My Sweet, Darling, Adorable Nephew

We all went to see little Gideon, his mommy, and daddy on Tuesday evening. Here are a couple pictures of the baby. He's SO cute! I love him so much! I wish I could put more up, but the thingy won't let me upload any more. You'll just have to be satisfied with these two for now. I'll post more later. An update on Allie and baby's homecoming: They are planning to come home after dinner this evening. Please pray that they are able to leave the hospital without any complications. Allie's blood is back to normal (for those of you who didn't know, she had to get of blood transfusion), and baby is still perfectly healthy, and is nursing even better. Okay, I'll stop blabbing and label the cute pictures.



Little sleeping Gideon. He loves to have his hands up by his head. I think it's adorable!

Auntie Katie and sleeping baby Gid. He was so little and sweet! He is a really good baby.

Announcing...Gideon James!

He's here! Li'l Gideon James is here at last! He came around midnight last night, so I'm not sure whether it was officially April 6 or April 7. I haven't seen him yet, but hopefully, the kids and I will be going tonight with my dad. I talked with Ben this morning and he said the baby was 7 lb. 10 oz., 21 inches long, had lots of dark hair, and "a little nose you just want to nibble off". Oh man. They are so happy.

My mom and dad were at the hospital when he came. I had put the other kids to bed and I was watching movies when my mom called. Then they came home around 2am, and I was asleep in the recliner with the T.V. still on. It was fun.

Then, this morning, I woke up before 7! I rarely get up that early and never of my own accord. Amy came into my room shortly after that wanting to know if the baby was here or not. (I had tried to wake all the kids to tell them that Gid was here, but it only registered with Erin. The other two don't remember me coming in.) Then Erin came in and we all talked for a little while and then we all decided to go ask mom about all the details (how much hair he has, how big his nose is, etc.) but we couldn't find her. Turns out that she was back at the hospital for maternal comfort and guidance at Allie's request. Nothing was at all wrong, but everything is just so new. I think I really want my mom to be at the hospital with me when I have a baby. It would just feel nice to have the comfort of "mommy" when I'm a new "mommy".

Anyway, we're doing school today, which, I might add, is flat out torture, (ok, not quite torture but close) because all I want to do is hold and kiss that li'l guy. I just talked to my mom on the phone a few minutes ago and she said "I have to go. I have to hold the baby because Allie needs sleep. I'll call you later." I was like, "Arggh! I wish I was there! I would totally love to take care of him while Allie's sleeping!" Oh, I can't wait for this afternoon or this evening. Either my mom will come pick us up this afternoon or my dad will bring us there after work. Well, I'll post pictures either later today, tomorrow, or the day after.

baby's on the way!

Yep! 6 days after his due date, the baby is on his way. Turns out Allie's been laboring since this morning. She and Ben just went to the hospital. My mom is driving. I CAN'T WAIT! I don't see how I can possibly due biology or philosophy homework. I won't be able to think of anything else! AHHHH!!!

Erin and I just got a really nice 5 piece set for him (with green and blue dinos) and another really nice brown and light green and cream colored outfit for him for $17.50 (altogether). I guess that's not proper, to write down the price (in case they read this) but I wanted to show what a great bargain we got! They are super-duper adorable. Eventually, I might post pictures of him in them, but until he grows into them, I'll post pictures of him.

Please excuse any spelling errors. My spell check isn't working. Sorry this post is so rambly. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

no news :(

Yes, sad to say, there is no news of baby Maurer. Allie is actually saying that she feels even less than nothing. Humph. I wanted him to come today! On his due date! Arg! I'm sooooo impatient. But, now that Allie has stopped working, she's not in as much of a rush to have him, so she's a happy camper. I'm not. I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!! oh boy. I have to go read more philosophy stuff for my class tomorrow. Farewell.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother! (or should I say 'bother' ;)

Today is my brother Keith's 11th birthday. It has been such a joy watching him grow up into a godly man. I know what some of you may be thinking, "Man??? He's not a man yet! He's just now turning 11! He's still a little boy." But the truth is that Keith really is maturing at a very fast pace. Of course he still loves Legos (he spends his afternoons building little tanks and machine guns, or something like that), junk food (I guess most adults love that, too), silly movies, goofing off, teasing his sisters, etc. but he also loves Jesus and the cross. He is, in many ways, more mature than many of my boy peers! (no offense ;) I recognize that God has made him special. Keith has a unique tenderness to people that you don't often see in kids his age. When one of us is sick or sad, he often comforts us in a way that only he can. I love it!

Ever since Keith learned how to read, he has picked up any book lying around that sparks his interest and reads it from cover to cover. And he NEVER FORGETS ANYTHING! I'm telling you, he's going to breeze through his high school science classes. Science has always interested him, starting with dinosaurs and paleontology at age 3. Yep. He knew (and might still know) the name of every single dinosaur. He knew their unique characteristics, the ways they communicated, everything. I can't even pronounce (much less spell) most of the things he was talking about. "Oh yes. Diplodicus was a medium sized dino with claws the size of butter knives on its toes. They communicated with high-pitched noises that they blew through their noses." (I totally just made that up.) This is the kind of thing we would hear every day. He also had/has a huge interest in all animal life. We used to get these "Really WILD Animals" videos from the library over, and over, and over, and over. I think, if you helped him a little, he could probably go through the entire "Bugs" episode. "Hi, I'm your host, Spin..." Oh yes. That spinning British globe that told you all about bats, worms, lions, hyenas, spiders, etc. I remember him well. Thank goodness Keith has now moved on to different kinds of nature shows :p.

As all little brothers do, Keith annoys me sometimes, but most of the time he makes me laugh. He makes my whole family laugh. He makes his friends laugh. He's just plain funny, corny, nutty, and witty. That's another thing I love about him. We share that special bond of goofiness. He knows just what to say at just the right time to strike me as funny. You will often find him and me giggling in the middle of the rest of my family having a regular conversation. Sure, sometimes what strikes him funny are burps and farts, but I just have to accept that as his not-so-mature side. After all, what boy (whatever age) doesn't have a fascination with seeing how many sounds they can make with their body? It makes me sick, but again, I've (almost) learned to accept it.

So there you have it. The confessions of a sister who really loves her mature yet silly, smart, tender, kind, funny brother. Happy Birthday, Keith! I love you!

7 days till the 31st, Fireproof and dissections

Only one week left until Allie's due date! SO. EXTREMELY. EXCITED. I guess you can tell.
I had Biology class this morning. We "dissected" 4 different flowers and 9 different kinds of fruit. I don't really think it qualifies for the title of a "dissection" because they aren't animals, and it isn't gross. I'm relieved that we've left kingdom Animalia for at least a little while. I was getting sick of dissecting a new poor animal every week. But, I must say, the ones we've done so far haven't been as bad as I thought they would be. I actually touched our dogfish shark with my bare hands. I know, I know, I live on the wild side.
Has anyone seen Fireproof? I know you have, Grace, because I watched it for the first time with you. Anyone else? I LOVE it! My favorite part is when he *spoiler* bashes the computer up and replaces it with those beautiful roses and that sweet note that says "I love you more!" I think I started crying. I know I started crying when he's *spoiler* apologizing to Catherine at the end. He is an amazing cryer! (okay, that's not even a word.) Mrs. Maurer and I agree that we've never seen anyone in a movie cry like that. I guess Sam in LOTR is pretty close, but not quite. Then again, I've only seen a very select handful of movies. ;) So, if you've seen this wonderful movie, let me know what you think! If you haven't, go to your local McDonald's or Cub and get it from redbox for a buck. It's by far worth every single penny. Plus, EVERYONE in the movie is from Sherwood Baptist Church except Kirk Cameron, who is a Christian professional actor.
Okay, this post was very odd and random, but hey. That's me. I have to read twenty pages of Plato in the next 30 min before my class. Better hurry. Bye!

Baby!

No, Allie hasn't had her baby yet. :( But tomorrow her church is giving her a baby shower, and we get to go! I can't describe how excited I am for him to come. I don't know if I've ever been this excited for something to happen before. I guess Allie and Ben's wedding and Scott and Emily's wedding come close, but babies are my favorite thing! And there's going to be a sweet, soft, cuddly, cute baby boy here in this very house! I just can't wait. He's due on the 31st, but Allie thinks that he will go late. Her prediction is that he will come on the 3rd or 4th of April. Oooohhhh! I am SOOO excited! Well, I have to go. Bye.
~soon to be auntie