceptance with US immigration. After Application Part 2 is approved, we will begin working on our dossier for Russia. I'm sure there is other paperwork and steps, so we'll keep you posted. After all paperwork is completed, we will wait for a referral (recommendation for a specific child) from Russia to come from our agency.

Sixth, what will our travel plans include? Currently for Russian adoptions, most parents will make 3 trips. Once we receive and tentatively accept our referral, we will travel to Russia, meet that child, have a secondary medical evaluation of that child done, and set a court date. Then we will return to Russia in one to two months to attend our court date. After court, there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period before we can take the child home. We could simply stay in Russia, but with Joshua at home and Andy's work, a 3 week trip would not be feasible. Finally, we would travel to Russia to bring our child home! Both of us would not have to go on this trip, but bringing a young child we have just gotten to know and who may never have been outside a Russian orphanage on very long plane rides just seems like a 2 man job :).

Andy and I would certainly appreciate your prayers as we go through this long process that I'm sure will be filled with challenges. Here are some of our current prayer requests:

Pray for our child in Russia, wherever he or she may be (most likely in utero or in an orphanage) that God would provide loving caregivers and resources to provide for his or her needs, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, until we are able to care for him or her ourselves.

Pray that God will draw Andy and I closer together through the process.

Pray for us through this spring as we are adding the adoption tasks to already busy schedules (2 year old, my busy Women's Ministry calendar, and Andy's Professional Engineering exam in a few weeks to name a few). Pray God would show us how He would want us to prioritize our time to best glorify Him.

Praise God for the encouragement of friends and family as we continue to share with others.

Pray for us as we answer questions and respond to the concerns of others when we share our news. Pray that these discussions will open doors for us to share what God has done and is doing in our lives and share the gospel.

Pray for us as we make financial decisions, that God would show us how He wants to provide the funds for the adoption.

Pray that our "Application Part 2" will be processed smoothly in the next few weeks and that our Home Study will continue to progress.

We look forward to sharing more with you as we move along in the process. And, yes, this does mean the blog is back in operation :).

Love,
Andy and Dana (and future big brother, Joshua)

Goodbye Blog

2010-04-24T18:07:00.002-04:00

After discussing it with Andy, I think we are both in agreement that our (mostly my) time can be better spent on other things at this point (especially my 1 year old boy :) than on posting our lives to the blog. So, for now, we are no longer going to be updating. I will still post all our pictures to Facebook so friends and family can keep up with us, and I promise to make comments there of anything especially noteworthy. Thanks to all those who love us and want to follow our lives. Email and phone are also always a good option if you're not on Facebook :)

Trip to Peoria

2010-04-24T17:13:00.005-04:00

Last week, Joshua and I headed to Peoria, IL to see Shannon, George & Mark. Joshua did well in the car both going and coming. He certainly didn’t sleep quite as much as last time, but he slept over half the way, which was nice. It's always a fun to get out of town and away from laundry, dishes, and work responsibilities and just focus on Joshua and having fun with Shannon and George. The trip included lots of great food, including many great meals Shannon planned for us, as well as walk to Dairy Queen (just a few blocks from their house) and dinner at a local Italian place with ice cream at a local shop for dessert. Shannon is working on getting George to eat a bit more and put on a little weight, which is challenging at times. It was good to get to visit during this season since I definitely know how Shannon feels having gone through a similar stage ourselves. It was also neat to see how similar and different the boys are. George is still an excellent crawler and climber, and while he can walk, he still does more crawling. While Joshua walks well, he couldn't climb on furniture, toys or stairs like George...though I think he took some lessons from George. Since our return, his climbing skills are showing marked improvement...much to mommy's dismay. Our visit also included trips to the park, where the boys played on the swings and on the play structure. We also walked around the grounds and lake near the zoo. Most of our trip was simply hanging out at their house and letting the boys (or whichever one was awake at the time) play, eat, take their naps and just do as they wanted. Overall, it was a great time and a great trip.

Visit from Mimi & Pops

2010-04-24T16:47:00.006-04:00

The week after Easter, Lee, Andy's mom, had her spring break from school. So, she and Denny spent a few days visiting with us. They kept him on Tuesday and Wednesday while I went to work and to Bible Study. It was good for them to get to spend some time with him without a busy schedule. Joshua played some basketball with Eric, Andy and Brian Cole. (Brian has been staying with us a few days a week while he finishes up his PhD classes at UK. He and Amy sold their house at the end of March, and Amy and Caroline moved down to her parent's house in Auburn, where he's been joining them on the weekends.)

Denny & Lee treated us to Rigatta's Tuesday night, and the weather was perfect for eating on the patio. While I headed to a Women's Ministry meeting, the rest of the crew finished up dinner and took some pictures by the lake.

On Wednesday, before they headed back to Owensboro, we went to the cemetary and fed the ducks. My mom joined us. We were a bit disappointed that there were only a couple ducks...but tons of geese. They had left their droppings everywhere, so we couldn't let Joshua walk around. But, they did enjoy the bread...and Joshua did too. After training him to feed himself, it was hard to get him to give the bread to the ducks but adorable to watch him eat it :).

Easter Pictures

2010-04-24T16:37:00.003-04:00

We had a good Easter. While it wasn't Joshua's official first Easter, it was certainly the first one he could participate in. We went to church then came home for Joshua to take a long nap. We pulled a little bunny Easter outfit out of Kelly's hand-me-down's, which was a big hit...but not the most comfortable. So we changed into a summery one piece before we headed to my Aunt's for Easter dinner. She had several Easter baskets, and the weather was wonderful. So Joshua spent a good bit of time walking around the yard, picking up eggs, and putting them into the different baskets. Then we headed back to church for the evening service and Lord's supper.

Spring Fun

2010-04-24T12:12:00.008-04:00

So, it's been a while since we updated the blog...but I'll have several posts shortly (assuming Joshua keeps sleeping ;). Here some random pictures from the last few weeks. We've been busy enjoying the nice weather and having friends over.

The week before Easter, we went to dinner at Joe Bologna's with my family and met my cousin Rachel's new fiance, Peter.

Joshua and I made a trip to PetSmart, and he LOVED it! He especially loved looking into the bird cage, which was right at his eye level from his stroller. He also liked the fish, kittens and hamsters, but the puppies were a little excited for his tastes.

Sitter Swap with the Waddell's

2010-04-01T16:51:00.005-04:00

This month, we again swapped days out with Jeremy and Erin Waddell. They watched Joshua while we went to eat with Chris and Julie Friday night, and we watched Cora Leigh so they could shop for a few hours the following Saturday. With Cora at about 6 months, it's amazing to see how different it is to care for each of them. Joshua was again a little jealous when Mommy held her, but Daddy said he did great, once I took Cora upstairs for a snuggly nap. Here's a few of our pictures. Jeremy and Erin posted several of Joshua at their house. Their blog is http://jeremyanderinw.blogspot.com/. Erin is a little better about updating than I am, so it's a few posts back...with cute pictures of Cora Leigh in between.

Spring is Here

2010-04-01T16:34:00.006-04:00

We have been enjoying the awesome weather. Here are some outside pictures. He is walking much better, which makes playing outside better, since he can walk in the grass with minimal falling. (And when he falls, grass makes a soft landing.) My mom has a baby swing, which is I think his favorite toy right now. He smiled the entire time! We also very carefully went down the slide from Grammie's playhouse. He thought that was fun, too.

There are a few other picks from around the house. He's obsessed with carrying things. He'll pick something up, and walk the house, end to end 20 times looking like he's on a mission. It's adorable. Note the remote and diaper (clean I might add).

We've been enjoying Grammie's Easter decorations (since we haven't made sufficient attempts at finding ours since the move...maybe next year). He loved carrying the Easter basket around my mom's and would even pick up eggs and put them in. He's clearly very smart ;). Should make for a fun Easter!

We have two Mexican restaurant experiences to report. We went to the new Rincon off Harrodsburg Road with my family, and Joshua got to hear the Mariachi guy play. He was quick to let us know he does events like birthday parties, we agreed to keep that in mind for Joshua's 2nd birthday...or maybe Dad's 60th in a few weeks! Second, we went to El Chico's where Joshua demanded the lemon wedge from my water. Thinking giving it to him would teach him not to demand, I gave it to him. But, what does mommy know? He loved it!

An Ear Fix

2010-04-01T16:21:00.003-04:00

After about 8 ear infections since July, we finally got the go ahead to have tubes put in Joshua's ears. We went for his one year checkup last Monday, where ear infection #8 was discovered. After fever Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, we headed back to the doctor where they switched his antibiotic and gave us the contact info for Dr. Good, the pediatric ENT they recommended. We were in with him the next day and got on his Tuesday schedule. Apparently he does up to 6 every Tuesday morning. We showed up at 7:30 for paperwork, were getting Joshua prepped (by driving him around in a wagon and waiting for our turn) by 8:15, and after about 7 minutes, they called us back to come get him. They never even changed his clothes! It was definitely assembly line surgery...which actually made me feel much better. Joshua was very fussy and disoriented after the anesthesia and was upset for about the next hour. As they said, it's one thing to feel dazed and confused and know why. It's another if you're just a baby who has no idea why you feel so weird. By 10:00ish, he was back to his old self. He ate breakfast, drank his milk, had a few snuggles, then was ready to bother Emma again :)

Most importantly, he has been so much happier since. Apparently his ears had been bothering him much more than we knew. We have had the best couple of days. He's smiling, busy, doesn't cry or cling. He's back to the our sweet baby again. We are so pleased!

By the next day, we were carrying toolboxes at Grammie's. It's heavy for him, and it's hilarious to listen to him grunt! And Wednesday afternoon, we enjoyed the weather by walking with Erin and Cora Leigh.

Happy 1st Birthday, Joshua

2010-03-15T20:19:00.005-04:00

We had a big weekend at the Waldroup household. Our little boy turned 1 on Saturday. With plenty of family around to celebrate, we enjoyed food and fellowship...and a mound of gifts. Andy's parents and grandmothers came in town Friday evening, and we added most of my family on Saturday for lunch...and the UK/UT basketball game. Joshua did great with his cake, though, I think Emma may have eaten more than he did. Also, the cleanup was a bit traumatic. One minute, we were letting him dig his little hands in for a huge mess, and the next minute we were sweeping him off to wipe every square inch down with baby wipes to let him get back to his party.

On a side note, we used his crayons for the first time tonight. We taped paper to the table to see what he would do. He did surprisingly well, mostly following our lead and writing on the paper. He'd pick a crayons (always grabbing with his right hand), examine it to see which end was pointed, then place that end on the paper and make his scribbles. He was too cute! Watch your mailbox, Mimi!

First Steps

2010-03-05T20:53:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday myself and several other Sunday School friends hosted a baby shower for my good friend, Krista, who is expecting a little boy April 1st. During the shower, Joshua surprised everyone (especially his mommy) by taking his first steps. One second he was standing holding onto the living room door frame, and the next minute, he took three steps toward the watching crowd of ladies. He does love an audience!

He is now doing really well. At mom's day out, they commented on how quickly he was picking it up. Tonight we visited Brian, Amy & Caroline, and Joshua walked across the room to different people for much of the evening...and as you can see in the video, chasing after a little remote control car :). We are so proud!

Here are some pictures, and I'll also attempt a video upload. The first video was taken Monday night, and the second, we took tonight. You can already see lots of improvement. Hope you enjoy!

Joshua's First Cruise

2010-02-26T16:47:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful time this week on Joshua's first cruise. The occasion was the National Hay Association board meeting. My dad and Chris did a little business, but as you can imagine, it was mostly pleasure. Though, it's nice to go with a group, especially since it included several long time friends.

Joshua did great on the plane both times, as we were fortunate to have direct flights from Cincinnati to Miami, where we met the cruise ship. Of the 5 hours of flying, he slept about 3 1/2 in my mother's arms, which made entertaining him for the remainder much easier.

On Friday afternoon, my dad's brother, David Creech, who lives in Naples, Florida drove over to visit with us and eat an early dinner. We hadn't seen him in several years, so it was nice to catch up and let him meet his new great-nephew.

We hung around the hotel Saturday morning and boarded the ship early in the afternoon. The rooms were a little small (as all cruise ship rooms are) for Joshua to wander around, though having my parents in an adjoining room made it much more spacious when we opened the door in between the rooms. We could almost always find an open lounge or ball room to take him to, where he could crawl and play. He mostly pushed his stroller around, which made me wonder why I worried about packing toys at all. On one of these lounge adventures, Andy and I were able to prod him into taking a few steps. One of us would walk behind him, letting him hold onto our fingers for support, then slowly slip our fingers out. He would take a couple of steps, before the other one caught him. He has taken steps, but he is certainly not "walking" in my opinion, since he's yet to let go of something himself. But, we think he is getting very close.

Every evening, we had our formal dinner seating at 6:00, which was at least four courses and usually lasted a couple of hours. We enjoyed the experience, but it was a parenting challenge. But, Joshua did great every single night. It was good timing, since it was right after his afternoon nap, and we could feed him his dinner as well as bites from our plates during the meal. But, he definitely impressed the waiters and our hay convention friends by how well he behaved.

He was quite the hit with the staff. The ship had over 800 staff from 60 countries, and most of them would work for 6 months or more at a time before returning home. Some of the staff we met had babies at home within a few months of Joshua's age, so it was nice for them to get to see him but also sad to think of all that they were missing. It sort of gave us a reason to step back and think about how blessed we are to be able to have good jobs in the U.S. and the money to afford a trip like this.

Our first stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Mom and dad agreed to watch Joshua while Andy and I spent the day at the Sandals Resort. We had gone to Sandals in Montego Bay on our honeymoon, so it was neat to return. Also, we were glad to have some time to ourselves, as vacations are MUCH different now that our schedules revolve mostly around the baby.

Our next planned stop was Grand Cayman, but the island had some bad weather and closed their port before our ship arrived. So, the captain rerouted (as I'm sure they have to do from time to time) and headed for Key West, Florida on our last day. It was much cooler (mid-70's instead of the mid-80's in Jamaica), so we took Joshua off the boat for a little shore excursion. We ate Key Lime pie at a little restaurant and looked through the shops. He slept a good while in his stroller, then awoke in time to see the momma and baby chickens, which appeared to be the highlight of his visit to Key West :).

It was a great experience and good time with family, though we are glad to be home. I think Joshua was glad to see his crib last night and has slept several extra hours today as well.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T09:55:00.002-05:00

Not too much to report. Joshua is still thinking about going up the stairs. He is standing on his own for a few seconds and can "walk" upright on his knees (which is super cute), but no steps yet. We took a few cute Valentine's Day pictures of our little "heartbreaker". We're surviving the snow and getting ready to leave for our cruise on Friday. It will be Joshua's first flight and first time on a boat. There is lots to think about and plan for, but it should be a great time with family and friends. We are certainly praying all goes safely and smoothly :)

Andy could fill in the details on this, but he and my dad went to a dinner/showing of a new documentary put together by Derek Anderson on the UK 1996 championship team. Most of the players were there, so here's a picture of Andy and Jeff Shepherd.

Pigeon Forge Weekend

2010-02-02T19:33:00.005-05:00

After much debate about the weather, Andy made the decision that we should venture down to Pigeon Forge after all. This was a great call, considering only an inch or so of snow fell at the cabin. We had so much fun visiting and catching up with friends. Here are some pictures from the fun. Clearly the two babies were the stars of the show, as I seem to not have any pictures without them :)

Our New Home

2010-02-01T21:42:00.002-05:00

We are still just beginning to get settled in to our new house. We've gotten the rooms we normally live in (kitchen, living room, master bedroom, nursery) in working order, but the rest is still full of boxes and a mound of pictures that need to go on the walls.

Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Joshua has done great in his new room. Andy's parents came in town the week after the move. Denny, Lee, Andy & Eric went to the UK basketball game, and we enjoyed having them to help watch Joshua so we could get a few things done. Eric & Joni Beth watched him for a little while after lunch on Sunday. He had so much fun with them!

Shannon and George were in town this past weekend, so they, along with Emily and her youngest son, Benjamin, came over on Monday. At first, I think Joshua was a little confused as to why these other boys were playing with his toys, but he quickly joined in. Benjamin and George also tried to give him a stair climbing lesson, but I quickly put a stop to that :). So far, he's not ventured up, and I'm happy to keep it that way...at least for a few more weeks as we try to find the right baby gates.

The best part about our new house...besides location...is the back yard. It has a small fence around it to keep Emma in, and it's flat and fairly large. The deck is much larger than our last one with bench seats all around. It will be great for get togethers, so we look forward to warmer weather. Joshua and I took a venture out last weekend. He wasn't quite sure about the grass, but it was really cute to watch his expressions. Emma, on the other hand, is sure that she loves the backyard!

Moving

2010-02-01T20:39:00.003-05:00

So, it's been about a month since I updated the blog, but I actually have a very legitimate excuse this time. On January 15th, we moved from our beloved (yet now abandoned) house in Nicholasville to a new house in Lexington, closer to Porter, my parents and Andy's job.

With lots of pictures, I'll be doing a few posts. Here are a few pictures from before our big move. The biggest event was obviously Joshua's first real haircut. My dad and I had given him a few trims, but his incredibly thick locks were getting beyond our skills. So, I made a double appointment for he and I to get our hair cut with Margaret Wagner (whose been cutting my hair since elementary school).

Joshua continues to love to play with Emma, which is adorable....as you'll not many pictures of this. He also enjoyed the many many many boxes everywhere as we got packed up...they were perfect for him to practice his favorite trick, pulling up on things.

New House

2009-12-29T21:26:00.003-05:00

The biggest development in Waldroup World is that we are buying a new house...tomorrow. We found a great deal on a house in Copperfield subdivision. It's just outside Man O' War between Harrodsburg and Nicholasville Roads off Clays Mill Extended. It's right in the area where we wanted to be...close to Porter, my parents and closer to Andy's job at UK. It is a bank owned foreclosure. The bank bought it back at auction and installed new carpet, new appliances and painted. We had a full home inspection without anything to report, which was a huge surprise to me who expected at least a few substantial fixes to be required.

We will begin moving a few things over soon, but with an open house at our present home in less than two weeks, I didn't feel like we could be completely out by then. So, we'll be moving sometime after that...mid to late January. We're excited about the new house and feel very blessed to have found it and be able to move gradually.

We have not sold our present home, though about half of those who have visited have really liked the house (or at least that's what their realtor's say), and we feel fairly confident that we'll be able to sell it in the spring. However, we realize that with the market going up and down, we are certainly emotionally and financially prepared for a longer wait. We feel like God will provide the right buyer in His timing.

Baby's First Christmas...and Joshua's crawling adventures

2009-12-29T18:47:00.007-05:00

First, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! As I'm sure everyone has, we have been busy these last few weeks. We spent most of last week in Lexington, visiting my Aunt's Thursday night for Christmas Eve Dinner (Andy and I took time out and enjoyed the babysitters while we went to Porter's Christmas Eve service). We spent Christmas morning at my mom's then drove to Owensboro to spend Christmas evening with Andy's family. Joshua had a great first Christmas...and was very blessed with lots of toys and clothes. It was a little overwhelming (both for Joshua and his parents), but we're grateful for so many family members that love him and us. Most of all, we're thankful for God's gift of salvation through Christ, which is why we can celebrate and have hope all year round.

Before Christmas, we celebrated my grandfather's 92nd birthday. He is in Country Place nursing home, which is attached to the Lafayette where my other grandfather and uncle Johnny live. My grandfather has not able to get out of bed for the past several months after a fall in September, but he is now comfortable, and we appreciate your prayers for him and our family through this season. We feel blessed for the long life God has blessed him with and hope he will continue to be comfortable until the Lord calls him home.

We had a get together at Mark & Traci's two weekends ago and enjoyed getting to see many friends. Joshua was able to play with two of his friends, Ben Marsh and Hallie Johnson. It was great to catch up with so many of our friends.

We went to Eric & Joni Beth's in part to move furniture after their painting finished up. We had a great visit. First, we laughed as Joshua pulled all the bows off Aunt Joni Beth's Christmas gifts. Then, we all played Beatles Rock Band, which was so much fun. We're again glad they found jobs and a great house in Lexington, and we look forward to many more times together.

Joshua continues to crawl everywhere and has started looking for anything possible to pull up on. He can cruise along the couch, his pack-n-play, and on some of his toys. The funniest development of his new mobility is his interest in Emma's cage. He often crawls in the laundry room, opens and closes the cage door and sometimes even crawls inside. He also likes to bang Emma's food bowl on the floor or the cage. This upsets the dog to no end. When Joshua moves to the laundry room, Emma will sit outside the door and whine. She looks at Joshua, then looks at me, then back at Joshua as if to say, "Do you see that he is messing with my stuff! What are you going to do about this!" She then sneaks in the cage as soon as he moves to one side and begins to save her things (blanket, sleeping pad, toys etc.) from his evil grasp by pulling them out into the kitchen or living room. All the while, Joshua remains generally oblivious to her stress level. This Joshua/Emma showdown moved to Owensboro where Andy's family enjoyed it immensely. As you can see, Joshua sat in an empty cage since Emma had already rescued all she could carry.

Since he's now 9 months old, he is allowed to try all kinds of new foods. Almost nothing is officially off limits anymore, but with only two teeth, the list is still narrow. Though, Joshua gets better at chewing/gumming every day. It's been exciting to see his expressions as he's tried cheese, potatoes, rice, lots of fruits, breads, muffins and soft veggies. Our favorite was his experience with our peppermint chocolate chip Blizzard. We gave him a tiny taste, thinking the extreme sweetness or peppermint flavor might be too much. At first, he cringed at the unexpected taste. Then promptly opened his mouth as wide as he could to let us know he wanted more of that.

Crawling Everywhere!

2009-12-07T21:23:00.005-05:00

First off, we had Joshua's 9 month pictures taken today. To see those, go to www.babyboophotography.com, choose client proofing, password is waldroup, and type an email address. He was not in the best mood, but there are still some cute ones.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

We spent Thanksgiving in Owensboro with Andy's family. We enjoyed getting to see Mimi and Pops as well as Andy's grandmother's, aunt, uncle and cousins. Lee was gracious to buy a high chair just like the one we have, so he ate great. With the excersaucer they already had, we didn't have to pack hardly any baby gear...which as awesome! She also had a silver baby spoon. He wasn't born with it in his mouth, but he sure put it there on his first Thanksgiving dinner :).

On the way back, we stopped to visit the Hoskins, close family friends of the Waldroup's, who were visiting from Georgia. We also visited Andy's Uncle Vaughn and Aunt Lina and cousin Sam a few weeks ago.

In case you hadn't heard, we are working on selling our house and moving back to Lexington, since Andy's now working at UK. It's exciting, but it's been quite a challenge to get the house in showable form when someone calls to see it. We put up the Christmas decorations last week (in a terrible rush on Tuesday night since someone wanted to see the house Wednesday), but it did free up our weekend. Joshua likes the Christmas tree, but he loves the dancing Santa. He makes a bee line for it every time he's on the floor in our living room. I need to take a video because he bounces ad taps his hand on the harth to the music. It is adorable.

After a couple weeks or rocking on his hands and knees, Joshua officially started crawling last Monday...and boy has our world changed! We had been warned by about every parent we know, but you just can't quite prepare yourself. He loves garbage cans, any type or cord, and closing doors. Here's a picture of when he crawled in the pantry and pulled a can of coke out of the package. I thought it was too cute when he put it to his mouth and placed my bets that he couldn't chew it open before I got back with the camera.

Halloween pics and more

2009-11-09T15:38:00.004-05:00

So, it's been a while since I updated, but we had a crazy October...as you can see by our many pictures. Joshua is almost 8 months old, and he is rolling everywhere. He loves to sit up and play, and usually doesn't fall unless he plans to. At Mom's-Day-Out, they said he is like a new baby now that he can sit up, play and watch all the other kids. He's starting to say da-da all the time. Andy swears he knows what he's talking about, but if he does, he thinks the dog is his daddy :).

We officially put our house on the market a couple weeks ago. With Andy's new job at UK, we would like to be back in Lexington. We've been looking around at houses, and even made one offer on one in my parent's neighborhood that was older but had a very good price for the size and the large lot. Someone else had an offer before us, so we're waiting till the end of November to see if that person can get financing. We have looked at others, and we'll just see what the Lord might have in store for us. We're glad to be in no hurry.

First is a picture of Joshua's new friend Cora Leigh Waddell. Our good friends Erin & Jeremy welcomed her back in September, and we've visited a couple of times since. We traveled to Auburn, Alabama the third weekend in October for the UK/Auburn football game. We stayed with Amy Cole's parents along with Brian, Amy & Caroline. We had so much fun getting to fellowship with them and Amy's family, who made us feel so welcome. But it may be a while before they invite us back, since we brought the Cats enough luck to beat Auburn for the first time in 40+ years. Andy was excited, but I felt bad for Brian, Amy and the rest of the crushed city.

Then, the next weekend, we traveled to Owensboro for Andy's 10 year high school reunion. We showed off our Tigger Halloween costume to Mimi, Pops, Grandmommy & Mamaw. They--not so surprisingly--thought he was the cutest little Tigger they had ever seen :). He also got a pumpkin full of baby goodies from his Mimi. No candy yet, but several baby toys were a fun surprise.

There's a picture of Joshua trying to chew on my Dad's wallet. He knows just where to look for the cash. We visited Shannon, Mark, George & Teresa at the Glancy's creek house. They were glad to finally all be able to come to Kentucky together, and we enjoyed getting the boys together.

We had a fun Halloween weekend. We went to the Eric & Joni Beth's new house for dinner Friday night. I was glad to finally get to see it. Saturday, we went to the Lafayette to see Grandpa and Johnny, and we trick-or-treated at Grammie's. Next year, he'll be glad to get his hands in her giant candy stash :). Then, while Andy and Eric went to the UK football game, Joshua and I headed to Chris & Julie's for our final Halloween stop.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Mom & Dad's, and Dad gave him his first haircut! I can't believe he already needs one, but it was starting to grow over his ears, and he was getting a little baby mullet in the back.

Greg & Marci brought little Emerson over for dinner last week. It was good to catch up with them. It's amazing to think he's already almost three months old...and growing quickly.

And finally, there's a picture of Joshua helping me with the laundry this morning :)

7 Months Old...and a trip to Holden Beach

2009-10-12T21:23:00.007-04:00

Joshua is 7 months old tomorrow! We can't believe it's been that long, but he is (still) at a really fun age. He is still mostly stationary, though he can roll across the floor if given enough time. He's happy in his exersaucer and still fits in his bouncy seat (though he won't be in that too much longer). He can sit up now, which makes playing on the floor much more fun for him and us.

We just returned from Joshua's first trip to Holden Beach. Joshua, myself, my mom, aunt Beth and uncle David, Grandpa, Chris, Julie, their 7-week-old miniature Dotson puppy Molly, and Shannon and George Sloan all spent last week enjoying nice weather and time at the beach. In October, it's not swimming weather, but it was nice to just relax, let the babies do as they pleased, and get some time with family and friends. We ate out almost every night and played games after the boys were in bed. George and Joshua (and puppy Molly when she wasn't making messes on the floor) were the hit of the party, and there was lots of willing hands to help out in any way. George and Shannon definitely got more of the beach experience than Joshua and I since he could crawl around in the sand. I'm not a huge fan of sand or salt water myself, so Joshua and I both just watched. It was certainly a different beach trip with the babies.

Also on our trip, Grammie bought Joshua his Halloween costume. He will be going as Tigger, since he loves his Jumpster and the costume came in his size. He also has two other Halloween shirts, and here are some pictures of all three outfits. Mimi got him the black shirt and babies first halloween bib. We've also had to break out his winter clothes for the colder weather...and because the 3-6 month summer stuff just doesn't fit like it used to :)

We arrived back late Saturday afternoon just in time to meet Andy at the Sunday School social at Grace & Morgan's house. Most of the spring babies were in attendance as well as some of the older siblings. The kids had a blast, but it was also a different experience with everyone focused on the little ones and the party wrapping up much earlier than it used to.

We'll be in Auburn, Alabama this weekend for the UK football game, and the following weekend we'll be in Owensboro for Andy's 10 year high school reunion, so we'll post pictures of those as I get time.

Trip to Knoxville...and more

2009-09-26T12:08:00.007-04:00

Last weekend, we went to Knoxville for Andy's cousin Kim's wedding. It was beautiful. They tried to stay with the low-key theme, but there was still a lot of work done by Kim, Kelly and Barby at both the reception on Saturday evening at Kelly's house and at the wedding Sunday afternoon, and the finished product was well worth it. We certainly pray God's blessings on Kim and Jay and their new life as husband and wife!

We drove down Saturday morning and back Sunday evening, so it was a quick trip. Joshua did well adjusting to the changing schedule, etc., as he usually does. I ended up with a stomach bug starting Sunday morning, but felt better by Monday. Other than that, we could not have asked for a better weekend and time with family.

There are also some other pictures from our lives that we thought you'd enjoy. We had Joshua's 6-month birthday dinner at Outback with my parents, Chris, Julie and Nathan. We've visited Grandpa and Dandy at the Lafayette, and we went to dinner at Brian & Amy's house. And, our little boy is just a super cute 6-month old baby. We've slowed a little on the picture taking, but sometimes, I just can't resist :)

6 Month Checkup

2009-09-14T10:25:00.003-04:00

Andy and I took Joshua to his 6 month appointment this morning. Dr. Gillespie said he was very healthy and that his ear infection had cleared up. He also said that his congestion was probably related to teething. Joshua was 27 1/4 inches (76%), weighed 16 lbs. 13 oz (35%) and his head measured 44cm (56%), so we were very pleased all around. We will go back for his 9 month checkup in December.

6 months old

2009-09-13T20:20:00.009-04:00

Today is Joshua's 6 month birthday. We cannot believe he's been around half a year, but it has been amazing. He has grown and changed and gets more fun everyday.

We had so much fun last weekend when Denny and Lee and family came to the lake for Labor Day weekend. We were glad they got to get away for a few days and spend some quality time with Joshua, since they hadn't seen him since Destin back in mid-July. We had some good lake time, though the water was a little cool. Joshua again got a great nap on the dock. I was a little concerned that he might be fussy or not sleep well, since he was diagnosed with a double ear infection on Friday afternoon. But, he seemed to do fine. He's now been on medicine quite a few days and seems to be feeling better, though I'm sure they'll check it out tomorrow at his 6 month doctor's visit.

On Labor Day, Joshua and I headed north and west to visit Shannon, Mark and George for a few days. It was great to get to relax and enjoy a little slower pace of life for a few days. The boys sort of played together...but it mostly included either grabbing each other's faces or stealing each others toys. We certainly expect they'll have more fun together in future years, but Shannon and I certainly had a good visit. George is all over the place, so it was sort of a preview of things to come for me. Our visit included walks in their neighborhood, a visit to the zoo, and a walk down around the riverfront...which reminded me a lot of Owensboro's riverfront. We also went out to lunch with Mark on Wednesday, since he didn't go into work until 5:00pm. He is doing his first year of residency in Emergency Medicine, so his schedule is very busy.

Our most exciting development is that Joshua officially got his first tooth this week. It popped through in the middle of his lower gum. We've not had too much trouble out of him, so we feel very blessed. He has been a bit congested the last few weeks, and I'm wondering if it might be related to the tooth. I guess we'll get to ask the doctor tomorrow. Other baby happenings include rolling all over the place, sort of sitting up (though only for a minute or so before toppling over), and finding his feet :) He still smiles like crazy and is such a great baby.

So Much Fun

2009-08-29T09:55:00.007-04:00

Here are a few pictures from the last several weeks. Our biggest excitement is his Jumpster. It's a little harness, for lack of a better term, that we hook to the doorway where he can bounce. It's sort of the baby version of a trampoline. He LOVES it. No matter if he is fussy, happy, sleepy, if we put him in the Jumpster, he will smile and bounce. He definitely prefers to jump on his left leg, which we find amusing. I think it might be easier balance wise to just use one leg and not both. Either way, it is really cute!

He's also playing on the floor more and reaching for more things. Here is a picture of him playing with a really soft car/plane toy that Kristin Goad brought him from Europe. It's a favorite because it's wide enough to stay on his stomach...at least for a minute of two. As his hands improve, I have to keep all items clear of his Bumbo seat when we're in the kitchen, or they will end up in his little hands before I can catch him. We also took a short video of him playing on the floor. He is as wiggly as ever!

Here are some picture from his improptu 5 month birthday party at T.G.I. Friday's. We got quite the crowd for just a few hours of notice. It was also my Aunt Beth's real birthday, so we gave her extra time with a cute baby for her big day :).

We officially celebrated her birthday at the lake. Of course we took the Jumpster. He also played cards with us. He had his own deck that he chewed up one at a time while we played :). After trying to get him to nap in the pack-in-play that morning with little success, he ended up sleeping for over 2 1/2 hours in his bouncy seat on the dock. I guess the lake is relaxing for just about everyone.

This morning, we checked the video monitor around 7:30 to find him still asleep. (Yes, he wakes up and plays in his crib in the mornings until we come get him...because he is just the best baby :). I checked him a few times and around 8:15 (much later than he normally sleeps), I saw an arm move...but then I couldn't see his hand anymore. We figured out that he had somehow slid under his crib protector. It was still tied to the crib rails, but he had worked his way underneath it. We had to take the camera up and capture it. If he sleeps till 8:30 covered up, maybe it's time to giv him a blanket?

5 months old

2009-08-13T15:16:00.002-04:00

Joshua is 5 months old today, and we had his second set of baby pictures made this afternoon. Here are a few, but you can see them all at www.babyboophotography.com, click proofing, password waldroup (all lower case), enter an email address. He is too cute!

2009-08-11T11:12:00.005-04:00

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We have certainly had lots more going on the past few weeks. Our biggest first was probably baby food...note the love for sweet peas. He has eaten every bite of every jar we've opened, so we feel so blessed.

We also went with Mom and I to get our haircut. We had visits from Brian Hoskins and his girlfriend, Donna and from our second cousins, Emmy and Lucy Brown. Joshua and I went to Riding for Hope's new facility with Dandy and Johnny and I. We went to visit Adam, Kelli, Avery and baby Anna in the hospital. Congrats to them! We had dinner at Brian & Amy's, along with Mark, Traci, Jeremy & Erin. Caroline seems to just love "Baby Joshua". Joshua got to swing outside at Grammie's house.

We also have learned to LOVE our ExerSaucer. He can spin around, grab all the toys as well as practice standing. It's so fun to watch him play! I want to take a picture of him everytime he's in it because he is so cute!

Visiting at the Lake and the Creek

2009-08-11T10:39:00.005-04:00

Shannon and George were back from Peoria for a couple of weeks, and Joshua and I were able to visit with them first at the lake. Stella came along as well, and it was great to see them and let George and Stella have their first lake experiences. Every time we see George, it's more and more fun to watch he and Joshua interact, and we always get a preview of what Joshua might be up to in a couple of months. George can definitely scoot around and play with more toys, so we'll look forward to that.

We also visited with Shannon, George, Emily, Andrew, Benjamin and Teresa at the Glancy's creek house. We were only able to stay a couple of hours, but we definitely saw what having four little boys around could be like! Andrew showed us his Powerwheels Gator while Benjamin crawled and walked on the wet blacktop. Poor Cabela had to wear a cone on his head since he had something taken off his leg. Joshua got to try George's walker out, and he seemed to enjoy that. It will definitely be a very fun place and I'm sure it will be a blast to have all the boys playing in a few years.

Weekend in Nashville

2009-08-11T10:29:00.005-04:00

We spent to weekend with Grammie and Grandad at Aaron & Natalie Sawyer's wedding in Nashville. Joshua did very well in the car again...though he did not sleep near as much as I thought he would. He had his first trip to the Cracker Barrel on the way. We arrived early Saturday in time for the guys to take in a movie and for the girls...and Joshua...to visit the Cheesecake Factory and the attached mall. The wedding was wonderful, and we are so happy for Aaron & Natalie and their families. Joshua made it through about a third of it, when he got the hiccups. Otherwise, he might have made it through. Andy was gracious to take him out, and we were thankful...along with several other parents there...that it was a short service. We headed out Sunday mid-morning and stopped at a little restaurant in Bardstown for lunch. Joshua had not slept much in the car, and he fell asleep on Andy's lap during lunch. It was too cute.

Lake Week

2009-07-25T20:31:00.004-04:00

This past week, Joshua and I spent a couple of days at the lake. Our friends Suzette and Gayle came down from Ohio, and Amy Freeburg flew in from South Dakota to spend a week with Mom at the lake. We had a great time, even with some poor weather. It was great to get to see everyone and enjoy all the great food. Here are a few pictures...and our first attempt at video taken on our digital camera

Destin Fun

2009-07-25T19:51:00.006-04:00

We had an amazing time in Destin last week. Joshua was a wonderful traveler. We left Friday after Andy finished work, and we made it to Decatur, Alabama before we stopped around 10:30pm with only one stop for dinner and baby cereal. We then drove the rest of the way Saturday, only stopping twice for food, diaper changes and gas, so we arrived by mid-afternoon in time to visit with uncle Barry and aunt Barby on our first day.

Our days were very relaxed. Andy and I got to spend lots of time together with Joshua. There was a pool very close to our condo, which worked out perfectly. We could walk over, spend an hour or two then head back if he needed feeding or was getting fussy. He also loved the pool and would wiggle when we dipped his legs or tummy in the water. He also enjoyed hanging out with Mimi and Pops in the pool.

We went to the beach one day. Joshua was asleep when we arrived, and he stayed asleep in my arms for about an hour. When he woke up, we walked to the water and put his feet in the sand. He liked the water, but as we stayed longer, the sand started getting on his arms, legs, hands and face. Then, he didn't last much longer. We decided the pool would be a better fit for a 4 month old...as one might have expected :).

Other highlights included napping on Mimi and Mommy in various places, taking a bath in the kitchen sink, a walk on the pier at Sandestin, visiting with Grandmommy, uncle Barry & aunt Barby, and going out to dinner almost every night.

One night, Joshua stayed with Denny & Lee while Andy & I went out for dinner for our 5th Anniversary (which as actually on the 24th, but we thought we'd take advantage of all the good restaurants and free babysitting). A great time was had by all...both at the condo and at the restaurant and movie theater :)

We traveled the entire way home on Saturday, but Joshua again did great. He slept 8 of the 11 hours, and with the handy breast pump, we miraculously only stopped twice. He also slept through the night Saturday night, which amazed both of us. It was a huge praise!

4 Months!

2009-07-21T12:18:00.005-04:00

Joshua is 4 months old already and he continues to be a happy, healthy little boy.

He had his 4 month check-up today and everything went well. His measurements were: 26 1/4" long (85th percentile), 14 lbs, 4 oz. (37th percentile), and 42 1/2 cm diameter of his head (50th percentile). The doctor told us we can start to give him some oatmeal cereal now and vegetables in a couple weeks.

Also, we just got back last weekend from a trip to Destin with Andy's parents and Eric and Joni Beth. We had a great time there eating good food, having good family time, and just relaxing. Joshua did great and even slept 8 hours in the car on the way home. We are definitely blessed with a great baby!

Here are some pictures from our trip. More to come later.

More 4th of July Pictures

2009-07-10T15:21:00.004-04:00

Joshua's First Fourth of July at the Lake...and lots more

2009-07-07T20:34:00.006-04:00

Joshua had his first trip to the lake house this past weekend. It was another great Fourth of July weekend with close family friends, the Glancy's and Sawyer's. While I definitely missed having Shannon, Mark and George along (who were still getting settle in to their new home in Peoria, IL) and the weather could have been a bit sunnier, we had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone. We finished the weekend off with a shower for Natalie Money, Aaron Sawyer's fiance. We're so excited for them.

Other adventures of the past few weeks include visits from Brian, Amy & Caroline Cole. Caroline loves "Baby Joshua", and she is so cute around him. Caroline also loves Emma and chases her around...until one of them gets scared. It's too cute!

We also enjoyed a visit from Josh, Kelly and Hallie Johnson, who came in from Louisville a couple weeks ago. Mark and Traci joined us for dinner, and it was great to see them again.

Joshua has started rolling over from his back to his tummy. We're so proud of him. But, he doesn't usually like being on his tummy, so it's proven a two-edged sword :).

This weekend we are headed for our first real vacation with Joshua. We'll be going to Destin, Florida for the week with Andy's family to visit his Aunt and Uncle, who are graciously sharing their condo with us. We can't wait, so watch for many more pictures to come.

Father's Day Weekend in Owensboro

2009-06-24T19:38:00.007-04:00

We had a big Father's Day weekend in Owensboro. Joshua and I were able to drive up early Friday morning (which kept his sleep schedule much more in check), and Andy, Eric and Joni Beth came after they finished work. It was wonderful to get to see everyone and to celebrate Andy and Eric's birthdays as well as Andy's first Father's Day. Joshua was a wonderful little guy the entire trip. He is such a good traveler. Let's hope he does this well in Destin in a few weeks!

June Fun

2009-06-24T19:21:00.005-04:00

Here are just a few random pictures from June...before the big Father's Day weekend update. He has tried out several new things in the past few weeks. We tried him in the umbrella stroller at Mom's house. He did fantastic in it, which will make it much easier to not have to take the huge stroller to Destin in a few weeks.

I attended a baby shower for my friend Rebecca. Here is a picture of the attendees and of the incredible cake that Erin made for the shower.

On a sadder note, our friends Shannon and Mark and their baby, George, moved to Peoria, IL to start Mark's residency. We will certainly miss them but hope to go visit them maybe sometime in August. Here are a couple of pictures of George and Joshua playing with the jungle activity center. They finally look somewhat the same size, so that was good to see :).

Three Months Old...and a Busy Boy

2009-06-13T18:42:00.007-04:00

We have had a very busy week this week with lots going on. We had our friend Brian Cole over for dinner on Wednesday night, went to the Hay Man on Thursday (Tom Creech's annual golf outing and dinner with customers), the Owensboro High School state semifinal baseball game with Eric and Joni Beth on Friday night, and went to David Noble's retirement open house and Kayla Talley's 1st birthday party on Saturday.

Joshua has had a big week also. He turned 3 months old today. He now weighs about 12 lbs 5 oz. and is becoming more active. Also, he has started sleeping through the night this week - Yay for that!

Here are some pictures from our recent activities.

Joshua has learned a few new tricks in the last couple weeks. He can now scoot in a circle on the floor. He can't roll over yet, but he can roll onto his side. He's also learned to kick himself over the Boppy if we put him on it for tummy time. He can also sit in his Bumbo chair. It's amazing to watch him develop and change every day.

More pictures from Ohio

2009-06-05T13:12:00.004-04:00

Here are some more farmy pictures from Ohio. Does he not look too cute in his little overalls! Suzette and E.J.'s house was incredible. We did sleep in an Ohio State themed bedroom, but we looked past such things and had a wonderful visit. Yes, mom and I are wearing the same shirt. It's a bit of a long story, but Suzette got a kick out of it...which was the goal :).

Trips to Ohio...and Sam's Club

2009-06-02T19:56:00.005-04:00

We've had a fun couple of weeks. We had a good Memorial Day weekend hanging out at home. We had Eric & JB over for dinner Saturday night and Mark, Traci, Greg & Marci over for lunch Monday. Here's a few shots of Andy and Joshua enjoying the holiday.

We also took Joshua's first trip to Sam's Club with me, my Mom and Aunt Beth. He did great. Grammie even offered to get him whatever treats he wanted, so he filled his cart with candy and headed for the checkout...just kidding, the candy was for work, but I think she would have bought it for him if he could have figured out how to ask :). The first trip to Sam's was followed by his first trip to Raising Cane's. Needless to say, we got my fill of fried food for the week. There's also a picture of Joshua trying to stay awake in his car seat...then losing the battle...again.

Last weekend we went to visit Suzette, E.J. and Emily Croll...some hay convention buddies from Nortern Ohio. Anyone been to Oak Harbor, OH? I thought not. It's a tiny farm town, but we got to see their new house, and they got to see Joshua. Joshua was absolutely an angel, start to finish. He was a great traveller (but we did use the drive 1.5 hours, stop 1.5 hour plan, so I don't thing that will go over well with Andy when we head to Destin in July). He slept great even in a strange place (he slept from 9:30pm to 5:00am Saturday night!), and he did not have one fussy time the entire visit. We kept warning Suzette about his fussy time...but he kept proving us wrong. We have some cute pictures of Joshua in his overalls with the big tractor, but they are on my mom's camera and will have to follow later. Suzette will be coming to the lake in late July, so we look forward to seeing her again soon.

Sweet Happy Faces

2009-05-22T08:39:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite new developments is Joshua's smiley happy moods. Usually after he eats, he'll smile and interact with us for at least half an hour. It is just a joy! Here are a few (okay lots) pictures from one of those times.

Pictures!

2009-05-17T15:58:00.002-04:00

Two Months Old

2009-05-14T14:54:00.004-04:00

So, I don't have the pictures ready to upload yet, but I thought I should update on the last couple of days and add the pictures soon.

On Tuesday, we went to get Joshua's first professional pictures made. A woman in Nicholasville had been recommended to us...then we found out she lives on our street. That means we could feed him, dress him and just walk down the street to capture that happy mood. The pictures turned out wonderfully. Here is the link: http://www.babyboophotography.com/, then type waldroup (all lower case), then type your email address. He is just too cute...if I do say so myself.

Yesterday, we celebrated his two month birthday. He had his 2 month checkup, which went well. He had grown two inches since his last visit to 22.5 inches. He weighed 9 lbs even, which is on the low side as we expected, but the doctor didn't seem concerned since Joshua is eating well and doing well overall. The doctor did say that we could go ahead and start him on some rice cereal if he would take it. Andy and I gave him his first batch last night, and he loved it. So far, he's loved about anything we've given him to eat...breastmilk, cereal, his vitamins, gas drops, Tylenol, and even the oral vaccine :)

He also received his first round of shots, which actually went fairly well. Mom mentioned on the way to the doctor's that she had given us Tylenol before our well visits to help with soreness afterward. We didn't have any with us, but we mentioned this to the nurse who said they'd be happy to get a dose for us. After he got his shots, we immediately gave him the grape Tylenol...which made him instantly quiet. Like I said, he loves anything with a taste to it :). He was a little sluggish yesterday afternoon, but really didn't have any other symptoms.

He slept wonderfully and ate more cereal this morning. He seems to be doing great. We feel so blessed.

Derby Party, etc.

2009-05-06T14:45:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, Joshua attended his first Derby Party at my parents. As always, it was a combination Derby and Birthday party for my dad. This year, we also combined Rebecca's college graduation in the excitement. Andy played golf with some friends on Saturday morning then joined us later. We had fun, and Joshua won a little bit of the Derby pot by drawing (as best a 7 week old can) Musket Man who came in third. You can see his winnings in his little overalls pocket in the picture with Andy.

Andy's Dad, Denny, has been in Frankfort this week attending a conference, and he was able to come eat with us last night. It was good to see him again and for him to see Joshua. Joshua was well behaved for most of the visit but had a little fussy time at the end. Joshua did sleep good though...and we'll always trade a fussy hour for a good nights rest!

We are so excited about having Andy's parents and Grandmothers visiting this weekend and get to see Joshua again. It's been almost a month, so we'll really be interested to see all the changes they see in him even in a few weeks.

Seven Weeks Old Already

2009-05-01T15:11:00.009-04:00

So with going back to doing a few more hours at work and being able to finally take him out of the house, I've had a little less time for updating the blog. But, here are lots of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Joshua is getting bigger and changing all the time. We weighed him this morning on our scale (which only measures half pound increments), and he weighed about 9 lbs. We think it might be a bit less, since he had all his clothes and diaper on, but we feel confident he's continuing to gain weight. I had asked the doctor at his three week visit how much a serving of breastmilk was so I'd know how large to make his bottles. He said 3 to 4 oz. So we gave him 3.5, and he drank every drop. Then 4...and he drank every drop. Then 4.5...and he drank every drop. Then 5.5...and he drank every drop. Yesterday he took two 6 oz. bottles down to the last drop. And I'm pretty sure he eats that much or more normally. So, we know he's eating well but think he has his Dad's metabolism, as he's still staying slim and trim.

He's beginning to sleep a bit less during the day and is much more alert (we don't usually have to fight to keep him up as often). He's been able to focus his eyes on the toys on his bouncy seat and on his activity center (when he's awake). He especially loves the sun that sings and lights up on the activity center and will stay there completely enthralled for several minutes (a 7 week old's attention span is only so long no matter how cool the toy is :).

Our favorite new development is smiling in response to something. He smiled at Andy last weekend and has been smiling at Mom and I some this week, too. It's amazing how it warms your heart. I've told several people that he's gone from feeling like a very cute burden to a total blessing the last few weeks. We've gotten better at knowing what he wants when he's fussy, and he's become much more content in general. He's also sleeping much better (usually he only gets up to eat once between 9:30pm and 6:30am), which also makes it much easier to enjoy life with our little guy.

He loves his Baby Bjorn carrier. He gets constant change of scenery and gets to look out about anywhere he wants. I've started strapping it on when he's in a good mood so I can move around the house and get a few things done. As long as I don't forget and almost squish his legs against the kitchen counter, he's usually pretty content :) Sometimes he will even fall asleep, which is too cute.

We've also been enjoying the warmer weather. With it going up into the 80's last weekend, we all got outside and played. Andy got our mulch installed and a couple more flowers planted. Joshua loves being outside!

Last Sunday we took him to Sunday School and church for the first time. He was absolutely wonderful. I held him through Sunday School then he slept in his carseat the rest of the time, except for when he was eating his bottle. We even took him out to eat afterward with our friends, Brian & Amy, who were leaving for a few weeks in Auburn this week, and he slept through all of that, too. Mom and I have taken him out on a few other errands this week...mostly to show him off to friends. But, he's still stayed in most of the time.

Mom has again been a big help as I've started doing a few more work things this week. I was gone all day yesterday, and she gave him two bottle feedings in a row, which was another first. And pumping on the road was a first for me.

He's continued to sleep well with only a few exceptions. We've been trying harder to keep him on a consistent schedule so he'll do better at night, and he's done pretty well this week.

On Tuesday, Mom, Joshua and I took lunch to my friend, Rebecca. She is around 26 weeks pregnant and was put on bed rest last week because she was having contractions. We're praying their baby boy stays inside for several more weeks...and that Rebecca doesn't go too stir-crazy in the mean time. Here's a picture of her holding Joshua.

My aunt Beth and cousin Rebecca came over Wednesday night and watched him while Andy and I went to a quick dinner and a movie. (We went to see State of Play and really enjoyed it if anyone's looking for a movie to go to.) We really appreciated the babysitting and were glad they had fun with him.

Last night, Joshua attended the first part of the Ladies Bible Study. They were glad to see him...even if he was a little fussy. Here's a picture of Joshua and Aunt Joni Beth from that.

This weekend we're looking forward to the big Derby/Birthday/Graduation party at my parent's house. (As always, Dad's birthday and this year, Rebecca's college graduation). We'll look forward to posting more pictures soon!

Weekend at Grammie's

2009-04-20T15:55:00.005-04:00

Last week, we had our final meals from our Sunday School class. It has been such a blessing and has really helped out as we've gotten accustomed to having a little guy to take care of in the evenings. It's also give us a chance to show him to so many of our close friends. Kenneth & Kristy (despite a busy week) made us dinner Monday night, and Jeremy and Erin came over on Wednesday night. As the picture shows, Joshua was a little fussy toward the end of their visit. We also had another visit from my cousin, Rebecca, last week.

After a fun week, we headed to my Mom and Dad's for the weekend. Porter's Youth Group does a Disciple Now weekend every spring. (It's basically an "in-town" retreat where the different age groups stay at host homes.) Andy and I had been leaders last year, but given our more interesting last few weeks, we had to pass this year. But, we were still able to share our house. Five 10th grade boys and two adult leaders stayed at our house Friday and Saturday night. Andy slept there and got them settled in on Friday. Joshua and I stayed over at my mom and dad's house...his first sleepover at Grammie's :). Andy joined us for dinner and for part of the time Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night, we had my grandfathers and uncle Johnny over for dinner. It was nice to have a smaller gathering where each Grandfather could take a turn holding him. Dandy held Joshua for a good bit before dinner. After dinner, Grandpa took Joshua, who was getting a little fussy, sang to him and rocked him until he fell asleep. I asked Grandpa if he'd done that before, and he said that with me, they had to bounce on the bed as hard as they could to keep me from screaming. I guess Joshua didn't pose too much of a challenge compared to that.

We came back home Sunday afternoon and tried out the Baby Bjorn carrier. Joshua really liked it, so we can't wait until it's nice enough outside to take him for a walk outside. After this weekend, we've decided he's going to love playing outside. Every time he would begin to get fussy, Mom could take him outside, and he would relax and calm down. I even did it on the front porch Sunday. We couldn't really walk outside because of the rainy weather, but he still calmed down. I was really surprised.

Easter in Owensboro

2009-04-16T14:40:00.006-04:00

We made our first real road trip last weekend when we traveled to Owensboro for the first time since Joshua's arrival. We were racing against the clock on our journey since it takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get from our house to Andy's parents...and Joshua eats about every 3 hours. We fed him, then raced to the car hoping he wouldn't throw a hungry fit before our arrival. Joshua did wonderfully and slept almost the entire way there and the entire way back. As you can see from this picture, the angle of a safe car seat is not so conducive to a newborn's head placement. This is how he slept the entire way to Owensboro. When I reached over to try to prop his head up a little, he fussed at me. So, I left him alone. It didn't look very comfortable to me, but I guess he was fine. About 30 minutes into our return trip, he figured it out and lifted his head into the infant head rest and kept it there for the rest of the way. We were so proud of his good travelling...and very relieved we did not have any elongated crying fits :).

When we arrived Friday night, both of his great-grandmothers were able to come over and meet him. Also, Andy's uncle Don and aunt Nancy had come in from Atlanta to visit with Mamaw as well as see Joshua for the first time.
Since they are on Central time, we tried to put him to bed around 8:30 their time, since that's close to when he'd start sleeping at home. But, that also meant that his first morning feeding came at about 4:30am. By 6:30, Joshua and I both were back asleep in the living room...where Andy caught us.

We spent lots of family time on Saturday. Andy and others watched Joshua while I did a little cooking and even got to go shopping for an hour or so. Here's a picture of Andy and Joshua watching the Masters on Saturday afternoon. With all the activity around the house, it seemed like Joshua just couldn't quite get a good nap. We went to visit Melody Brooks that afternoon, and she had a wonderful rocker...much like the one in our living room. Once he hit her arms in the rocker, he was out. And I was able to talk her into holding him there for almost an hour until his next feeding (it was a very hard sell :). Also, on our visit, we were able to meet Melody's new little puppy, Lilly, who was just too cute!

Easter morning, the family headed to church, and Joshua and I stayed at the house (since he's not supposed to go out in public until he's 6 weeks or so). Here's a picture of Mimi and Pops (Lee & Denny) with Joshua on Sunday morning before church. He is wearing the onesie that we wrapped up for Lee when we told her and Denny we were going to have a baby back in July. It says, "My heart belongs to Grandma."

Here are a few more pictures from Easter morning. By about 12:15, Joshua could not keep his eyes open, so he slept through Easter lunch with the family...which was actually pretty convenient for Andy and I. He's asleep in the Easter pictures, but we did have two shots with four generations, as well as some other good ones. He ate promptly after I finished lunch, and we raced back to the car for the trip home. We arrived just in time to feed him again and for all of us to watch the end of the Masters golf tournament.

Few More Pictures

2009-04-16T14:26:00.004-04:00

Here are a few pictures from our last week or two of visitors. My cousins, Rebecca and Rachel were able to come and visit. Also, my mentor, Lisa Crawford, came by for a few hours one afternoon.

He has begun to enjoy his baths a little more now that he can actually sit in warm water (since his cord is completely off). He's not quite as cold...until we get him out of the water that is. Then he becomes thoroughly furious at us for subjecting him to such torture.

We went on a little outing to take dinner to our friends, Steve & Rebecca, who welcomed their daughter, Kelsy Grace, about a week after Joshua was born. Here is a picture of Joshua & Kelsy. Also, Kelsy's big brother, Caleb, took a turn holding Joshua since he's become so good at holding Kelsy. He held Joshua for about a minute when he turned and asked me, "Do you want to hold him now?". I replied that I would love to :)

We also had another visit from Shannon and George. This time, we put the boys down for a tummy time. George, with his go-with-the-flow demeanor, layed there for a few minutes then fell asleep. When we put Joshua beside him, Joshua squirmed continually for several minutes, eventually positioning himself where he could kick a sleeping George...who just kept sleeping despite the inconvenience of our little guy. Hopefully, George won't remember the rude incident :)

Snow in April??

2009-04-07T13:16:00.008-04:00

So, we've had a good few days since the last update. We finished up our visit with Mimi (Lee) on Saturday, when Pops (Denny) came and picked her up. It was good to see Denny again, even just for a little bit. We will look forward to seeing them, Grandmommy, Mamaw, Uncle Don & Aunt Nancy this weekend in Owensboro...along with I'm sure many friends. We will leave late Friday and be ready for visiting on Saturday and Sunday :)

We also finished our week with Mimi with several visitors. Kenneth, Kristy and Noah Bruce came to visit Thursday night. Noah had a long day, but Grammie was quick to step in as soon as she finished dinner, playing Noah's "guitar" and riding the blue horse for Noah. Noah definitely found a good playmate! Joshua, as he often does, slept through most all of their visit.

Friday morning, Mary Martha Reynolds made the trip to Nicholasville to visit with Lee and I and see Joshua. Friday night Brian, Amy & Caroline Cole came to visit (along with Uncle Eric & Aunt Joni Beth). Caroline loved the baby, though Joshua again slept through most of their visit. More than the baby, Caroline LOVED playing with Emma. She would run from Brian to Amy and back, letting Emma chase her in between. Both Caroline and Emma were a little worn out by the end. After Emma sort of surprised her from behind, Caroline held out her hand in proper traffic directing fashion and said, "Stop". Emma quickly backed up and sat down. It was too cute! Double thanks to Lee for cooking both nights for us and our guests.

Sunday Mark & Traci brought us lunch after church, so it was good to see them again. After Andy's deacon's meeting, we had a quiet evening just the three of us.

Monday we went to Grammie's house. Andy had dinner and FAITH visitation at church, so Joshua and I stayed for pizza with Mom and Uncle Chris, who held Joshua for the first time.

This (Tuesday) morning, we went back to the Pediatrician's office. Joshua had gained four more ounces, putting him up to 7 lbs. 5 oz. Dr. Gillespie as well as mom and Grammie were so proud of him. Everything else looked great, too, and the doctor thought he was so cute. I'm sure he says that to all the babies, but we couldn't help but agree :)

Even more interestingly, Joshua experienced his first snow today. While we drove home from the doctor's office, it was really coming down, and by noon, the ground was partially covered. It quickly melted, but who would have thought it was 76 degrees here on Sunday, and now, on April 7th, it's snowing. Joshua wore his fleece sleeper that says "Let It Snow" on the front (that we borrowed from Shannon and George) to the doctor's office.

One other change in the last week is how alert Joshua has been. He loves to look around the room or out the window, and his eyes are focusing much more intently. He's usually very content to lay on the floor or walk around the house and just look at things. He has also been smiling more and more. Sometimes it seems to be provoked by something, but we think it's still mostly random. We've continued to have some short nights, but he almost always sleeps for one four or five hour stretch each night and sometimes falls back to sleep again after being fed. We're certainly hoping the trend continues...and that we don't have any more crying fits late into the evening...though we never know exactly what each night may hold :)

Pictures from Our Week with Mimi

2009-04-02T09:04:00.007-04:00

Here are a few pictures from our week with Mimi (Andy's mom, Lee). We started the week with a visit from Shannon and baby George on Monday. It was good to visit with them again, and we were able to go on a little walk, since the weather was so nice.

Tuesday, Lee and I took Joshua to the doctor's, and he "won the weigh in". He weighed 7 lbs. 1.5 oz, so we passed his birth weight. We don't have to go back to the pediatrician's office until his two month checkup on May 13th! That was definitely a relief, and we appreciate the encouragement and patience of the doctors in giving us a little extra time to get there. Then, we headed over to Mom's house for the afternoon. After much delay (mostly our fault :)), we celebrated my uncle Johnny's, Lee's, and Grandpa's birthdays. The actual birthdays were March 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. It was Joshua's first official family gathering (though there was certainly a family party in the waiting room at Central Baptist when he arrived). He slept through the entire party. That certainly made it easier on us, but he didn't get quite as much time with his great-grandfathers and other family members.

Wednesday, we mostly hung around the house with Grammie and Mimi. But, we also were able to take a walk with Kristen Talley and Kayla (who just turned 9 months old). It was wonderful to get to visit with Kristen and get some advice from a mom who's just been through many of the same things we're going through right now...especially trying to convince Joshua what is night and what is day :) We finished the day with a delicious meal from Sharyl Burns and Sharon Berry. It was great to see them and enjoy the food as well.

Today we're hanging around the house again and looking forward to seeing Kenneth and Kristy later tonight.

Most importantly, we have so much appreciated Mimi being willing to help out in so many ways this week, including taking some of the night shifts and handling all the cooking and much of the laundry and cleaning (except when my mom beats her to it :). Lee also seems to have the magic touch for getting Joshua calmed down and asleep...when he'd prefer to fight it. We will certainly miss her when she leaves on Saturday!

Joshua's Many Expressions

2009-04-02T08:58:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pictures that I took this morning when he was going in between being asleep and being awake. Obviously, his face is cute in any position, but here are some of our favorites, including an adorable profile, his "old man face" (as mom so affectionately named it), and even a little smile. He has shown us a few good smiles, though they're not really in response to anything yet. I'm sure that will come in the next few weeks.

Week Two

2009-03-27T16:31:00.006-04:00

So, we've now made it through week two with Joshua. He seems to continue to do well. Andy was able to take a few hours off this morning to go to the pediatrician's office with us for our two week checkup. While he seems to be eating wonderfully, his weight was still below his birth weight. The doctor (ironically for the day, Dr. Gillespie) didn't seem very concerned, but we will be going back next Tuesday for another "weigh in". If nothing else, I think we know that he has inherited his daddy's metabolism :).

We've continued to have lots of visitors this week, including lots of family. My grandfather and uncle Johnny came by over the weekend along with our very close family friend who baby sat me growing up, Mo Batts. Chris &Julie and Eric & Joni Beth also came by again to see us along with my parents. Andy's cousin, Kim, and her boyfriend, Jay, came by to visit last night.

Others from our Sunday School class have continued to graciously bring us dinner, and we greatly appreciate the delicious food and the effort they've given to prepare it and bring it to us.

This afternoon, Andy's parents arrived to spend the weekend with us, and his mom will be able to stay all of next week, as her school is on spring break. We were certainly glad to see them again and to have their help over the coming days.

We've discovered a few exciting things this week. First, we've started putting Joshua on his stomach for "tummy time". Mostly he is not a big fan of this...which makes it a good tool for keeping him awake so he'll sleep at night :). Most of the time he does what some have jokingly called, "the faceplant". But, Joshua hated it so much at one point that he actually rolled from his stomach to his back. We were blown away, but he hasn't been able to repeat the success regularly, either.

He's also had a couple of better nights. After having "party time" between 10pm and 1am for several nights, he's finally gotten the idea that nighttime is for sleeping. While he's still getting up to eat about every three or four hours, he's sleeping most of the time in between. I feel very blessed (and much more rested) to have that improvement!

A Few New Parent Stories

2009-03-23T17:23:00.005-04:00

So far, little Joshua seems to be doing well and gaining weight. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. at birth. When we left the hospital, he was 6 lbs. 12 oz., and at the pediatrician's office last Tuesday was down to 6 lbs. 7.5 oz., which was still less than 10% lost from his birth weight. When we returned last Thursday, he had returned to 6 lbs. 12 oz., and I feel like he's been continuing to gain since then. If nothing else, he is eating well and often :) We return to the pediatrician's on Friday for his two week checkup.

There were a few funny stories from last week. The first one, I'll tell on myself. Last Wednesday I had gotten up and was getting ready. We had changed him, fed him and put him in his car seat until I could finish preparing to go on our first trip to my mom's house. He started crying in his seat, but being the disciplined parent that I was trying to be, I knew I had to get ready and as long as he's cared for (changed, fed, etc.), it's not a terrible tragedy to let him cry a bit. So I continued with my preparations around the bedroom and bathroom for a few more minutes. When I passed his car seat and peaked at him, I realized that his hat had fallen down over his eyes. I laughed and moved it back up. He was quickly consoled :).

Andy had been christened by our little guy a few times now. First, he peed on his changing table on the Pack-n-Play, wetting both the changing area and his bassinet. He peed on mom at her house, though she was a little smarter to have him on a full sized bath towel on the bed, where he only got the towel. He got me twice yesterday, wetting the changing pad and getting a bit on our bedspread. (He also always gets it on himself...but nothing a baby wipe can't fix :))

In my opinion, our most humorous experience so far was his first bath. Last Tuesday night, we finally decided to make time to clean him up. The nurses had shown us in the hospital how to use wet baby washcloths and baby shampoo to clean his body then his hair without getting his umbilical cord wet and being careful of his circumcision. So we put the bathtub on the kitchen counter (where we could use the sprayer on his hair), got our washcloths, towel and shampoo and began cleaning him. He cried like crazy, as being cold and wet apparently wasn't his favorite thing. As we started the shampooing, the fountain started. He peed on himself (no problem this time, as he was already being washed), on Andy a little bit, into the sink but mostly into his bathtub when Andy began to block it. Since it had no water in the tub (they told us just to use the wet washcloths so he couldn't splash himself), we found our little guy sitting in his own pee. We decided to finish the bath by Andy holding him while I finished washing and rinsing him. While Andy was holding him, he did #2 in Andy's hand! I quickly grabbed the baby and let Andy clean his hand. We finished washing his hair and quickly got him in his towel. He much preferred being wrapped in the towel to being wet, but nevertheless, he proceeded to do #1 and #2 in his towel before we could get him dressed! We about laughed our heads off through the entire experience...and made sure to Lysol the kitchen sink and clean out his bathtub afterward. I'll just say the second bath, which Mom and I gave him this morning, went much more smoothly :)

Pictures From Our First Week

2009-03-22T11:53:00.005-04:00

So we have made it through our first full week, and we're all still doing well. Here are some of the pictures, and I definitely have some funny stories to share when more time permits. Just thought I'd throw these up there for all to see. All of our pictures (and there are over 100 total!) are on Facebook for anyone who'd like to see more.

More Pictures from the Hospital on Saturday

2009-03-17T16:51:00.006-04:00

Saturday was the day to see lots of friends and family. We slept fairly well considering. By morning, all I had to say was that Joshua sleeps like his Dad :) Mom and Dad arrived around 7:30 so mom could help me get showered and Andy could go get some breakfast. Others came through the day including Eric & Joni Beth, my cousin Rachel, Andy's parents (obviously :)), Adam & Kelli, Lisa Crawford, Sharon Berry, my Aunt Beth and Uncle David, his Aunt Julie, Andy's great-uncle Vaughn, Catherine and Reed Roberts and their grandmother, Brandon Back, Scott & Kristen Talley, the Robinson family with their new little one in tow, Heather & Tim Gaddis (though we felt terrible we had just started a feeding and didn't get a chance to visit with them before Shelby needed dinner), and I'm sure others that I've forgotten (so sorry!). Thanks so much to all who stopped by to wish us well and for the many gifts that were brought for us and for Joshua. We certainly felt blessed and loved by all the support and encouragement, as we've been throughout the pregnancy.

Our Little Guy's Arrival

2009-03-17T14:42:00.007-04:00

I so much appreciate Andy taking a few minutes Saturday to give everyone the big news and synopsis of the events, but now that we're home and settled, I thought I'd give my account of the big day :)

We left for the hospital around 5:30. Here are a few pictures we took that morning as we headed out. (I guess we can always tell Joshua that he was born on a snowy March morning and was out in 70 degree weather by the middle of his first week.) I had been up part of the night having more contractions...which I felt was a good sign considering what our plans were. We stopped at Starbucks on the way so Andy could get some coffee...and me my last morning decaf for a while. (I think we made the drive thru girl's day when we told her we were headed to the hospital to have our baby :) When we got to the hospital and were hooked up to the monitors, I was having mild contractions about 3 minutes apart. Again, these proved to be false since the Pitocin sort of changed the rhythm and actually got things progressing, but we did impress the nurse with our start :).

Mom arrived around 7:00 and was able to stay with us for several hours as we got off to an easy start. She was also able to usher in different family members as they arrived through the morning. First, Andy's parents, then my cousin Rachel, my dad, my cousin Nathan and finally my brother Chris was the last accepted guest.

As Andy said, we started the Pitocin about 7:30. I kept trying to talk them into upping the dose more quickly, but the rules said they could only up the dose so much each half hour, and they had to start at a very low level. By about noon, we were only about 3 cm and now 90% effaced, so it certainly seemed slow, though the intensity was picking up at this point.

Around 12:30, I took the nurse's suggestion (and the suggestion of a few friends who had really enjoyed it) to take a dose of Stadol. We started with just 1 mg, since I told the nurse that I'm usually pretty easily affected by medicines. Boy was I glad I did not opt for the larger dose. The next couple of hours were no fun at all. Not only did UK lose to LSU, but the medicine made me very sick and did not really do much for the now more intense contractions. We think it was a combination of the medicine and going into more active labor, but I was very nauseous, very confused and not able to emotionally handle the contractions the same way. Huge thanks to my wonderful husband for going through all of this with me!

Once the Stadol wore off (and we were thanking the Lord by this point!), I got the epidural around 3:00. (While I don't personally recommend the Stadol, I do highly recommend the epidural :). I then slept for over two hours. While I was still a little out of it, but Andy was able to go get some dinner while Mom came in and stayed with me. At some point...and I don't really remember this part...they put me on some oxygen since the baby's heart rate had started to drop a little bit with the contractions instead of increase. The oxygen also made me feel better, though Andy found my new voice a bit humorous. Most importantly, the baby's heart rate improved some.

As Andy said, at around 5:30 or 6:00, we were still only a "good 5 cm" dilated and began to feel like it would be a long night. My dad, brother and a few other family members headed to Pieratt's to pick out appliances for Chris's new place and then on to Columbia's for dinner. But the trip was cut a bit short.

At 7:30, Dr. Cunningham arrived. She again looked at the baby's heart rate, which had started to drop again. Though I wasn't completely up on the details, Andy said she began to talk about possibly doing a C-section if the heart rate didn't improve, since we seemed to have a long way to go. But, when she checked our progress around 7:45, she had good news. We were a full 10 cm and ready to push. Andy went out to tell the family the news, and Dad took their name off the waiting list at the restaurant and raced back...as only Tom Creech would...to make sure they didn't miss the big event.

After only about 35 minutes of pushing, we had our little guy at 8:23. I will have to say that the pushing was my favorite part of the day, not only because we got to meet him but because after 13 hours of just sitting and taking Pitocin, I was actually able to do something to help the process. And with that wonderful epidural, I couldn't feel a thing.

Andy said once Joshua arrived, he couldn't decide who to go to, Joshua or me. I was certainly doing fine as the doctor finished up, and I think he was able to see several interesting things as they examined Joshua for the first time. But with the "baby room" being a part of the labor/delivery. After about 30 minutes Andy headed out to the waiting room to tell everyone the good news...and after months of waiting to find out, his name. After a few more minutes, Andy went back out to tell the new grandparents that they could come meet Joshua Andrew. By that time, we were packing up to head to the Mother-Baby room, and all four of them were a big help in getting all our stuff moved.

They wheeled us out into the hallway and on to our room, and the rest of the family was able to see him. We finally got settled in with all guests taken care of and all medical checks done around midnight.

Family night at the hospital

2009-03-14T10:47:00.002-04:00

Here's a few more pictures of our family with our new baby boy!

Joshua Andrew Waldroup is Here!

2009-03-14T08:54:00.003-04:00

Our baby boy, Joshua Andrew, was born yesterday, March 13th at 8:23 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 inches long.

We went to the hospital at 6 in the morning to be induced. They actually started the IV at about 7:30 am and broke Dana's water at 9:30. Things progressed slowly and at 6 pm she was still 5 cm dilated. However, from there it progressed very quickly and by 7:45, she was fully dilated and ready to push. After about 35 minutes of pushing, we had our baby boy!

So far, he is doing great and Dana seems to be recovering nicely. We greatly appreciate everyone's prayers.

Here's some pictures for you to enjoy!

Still Waiting on "Peanut"

2009-03-11T19:42:00.003-04:00

So we've had quite the interesting week. After walking a lot and staying busy this weekend, I had regular contractions between 7 and 3 minutes apart from 4:30am Monday morning until around 7:00am Tuesday morning. We thought for sure we were headed to the hospital...and almost took the dog over to Eric & Joni Beth for safe keeping once the contractions hit 3 minutes apart. But, they never got very strong (I was still easily walking and talking through them), so they told us to stay put. Yesterday, they were farther apart and not as consistent. Today, I've had a few stronger ones but nothing regular. I think he's trying his best to escape but just can't quite get the help he needs :)

While we still can't be completely sure, we are thinking baby and I may make it until the induction Friday morning. If so, we're scheduled to come in at 6:00am. Which while that may seem early to some, I feel very blessed we don't have to go in the night before to start the process and miss out on a good night's sleep before the big arrival. Dr. Cunningham thought we had progressed far enough (and had enough practice contractions) to come early in the morning.

We will post pictures and updates as soon as we have a chance. Again, we appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement over the past 9 months!

Welcome Jude Patrick Waters!

2009-03-07T09:04:00.004-05:00

This past Tuesday, our friends, David & Liz Waters, welcomed their new baby boy, Jude Patrick. He was 9 lbs 2 oz and took several hours to arrive, but we were so happy for David and Liz. We were able to go visit them at Central Baptist on Wednesday night...along with about a dozen other people :). Here are a few pictures from our visit. With baby Waters' arrival, Andy and I are officially "next" in the Sunday School baby schedule!

Rebecca's Shower

2009-03-07T08:59:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday, we celebrated with Rebecca Lawson, one of the many other pregnant women in our Sunday School class. Rebecca is due about two weeks after us, and I was glad I was able to attend and get at least one more "girl time" event before our little man arrives.

Doctor's Appointment

2009-03-06T13:41:00.005-05:00

I went to the doctor's office Thursday. I am still 2 cm dilated but now 80% effaced. The doctor was surprised by how low he was (which was a little bit surprising to me considering she does this every day :)). We scheduled an induction for next Friday, but the doctor felt confident that we "would not make it" that long. I have been having a good number of contractions this week. Monday they were about 20 minutes apart from 10:00am until I went to bed (we were definitely packing our bags), but by the next morning, they had stopped. I also had several hours Wednesday where contractions were about 15 minutes apart. Since then it's just been sporadic, but I think he's definitely getting ready to make his exit.

Thanks to all those who have been praying for us. My parents will be back in town late Friday night, so it looks like we've about made it past that milestone and that he's heeded his Grammie's instructions about staying inside until she returns :). Continue to pray for patience as we wait this last little bit for our little guy to arrive.

Nursery is Finished

2009-02-28T11:45:00.006-05:00

Andy and I had met a few weeks ago with Natalie Brockman, a good friend from church who does lots of painting and murals all over the state, to see if she could come up with a little something to do on the walls of the nursery. We showed her our bedding, which basically consists of lots of different soft colors, the alphabet and a few baby animals to match the letters. Natalie came up with the idea of putting some Bible verses that start with different letters, and we quickly agreed. The last week or two, we chose our Bible verses, and on Wednesday, Natalie was able to come and do the actual painting. We loved the results and would more than recommend her to anyone looking for any type of wall art. (Here's a link to her website http://natbrock.shutterfly.com/). Everything she and/or her sister has done is amazing! Here are a few of our photos.

Doctor's Appointment--February 26th

2009-02-28T11:41:00.002-05:00

This week, Andy was able to come with me to my doctor's appointment, which was a great addition. Everything was good for my weight and blood pressure, and the baby's heart rate was 140, which is about the average of what he's been at the entire pregnancy. (We had guessed it might be a little higher since he was moving a good bit in the waiting room :)

Much to my mother's excitement, I am still 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so no great progress last week. (I guess the baby was listening to Grammie's lectures on staying inside while she's gone.) But, we could not have been happier with everything. We'll see what happens next Thursday.

Big Doctor's Appointment

2009-02-21T17:40:00.002-05:00

So we had our first "weekly" appointment this week. Andy was pretty busy as work, so since we're still several weeks out, I was fine to go by myself...though hopefully, he'll be able to get caught up for at least the last few appointments.

The big news is that (a bit to my surprise), the baby had "dropped". I am 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. While we're not sure exactly what that means, the doctor seemed to indicate that it would be a good start on labor, though not necessarily predict whether he will be early or on time. He's also head down, which is always good news. The doctor also said that she'd be willing to induce us as long as we're within three weeks of our due date. Though, God has blessed us with patience thus far, the idea may become more and more tempting as we reach the last couple of weeks. We will just have to wait and see what God and our little guy have in store!

We know for sure that we would prefer to wait at least a couple more weeks. My mom and dad are leaving in the morning for back to back conventions...first in the Bahamas then in Costa Rica (tough work I know :). They will be back very late on March 6th, so Mom, Andy & I, and I'm sure many others are praying mom won't miss anything. I feel like it's probably fine in terms of timing, but we certainly hope nothing prevents mom and dad as well as Denny and Lee from being at the hospital when their first grandchild arrives.

Visit with Shannon and Baby George

2009-02-21T17:33:00.003-05:00

This week, I was able to spend an evening with Shannon, Mark, baby George and Shannon's parents. It was great to catch up and see how much George has changed in just three weeks. And, as one might imagine, she had a few good tips for us as we prepare for our newborn's arrival.

After several pregnancy pictures together, Shannon had joked that she wanted one where she was back to normal and I was still carrying the big belly. So, we thought the time had come :). I certainly hope I'm looking as "back to normal" as she is after just three weeks!

As I held baby George, I first realized that I'm definitely running out of lap. Second, our baby thought it was quite funny to try to kick the baby that was pressing down on his space. Hopefully, he won't try that once he's on the outside and they can be friends :)

The Last of the New Furniture

2009-02-21T17:16:00.006-05:00

My family (mostly my dad with the help of other family members) has been in the process of moving my grandfather and my dad's oldest brother, Johnny, to the Lafayette Place. Eventually, once a good bit of renovation is done, Chris and Julie (my brother and his wife) will be moving into my grandfather's condo off Tates Creek Road. But to do all of this means a good bit of cleaning out and sorting through their things. They have been in Florida...and will return around the second week in March hoping to catch baby Waldroup's arrival...so in some ways it's been a bit easier to do things on our schedules and give me a chance to help before we have other priorities :)

Two weeks ago, we moved most of their items to the Lafayette. Last weekend, Andy (with the help of his brother Eric and Mark Moore...thanks so much to them) moved the items from my grandfather's place to our house. This consisted of a large buffet, a smaller buffet, a table and two twin beds with matresses. Somehow, the guys were able to get all of this into two pickup truck loads, which certainly impressed me. Also, Emma loved hanging out with Traci and Joni Beth for a

Then, Tuesday night, Andy headed to Baby's R Us to pick up our glider, which had finally arrived at the store. He was able to get it together without too much trouble. I guess he's getting some experience with baby-item assembly :). The glider is wonderful, and we can't wait to rock our little guy in a few weeks. We certainly feel very blessed with all we've been given and been able to pick up for our baby.

We finished the week with finding Emma under our bed. Perhaps she's starting to figure out that there's something going on...or she just didn't want to go to bed yet. Who knows what she's thinking!

Another good week

2009-02-13T21:27:00.005-05:00

I had another doctor's appointment today. This was my last "every two weeks" appointment. From here on out, I will be going every week, and Andy will be joining me as often as work permits. The doctor said we're still measuring well, the baby's heart rate is good and all else seems normal. Again, we have been so blessed throughout the pregnancy!

Our little guy is getting stronger, but his movements are a bit more constrained (for lack of a better term). He no longer does dramatic rolls as much as pushing out in different directions. I can definitely look down and see him sticking out in one spot or another...then shifting to another spot or back to the center. As would be expected, we think he's beginning to run out of space. This morning he moved for almost two hours straight, then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. His heart rate was about four beats lower than he's measured before at 136 (though still well within the acceptable range). With his big morning, I told the nurse who took the reading that I had guessed he might be sleeping.

According to the books, etc., our little guy should be about 5 1/2 to 6 pounds this week. And, he'll be gaining about half a pound a week from here on out.

Again, we appreciate everyone's prayers and support for us, and we will definitely keep you posted on our progress in the coming weeks!

Church Baby Shower

2009-02-10T19:49:00.017-05:00

One of the big events of our big weekend was our Church Baby Shower. We were so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family able to attend. Three women in our class, Rebecca Johnson, Erin Waddell, and Krista Keathley have graciously and faithfully put together each of the many baby showers over the past few months. In our case, Traci also volunteered to help out by sending the paper invitations to those outside the class and making the cake. I'm sure the other women appreciated a tiny bit of a break. (Here's a picture of me and the hostesses.) We also had help, as always, from many of the women in the class who graciously brought food items for the group. The food was amazing, so I just had to have one plate for me and a few second helpings for him!

We met after church last Sunday, and had a great group. We appreciated all the wonderful gifts, as we're certainly getting down to crunch time. Everyone was very generous. Most of all it was such a blessing to see how many care about us and will be praying for us as we begin this new chapter in our lives. Here are several pictures from the big event!

One other exciting moment was having several of the many pregnant friends in attendance. Five of us--Mandi, Liz, myself, Rebecca Lawson, and Grace--have sort of been going through the experience together...as we're all due in February, March and April. We also had three additions to the club--Rebecca Johnson, Kelli, and Marci--who are expecting in late July and August. The picture below shows almost all of us in order of our due dates (minus Mandi who had to leave early since they had family in town...awaiting their little girl's arrival). Mandi actually went into labor and had Molli within 24 hours of when the group picture was taken, so it was neat to have all of us there and pregnant one last time. We'll have to take one this time next year with all the moms and new little ones!

Also below is a picture of me and the two grandmothers (Mimi and Grammy unless something changes :). We have certainly appreciated all of their help and generosity over the past months and feel so blessed that they will both be fairly close in proximity when our little boy comes.

Big Weekend

2009-02-08T20:49:00.006-05:00

We had a lot of excitement last weekend. Andy's parents came in town late Friday for a threefold purpose:

First, my Dad had graciously shared a set of basketball tickets for the four of us to the UK vs. South Carolina game. While the Cats couldn't pull it out, it was certainly close and exciting. (The baby enjoyed it, too :). We also got to end the evening with a trip to P.F. Chang's with Eric & Joni Beth as well as Lee's cousin, Sam Drake, who we had not gotten to see since he moved back to Lexington a few months before.

Second, we had our church baby shower after the service on Sunday. (More info and pictures will follow.) So, Lee and my mom were both able to be in attendance for that. Also, Denny and Lee were able to come to our Sunday School class and add a good bit of experience to the parenting study ("Shepherding a Child's Heart") we are doing.

Third, after a year in the deacon yokefellow program at Porter, Andy had his deacon ordination in the evening Church service. So it was wonderful to have his parents, Eric & Joni Beth, and my mom there to celebrate that with us as well.

It was a wonderful time of being together and celebrating so many things...but by Sunday night, I was ready for bed and even a little tired on Monday as well.

Oh, and one more important detail...Andy and I were able to head over to see Shannon, Mark and Baby George on Saturday morning. Though, a bit tired, mother, dad and baby all seemed to be doing well on their second day home. But, I forgot to get pictures in all the excitement :(

Baby George is here!

2009-01-30T21:58:00.007-05:00

So another exciting event this week besides all the stormy weather was the arrival of George Alexander Sloan. Shannon was admitted to the hospital around 9:00pm Tuesday night where they would begin preparing and inducing labor so they could have him during her doctor's shift on Wednesday. He was born Wednesday afternoon. Both mom and baby are doing well and headed home from the hospital Friday afternoon.

Publish Post

I was able to stop by the hospital to visit after my doctor's appointment on Thursday (which went very well). Many of the Sloan family was visiting when I arrived, and I was only able to stay a few minutes...as baby George (and baby Waldroup) were both getting hungry :). But we certainly plan to visit this weekend or next week. Here are a few pictures of the new arrival!

In addition to George's arrival, our friends Matt and Kelly welcomed their second son, Graham Robinson, on Monday night. And, we're awaiting the arrival of Brandon & Mandi's baby girl, Molli Back, any time now. Hopefully the ice/snow will hold off for that big event!

We also had one other "milestone" this week. By making it to 33 weeks, baby Waldroup has made it longer than I did, as I arrived about 8 weeks early. Our little guy is certainly growing quickly and moving a good bit. We're excited to have Andy's parent's visiting this weekend for the UK game, our church/friends baby shower, and for Andy's deacon ordination, so you can wait for updates from all that excitement :)

Ice Storm

2009-01-30T21:31:00.008-05:00

So this week was a bit more eventful than the last few. We knew they had predicted bad weather Tuesday and Wednesday. When we arrived home Tuesday night, we unexpectedly found a pretty serious leak dripping from the top of our bedroom window. Dad suggested it was from water, getting under the sheet of ice that had lodged itself on our roof. Andy headed to Lowe's to pick up a new container of caulk, and upon returning, we spent the next three hours--well at least off and on--trying to fix the window. Each time we'd try to seal it, the water would quickly wash the caulk away. About 9:00pm, it occurred to us to try to use the hairdryer to speed the drying process. We finally stopped the water flow around 9:30, which was a HUGE blessing given we lost power sometime between 11:00 and midnight.

We woke up to a semi-cold house but were able to get ready and head toward work. Since my office was also without power (no computers, phone, etc.), "work" for me consisted of spending the day at my parents, where we had the main phone line forwarded to and internet access to try to stay semi-functional. It was interesting to say the least mostly taking calls from trucks that weren't able to make their deliveries to us...but it was also sort of a preview of my plan after baby's arrival to spend a few days a week working from my mom's house. Emma certainly enjoyed every minute with Grammy!

By the time Andy returned to our house after work, the power was back on. We ate with my parents then returned home. By the next day, our office was back up and running as usual.

Miraculously, Andy's plant in Danville--the city that has been in and out of marshal law with all the ice damage--never lost power, and he's been at work every day trying to cover for the many employees that couldn't make it to work.

I'm sure most of those reading this have probably experienced the storm's effects as well...or far worse than we've had it here, but that is our story.

How does this go together?

2009-01-18T14:29:00.003-05:00

In the last couple weeks, I (Andy) have spent quite a bit of time putting together all the baby gifts. These include a bouncer, a swing, a pack-and-play, and a stroller. Apparently, the makers of all these things like to be somewhat vague in their instructions, so it has taken a little trial and error. In the end, they're all put together correctly now - I hope. Now all we need is a baby to use all of it, but I guess we have to wait another 9 weeks for him. Everything is still going well with the pregnancy. Dana is sleeping as I write this. Apparently this pregnancy thing makes her tired. Here's a picture of a few of the things I've put together.