Moving Time

My blog is finally moving to a new site. If you'd like to continue to read my thoughts on theology, life, and family, visit my at my new blog: Enriched Affections (enrichedaffections.blogspot.com)

Lucky? Or Twice blessed...

Our first week with Selah and Charis together has been a blast. We heard from so many people that we really got lucky with Charis as she was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and on a regular parent directed schedule of eating every 3 hours. She never cried too much, slept really well, and even early on allowed Moriah and I to sleep for long periods of time. Everyone said, "That's the first one. Just wait 'til your second and things will be different. You got lucky with this one." Well, we are still waiting. Maybe number 3 will be the hard one, but I doubt it. Last night Moriah and I both got 8 hours of sleep. Granted they weren't continuous, but they were long and very restful. We went to bed at around 11:30pm during Selah's last feeding. I stayed up with her after she cried a bit to get her to calm down. She drifted off at around 12:15pm. Moriah had already been sleeping for an hour by then. I brought her back into the room a little after 1pm (once my Bond movie was done), and laid down myself. Selah slept until 3:30pm. Then Moriah fed her and everyone was back asleep within the hour. We figured, hey, she'll be up in a few hours so no need to set an alarm. The next thing we know, we hear Charis talking in the next room. As we glance at the clock, we see 8:45 staring back at us. Selah awoke peacefully and ate at 9 as I hurried to get into work.

I don't know if every night will be like that, but we are thankful for our little one who lets us sleep. So, for those of you who say we got lucky again and it isn't fair, I say don't chalk it up to luck, chalk it up to good parenting and a good God smiling on us. As we guide our children with the principles we've learned from our parenting class and Babywise, we've seen great progress that makes us wonder just how people can do the "On-demand" feeding. If that works for you and you enjoy being at the beckon call of your kids, more power to you. Personally, I'd rather sleep in. More to come later...

Settling in for now

Selah is doing so well. We've had a few days to adjust to our new addition, and we are very happy with her progress. At her check-up on Sunday, her weight was down a little (to 7lbs., 3 oz.), but by her doctors appointment yesterday she was back up to 7lbs., 7 oz. There is no sign of jaundice, so we are pleased as punch. She's even giving us time to sleep at night. It takes a little while, but around 1am she gets into a good cycle of sleeping about 2.5 hours, feeding for 30 minutes, then sleeping for another 2.5 hours, so Moriah and I have been getting a good amount of rest.

Charis seems to be adjusting well. She is starting to whine more, knowing that when Selah cries, she gets attention. We are adapting to that quickly and nipping it in the bud (literally). Charis has been a great helper, bringing blankets, gently patting the new baby, and being a little quieter when Selah sleeps.

Today is Moriah's first day alone for a good amount of time with both girls while they're both awake, and so far she is doing well. You can continue to pray for us all as we adjust to the changes. God has been very good and faithful so far and we are fully expecting Him to continue in that goodness. That's it for now. More pics and video to come later.

Going to the doctors for the first time

A Great Start (And Happy Birthday Jordan)

The first night has passed, and we are enjoying a great morning watching Prince of Egypt (very appropriate considering the time of year) and enjoying our hospital breakfast, which isn't too bad. Selah is sleeping and doing great. She has only lost 1 ounce which is great. She is eating very well and has already had 4 very good feedings from Moriah. Moriah is doing great as well. She looks beautiful after her shower and quite unlike she just went through 12ish hours of labor yesterday. We actually got some good sleep last night. Selah has been eating and sleeping, but about every 5 hours she has a good feeding. Those will increase throughout today and tomorrow until she is feeding about every 2-3 hours. We both got about 6 hours of sleep with interruptions of course, but we still got some good sack time.

Our plans for today are to just take it easy, enjoy our new little girl, and welcome all our friends and family to see the new one. We are excited for Charis to get to know her sister a little better, but we know that will happen best at home. Speaking of which, we are planning on being home tonight before bed, so if you are planning a hospital visit, make sure you don't put it off until too late. Everyone is welcome to come and visit, just call first to make sure we aren't feeding her, and I believe that from 1-3pm is nap time, so that time is off limits for visitors.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my younger brother Jordan. His golden birthday is today (22 on the 22nd). I hope it's a good one.

That's about it for now. I'll leave you with a few more pics to enjoy.

Moriah, looking amazing this morning!!

A little whiny after a good feeding (I think she looks like Great Grandma Lucy)




Selah with Grandma and Grandpa Huff

Selah Is Here

Well, our little daughter is here. She was officially born at 4:41 pm CST. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and is 19.5 inches long. She scored a 9/9 on the APGAR test, which is pretty good I guess. She is eating dinner right now and enjoying spending time with all of her loving Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and of course her big sister (who will be here any minute). I'll leave you with a few pics to enjoy. I hope all of you have a great evening and think deeply about why this is such a Good Friday; not just because of Selah, but ultimately because of Christ our Lord, who gave His life as a ransom for many on this night so long ago.

This is within 2 minutes of her being born



She quickly quieted down when I started singing



7 lbs., 12 ounces (she beat her cousin Noah)

Update #3: 2:15

Well, they finally checked her and even with all the slow progressing, she is at 7 cm and they are putting in the epidural right now. Gotta go

Update #2: 1:15pm

Well, things have really slowed down. Contractions are very light and are spread out between 15 and 20 minutes. The doc has spoken with the nurse and they are going to get the Patosin going as well as break Moriah's water which should kick her into labor very nicely. Right now, Moriah is finishing her liquid lunch (frozen cherry stuff, jello, juice, etc.) and when she is done, they'll begin all the fun stuff throwing her into labor. If you could pray for her (and me) as we've been at this since 4am and are a little tired. But, we are still pumped for little Selah to arrive, hopefully before dinner time. More to come later...

Update # 1: 12 noon

So, it looks like I'm going to rock in my NCAA picks for today. The two upsets I picked are looking good (Saint Mary and W. Kentucky to win) and I'm tied for second place with my points. Oh, I guess you are all wondering how Moriah is doing. Well, she is bouncing around on a pregnancy exercise ball thing and full of energy. She is still dealing with contractions, but thankfully, NO BACK LABOR this time! Yay! That is making the contractions a lot more bearable. Charis and Moriah's mom will be here soon, so that is it for now. Another update should be coming in about an hour or so. Later...

SELAH IS COMING!!

It is around 9:45, and we are in the process of labor. She is progressing nicely and it looks like sometime this afternoon we'll be welcoming Selah Joy Huff into this world. It's certainly a good Friday. Right now, Moriah is getting her I.V. and preparing for an epidural at some point. She is such a trooper with these contractions. Well, I'll post some more in a little bit, but I need to be with my honey now. Later...

An Early Morning

As I sit here in my office, early to work by half an hour, I ponder my morning. I had agreed to be a debate judge for some of our homeschooler families today, and I needed to be in Naperville (about 20 miles away) at 8:30 this morning. So I woke up early, got all spiffed up to look professional, and left at around 7. As I pulled onto I-88 at around 7:30, I double checked my directions and noticed, in bold type, "Thank you for volunteering to be a judge. We are expecting your arrival at 8:30 am on Thursday, March 20th." What?! Today is the 13th of course, so, after feeling mildly retarded and regretting the extra 2 hours of sleep I missed this morning, I got off at the next exit and made my way to work. At least I'll get to clean up my office a little bit more and I won't be so far away if Moriah goes into labor.

Speaking of labor, I am so pumped. Waiting for "the call" from Moriah is kinda like holding a lottery ticket and waiting for the numbers to be announced later that day, except I know I already won. As soon as she goes, I'll try to keep this blog up to date with all the fun details and pictures of the new baby. For now, Moriah and I are catching up on long term projects of cleaning and organization.

Speaking of organization, it had fun cleaning out our Youth Ministry filing cabinet yesterday. It was interesting to read my own senior profile I filled out 8 years ago when I was a senior in High School (I feel old sometimes). It was encouraging to see that my goals back then of being a pastor are still being worked towards. God has been so faithful over the years and I'm looking forward to where He leads our little family next.

Speaking of next, I'll post some more next time. Later...

False Alarm, and notes on the picture from last week

The false alarms for labor have officially begun. Moriah is getting a little perturbed at everyone asking her how she's feeling every 5 minutes, but that comes with the territory when you are within 2 weeks of the due date. My dad is also freaking out a little because our Men's retreat is tonight and he keeps thinking that I will be unavailable because of the baby, which could still very well happen. I'm just ready for this kid to come out so we can get on with it. I feel like everything in my life is on hold until she arrives, so I'm excited for whenever she comes. The kids in youth group are guessing I'll get the call from Moriah while I'm singing during the first session of the retreat tonight. That would be kinda fun, but I hope that everything will wait 'til Saturday afternoon after my responsibilities for the weekend are officially over.

Here's a note about the picture from last time. I think that new title to Joel Osteen's book perfectly sums up what his ministry is all about. If you've ever heard him speak, you'll find it is hard to see a difference between him and a regular motivational speaker. Perhaps he'll throw half of a scripture verse, out of context of course, in there to make it sound like a real sermon, but that's like throwing a bit of sugar into a pile of dirt and calling it a dessert. The real danger of his ministry is how it treats all the symptoms, like depression, loneliness, and lack of success, without treating the problem of sin. Perhaps if he taught from the whole council of God, he would notice that when the problem of sin is taken care of, those other so called issues pale in comparison to knowing Christ fully and understanding His forgiveness and grace. So, if you are interested in becoming your own savior, I recommend Joel Osteen. If you are interested in Christ being your Savior, I recommend the Bible.

Finally Back

Well, I think it's time I begin writing on this thing again. I know many of you have long since given up on checking for updates, but it's good for me to write all the same. So, here is what's happening with me these days.

Church has been great. Paul is speaking through the minor prophets, we just began small groups every other week, and I'm teaching through Acts with the youth in Sunday school. Everything seems to be running smoothly and I can't wait for spring to finally get here. I have been enjoying my discipleship group's study through Romans. We'll be continuing that tomorrow. It is always nice to get back into that theologically rich book and see what God has in store for our minds each week. We just got back from camp a week ago and I have to say it is my favorite Winter Camp I've ever been to. The combination of sweet worship, impactful teaching, and great spiritual fellowship amongst the students made it a very special weekend. I'm hoping we can get the same speaker back for next year.

Family time hasn't been easy to set aside, but Moriah and I are managing. We guard our Monday nights pretty closely. Charis is growing up so fast. She's now saying things like go, wow, hi, bye-bye, and map (from Dora the Explorer). Thankfully, she hasn't discovered "no" yet, but we know that is coming. She will be joined by a new baby sister in just a few weeks. Selah Joy Huff is due March 20, but could come at any time. We are so excited.

Personally I feel energized for the upcoming year. A lot is happening in 2008. A new baby is coming, my position at FVBC is being evaluated and determined for the future, we're getting a new pastor, and the Cubs are going to win the World Series. I've set a goal to be proficient at the guitar and drum set by the end of this year, and so far, things are going well. Ethan H. is a great drum teacher and I'm picking it up pretty quickly.

Well, that's it for now. More to come soon hopefully.

P.S. I just love that new book by Joel Osteen. I'll talk a bit more about that next time.