To say that the last few days have been a blur would be an understatement. At the moment, even though I am way behind on a lot of work that I have missed out on doing the last few days, it seems like I just can’t get my mindset in gear to do the things that need to be done. So I thought I would take a few minutes to sit back and reflect on the whirlwind that hit our world some 84 hours ago.

The way everything went down still seems so surreal. Among so many other things, it gave me an ever greater respect for the medical profession. It’s weird to think that if this had happened 100 years ago, my wife and unborn baby would’ve died… but today, some talented nurses and doctors were able to fix the problem and then send me home with a happy and healthy wife and baby. What makes this even more surreal to me is that last night Corissa and I were watching TV and the story line of this show was about a guy who lost his wife and baby to a placental abrasion, which is what Corissa went through. On the TV story, the wife and baby bled out and died… which helps explain why we had the full team of doctors and nurses tending to us in a very urgent way. I know that Corissa and I were both very scared at the time, and now seeing this story, it helps me understand the sense of urgency as well as the seriousness in the room on Saturday night… and why they had four nurses taking care of Peyton with oxygen and other things in a way that I hadn’t seen them do with Allison after the delivery. In a strange way, I almost have a little post traumatic after shock thinking how close I might have been to losing them.

After everything was alright and Corissa was in recovery, the surgeon was telling me that it was fortunate the tear was so small. She told me that if it had been bigger or if we had waited and not gotten to the hospital so quickly, it would’ve been very bad… and now having seen that story on TV, I can see just how bad it could’ve been. I’m not trying to be morbid about it, but knowing how serious that condition really was, makes me feel even more fortunate and thankful that things worked out.

And I am also so thankful for God’s hand on us as well as your prayers. What could’ve been an incredibly sad night was instead a joyous one that saw the successful birth of our second baby girl. Many of you have probably heard George Strait’s song I Saw God Today, which I wrote about in a previous entry… but it seems to resonate even more in my reflection on Saturday night. In it, he talks about how blessed we are and how if we just slow down and look around, we can see God all around us and all of His blessings and gifts. And by way of remembering His gifts in my life, I just wanted to take a minute to list just a few of the countless times I’ve seen God in undeniable ways over the last few years:

• April 26, 2008 when He saved my wife and daughter.
• November 21, 2005 when He gave me my first baby girl – which was not a sure thing given my cancer. To many people, she was a miracle baby… my nurses often remind me of how lucky we were to be able to have her… and now Peyton too.
• September 15, 2004 when He effectively cured me from cancer through Dr. McCelland’s hands in surgery.

And those are just some of the big, obvious, milestone type events. But in many smaller ways, I can see God any day that I am willing to step back from the craziness of life and look around a bit… I can see Him in:

• My baby girl’s smile
• My wife’s heart
• Kindness from a stranger
• An open parking spot
• Health of my family and friends
• The love of my family and friends
• A sunrise, sunset or rain storm

Throughout my entire life, He has been all around in so many ways, and not just in the good news times. As I wrote a few years ago, God is good even on the days that we don’t feel it. And when I step back and take the time to look around, there is no question that I am lucky man by any standard.

And if you are reading this today, I encourage you to stop for a moment, push back from your desk, take deep breath, take a slow look around at the landscape of your life and I’ll bet that you’ll see God today too.

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April 26th started out innocently enough and remained uneventful and normal until about 7:30 tonight. As we were finishing up dinner at Chili’s in Lakeway with Corissa’s mom and brother, Corissa discovers that something isn’t right with the baby… so we quickly get in the car and make a bee line to the hospital while trying to get a hold of the doctor on the phone. When we arrived at the hospital, an entire team of nurses and doctors were waiting for us, and within minutes, they were prepping her for an unexpected and urgent c-section. It wasn’t a full blown emergency situation, but it was certainly headed in that direction. Had we not gotten to the hospital as quickly as we did, well, I don’t really want to think about that scenario, but the surgeon let us know that it would not have been a good one for mom or baby. Fortunately, we did get there quickly and this story didn’t take a turn to negative town.

Then, at 9:54 pm, on April 26th, a beautiful 6 pound 2 ounce, 19 inch long baby girl was born… meet Peyton Grace.

Thankfully, both Corissa and Peyton are doing well. It was a bit of a scare there for a while, but God’s hand was on us and on the doctors and nurses taking care of us. They did a wonderful job and we are so thankful to them and to all of you that were praying for Corissa and Peyton… Once again, as He always is, God was so good to us…

While the trip to the hospital tonight was unplanned and scary to say the least, we were quickly surrounded by friends and family who were there to take care of Allison while we were in the operating room… as well as by the prayers from several of you that couldn’t be there. We are so thankful to all of you.

And then, at 10:00, Allison finally got the meet her little sister in person, who was now just a tender 6 minutes old…

Though the above photo doesn’t show it, Allison was excited and very, very sweet to Peyton when she first met her… gently rubbing her head and blowing her kisses… And I was reminded yet again of what an amazing little girl Allison is. This proud father just can’t say enough about what a true joy and blessing she is and I can’t wait to see her be a big sister. Tomorrow we will take her up to the hospital for a little more quality time with her new sis, which I’m sure will result in several new photos.

Before we finally left tonight (several hours past her bedtime I might add) my sweet little daughter wanted to walk by the nursery one more time and say “bye-bye peyt” (which is about as good as she can say Peyton right now) and blow her a few more kisses. Her heart and sweetness continue to amaze me… at just 2 and half, she is already a better person than her father is, and I just hope I don’t get in the way and mess her up.

I also have to take a second and say that my wife is absolutely amazing. She handled a really scary situation tonight with such poise and courage and I am so proud of her. She is truly something special and far beyond what I deserve… and not just tonight, but every day. I’m so grateful that God blessed me with her. You really just can’t say enough good things about her.

It’s now past 2am on the morning of the 27th, and as I look back on the last 7 hours, I am overwhelmed. For about the 5 millionth time this week, tonight once again reminded me just how blessed I am… an amazing wife, now two wonderful little girls, a great family and so many friends…

My cup truly runneth over.

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It’s hard to believe that we are just two weeks away from the arrival of our second baby girl. Of course, it’s hard to believe that our first baby girl is two and half… hardly a baby anymore. Allison has been an amazing addition to our lives and I know that she will be an incredible big sister. I can’t wait to see her interact with her little sis… it will be awesome to see Allison love on her, teach her, take care of her and play with her. Yesterday, Corissa was working with Allison, showing her how to swaddle and hold some of her baby dolls… and how to hold them and rock them – it was very cute.

The big challenge for me at this point is to get through the mountain of work I have right now. I’d really like to be able to take some time off when Peyton’s born, but we’ll see if that works out. The upside is that I’ve been going without much sleep for a while now, so the new baby won’t be nearly as much of an adjustment to the sleep quotient as the first one was.

Here’s hoping that Peyton doesn’t decide to show up early and that I can get all my work done before she arrives…

And speaking of countdowns, the clock is ticking on our time here in this house as the work has begun on our next home…

They have formed up the slab on our new home, and if all goes smoothly, I will be moving my three girls to their new house in about 5 months… lots of exciting things happening around here these days… we are very blessed.

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