Long time, no blog; an update on the last month's events

Please forgive me in taking so long to post again. You see, I went back to work on August 4th, and it has been pretty taxing. LeMar is working the midnight shift at work (8p-7a), Alyssa goes to daycare from 7a-4p-ish, and I work 0730-1630. We really just see each other in passing. When he isn't working, LeMar takes care of Alyssa at home. I love that they get to spend so much time together. She is quite the handful right now; yesterday he pretty much had to hold her the ENTIRE day. As soon as she was set down she would start to whine. However, our most exciting news: ALYSSA SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

I'm taking too classes online this semester; please pray for me that I may juggle everything. I would hate to spoil my 4.0. Work is going great; I have moved to the micro[biology] lab group, and I'm doing a really cool project with a bacteriocin (look it up if you care).

We had a fellowship night with our Sunday school class last night. I had a blast, and I would like to say that the women ROCK at Battle of the Sexes. Of course the men say the questions are rigged in our favor, and honestly there were a bunch of their questions that I didn't know either.

LeMar goes back to work tonight. He is really enjoying his job. He passed his check ride on July 21st, so since then he has been working on his own. It has brought him a lot of relief not having someone observing and critiquing his every move while on duty. It's also nice because he has more room in the car to take along food and all of the incidental gear he might need while working.

Now for some pictures:

First bath (7/15):


Trip to Florida Caverns State Park (7/22):




First bath with out crying (8/2):




Sleeping on/in the couch (8/4):


Lounging (8/11):


Crying (8/13):

July 12 - First Outing

This past weekend we took little Alyssa on her first outing - a trip to Pensacola Beach to visit with our friends Brian & Alissa and see an air show ending with the Blue Angles. The day started out great; Alyssa slept all the way there, and the rain that hit us during the drive cleared away to beautiful sunshine. She enjoyed laying out on the beach but found it hard to catch any rays since Mom and Dad kept her under the beach umbrella. I was just starting to get curious about the delay in the start of the air show when out of no where a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in. It started off light, and we were going to wait it out on the beach; the ladies under the umbrella and the men out in the rain. After about 15 minutes of the storm getting progressively worse, we decided to make a break for the car; the rain was now coming down in sheets and lightning was striking on the beach! The only one of the five of us that didn't get soaked was little Alyssa who was an angel during the whole thing. She listened to the pounding rain with a lot of curiosity and never uttered a peep. Once we got back to the car we turned on the radio and were told the air show was not cancelled but just delayed. About 45 minutes later, the rain still pouring down, they announced that the show was cancelled for the day. We sat in traffic for 2 hours without moving even a foot. Eventually the traffic cleared out and we were able to get on the road back to Brian and Alissa's apartment. What a day! In spite of everything, we had a fantastic day - God kept us safe through it all, and we spent it in the company of great friends.

July 3 - Alyssa's Baptism

Sorry for not posting in a while. If you have kids, you understand I'm sure.

On July 3rd Alyssa was baptized at St. Dominics. Her Godfather is my cousin Chris, but since he couldn't be here my Dad stood in for him as a proxy. In addition to my parents, several of our friends from my work and our Sunday School at Hiland Park Baptist Church joined us for the big event. Here is a picture of us with Father John who performed the baptism:

Welcome Alyssa Renee

Alyssa Renee was born at 10:43 pm on June 21st. She was 8 lbs 11 oz, 21 1/4 inches, and had a full head of hair. Mommy and baby are doing great; they came home from the hospital Monday afternoon. We will get pictures up here soon.

Pre-Delivery

Okay, I know it has been awhile. Life has been busy for us. LeMar was hired full time by the local department, he graduated from the police academy, and he passed the state certification exam. Right now he is going through the department's training program so his schedule is a not quite as predictable as it will be come August once he has completed it. His schedule right now is 11 hour shifts (3p - 2a), five days on, 4 days off. He absolutely loves his job, and the pay raise over Sam's club could not have come at a better time for us.


I am now past 37 weeks along, so I am considered to be full term even though my due date is not until June 27th. It would be fine with me if our little girl came sooner rather than later since pregnancy has become uncomfortable. She has already dropped down into the pelvis, my cervix has started to dilate and thin out, and I have Braxton-Hicks contractions daily now, but none of this means labor is eminent. She could stay this for weeks. We are praying she decides to come on LeMar's "Thursday" or "Friday" so that he will have the next few days off to be with the baby and me. He won't be able to take any additional time off of work; the department has a policy of no leave during the first year of employment. As a baby shower gift, our neighbor took some maternity pictures for us. Check out the size of that belly!



Back on May 20th we had another ultrasound. Not much new to report; everything still looks healthy. They were able to see hair! Don't be expecting any bald baby pictures from us.