Merry Christmas!

As Christmas comes around this year, I can't help but compare with this time last year:

1. we had just found out we were pregnant, 
2. we still didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, and 
3. we weren't sure when to start sharing the good news. 

Life is certainly different this year, and I must say it has changed for the better. We're spending our first Christmas with our new little boy, who we are both head over heels in love with! He is the sweetest thing in 11 counties, and is so much fun. I never realized how wonderful babies could be.

We want to thank you all for your love and support, and for reading our blog even when I don't update regularly (I do hope to change that)! God has truly blessed us with a wonderful family and we are very thankful.

We wish each of you love and joy this year, and a very merry Christmas.

All our love,
Krista, Ken, Travis, and Saige

God Answers Prayer

I'm not sure how many of you have noticed yet that we no longer have Thor, the black/white, great dane/lab mix that we had for 5 years. Well, when we brought Travis home from the hospital, Thor did not understand how young and fragile Travis was; he kept lunging at Travis. We think to lick him, but it was pretty scary as Thor refused to calm down. I was scared for Travis, and told Ken that we couldn't keep Thor. This was pretty significant as Thor has always been my dog. He would cuddle with me, and I would love on him. Since he was a puppy, Thor has always been exuberant, rushing in where a dog with a brain would never go. Every time we had an incident, I would convince Ken that I could fix Thor, and would work with him to overcome the issue. However, I felt that because of Thor's exuberance, Travis would always be in danger. Though I loved Thor dearly, there is no contest between a dog and a child's safety. I couldn't take care of a baby and train a dog not to hurt him at the same time.

Oh, Baby

I can see that this blog is turning into a baby blog, where I mostly post about the kid. Have you noticed I blog a little bit more since we've had him? I guess there just isn't anything else of interest in our lives! This blog will be no different!

Baby Milk and Alcohol

We had our first party and Travis had his first babysitter this last weekend. Ken's work Christmas party was at the Mansion at Judges Hill - a beautiful, old hotel. We decided to treat ourselves and stay there with Travis. We stayed in the Magnolia retreat, which had a beautiful King-size bed with drapes hanging from the ceiling and floor-to-ceiling French doors that opened up onto a balcony overlooking a lovely garden. We even had a mini bar, where we were able to store Travis' milk, which just shows how much our lives have changed.

Aren't we cute?

Our good friend, Ashley, from work came to stay with Travis while we went to the party. Travis wasn't very interesting for her, he fell asleep before we left, but he did wake up a little later and she was able to feed him a bottle, and he seemed to be happy hanging out with her. We had fun at the party, and felt confident that he was in good hands, so it was a very positive experience for all of us. It helped to know that we were only a few staircases away from the boy. Maybe next time, we'll go a little farther away!
It's hard not to be completely in love with this baby. I confess that I'm completely happy to have my life revolve around him right now. In fact, I miss him even when I'm at work. I know he has a great day care, and it's obvious that it has been good for him, but it's still hard to leave him!
The other morning, he just looked so cute that I had to take pictures of him. I try most mornings to take pictures, but it doesn't always happen.

Ken and Travis playing

And before I sign off, here's a picture of Ken playing with Travis in his activity gym in front of the fire. I love watching the two of them play - it is the cutest thing. Right now, Travis loves Mama more than anything else; I can almost always get him to smile, and he follows me around the room with his eyes if I'm not right there with him. But I know that this time won't last forever, and soon Papa will be his favorite person, so I'm enjoying this time with him as much as I can and storing up every precious moment.

Cutest.Boy.Ever.

Travis has been trying to sit up lately, and has been getting annoyed that we keep him on his back, so I got him a Bumbo chair, which is supposed to support him so he sits up better. It came in the mail tonight, and he really did seem to enjoy it. He's also started grabbing and playing with toys, though I'm not convinced he knows what he's doing yet. We think he's starting to teethe: the slobber is uncontrollable, and everything goes right to his mouth!

Here's a video of him sitting in his new chair, playing with his spin and play. Seriously, I am so in love with this boy it's not even funny.

Also, note that I hung a toy on his foot...it made sense at the time, I thought it'd be easier to reach if he wanted to grab it. But it just looks funny, and I can't stop laughing every time I see it dangling there.

First Road Trip and Farewell

We took our first road trip with Travis over the weekend. I wish our first trip had been under better circumstances, but Ken's sweet Aunt Joyce passed away, and we went to the visitation and funeral. Travis did very well, and enjoyed meeting his family. It's a good thing he's such a social baby because he has a BIG family and everyone wanted to hold him. He was very good and didn't fuss very much at all unless he was tired or hungry (not too surprising). He got very tired of his car seat though, and a few times started crying as soon as we buckled him in; I'm not sure how he's going to like our hour-long commute twice a day!

He is a very happy baby in the mornings, and shared his first attempt at real laughter with MamMa. I wish I had gotten a picture of the two of them smiling and talking together-it was adorable! As always, going home is bittersweet-I always leave another piece of my heart there and pray harder that God would find us a way to move closer and still make a living.

Travis fussed during the actual funeral service, and we spent much of it in the front hall. Luckily, we could still hear. Ken shared several memories of Aunt Joyce and I was so glad that we were able to hear him. She was always special to Ken, and to me as well. It's sad to lose such an amazing and Godly generation.

Here's a picture of Aunt Joyce and Uncle Charles:

And one of Aunt Joyce and Ken's dad, Ray:

We will miss her dearly!

Day Care Update

As expected, Travis did great his first day at day care! And because I have such a caring husband, they called me at his request to let me know that Travis was doing well. I, on the other hand, was so busy with projects so that I wouldn't notice how empty my arms felt! It sure doesn't take long to fall in love with those little cuties, especially when they start sleeping longer than 3 hours! ;-) It's hard to believe your heart can hold so much love. I'm so glad that God created us with the capacity to love so strongly - it reminds us that His love for us is even stronger, and that's a thought that fills me with awe and brings tears to my eyes. I understand better now how hard His sacrifice really was when Jesus went to the cross for us.

I miss Travis' little arms around my neck, and even his frustrated cries when he's doing tummy time. I'm saddened that I won't get to take tons of pictures throughout the day as he does cute little things, like smiling and laughing. But I know he's fine, and is getting to see other babies and the world in a different way. He is such a social baby; I think he likes being around others, and he still loves Mama and Papa best!

I'll try to remember to take some photos of him at day care to show his new environment. For now, let me feed your Travis addiction with the photos below.

For Halloween, we took advantage of Travis' crazy hair and dressed him like Young Frankenstein. We took him to Ken's office to Trick-or-Treat and he got a couple of candy bars. We had more fun just walking him around and showing him off - and I knew Ken and I would eat the candy, so I tried not to get much!

Starting Day Care

Tomorrow, Travis starts half-days at the day care. I can't believe he'll be 11 weeks old on Tuesday. Sometimes it seems that 12 weeks is too short a time to get to spend with my boy. If only I could have 16 weeks! He's just starting to become interactive, learning about the world. It's so fascinating to watch, and I'm sad that I'll miss his important milestones over the next few months. Since our day care is in Austin, we'll all 3 commute in together, so we'll still have some time to spend with the boy.

I confess that part of me (a very, very small part) is a little ready to go back to work. There are some projects that I've been wanting to work on, and I'm starting a new chapter at work with a different boss, so I'm interested to see how that will work out. Some days, I wish I were more experienced so that I could try to work for myself, but that idea frightens me a bit. I don't think I'd do so good as my own boss, but the idea of watching Travis grow compels me to find ways to spend more time with him. I suppose every new mom goes through the same heartache when she returns to work. We'll just have to take each day as it comes and continue to listen to God as he directs our lives, and pray that he continues to guide us.

Being a mom gives me a new respect for my own mom. I've always been proud of her, and have always been thankful for the choices she made and the support she's always given me, but now, those choices have more meaning. I love watching her with Travis, and am so glad that she was able to spend the time caring for him in his first few weeks - I think it gives them a stronger bond, and I want Travis to grow up knowing and loving her. As I've watched Travis grow these last few weeks, I've really missed Ken's mama, and I wish that she had had a chance to hold and know him. I've found myself wanting to call her and ask her advice on several occasions, and I've wanted to ask about Ken as a baby.

Well, no post would be complete without pictures of the boy. I post some almost daily on Facebook, so it's a good reason to sign up if you're not already on there! Also, this boy has the craziest hair I've ever seen on a baby!

Caught on Video!

I finally caught Travis rolling over on video, so I just had to share! He is growing so fast!

It's been awhile...

Well, if you were wondering what happened to us, we had a baby! I've been keeping Facebook updated with photos and status, so I haven't been keeping up the blog, but I will try to do better.

Travis Marlin White was born at 5:10pm on August 17, 2010 via emergency c-section. He was 9lbs, 7oz. It took some time for me to recover, but thankfully, my mom was here for several weeks and took care of me, Travis, and Ken. Once she left, Ken took 2 weeks off to take care of me and Travis. We're doing well now, Travis is 9 weeks old and just had his first round of immunizations. Saige is terrific with Travis, but we had to find Thor a new home. He moved to Lubbock to become a search and rescue dog and we know he's doing well, though I still miss him terribly. It's important to feel that your baby is safe with any pets in the house. Saige is wonderful, and Travis doesn't have any fear of her.

Travis is starting to smile and hold his head up, though it's still a bit wobbly. He's rolled from his stomach to his back several times, but no one else has seen it, so Ken's a little skeptical! :-) He is a very cuddly baby; he enjoys being held and rocked. He does not like to be put down very often. He loves people and is always very good when we're out in public, and he is a great observer. We are very much in love with him. 

I go back to work in just 3 weeks, and I know it will be very hard! I've really enjoyed the time I've spent with Travis, and can't wait to share his future milestones! By the way - he was born with ALL that hair!!

37 Weeks!

Well, it's hard to believe that tomorrow we will be 37 weeks. I can remember back when I was just 14 weeks wondering if the nausea would ever end and if I would ever start to show! Well, I'm certainly showing now! Here are some pics to prove it.

We are still doing well, the baby kicks and wiggles and hiccups and continues to be an endless source of fascination for us as we wonder what on earth he's doing! Our awesome doctor says that he still seems on the small side, which is good because no one wants to push out a 9lb baby (like Ken's mom had to do)!!

We are getting so excited to meet our new little boy and see who he takes after the most! Our nursery is all set up, all we have left to do to prepare is pack our bags for the hospital, figure out how to set up the car seat, and wait! Wish us luck!

35 Weeks and counting!

Wow, it's hard to believe that we're already at 35 weeks with just 5 more weeks to go (give or take). I haven't done a very good job taking pictures of my big belly to show off. Sorry about that! I'm definitely getting bigger, almost daily it seems like now! I can feel him moving around more too as he's running out of room. Even with all the discomfort, I still think pregnancy is a miracle from God, and I'm so awed to blessed in this way. I hope parenting is just as fun!

Since the house hasn't sold, we're taking it off the market this week and starting to prepare the baby's room. We have pretty much everything we need for his arrival - we just need to get it all organized! Soon, we'll pack our bag for the hospital. I'm getting so excited to meet our little boy!

Here are just a couple of pictures from two of my baby showers:

Adorable Noah's Ark Cake made by my Aunt Stacy


Happy Mama

Happy Parents to Be!

Happy Mama and Our Wonderful Neighbor, Diane

31 Weeks & More Baby Pics

Wow, it's hard to believe we're 31 weeks already. Our little man is about 3.5 lbs and moving around like crazy now! We've got all our furniture put together, but it's not organized yet. My chair and ottoman set is still in the living room, where I enjoy sitting in it whenever possible! We still need to rearrange the baby's room, right now, I have to move the crib to get to the closet!

I never realized how cute the clothes were for boys - we have already received some really cute things from friends and family - I can't wait to see them on him! Little overalls, and onesies, and bottoms with itty bitty pockets, just like Ken's!!

We had another ultrasound taken a few weeks ago. He was pretty uncooperative, mostly because he was asleep! So we had to go back a second time, where we got some good photos of him (still sleeping). Too bad we didn't go this week - he's been awake and moving the whole time!

So far, I'm still enjoying being pregnant - my biggest complaint is that my hands and feet stay pretty constantly swollen, which exacerbates my carpel tunnel, so my hands hurt and my feet hurt too. But, all in all, this is a pretty normal, very easy pregnancy so far - I hope it continues and that our boy is born healthy and happy!

I had no idea how fascinating pregnancy would be - it truly reminds me of Psalm 139:13 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I'm constantly amazed at how he's growing and developing and how God is forming him and putting him together. I feel so blessed to be a part of such an everyday sort of miracle, and awed that God would trust us with this new little life. I can't wait to meet him and see God's masterpiece!

6 Years in Love

As Ken and I come up on our 6-year anniversary, we decided to get some photos taken (and to show off my baby belly). Hope you enjoy!

Baby Boy White

Well, for those of you who may not know - Ken and I are pregnant! We are due in August, and just found out that we are expecting a little baby boy! We're still working on a name.

Here are some ultrasound pics of our little boy.