Just a quick note to let everyone know that Karen's WebNursery is now online. We should have birth announcements and pictures in the mail to everyone in about two weeks.
I mentioned previously that Karen looks just like Lily did when she was born, except for their hair. Well, let me show you just how much alike they really look:
Can you tell which one is Lily, and which one is Karen?
Photo © Chip Bennett
This morning, at 8:09, we welcomed into the world Karen Elizabeth Bennett:
Karen Elizabeth Bennett (Karen 00 Months Flickr set)
Photo © Chip Bennett
She was born via c-section at 8:09am; she weighed 6lbs, 10oz, and was 20" long. Both baby and mommy are doing well, and are recovering.
Nana and Papaw brought her Big Sister Lily to the hospital to meet her this afternoon. We'll have more pictures up soon.
Lily is going to be a big sister!
The digital indicator says "Pregnant," and yes, we are - as this test (and two others, just for good measure) confirmed today!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
We quite literally just found out today, and are incredibly excited and overjoyed! More news as we have it, but in the meantime, please keep Steph in your prayers.
We have been looking for quite some time, to find a church home suitable for Stephanie, Lily, and me - somewhere that we can get involved in the church ministries, outreaches, and service as well as somewhere that can meet our needs: worship service with which we can relate and be both fed and challenged, an excellent children's program, and small-group ministry to facilitate building relationships and friendships with other people our age and in similar life circumstances.
We have tried several churches, trying to keep an open mind about non-essential things such as membership size and style of worship, while at the same time looking for unity in the things we consider essential: namely, doctrinal matters. For the past couple months, we have been attending Grace Church of St. Louis, and have connected well enough that we have decided to go through the four-week membership class to determine how well this church might fit for us.
We will be considering several things, including the details of the church's doctrine, the dynamics of a smaller group (our class has about 70 people, which is considered "small" for a church the size of Grace), the ministry/small group/service opportunities, and the emphasis/mission of the church (missions, evangelism, discipleship, etc.).
If we have one concern thus far, it is the somewhat overwhelming size of the church. While I would be perfectly comfortable, provided that we can find smaller groups with which to get involved, Stephanie is not quite so comfortable. That is why the nature and dynamics of the church's small group ministries will be critical to our decision.
Please be praying for us in our search for a church home - that God will show us where He would have us to be, and especially that He will enlighten us with respect to Grace Church through this membership class.
Sorry for the infrequent posting, but things have been really busy here.
My most recent project is the basement. When we moved in, I had basically everything that we didn't know what to do with, put into the basement workshop/storage room. So, now that we've got the main level and upstairs essentially in shape (except for the breakfast room), I've been concentrating on organizing the basement and storage room. Here's what it looks like now:
Cleanup and organization of the basement living areas.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Of course, I had to make some special additions:
The basement would not be complete without a Colts shrine.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
And then there's the workshop/storage room. Without having seen the before pictures, you really won't get the transformation - so these pics are mainly for my dad:
The area now resembles a workshop and storage area, rather than an overflowing dumping ground.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
I also uploaded a bunch more Lily photos, to her Nine Month and Ten Month sets. She's been as adorable as ever, learning new things such as clapping, drinking through a straw, and trying to climb the stairs. But of all the photos, this one has to be the best:
Lily gives such sweet kisses. Also, note mommy's cute new hairdo!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
On the campaign trail over the weekend, Barack Obama tried to assuage the socially conservative democrats of Western Pennsylvania regarding his pro-abortion stance. He starts with the typical, liberal, stance when confronted by an admonition to stop abortions:
"This is a very difficult issue, and I understand sort of the passions on both sides of the issue," he said. "I have two precious daughters — they are miracles."
But politicians must trust women to make the right decisions for themselves, he said.
"This is an example where good people can disagree," the Illinois senator said. "The question then is, are there areas that we can agree to that everybody can get behind? We can all agree that we want to reduce teen pregnancies. We can all agree that we want to make sure that adoption is a viable option."
This response is, of course, the typical liberal approach of ignoring the biological reality that an abortion impacts not just the woman carrying the unborn child, but also the separate, unique life that is that unborn child. Note also the canard about adoption (the viability of which is a non-issue, but ostensibly sounds good when making such deflection).
Unfortunately for Obama, he continued on with his comments in an attempt to persuade the audience regarding sex education - and in so doing revealed his true beliefs.
Somehow, I don't think his comments will have their intended affect (emphasis added):
"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."
There you have it: babies are a "punishment" resulting from a mistake - the moral equivalent of contracting an STD.
Of course, what else would one expect, from such a radical proponent of abortion such as Barack Hussein Obama?
(H/T: RedState)
So, you wouldn't know it from the ten inches of snow we got yesterday, but this past weekend was gorgeous. Sunday was about 77 degrees and sunny, and we got the chance to take Lily to the park, to enjoy the weather - and the infant swing:
I'm too cute!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Whee!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Hey, I think I really like this!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
As the weather continues to get nicer, and Lily gets closer and closer to being a year old, I'm really looking forward to playing together outside in our yard, and more trips to the park!
Lily has been making so many advances lately!
First, she is so proud of herself for being able to pick up her food and put it in her mouth:
Lily is excited to eat her cereal puffs by picking them up herself!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
More recently, she has been trying so hard to pull herself up. The first time she accomplished the feat (this past Friday evening), it was so brief that I couldn't get a picture. Not to worry; when I went into her room to get her up from her nap yesterday, here is what I found:
Lily standing up in her crib, exploring her nursery.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
And when I called her Papaw to wish him a happy birthday yesterday evening, Lily decided she would show off for him:
Lily standing up in the living room, showing off on her Papaw's birthday.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
I haven't gotten any pictures yet of her other new discovery: looking at things upside down. Lily loves to see anything and everything upside-down. She will throw her head - or even her whole body - backward in order to look around the room, or at the paintings on the wall, or even just Mom and Dad. She is also becoming amazingly expressive; some of her facial expressions are just adorable - or hilarious.
Steph and I marvel at what a fun and exciting time we are experiencing in Lily's life. She is learning so much, and becoming more inquisitive and adventurous. We already know that part of moving into our house will mean installing outlet covers, cabinet locks, baby gates, and all of the other required "baby-proofing" that we'll have to do. But we wouldn't have it any other way!
I used vacation time for the three days after our New Year's Eve/Day holidays, in order to have a week off from work. We've used the time just to spend together at home, for rest and recuperation. Lily has been especially adorable this week (maybe because she gets to spend ALL day with both Mommy and Daddy?), and I thought I'd share some pics of her adorableness:
Lily - seven months old
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
These are all part of the Lillian - Seven Months set.