He has Arrived!

Our little miracle was born this morning, Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 12:08AM! Brian Christopher Ertel weighs 7 lbs 1 oz and is 20 3/4 inches long! Mommy was so glad her prayers were answered and Brian was only 7 lbs! He gave us a little scare during delivery as he decided to turn sideways at the last minute and after mommy being in labor for 10 hours, her blood pressure skyrocketed and little Brian's heartbeat plummeted! But our doctor and nurses were wonderful and they were able to get him out with a vacuum extractor and mommy continuing to push!

Daddy was such a big help and really supported mommy during the entire labor process! Now we have a beautiful little miracle to hold in our arms! Our God is so good and so gracious!

We will get to take Baby Brian home on Monday!

Praise the Lord!

Almost 38 Weeks

Baby Brian will be at 38 weeks (and considered full-term!) on Thursday!! Momma and daddy are very excited that it won't be long before little Brian Christopher is here.

Momma has not started dialating, yet, but is having contractions and Baby Brian has dropped quite a bit! Maybe by Friday morning at the doctor's appointment some progress will have been made!

We are ready for the trip to the hospital! The only thing not in place is the car seat, and Aunt Lisa PROMISES that she'll get it installed before we need it! We are so blessed to have a best friend that is a Pediatric RN!

We are so lucky to have so much love and support from family and friends! We promise to let you know when our little miracle decides he's going to make his grand appearance into this world!

A Crib Divided!

Our wonderful friends gave us a Baby Shower last Thursday (that was supposed to be a big surprise last Tuesday during the Duke/NCSU game, but the snow threw a kink in the plans!). We already knew that Duke reigned supreme!!! (Sorry daddy!) The party was a LOT of fun - even if half our friends wore UNC stuff b/c they didn't want to wear Duke or State!!! Even though Duke won the basketball game, the State team won the Baby Bottle Game!!

The kids had to help us open gifts!!

We love all our friends - and their children!!

Most of the dads finally had to get help with the Bottle game!

Drink, Drink, Drink!

(And yes, it's only apple juice!)

Duke vs. State - even in the punch bowl!

Thanks again, Lisa and Adrienne for giving us this shower!!!

Baby Shower at Building Together Ministries!

Mommy's co-workers and friends gave us a "Gift Card" shower last Friday! It was AWESOME! We had a lot of fun and even got to see some of my past students! Have I really been doing this for 3 years?!?

God has been so gracious to us and we are so thankful for our friends!

Gift Cards are such a blessing!!!

We had some wonderful food as well!!

My preschool friends have gotten so big!

Presents and CAKE!!!

My preschoolers even made me a very special cake!

Our first snow of 2009

We had a great deal of fun playing in the snow. Even mommy got out in. Baby Brian really must have liked it as well since as soon as mommy went out in he started move around a great deal.

Daddy trying to find out how much snow we got (7 inches)

A look down our street during the snow storm

Raelin says i hate the cold and snow I want back inside where its warm

Mommy and Brian out having a little fun in the snow.

Yes it really does snow in Raleigh.

36 Weeks and counting!

We are 36 weeks along and Baby Brian can come whenever he is ready!! Believe me, Momma is ready! Here's a couple of pictures! The last one is Daddy's new shirt! Hope everyone can read what is says! Thanks Casey for the t-shirt!

Bigger and Bigger!

Momma's all smiles after her nap!

Daddy's New T-Shirt

"I Don't Do Drugs I Get High on Baby Hugs!"

Results from Poll

Well, the results are in!

Most of you thought Baby Brian should come home in a combination onesie - Duke & NCSU! Well, Momma and Daddy have come to an agreement! Baby Brian got a Duke hat and a NCSU onesie for Christmas, so he'll be wearing both to come home in! (Momma just wants to find him some Duke socks, especially since the onesie over-powers the hat!)

35 weeks

Baby Brian will be at 35 weeks tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 8th)! His little legs and butt continue to be in Mommy's ribs (but she still loves him!). Brian continues to do well according to the doctors and he is definitely active! He loves for Daddy to talk to him - and Chris has gotten kicked and/or punched several times!

We have a doctor's appt on Friday and will then start seeing the doctor every week until he is born! Baby Brian has several people curious on when he is going to enter this world, but Mommy knows he'll come when he's ready (even though she really won't mind if he comes before his due date - February 12th!)

Christmas and New Year's

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! Momma couldn't travel all over the state this year, so our families graciously came to us in Raleigh! We had a great time with everyone and Daddy cooked a WONDERFUL meal for everyone on Friday - Deep-Fried turkey, Roasted Cajun turkey, glazed carrots, broccoli casserole, roasted rosemary & onion potatoes, potato rolls, and White Chocolate Strawberry Tiramisu!

On Saturday we went to the NC Museum of Natural Science with our parents and Mimi (Chris' grandmother) to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit! It was amazing to see those ancient manuscripts of the Bible!

We are so grateful for the love of our families and truly enjoyed having them around for Christmas! (So, when's everyone just going to move to Raleigh?!?!)

New Year's Eve was a lot of fun, too! We had our friends Adrienne & Caleb & Ben, Matt & Jennifer & Brayden, and Jeremy & April over to celebrate with us! We watched the football game, stuffed our faces, and tried to hit each with balloons! Kristin even stayed up until the ball dropped!! (That was a miracle!)

You can click on Adrienne and Caleb's blog to see pictures of New Year's Eve!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!

Baby Shower #2

We had our second baby shower in Charlotte on December 14th at Grandma Terry's house! Thanks Great-Grandma Mimi, Great-Aunt Brenda, and FAB (Fun Aunt Beth!) for giving us this shower!

Mama's ready for Baby Brian's gifts!

Daddy's Happy! Brian got his first NC State blanket!

I think Grandma Terry liked the Frog!

Daddy got his "Daddy Diaper Bag"! Butt Paste included!

All the food was great!