HE'S HERE!

World, meet Josiah Edward Culbertson, born at 7:00pm on June 13, 2009. He weighed 8lbs 5oz and was 20.5" long! Fearfully & wonderfully made, indeed! We praise our Gracious God and pray that Josiah, like his namesake, will be a great reformer in Christ's Church.

Josiah Update

Dianna is somewhere around 9cm dilated! We're just playing the waiting game at this point. It looks like we'll be celebrating June 13 for years to come! God has really blessed us through this process. On Wednesday night we discussed God's goodness at church... today is just another reminder to me of our Father's kindness!

Dianna has banned the camera at this point! So, this has nothing to do with pregnancy, but I thought I'd share a cute picture of big brother from VBS.

Josiah Update

They just put in the epidural. Let me say - it's not because Dianna was wimping out on the pain. She's one tough little lady! She decided to get it because the nurse seems to think it will speed things up. Dianna is ready to see her baby... and ready to eat some food (she hasn't eaten since last night)! Thankfully, Dianna can relax now and maybe take a little nap before Josiah arrives.

Wait... doctor just came in & he's about to break her water! THAT should speed things up.

Josiah Update

Dianna is still hanging in there (without the epidural). Her contractions are still coming every 2-3 minutes except they're stronger now. She's trying to rest some between contractions because she didn't get to sleep much last night.

Here's the contraction action (which, btw, I think would be a great name for a rollercoaster):

Meanwhile, the family anxiously waits...

My folks are keeping Thomas at their house. They should be here after his nap. Hopefully just in time for Josiah! Thanks for the prayers... keep 'em up!

Josiah's on the Way!

We're at the hospital right now waiting on Josiah. Dianna started having contractions at about 1:30am this morning, but we waited a long time to make sure they were real since we'd been disappointed a few times before. We came to the hospital around 8:00am. She is currently 6cm dilated, so we should be holding a new baby boy in just a few hours... Lord willing!

Here's my beautiful bride getting ready for the baby...

Looks good for labor & delivery, doesn't she?! Please pray for her (she's thinking about not getting the epidural!!) and Josiah.

We'll keep you posted.

Our Big Boy

I realized recently that I have been so consumed with giving updates about my pregnancy, that I haven't shared any pictures or news about Thomas. He certainly isn't forgotten around our home and we still take tons of pictures of him too!

This week he went to VBS at our church and I think he has had a good time. Thomas still isn't a great talker, so when I ask him about bible school usually he just says the words he knows as they relate to bible school "choo-choo" (the theme is Lifeway's Boomerang Express), "Nolan" (a little boy at church), or "Laura" (a little girl at church). When I ask him questions about bible school, he normally just shakes his head and starts talking in gibberish, but at least he is trying to answer me!

Recently, he has began to climb. Yesterday, he figured out how to climb out of his bed! He had been down for his nap about 30 minutes when I heard his door open. I was a little scared someone was in the house and when I checked, Thomas was walking toward me! He realized very quickly that getting out of the bed was a no-no by the expression on my face and the tone of my voice. Thankfully, no discipline was needed and after about five minutes of crying he was asleep.

Overall, Thomas is a very compliant child and normally only has to be warned he will be "popped" if he does or doesn't do _____. He definitely is all boy - loves to play with blocks and cars, and loves going outside. However, his favorite things are trains. I really need to record him saying "choo-choo" because he gets so excited when he hears a train. For some reason he thinks that tractor trailers are "choo-choos" too, and although we constantly say, "No, Thomas that is a truck," he is convinced it is a "choo-choo" (we think it is because the trailer looks like the train cars).

Without further ado, here are some recent random pictures of our big boy, who will be a big brother very soon!

Our cute, but messy eater!

Playing by the pool
Doesn't he look relaxed?

When, Oh When Will He Come?

That seems to be the question on our family's mind as well as our entire church family! I think my favorite question has been, "You still here?" I'm actually pretty hard to miss at this point and as long as you see me, I'm still here (that is what I want to say, but I just smile and say, "Still waiting"). I did have some Braxton Hicks contractions on Saturday morning between 1:30am and 4:30am and Josh and I were hoping that labor was starting, but they stopped and just left us both very tired on Saturday.

We went to the doctor this morning and the news is mixed. They are going to give me until Monday to go into labor naturally. I haven't progressed any since last week, but the doctor is hopeful that Josiah will decide to come without an induction. The doctors in this practice don't like to induce until they really need to because natural labor is much easier for me and the risk of having a c-section is also less when they don't induce. However, if Josiah isn't here by Sunday at 4pm, I will check into the hospital to be given some medicine to get my body ready. On Monday morning, if I haven't went into labor, they will start Pitocin.

Josh and I are praying that I will go into labor this week and that we can avoid an induction. This pregnancy has been much longer for me because Thomas came at 39 weeks and I'm now 40 weeks and 1 day, and more than ready to have this baby. Josh even decided we needed to sit outside under the full moon on Sunday night hoping that the lunar pull would have some effect on my body! Even though nothing happened, it was fun to sit under the stars and talk. :-)

Thank you for your many prayers. The Lord has given me more contentment over the last few days and I'm just trying to enjoy every moment for this is the day the Lord has made! The end is in sight and I will be holding my baby in a week!