Welcome to our world!

How blessed we are! We welcomed baby Matthew Crawford into the world on Tuesday, October 16th at about 6:30pm. He weighed in at 8 pounds and stretched to 20.5 inches at birth. What an adventure it has been for us!

Dave and I thank you for all the calls and cards and love you have shared with us. If we have not called you back, we're probably up to our knees in diapers (or passed out cold on the couch!)

Enjoy the pictures - there are more, but we did not want to overload the blog server.

The morning of the delivery:




Dave, Lori, and Baby Crawford:


8 pounds exactly:





Day 2 (Wednesday):

First bath in the hospital:



Day 3 (Thursday):
Going home day!!
Today Baby Crawford was officially named Dave Matthew Crawford.

Mom marvelling at the tiny toes:



Stuck out his tongue and surprised mom:









Back at home:

First bath at home:






Day 7 (Monday):




Caught sucking his thumb:


How blessed we are.

October 15, 2007

Well, very likely this will be our last post as a family of two. With so much going on at work - preparations and planning for the upcoming weeks, we come home bushed and ready for relaxation. With one week to go, we send our love and this handful of pictures. Maybe our next post will show off ten new tiny fingers and toes???

Lori last week (Oct 9)


Lori and her mom


Self-portrait

3 weeks to go...

Can you believe we have just three (or so) weeks to go?!? These days are full of physical comfort and good, restful sleep. (Anyone who knows the last month of pregnancy knows a bit about the true condition of our minds and bodies!)

For example, here is what Lori's feet look like to her. The thought of going that distance to touch her own feet is so intimidating, it's no wonder things that fall on the floor generally get to stay on the floor. It's like circumnavigating the globe just to pick up a shoe.

Inside this big blue blob is baby E - as well as mom's smushed organs. Her meals are small and numerous these days, and typically followed by a dessert of berry-flavored tums. In the last couple of days we've discovered the outie (you see it barely visible 'neath the blueness in this pic) and have made new sleeping arrangements for mom as the couch happens to be the most comfortable sleeping location in our home for her. Oh, we both dream of long stretches of sleep, which these days are anything over 3.25 hours. Fat chance for the next 18 years, eh?

Baby is healthy and growing on schedule. Weekly doc appointments start this week, so we'll learn fun new words like "dilation" and "effaced". And too, the grandparents will be arriving soon, which we are looking forward to.

Please be praying for all the pregnant women out there in this world who don't have it as "easy" as we do. We can't imagine going through this without creature comforts, never mind without enough food to keep from being hungry or clean water or shelter or a doctor to ease our minds. We are blessed by so much, our friends, our family, our means, and in these days, most especially our health.

We send our love to you,
- dave and lori

Getting ready...

Boy (or girl?), has time flown! We have packed so much into these last 7/8 months that it's hard to believe. Two degrees, a new job, a new bathroom, a couple of vacations to remember, and now the setting up of our newest space - baby's room. You can see in the first picture the room is painted light green (we'll call it sage if we have a girl or army green if it's a boy). Winnie the Poop will also be a common sight, as dad has a fondness for the silly old bear.

Tuesday, September 25th marks the beginning of our "four weeks to go" mark. Please continue to pray for the health of mom, dad and baby as we enter the home stretch!

Daddy Dave hard at work - this mobile is just a hint of the zoo it will be around here soon. :)

Dad with our first diaper purchase. He's smiling because he knows this is a job he will love.

These are both from week 35 of 40. We hear baby should be about 5 pounds and 18 inches at this point. Our guess is that he or she will make one heck of a swimmer as well, for all the somersaults.

In this one, mom's smiling because she knows how soon she gets to go to bed. You can't really see the clock, but it says 8:42pm.

Sharing memories

Family and friends,
Sharing pictures is something we imagine we will be doing a lot more of as time marches on. Just two months left to go, and it seems we are approaching our "Christmas" - the moment in a year when time stops and begins again in a whole new way. It is a time much anticipated and awaited and now...counted-down to!

Here are a few photos of Dave's trip to England. Oh ye world travelers, don't ye long for more great adventures?





Earlier this month we were asked to be godparents for some friends' twin girls. It was a beautiful day, but very HOT!



On Saturday Sept 1, a coworker from our church threw a shower for baby E. We are so blessed by the generosity of our friends, and even more so, by the wisdom and support the women bring to our lives. One sweet touch was the favors - on each woman's plate was a beautifully wrapped candle to take home with them. At the end of the event, we found out their purpose. Each of us got a small card with the invitation to light the candle and to pray for the baby when we hear the baby is born. What delight it gives us as parents to know that our little peanut will be honored in such a way!

Photos from the shower:
White sweater hat and booties crocheted especially for baby

Boppy pillow - we hear they are the best thing since sliced bread

The last ritual of the day was for each woman to offer a prayer for mom and then one for baby, and string those prayers as beads on a wire. This will hang in baby's window and remind us of all those good wishes and prayers.


On this weekend we are filled with such warm thoughts and love and we wish you more of the same. Please keep in your prayers those that cannot have their own children, those that that have lost a child, and those that do not want the children they have. We are especially mindful this week of people who feel such pain. Knowing their stories has made us so grateful for all we have been given.

With love,
Lori and Dave