Will is Definitely a Texan

Will is growing and growing.  We can't believe he will be 5 weeks tomorrow.  According to the baby scale we have at home he's closing in on 11 lbs and he certainly hasn't gotten any shorter.  Here's a few recent pictures of Will (and one of Logos trying to keep up in the being cute contest).

The pictures above and below are the two Texas outfits his Uncle Dave got him.  He's sported them for the last 4 games (and four wins!!! Hook'em Horns!!!) and will be decked out for the Big XII Championship on Saturday.  He's really looking forward to a National Championship Game!!!

Just a cute picture of Pam and Will napping.  Sleep while he sleeps in action.

Logos has started to show some jealousy towards all the attention we are giving Will.  Mostly wanting to come up on our lap when we are holding Will.  And a few shots like this where he's just trying to be cute.  Lizzie is still Lizzie.  She comes out when she wants to.

We took a trip down to the University of Texas Co-op (Bookstore) and of course forgot to take a picture in the store.  But here is one with the University of Texas Tower in the background.  For those not totally versed in UT history this is the tower that the gunman shot from the observation deck during the famous UT shootings in 1966.  You can still see the patched bullet holes in the side of the building from the bullets the police shot back.  Actually some of them were from regular Texan citizens that went and got their rifles when the police side arms couldn't reach to the top of the tower.

And of course we were downtown so we got Will's first pictures in front of the Texas Capital Building.  It really is pretty lit up at night.

I won't even try to add to this picture :-)

All Arms and Legs

Ok, my Mom asked for a picture of Will with just his diaper on to show his length.  I would say this works.  I swear the boy is all arms and legs.  I'm thinking the Nimnicht (my Mom's family) height might be showing through here.

William Heads Home!!!

We are firmly in the midst of what everyone has told us would happen. Sllleeeeppppp...nnnnneeeedddd ssssllllleeeeeeeeeepppppp.... We have been home from the hospital on Friday, October 30. We have been very glad to be home with our little gift from God and VERY happy to have both Grandmas here helping out. Diane and Trish have been alternating spending the night at our house to help out the new parents get at least some sleep when Will decides he just wants to be awake in the wee hours of the morning.

Pam is recovering nicely from the C-Section. She has always been a fast healer and she is showing it now. Of course we've been very good at making sure she is taking it easy around the house. The Grandmas have been a lot of help with that as well.

I have posted some pictures from bringing William home through this last weekend. Which I guess is only 3 days. Can you guess we are taking a few pictures around here right now?

William dressed in his "Going Home" Pooh outfit. For those that haven't seen it we have gone with a Winnie the Pooh theme for William's nursery. We figured it would be good for either a boy or girl.

Will asleep in his car seat on the way home from the hospital. So far, after 3 or 4 car trips, it seems that Will might be a good in the car sleeper. That would make car trips much easier.

This was the scene Pam and I arrived home to. Thanks to the Grandma Schade for the welcome home decorations :-)

We spent Halloween Night at home watching the Texas vs. Oklahoma St. football game. Hook'em Horns!!! Will has received several UT outfits along with some Western Michigan University. This is him on Grandma McBride's lap watching the UT win Saturday night. He pretty much summed up the game, UT played so well the game was pretty much a sleeper.

We remain very happy how Lizzie and Logos are handling the new arrival. Lizzie has been spending a lot of time on the bed with Pam while she is nursing. Will's arrival seems to have kicked in her "mothering" nature. Logos is continuing to be very curious of Will and is also hanging around him, especially when Pam is with him.

Logos is all about the food, even when it's not him getting fed. We had to supplement Will's nursing over the weekend until he got the nursing thing down and Pam's milk supply came in. He lost a little more weight the first couple of days than the doctor liked. All is good now and he is almost back up to his birth weight. Doc says he's doing great.

All right, this one isn't Will. This is Ellie. She is the daughter of Pam's cousin who lives in Houston. Can you believe she is a six month old who is awaiting heart surgery? She is doing great. Here she is testing out Will's new chair that Grandma Schade had just put together. Will was napping at the time.

Pam and her cousin Dana last Sunday night. Dana, her husband Andrew and their two kids, Caden and Ellie, came up from Houston last Sunday. Andrew covers the Houston Aeros hockey team for the Houston Chronicle and they played the Texas Stars in Cedar Park on Sunday. Andrew, Caden, Grandpa Schade and Doug went to the hockey game while the rest of us were hanging out at the house. It was great to see them and have the Mom's spend some time together.

Tuesday was Election Day. It was just a bunch of Constitutional Amendment proposals on the ballot (The Texas Constitution has been amended some crazy 400+ times since 1877) but I (Jeff) couldn't resist the chance to introduce Will to the democratic process. He slept through the whole thing of course but came home with a souvenir "I Voted" sticker that I slightly modified for him. It's now in his baby book.

Will checking out his Grandpa Schade. I'm not exactly sure what was going through his mind at this moment but the picture is classic Will.

Will's first bath at home. He loves getting his head and hair washed but not so much the rest of him. We caught him in a pretty quiet moment here.

And of course a picture of Will in one the many "First Halloween" outfits he received. When you're due date is October 20th you end up with multiple Halloween outfits to choose from. Oddly enough, he was wearing this one on Sunday, the day after Halloween.

Finally They Put Up Pictures!!!

Guess who's taking the picture?

I know it hasn't really been that long, but we have been humbly reminded of all of the blessings that we are surrounded with by the incredible number of people we have in our lives that wanted updates on how Pam and baby were and are doing. Today it was "When are pictures of the baby going to be up?" So, with out further ado, the first pictures of William Joseph McBride.

William was born via C-Section. This is him right after the doctor got him out. I was in the operating room with Pam and they told me to stand up and look over the curtain right before it was time to lift him out. I never realized how purple babies are that are born C-Section are. You can't really see it in this picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

This is William in the warmer in the operating room. They got him in there quick, got some oxygen in him (which takes care of the purple color) and cleaned him up. Check out the spike he had going on with his hair. If you look close you can see the conehead shape on the top of his head. He was trying his best to come down the birth canal but he just couldn't fit because Pam wasn't dialated enough.

While the doctor finished closing up Pam I took William to the nursery to have all of his checks and pokes and prods. He did great. The sensor is checking out his pulse and is O2 level. Both were right where they were looking for him to be.

Pam decided pictures were needed of me changing my first diaper.  Yup, I've managed to make it to age 34, with all the little ones around our church, without changing a diaper.  Pam said I passed.  And no, William does not like the whole diaper changing thing.

Part 1 of William's first bath.  As you can see he liked the whole warm water, head/hair washing thing.

Part 2 of William's First Bath.  Not so much on liking the rest of it.

Mom and Baby Sleeping.  No other words needed.

William with Grandpa McBride on Wednesday.  We were so happy my parents and brother got here on Monday to be with us for the birth of our first baby.

And, of course, I couldn't post pictures of a new McBride baby without a picture of William with Uncle Doug.

William Joseph McBride's Entrance Into the World

Thank you everyone for your prayers during Pam's labor yesterday. We have a healthy, beautiful baby boy. As usual things did not go as planned but the end result was a healthy mom and baby. Pam did a wonderful job through almost 24 hours of back labor. She used all we have learned in our classes. Unfortunately her cervix wouldn't cooperate. While her contractions were getting stronger throughout the evening her dilation was stuck at 4cm for well over 12 hours. After much consideration, thought and especially prayer we agreed that the best thing for both mother and baby, who after delivery we saw was trying to force himself down a cervix that wasn't ready for him, was to deliver via a C-Section. While not the natural birth we wanted for William, Pam and I were and are totally at peace with the decision. The OB on call was wonderful in explaining the benefits and risks of C-Section and attempting to continue a vaginal delivery. She even asked us if she could pray with us before the surgery. For me (Jeff) that was the final nudge in knowing that we were doing the right thing that I had gotten while praying over the decision with Pam. As always, we were firmly in God’s hands. The C-Section went off without a hitch and William was delivered screaming his lungs out ready to face the world. As I type this mother and baby are resting together in our post partum room at Round Rock Medical Center. The staff here has been excellent from the time we got here. They have truly respected and honored our wishes for the birth and worked to help Pam as she labored yesterday. And for me, I was truly amazed at the speed and proficiency that the OR team worked at last night when we decided on the C-Section. While not what we pictured for the moment, we were together, in good hands, and could not have been in any more amazement at hearing the words “It’s a boy!!!” and seeing William for the first time.

For those of you in the Austin area we would love to have people stop by starting this afternoon/evening (Tuesday) to visit and meet William. It looks like we’ll be in the hospital till Thursday, possibly Friday. Thanks again for all of your prayers during Pam’s labor. We are truly blessed to have as many showing they love us by checking in with how we were doing.

The Differences

So as it's feline nap time on Sunday afternoon here in the McBride household we realized the differences in our cats. We have had three cats so far and each of them have had totally different personalities. Lizzie is our independent one. She is totally Texan: mossies most of the time except when food in involved, only will let you give her attention when she wants it, and playing with toys fairly infrequently. Logos is our social cat: he is pretty much in the same room as we are all the time, will play with a toy for 15~20 minutes at a time, though like Lizzie he will only let you give him attention when he wants it.

This showed up today, Lizzie took a nap on our bed and Logos in the living room with us.

Progress

Casey and Dad brought over the crib and changing table/dresser. It took a little bit to get them situated but they are here.

Casey did a great job making the crib and staining the dresser to match. Casey thank you so much. You did a great job!!!

We did our first load of baby clothes!! Logos was making sure that I was not alone in folding and that the piles did not fall over.