Christmas Parties

Christmas is the time of the year that friends, & family gather for Christmas parties. This week has been such a blessing to be invited to several different Christmas parties throughout the Houston area. Each of these parties have their unique flavor with some sporting a cowboy theme, ugly sweater, or a formal feel. As we have gathered at these different parties we are reminded that faith, family, and friends are so important this Christmas season. To each of you that still have parties to go to enjoy them it is a great time to fellowship and enjoy the friends that God has sent your way.


Here is a picture from a party that we went to..

Snowing in Pearland (Houston)

That is right! Believe it or not it does snow in Texas (despite the what the Christmas song says) It was crazy last night, but very exciting to see a little white snowfall land in the front yard. Here are some pictures to prove it.

FINALLY

OK, so I am finally updating the blog. I know that I have been very bad the past few months.

Here is the skinny on the last few MD visits:
October 17th - I weighed 146 pounds; We measured 22cm; and had a great heartbeat
November 5th - I weighed 153 pounds; We measured 24.5cm; Heartbeat was 156.
December 9th - I weighed 156 pounds; We measured 31.25cm; Good heartbeat; we even got confirmation that it is indeed a girl - Shawn now has a picture as proof.

This Friday (tomorrow) I will officially be 29 weeks, so we are measuring a little big. This is no surprise since Callander men make BIG babies (If you want proof ask Mom Callander or Kathy).

To everyone's surprise, it SNOWED in Houston last night. It was a lot of fun. After I got off from work, Shawn and I made snow angles in the grass. I'll try to have Shawn add the pictures that we took to the blog later today.

We meet with the pediatrician that we will most likely use for baby Callander next Thursday (I can't believe we have to do that now). They call it a "New Mother's Visit"...Shawn is coming too. We are not exactly sure what to expect....we'll see.

Well, I guess I will finish up by saying that we love you all very much. For those of you that we get to see at Christmas - "It is only 2 weeks away. YEA!!! Can't wait to see you." For our loved ones far away, "We love you and miss you. Wish that you could be here for Christmas, but we know that it is not always possible. Hope to see you sometime soon."

Love always,
Shawn and Christine (and Baby Callander - she is kicking as I type)

Firehouse Pottery

Well I had my experience with a place called Firehouse Pottery here in Pearland. Christine had the idea the other day of creating ceramic tiles and painting them with different fruits from the book "the Very Hungary Caterpillar" to hang in the baby's room. At first I had to admit I thought this was going to be a little cheese ball but once I got there I quickly realized that it was a ton of fun painting fruit (we spent 2 hours there). My creative juices began to flow and I must say I am not a "Picasso" but these pieces of fruit may become lasting pieces of art. Here in the next week or so we are going to start to work on painting the baby's room and getting all the pieces put together. Please begin to pray that my artistic skills will continue.

Excited about the future,
Shawn

Dr. Visit #4

OK, so things are looking good. I am weighing 145 pounds, and the babies heart rate is144. She is looking healthy and happy. I go in next week for a follow-up ultrasound with the perinatologist. My next Ob visit is in 3 weeks. That will be a fun one...I have to do that lovely gestational diabetes screening - I know from watching too many women drink that drink that it does not taste good.

Things are great around the Callander house. We are slowly, but surely preparing for the arrival of our little lady. I finally finished our registries at Babies R Us and Target. That took way too long.

Well, enough about us. Know that we love all of you and hope to see you soon.

:) CC

It's a....

GIRL!!!

Yea - we are so excited. We are going to have a healthy little girl. The sono looked good...no abnormalities. Can't wait to share the pictures with all of you.

CC

The not so Dr. Visit

Well, I was supposed to have my 4th OB appointment today, but it didn't really happen...

My day started off kind of nicely...I was able to sleep in since I didn't have to work today (that was really nice). I was in my bed with the AC running, the dogs in the backyard...it was great until I got out of the shower.

I hopped out of the shower to hear my phone signal that I had a voicemail. The voicemail stated that Evin was at the Goodyear Tire place across 518 (the busy road in front of our neighborhood). The second voicemail was from a very nice lady that lived on the other side of Pearland. I quickly threw on clothes, brushed my teeth and hair and ran out the door to pick up my crazy, jail break dogs.

Once I had the two dogs picked up, I looked at the clock and realized that if I took the dogs home I wouldn't be able to make it to the OB office in time for my appointment. SO..... The dogs came with me. I made them stay in the car of course, but they came with me all the way up to the medical center.

After sitting in the office for an hour, Nan (the RN that works for my doctor) came out to the waiting room to inform me that she needed to reschedule my appointment...The doctor was running behind and was then called to a delivery.

Nan called me this afternoon and I now have my 20wk sono appointment scheduled. I am scheduled to have the sono on October 7th. We should know then if we have a little Girl or a little Boy on the way. YEA - What fun!!!

Love you guys so much!!!

We have power

That is right we have power as of 3:30 this afternoon. We will post more later.

No Power

You guessed it we are still without power at our house. Thankfully over the last two days some of our friends have received power and we have been staying with them. God has been so gracious to bless us with great weather while there is no power (could not come at a better time). As I think about having no power it reminds me that I take so much for granted. It has been funny the times that I try to turn the light switches on and there is nothing there. I just step back and laugh. Although Ike has down a great amount of damage I feel that our community has really joined together to get through this tough time. The people of Houston have been great and all of us here talk about how we have gotten to know our neighbors better.
Christine and the baby are doing fine she is napping as I type this blog posting. We will find out the sex of the baby in just a few short weeks and I am really excited about that. Then all the plans can start with the babies room, strollers bought, clothes, and all the array of baby items that we will need. Please continue to pray for a smooth pregnancy, healthy baby, and our adjustment as we get ready for this new little one. Till the next time I can charge my computer battery....
Shawn

IKE Update

OK - I am sure that everyone is wondering, "are the Callanders OK?" We are!!! I have been at TCH since Friday morning at 0630. I will hopefully be going home tomorrow. Shawn stayed in the house to "ride out the storm". He boarded up the house on Thursday, so he was safe and sound. The damage: We have a small leak in one of the bathrooms (from the roof) upstairs - Shawn said it was really little, we lost most of our fence, we are out of power, and it may be a few weeks before we get it back. Other than that, things seem to be OK. Of course we are having someone come out and inspect the leak and the roof. Shawn and I are planning on replacing the fence ourselves...we hope to make it stronger and nicer than it was before the storm. Until we regain power, we will be staying at the Conner's house - they bought 2 generators. We have joked about living in the same house, and now we will be. I am still planning on coming up to Dallas (Monday or Tuesday depending on if the airport is open). The Woodway Campus of Second Baptist did sustain a substantial amount of damage - Shawn will probably have to stay here in Houston to help with the clean up, and whatever else is required of him.

Please continue to pray for those around us and our church family. We did have a few families whose houses sustained a significant amount of damage...some of the families are planning on staying out of town and enrolling their children in school where they are until homes are fixed and the power / life is restored to normal here in the Houston area.

We love all of you and appreciate your prayers!!!
CC

IKE!!!

What a fitting name - Ike - yikes! Well, here is the latest update: Ike is going to hit the coast around 1am Saturday morning. It looks like it will make landfall around the Freeport area just to the south of us. Our entire county is under a mandatory evacuation. We are (Shawn is) boarding up the house today in preparation for the hurricane. Needless to say, this is a first for me. I will have to stay put...I have to work from Friday 11am until they deem it safe for replacement staff to come back to the area...probably late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Yes, we do get to sleep. We are never required to work for more than 12 hours in a row. The good news is that we get "CARLA" pay - I am not sure how much this will be, but it will be a ton better than overtime pay which is nothing to turn up a nose to.

Please be praying for our house and trees - little to no destruction. Our friends and our church family - for every one's safety and the safety of their property. For me - strength to make it through 4-5 days of straight work. For Shawn & the dogs - that they will be safe and out of harm's way...they are planning on staying with some friends in Kingwood (North Houston).

We love you and appreciate all of your prayers,
S&C

MD Visit #3 (8/27)

OK - I am late, but it is finally here...

Our baby is a lemon this week. The HR was 153 beats per minute. I am weighing 134.8 pounds, and I am starting to show (a little). You can kind of tell through some of my clothes, especially if I have just eaten.

Shawn & I appreciate all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for a easy and enjoyable pregnancy and a healthy baby with absolutely no health problems.

I am headed to Dallas on Tuesday September 16th, and will be there through the evening of the 18th. I have another MD appointment on Wednesday September 24th.

We love you all very much!!!!
Christine

Prayer and Miles

Here lately I have been reminded of the importance of praying for friends. Several friends of mine have faced recent heartache in their lives, from the loss of loved ones, news of newly diagnosed terminal illness, and even financial struggles. Each of these close friends have reminded me of the importance of prayer - prayer for friends no matter the location of the friend. Too often I fall into the temptation of only praying for friends that are nearby. Those in my office, my neighbors, my classmates, and those who live in the same city as me. Even though distance may separate some friends the power of prayer is still effective. Prayer knows NO boundaries. These friends still face the same sicknesses, the same troubles, the same difficulties that plague me and you no matter where the location. So this week I am concentrating on praying for friends that are not in my city.

Know that we love and are praying for you!

Shawn

Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans are one of those things that bring great joy to your life as you sit beneath the cool air blowing over your body. However getting one of those things can be very tricky. After 1 hour myself and Rob, our summer intern living with us, accomplished our goal of cooling the upstairs. Reading the directions is something that men tend to not do and in our case we should have stopped to read. I believe this is only the first of many projects to come as we prepare the upstairs for our new little one.
(Shawn)

SICK!! :(

OK - I had my first really sick moment. I was cutting cantaloupe and getting ready work, then it hit me. At first I thought that I was going to pass out, then I realized that no...I needed to throw up. I was sweaty, light headed, and needed to vomit more than anything. I rushed to the rest room and threw myself onto the floor. I leaned over the toilet and out it all came. Evin knew that something was wrong...she came in and sat down next to me with her head on my leg. After it was all over, I felt great. I washed out my mouth, ate breakfast, finished getting ready for work (including a very long time at the sink brushing my teeth), and off I went. I have been feeling great since then.

Thought that this might make you laugh.

:)
Christine

Second MD Visit

YEA!!! I got to hear the heart beat today. That was so much fun. Our little M&M is trying to keep up with mom and dad while cycling....his/her heart rate was 165. YEA! The doctor is happy with how everything is looking. I have gained a little weight...I am now up to 131.4 pounds. Not too bad. I can handle that. I love all of you and can't wait to see you sometime soon.

I am thinking about a trip to Dallas the week of September 14th. Let me know if that works for you guys. I would love to catch dinner with Mom and Dad C. and Elyse. Talk to you guys later.

Love Bunches,
CC, SC, & M&M C.

Tropical Storm Edourad

Looks like we are going to survive our first tropical storm of the year "Edourad". Candles were bought, water bottles filled, propane filled and we learned the emergency position to take in case things got bad (you will have to call us to learn about this). Lots of rain but nothing to exciting down here in Pearland with Edourad. Christine and the little guy or girl are safe today and enjoying watching the news.

July 28, 2008

OK...Well, I can tell that I am pregnant. The scale isn't showing any real changes (129.8 this morning), but I have a pooch in my tummy that can't be sucked in (no TTI - It doesn't happen no matter how hard I try). Other things are getting larger too. :) I am feeling great; only a little nausea here and there, but nothing major.

Shawn and I are supper excited and can't wait to see our little M&M again (I think that will be the nick name until we have a real name). Shawn has started talking to my tummy already - it is so cute. We have another doctor's appointment next week- Wednesday at 11:30. I am not sure if we will have a sono or not, but we can hope.

We love you all so very much. We wish that you could be here to experience all of this with us. Thanks for all of the sweet cards and phone calls.

Love you sooooo very much,
Christine & Shawn

July 23rd

Well...Things are going well. I feel great; not much if any weight gain; Shawn is super excited; oh, and we have started investigating the whole diaper thing. Cloth or Disposable? Tough choice...Cloth diapers now are so nice and don't need large pins, and the covers are really cute. We still have 7 months to decide, so I think that we are safe.

Our next doctor appointment is in 2 weeks (August 6th) I am hoping for another sono, but I am not sure if we will have one or not.

Just to keep everyone on track today we are 8 weeks 5 days.

Know that we love all of you and keep you in our daily prayers. We Hope to see all of you soon.

The Exciting News!!!

First Appointment

We had our first appointment today and all is well. Our little baby is 7weeks 5days old. There was a good heartbeat. Or Due Date is....drum roll please......


February 27,2009.


We are both so excited and relieved. It was a real blessing to see the heartbeat today. It was reassuring that all is well. We know that everything is in God's hands. We are praying for a healthy baby, and continued appropriate development.


We love all of you so very much.
Shawn & Christine

Pregnancy Log

Today I am 129.8 pounds. I am 7 weeks and 2 days along. No real changes to the tummy yet, maybe a little more poochy than normal, but not by much.

Our New BLOG

This is our new BLOG. I thought that with all of the excitement and the adventures that lay ahead we needed a way to let everyone know what was going on....here is the answer...OUR NEW BLOG.

I will do my best to update it often so that you all know what is going on in our lives and with our new adventure.

We have our first doctors appointment on Wednesday July 16th. We will have a sonogram at that time to determine the real age of the baby, our due date, and we will also hopefully see the heartbeat.

Please pray that our little M&M is growing appropriately and the he / she is healthy.

Thanks for your love and your prayers,
Shawn & Christine