Blessing...

We received an incredible gift from one of our dear family friends, Morton J. He was in town visiting his son and his family and stopped by to see baby Eli. He offered a prayer of blessing over Eli and we were able to capture it on video. It was an incredible moment (too precious and treasured to adequately put into words). Morton is an INCREDIBLE man of faith and prays prayers that could move mountains. We will always treasure that moment and look forward to replaying Eli's blessing over and over as he grows into the man that God created him to be. Here are a couple still shots from the blessing....

The second we put Eli in Morton's arms he must've felt the Spirit moving b/c he immediately lifted his hand in praise!!

Thank you, Morton!! This meant SO MUCH to us!!!

It's a Boy!

Baby Eli has arrived!
Proud Mama!!!

Proud Papa!!!

Jaime gave birth to Eli Burkhalter Sanderson on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 3:59 pm. He weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz at birth, and was 19.5 inches long. He is totally healthy and handsome, with a ruddy complexion and dark brown hair. And I have a whole new level of love, admiration and respect for my beautiful wife than I already had! (and that's after she delivered our 9 lb 12 oz baby girl 1.5 years ago.)

My wife is a certified superhero. After delivering our 8 lb 1 oz baby on Tuesday, she was delivered from a "very large rock", in the words of our urologist, aka kidney stone, on Wednesday. He showed it to us on x-ray film, and to see it would make you double over in sympathy pain.

She endured both of the most painful situations that humans will ever endure in a span of 4 days. (Sunday through Wednesday of last week) She became known this week at Reston Hospital...it seemed whenever we went anywhere that people were like, "oh, that's the woman who had a huge kidney stone and just gave birth!" Every woman we encountered who had had both a baby and a stone said that the stone was far worse. Jaime agrees wholeheartedly.

An induction was planned for Monday, June 18th, but the stone hit Jaime like a rock (well, it was a rock) last Sunday afternoon, June 10th. We spent Sunday & Monday in the hospital, where they could give her safe but strong medication for the pain, and so they could monitor her, the baby and conduct exams, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc. After our urologist discovered such a large kidney stone, he recommended that he perform a lithotripsy to blast the stone & then insert a stint so that her body could return to healthier function asap. (trying to spare you the details) Understandably, blasting is not a good thing when you have a baby inside of you, so they moved up her induction to Tuesday morning, June 12.

(A huge thank you to Bailey & Brylee and their parents Sam & Emille for keeping little Faith all week & showing her such a great time! And what did you guys feed her? Both Jaime & I feel like she gained weight and is bigger than 4 days ago...I don't suppose that's because we've been holding our little 8 lb miracle too much.)

Thankfully, the epidural blocked the kidney pain completely along with some of her labor pains. Jaime got to experience and enjoy childbirth without passing out from the pain of the stone combined with the pain of delivery. God brought her through all the suffering to a place of joy and celebration with the birth our healthy baby boy. He really is, in the words of the pediatrician, just perfect. I was the one who got to tell Jaime "it's a boy" and it's a moment I'll never forget. We were both so elated!

We are quickly adjusting to life with a newborn and an 18 month old (there's no way to do it slowly)...to say there's never a dull moment is a gross understatement. We are having so much fun though, and are catching naps whenever we can. Faith loves her little brother, but we're having to coach her on what a "gentle touch" is...so far she just enjoys coming up and tagging him on the shoulder like she's playing a game of "you're it". It's so hilarious.

We love Faithy's smile in this picture!

Our new family of four!!!

My Dallas family comes in this week, so that will be tons of fun.

Thanks everyone for the prayers, and the well wishes, the meals, the grocery runs. Say a prayer of praise & thanksgiving to God for bringing Jaime through such a painful and gut-wrenching week, and for our new little gift from Heaven.

Getting Ready....

Well, I am oficially feeling ready for the arrival of baby #2. There has been so much going on with the move and other family matters that I was afraid this baby would come and I would be TOTALLY unprepared. After our good friends had their baby nearly a month early, Murray has been asking me to get our hospital bag packed "just in case". I kept putting it off and couldn't get in gear to start packing up boxes for our move to Indiana either (a job I'd much rather do pre baby vs. post baby).

Finally, the nesting bug bit me and I got in to Mommy mode and started packing, shopping, and preparing like a mad woman!! I am happy to report that:

1) our hospital bags are packed.

2) the new baby's clothes are washed and ready for his/her arrival home.

3) about 3/4 of our house is packed up (thanks....Ramona and Emille!)

4) Faith has someone to watch her when we go to the hospital the morning of the induction.

We are REALLY getting excited now that it's less than a week and a half away! Most of Murray's family will be here for the "Big Day" which makes it even more fun!!

FYI--I returned home from a shopping trip to Walmart to buy some things for the baby. I was showing the purchases to Murray and when he saw this....

he asked me, "Who are the size 1 diapers for? Isn't Faith wearing a size 4 now?" It took him a minute then he remembered that we have ANOTHER baby coming soon!! It was cute!! Needless to say, he's got a lot on his "to do" list too!! We are hoping to get it all checked off so that after the baby arrives....all we will need to focus on is our new family of 4!!!

P.S. We've chosen "new" names for the baby and have decided to keep them a secret until the baby arrives!!

Future Seamstress....

This week I enjoyed a fun girls night out at my friend Amanda's. Our friend Ramona joined us and we had a wild night filled with lots of.....sewing!!!! Amanda graciously walked Ramona and I through the steps of how to make a simple A-line dress. It was so much fun!! (and easier than I expected...although I couldn't have interpreted the pattern directions without Amanda's help.)

Here are a couple pics of the finished products (the picture quality isn't that great as Faith rarely stands still for a picture these days and nearly all of them turned out really blurry!!)


Gillian (on the left) looked SO CUTE in her dress this morning too! She especially loves doing the buttons all by herself. Great job, Ramona!!


Faith is starting to "discover" her dresses. When I put this on her this morning, she started swaying back and forth and smiled as it moved along with her! So cute!!