Jake is blessed to be surrounded by loving and caring friends and family. He was greeted into this world by people who have already been praying for him. Here are just a few of the people who love and care for him. Of course, I have to start with his grandparents. These are my parents who live in Aledo (west of Fort Worth), Grandpapa and Grandmama.
Kevin's parents live in Gainesville, Big T and Nana
Jake's only blood-related aunt and uncle, Chad and Cassy. I say this because although I am an only child, I definitely have a few close friends who will take-on "aunt" roles in Jake's life.
One of Kevin's cousins lives in San Antonio and made the trip with her family to meet Jake at the hospital. This is Kelly (Kevin's cousin), her husband Rodney, and their kids, Ryan and Brittany. I LOVE this family. Kevin has lots of great cousins, but I feel like I've had a great opportunity to especially get to know this family since we live pretty close together. They are a great Christian family and have done an amazing job with their kids. Kelly is definitely someone I will call on for parenting advice.
Brian and Elizabeth Bramlett came over our first day home. They live less than 5 minutes away. It's really cool to have good friends so close by.
Chez and Cody also dropped Jake a visit at the hospital. Chez and Cody are very special friends to us. We mesh really well as friends, plus we have the opportunity to be huddle leaders together. Although Jake has definitely changed our lives, we hope that his addition doesn't alter our friendship with the Dishmans.
This is Wilson and Tanya Robertson. They are definitely one-up on us with parenting experience. They have two adorable daughters, Mia and Ally. It's been a joy seeing them and their family grow.
David and Merry Culp host the young marrieds care group we attend. We are so blessed to have their insight and guidance. In many ways, they serve as parents to many of our young married class whose parents live in other cities and states. Thank you, David and Merry, for your continuous generosity, hospitality, love and prayers.
Here is Joe Pollard with Jake. Kim has actually visited Jake twice--in the hospital and at home, but somehow we did not get a picture. Joe and Kim are special to us largely due to their love and support through some of the more difficult parts of our attempt to start a family and pregnancy. Thanks to Kim, I have a wonderful doctor who delivered Jake. They have a beautiful son, Ryan, who just turned 1. We are excited to join them in the endeavor of raising a son.
Caren George came to visit, taking a break from her new addition, Anderson. The Georges just welcomed a baby boy into their family. Anderson is exactly 4 weeks older than Jake--an automatic friendship is formed.
Those who know Kevin and I, know we like to watch TV together. In fact, we've had conversations about how we're going to have to make an effort to turn the TV off more because we don't want Jake to always be glued to it. Anyhow, here are father and son enjoying some TV together--at least father is enjoying the TV. I don't think Jake can see that far yet. Isn't it funny they are posed alike? I promise we didn't set that up!
Here's my very favorite picture. Many of you know that our pediatrician has had a "minor concern" regarding Jake's weight. Due to this concern, we've been to see him for two additional weight checks and have been on a tight feeding schedule, including waking Jake up in the middle of the night to eat. Monday we went for our weight check and he weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce!! This is one whole pound more than ten days prior. It was such a relief for us, and we are so proud he is growing to be a big boy. This bath pic shows his growing belly as well as his growing thighs. I'm determined to get my chubby baby sooner or later!
Here are Amber and James each with Jake. Thank ya'll so much for coming down to visit. It was really great to see you, and we really appreciate your love and support.
Here are a couple pictures to show how big Jake is getting. It's kind of hard for me to tell how much he's changing since I'm with him daily. I do think he's slowly but surely gaining weight. We'll have the true test on Monday, when we go to the pediatrician for a weight check.
