Christle and I went Christmas shopping yesterday, despite the fact that I was sneezing and coughing up a storm. We also went out to eat for her birthday.
I was amazed by how many people were out and about. It really makes you wonder where all these people are during the relatively normal times of the year. I felt the same way when everyone was taking off to get out of Houston for Hurricane Rita.
We drove by Best Buy around 4pm, and there were 2 tents set up and a line forming behind them. I told Christle that they “had” to have a shipment of Xbox 360s coming in and that they were staking claim to one. I just read somebody’s rant about the fact that they had limited quantities (DUH!), and that people were getting duped into buying a $449 laptop if they couldn’t get their hands on one of the available xbox 360s. They were upset with Best Buy, but I honestly feel that Best Buy was just making the best of what Microsoft was giving them to deal with.
Microsoft should have had more 360s available before they released them. They also should have released the xbox 360s with the hard drive and stuff included in one package for no more than $300, but that’s another story. IMHO, they really should have given the console away for free with a purchase of $300 or more in games, controllers, live gold service, etc. Then, they’d have a 360 in almost every gaming home in America. They’d have the majority of the market. Maybe I’ll finish this another time.
I had no problem, getting into Best Buy and getting what I needed in less than 6 minutes. I went to Old Navy, because I knew they were having some good sales, but when I went in, they didn’t have anything in my size, so I walked back out empty handed. Bath & Body Works was more packed than usual, and I got so confused with all the different smells, that I left and made Christle go in to find what we needed.
Walmart had about the same number of people in it as usual, and we were in and out of there in relatively good time.
I feel much better today, although Alaina’s not feeling too well.

Things I am thankful for:

– God, for being who He is, and for giving me these and more reasons to be thankful
– My parents, who raised me with the knowledge of God, and set a great example for how to live
– My wife, who raised me the rest of the way
– Alaina, my daughter who made me realize it was time to become a man
– Lily, my second daughter who has made me realize it is time to be a real husband and father
– Our Founding Fathers, who led America in our independence and let us be free
– Our military (my brother Josh included), past and present, who have defended our freedom and fought for our values
– George W. Bush, for his leadership in the War on Terror
– Glenn Beck, last but certainly not least, for his ability to help me see the humor in present times

Happy Thanksgiving,
What are you thankful for?

We were up all day and were all very tired. Here is Lily and me posing for the camera.

After all of the initial stuff, she became the calmest baby I’ve ever seen. I guess the word I’m looking for is passive. She nursed right away, and within the first few times she nursed, it was apparent that she was being fed. She’s very beautiful.

She was born at 12:14am this morning weighing in at 8 pounds 5.8 ounces and measuring up to 19 7/8 inches long. She’s absolutely beautiful.
The doctor checked on Christle around 11:45pm and said that she was 4 centimeters dilated, and it looked like we’d be delivering around 3am this morning. About 10 minutes later, Christle told me to go tell the nurse that she was hurting more than she thought she should be. The nurse came in about a minute later and said that Christle was dilated to 9, almost 10, and things accellerated into overdrive.
We’re greatly blessed.

Well, Christle’s doctor has scheduled to have everything started early friday morning. Maybe this time we can have a better relationship with the hospital’s schedule. I’m not somebody else’s father, yet.
I was kinda hoping that she’d be born today, because that would’ve put our birthdays exactly 6 months apart. I guess she needs a little more time to grow.

Well, the hospital’s been backed up, and it looks like we’ll be checking in sometime between midnight and day-break. It’s a little frustrating just sitting around waiting on the hospital to call and let us know that they have room for us. By the time we get there, Murphy’s Law states that someone else will have gone into labor naturally, and we’ll have to sit around waiting for another bed to come available. … Oh well.