Mary Laine has a Suntan

More commonly referred to as jaundice, our little girl has been checked back into the hospital (Greenwood this time) to sit under the lights for a while.  We don't expect to be here too long (1-2 days max) but we wanted to post a few pictures.  We definitely are not excited about being here, but we just can't help how funny our daughter looks with her foam goggles as she lies underneath what is basically a glorified tanning bed.   

Great Timing

 

I am going to let Kathryn do most the blogging from this point about our little girl, but I had to write a quick note about how great Mary Laine timed her entrance into our world.  Not only were Kathryn's parents, brother (back at Harvard), and sister (back at Birmingham-Southern) able to be at the hospital when Kathryn had the baby, my parents had decided just in the last month to make a trip to Greenwood for the New Year.  

So when we headed to the hospital (not knowing at that point if we were going to have the baby immediately) they stayed at our house and put Deacon to bed.  The next morning (after discarding Deacon at Cooper Animal Hospital - sorry Deacon!) they were able to come up and see their grandchild and visit for a good while before heading back to Atlanta.  It could not have worked out better, and we are so thankful that they were here to help get us to the hospital (we didn't have to worry about taking care of our puppy dog) and more importantly that they were able to spend time with us post-labor laughing and crying with our new born Mary Laine.  

Thank you mom and dad (Dyksterhouse) from the bottom of our hearts for making the trip down and for being flexible with our crazy schedule.  Thank you mom and dad (Sturdivant) for all the help you have been during these 9 weeks of bed rest, and an anticipatory thanks for all the help you will be as we do our best to take care of Mary Laine.  You both mean so much to us.  We are saving a lot of family and friend pics, but I just couldn't wait to post these of our immediate family.

More Photos of our Mary Laine

A Quick Note from the Father

Why do people insist on apologizing to me that my beautiful daughter looks everything like my beautiful wife?  This makes no sense.  What husband in his right mind would want his little girl to come out of the womb looking just like him?  On the flip side, how many husbands would love for a perfect little girl to be born that is a spitting image of the woman that he loves more than life itself?  Hopefully you get my point - from now on NO apologizing for my little girl being a beautiful replica of the woman I married :)

Thanks for all the notes and visits!  We are well loved.

More Mary Laine

I am going to let Kathryn fill everyone in on the details of the delivery night, but my job is to provide pictures and I even have a video.  Here they are...enjoy :)

And some pictures.....

   

Mary Elaine Dyksterhouse (Mary Laine) Arrives!

Sorry for the shoddy cutup of the photo, but we wanted to get a quick photo out to all our friends and family.  Thank you so much for the prayers, phone calls, texts, emails, and thoughts.  Mary Laine's recruiting profile is as follows:

Name: Mary Elaine Dyksterhouse

Goes By: Mary Laine

Height: 18 1/2 inches

Weight: 5lbs 5oz

Birthdate: January 3rd, 2009

Birthtime: 12:25am

She is hanging out under the warming light, and soaking in the real world.  We love every second we have with her, and hope to bring her home soon.  We will post more pictures when we get a chance.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Mom and Dad Dyksterhouse came into town to celebrate the New Year with us.  Here we are at midnight toasting to the New Year.  We decided to bring in the New Year at 12am Eastern Time, since that came quicker than Central Time, and as you can see by the pictures below, not everyone was exactly ringing in the year with dance and song.

  

Deacon even got into the action with a little champagne (just don't call the cops, he is only 1 year old).   We hope that everyone had a great New Year's Eve and that 2009 brings you the grace and love of Jesus Christ.  Happy New Year!