Happy Birthday, Jackson Davis!

I was in a meeting at work on Friday, January 25, and my sister called. A couple minutes later, my mom called, which I thought was just a coincidence. But then my mom sent me a text that said, "911 - Lindsay is in labor!" What?!?! But she wasn't due for another 3 1/2 weeks! I obviously put my meeting on hold and called Lindsay back. Sure enough, she was having contractions and going home to get her bag! She had been to the doctor for her 36 week appointment a couple days before and her body was "prepping" for delivery (we'll leave out the details), but we didn't imagine it would be this soon. Lindsay didn't want everyone coming up to the hospital to just wait around, so we were forced to go about our day.... which was obviously very hard for me to do. I wasn't being very productive, so I just went over to the hospital a little early :)

I went back to see Lindsay a couple times and she looked amazing! She had had an epidural, so we didn't get to witness the rough parts. She said that she was pretty sure she was about to break some of Ben's fingers before the meds - ha! Unfortunately, they had run some tests at her appointment the other day, but hadn't gotten the results back. Therefore, they had to give her a penicillin drip that would take four hours and, if Jackson came before that, he would have to go to the NICU for a round of antibiotics. So we were forced to wait, but had some fun while we did!

The last time it would ever be just the two of them:

When we weren't back in Lindsay's room, some of us stayed preoccupied:

By the time the drip had finished, she was ready to push! And she had an entourage in the waiting room cheering her on:

It was a pretty quick delivery and soon we received a text from Ben, "7 lbs 11 oz 21 inches" - wow was he big for a premie! The next exciting text was our first look at Jackson Davis Liggett, and he couldn't have been more perfect:

When they took him over to the nursery to run tests, bathe him, etc., I decided to go see my sister. I walked in and, had the table with the medical equipment (including umbilical cord and placenta - gross) not been there, I never would have guessed she had just given birth. She wasn't sweaty, her make-up still looked good, and she was grinning from ear to ear. I was so proud of my big sister and so extremely happy for her. You hear about all of the traumatic delivery stories, especially when things don't go as planned. But Lindsay actually commented that she thought running a half marathon was harder.... Gives me hope :) 

We eventually moved into a new room and spent the next couple of hours just talking and getting Lindsay comfortable. Ben was with Jackson in the nursery. They had over 50 babies in the hospital, 17 in his nursery alone, so things were moving a little slower than normal. Yes, it was a full moon that night. Finally, our most favorite person came into the room and looked just as handsome as ever. We have all tried figuring out who he looks like, and we think it might be Lindsay. He seems to have her nose and there's blonde hair under that cap:

Nelson and I visited them in the hospital on Saturday:

And we were lucky enough to see Jackson when they got home on Sunday (since we dog-sat for them):

I am so excited to have a nephew! I cannot wait until he gets a little older so we can play, go to the park, and eat lots of candy together :) Welcome to the world, baby Jackson! And congratulations, Lindsay and Ben - I love you all so much!

My cousin, Cody's, birthday is also January 25, and he would have been 22 years old. I think it is so special that the only boys in our family, G's grandson and great-grandson, share the same birthday. It's definitely a day that all of us will remember, and will keep us celebrating for years to come. Happy Birthday, Cody!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Sorry I haven't written a post in so long. When you have a wedding and then a honeymoon to write about, nothing else seems as exciting! But we're still here, and we're still married :) Here's a little re-cap of what we've been up to (besides staying warm in this uncomfortably cold weather):

Because Nelson's grandmother and uncle were still in Houston and it's very rare to spend Christmas with them, we decided to spend the holiday apart. I wanted to be with my mom and Lindsay since it was our first Christmas without G. I know that sounds sad and depressing to spend our first Christmas as a married couple in different cities, but I figured it was ok since we weren't separating kids or anything. I spent Christmas Eve with my dad and Grandma at my aunt and uncle's house.

And then spent Christmas Day with my mom. Nelson and I got some super exciting gifts, including a broom and dust pan, little space heater, and toilet bowl brush - woohoo!!! Being adults that own a house is so awesome :)

We also celebrated my dad's birthday a couple days later. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Another really fun house story (I think God is testing Nelson's patience): our sewage pipe backed up the day we were supposed to leave for Houston! Luckily it didn't back up into the house, but we couldn't flush toilets and Nelson couldn't shower. We finally made it to Houston Saturday night after a plumber came to clear it out. While in Houston, we had dinner with his grandmother's friend in Chinatown and had a New Year's Eve dinner at Taste of Texas. For our first New Year's as a married couple, we joined Dennis and his cousin from Korea at a couple house parties. 

This past weekend, my sister had her first (of many) baby shower! Her women's running group hosted it, and it was a brunch shower (complete with white people breakfast casserole). It was great meeting all the girls Lindsay runs with and seeing all the tiny, adorable, blue clothes :)

Saturday night, Nelson and I celebrated my friend, Beth's, birthday at Bess Bistro (that's alliteration, if I ever saw it). Sadly, Sandy wasn't there - we're thinking she was with Louis in NOLA. None of us had ever been there, so it was fun trying a new restaurant. Afterwards, we went next door to Little Woodrow's for a bit. Happy Birthday, Beth!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!