25 Weeks 4 Days

Last night I felt mommies tummy and your head was right there, and I held your head in my hand and you headbutted me. It was so cute. I wanna give you a kiss on the face. The anticipation is growing for the boys and I to see you. Logan is still asking if he can play with you and daddy is in overdrive emergency preparation mode. Today your big brother Gavin asked if mommy liked the name Mark for you, and I think mommy and I are both mulling it around. Logan wants to name you Bumble-Bee Iron Man so there is always that to consider as well.

23 Weeks 1 Day

Last night you were kicking in mommies tummy and I had my hand there so I started talking to you and you stopped kicking and listened to daddies voice. I can't wait to see you when you come out. Your brothers are very excited to see you too. We are praying for you every night and if we forget your big brother Logan is right there to remind us we forgot to pray for the baby. You are going to be in good hands when you arrive. Today I thought of a new name that I really like a lot! The name is Ronin. A Ronin was a Samurai who's Lord had lost his land for some reason. Some Ronin became mercenaries for hire in feudal Japan. Ronin were highly skilled and feared warriors. What a great name for a boy like you! Too bad mommy doesn't like it. hehe

22 Weeks 2 Days

Baby,

This is the mommy who is carrying you around right now and she is one amazing woman and I wrote this letter to her today to tell her how great she is. You will instantly fall in love with her just like your brothers and I did.

Love,

Daddy


Lori,

Yesterday I told you in a playful way that Lori and Love have the same number of letters, but it is actually something I have been thinking about for a couple weeks. The way I look at love and the person you are to me are the same thing. I cannot think of one without the other springing to mind. At some point you either perfectly fit my notions of love or my thought of love became who "you" are, but either way you are love to me. You meet the needs of this family in a  way that is uniquely Lori and we could not imagine a world without you. I wanted to take this ordinary day to tell you just how extraordinary you are to me, and to our family. To me you are love. You are amazing!

I love you,
Mike

20 Weeks 5 Days

Today is Thanksgiving and I want to give thanks for you and your two big brothers. Without you - life would be only a fraction of what it is today. Thanks for the little kick in the hand the other night it makes daddy feel very happy to know you are spunky! One favor tho, please be a good baby who sleeps through the night so mommy won't be sad.

Love,
Daddy

P.S. The doctor says you are measuring big, but seeing as your brothers were both over 9 pounds I guess thats no surprise.

20 Weeks

Today is the day we had our ultrasound! Gavin said it was going to be a girl and Logan said it was gonna be a boy. Well it's a BOY! Again! When the ultrasound tech announced it Logan gave a little shout and pumped his fist, "Yes!" and Gavin got sad because he was wrong but Mommy and Daddy were just happy to hear that everything looked healthy. Praise God!
Mommy had to go to an Ice Skating tournament in Michigan today so Daddy took the boys out to lunch at McDonalds and shopping for wrestling headgear. While we were out shopping Logan was telling everyone that the baby was a boy and that he was the best big brother! You can't help but swell with pride when your baby shows that kind of love for his baby brother. What a blessing you are going to be to our lives! As it appears mommy still likes the name Grayson but daddy likes Colton but since daddy got to name Logan mommy is gonna choose this time I think.
All that being said I am a little sad because we wanted to name this baby for Nonnie Mursewick and call her Grace if it was a girl. So I am telling mommy I am not sad, but I am. But that is the only reason I was disappointed. I am excited for another wrestler or soccer player or whatever this boy turns out to be! Sorry Nonnie. We love you! :(

19 Weeks 5 days

You brother Logan is so excited for your arrival! He talks to mommies tummy all the time for you to hear him. Every day he says something about you or has a question related to you. He keeps asking every time mommy has  a doctors appointment if the doctor is going to get the baby out. He wants you to be a boy really bad and today he sang you Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was the sweetest big brother gesture ever made.

19 Weeks 2 days

Good News! Your cousin count is looking up. Cousin Reagan is doing well tho she is still fighting for her life in the PICU. She was born very early but we have been praying for her like crazy! The update is that she is a fighter and is breathing over the vent and the doctors and nurses think she has a better than average chance for this stage of the game. Everyone is so nervous because your auntie Rebeca lost a baby boy Tyler the same way that Reagan was born. It broke our hearts, and we will never forget him. We actually got to talk to auntie Renee yesterday and she sounds like she is doing well.

On a happier note we are excited because this weekend we get to find out if you are a boy or a girl. A few people think girl, but I say boy because mommy does not look like she is carrying a girl , because she looks so beautiful and women pregnant with girls usually look like hell. I think it might be a hormone thing, or maybe just an old wives tale.

18 Weeks 6 Days

So many things are going on right now it's hard to write about them all. But one weighs heaviest amongst them all. Your Aunt Renee who is due to have a baby just like you in a few months, but she is having some trouble and is in the hospital right now. We have been praying for her and her baby girl real hard and have faith that God is going to take care of the situation. She is really scared and that is upsetting mommy quite a bit so you may be in for a bit of a ride. Hold on kiddo.
-Daddy

17 Weeks 6 Days

FIREFIGHTERS PRAYER

When I'm called to duty God

wherever flames may rage

give me strength to save a life

whatever be its age

Help me to embrace a little child

before it is too late

or save an older person from

the horror of that fate

Enable me to be alert

to hear the weakest shout

and quickly and efficiently

to put the fire out

I want to fill my calling and

to give the best in me

to guard my neighbor and

protect his property

And if according to your will

I have to lose my life

bless with your protecting hand

my children and my wife.

16 Weeks 6 Days

I was feeling a bit guilty looking back at Gavin's and Logan's Blogs and thinking how I wrote so much more for Gavin than Logan, but then I realised that there was so much more unknown with Gavin that I really had to vent a lot more often. With Gavin my frame of reference was zero regarding the situation so I was poppin off every other day with thoughts and feelings and with Logan I just kind of hulled up and waited out the pregnancy storm to get to the prize. As it was with Logan so it is with you. I am SO EXCITED just to go to the ultrasound on the 20th of November or there abouts that I can hardly stand it. I try not to think about it or time will just drag on. I imagine if they say you're a girl I will cry and if they say its a boy I will get all swollen with pride. Daddy is so very proud of his boys you can't even imagine. The names alone were months of planning and choosing. Saying it over and over again to make sure it rolled right and sounded proper and couldn't be easily spun into a silly taunt. I know it sounds crazy but I really thought about those things. I love you all so much.

Just as an aside and so I can remember when this happened daddy saved a mans life last shift. He had what is called a Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm it is very dangerous and daddy was able to recognize it and let the hospital know about it. (12/01/10) I just found out that, they got him into surgery and were able to repair it. God has given him the gift of more time on this earth.

15 Weeks 3 Days

You just felt the baby move for the first time! Woohoo! How exciting. The little phone app we downloaded said you could feel something right about now. So funny that it actually happened!
Big week ahead for me with school and everything, but the kids seem to really be driving you nuts lately. I don't know what to do other than get them away from you as much as possible when I am here. Things should calm down sooner than later tho.

15 Weeks 2 Days

This morning while responding to a large structure fire in a downtown area I had a moment of concern that I might not ever get to see you. The structure that I thought we were responding to was a multi-story multi-family residential building that was just recently finished in the downtown area of a neighboring town. As the truck company our job would be to enter the structure and search for trapped occupants. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was a multi-story abandoned industrial building and I knew we would just setup the tower and drowned it in water. I don't know why I get this way when your mother is pregnant but I do. It must be my flair for the dramatic. Silly I guess.

Credit to http://newbricktonfire.webs.com/ for the picture.

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Today we remember all babies born sleeping. Those we have carried but never met. And those we have held, but could not take home.

R.I.P. Daddies Angels you're the reason I started writing these blogs.

R.I.P. Tyler Austin we love you and will never forget you.

R.I.P. To baby Munn. We love you tho we never knew you.

14 Weeks 1 day

I guess some things have changed with this being the third time. This time Gavin is old enough to realize what is going on and even Logan communicates well enough to voice his opinions. Gavin has joined the Wrestling Team and we are excited to see him in action! He is going to be a good protector big brother.

Time seems to be going by pretty quickly this time. I am barely noticing the weeks pass by. I guess the perspective of how quickly 9 months goes by is relative. I remember thinking Gavin would never get here and Logan was more of the same I suppose. Possibly time will slow when we get to the uncomfortable stages.

Lori and I are really hoping Michelle and Travis can get pregnant and have a baby in close proximity to ours. Only time will tell but it's fun to have cousins close in age to eachother.

13 weeks 3 days

Your brothers are so funny! We askedthem what we should name you if you were a girl and Gavin and Logan agree we should name you Savannah after your cousin, but if you are a girl we are going to name you Grace. When we asked what we should name you if you are a boy Gavin blurted out with out pause MICHAEL JACKSON! So we joke and call mommies tummy Michael Jackson.
Your big brother Logan is 3 years old and he is so confused about you being in mommies tummy he keeps asking how the doctor is going to get you out of mommies tummy. Mommy told him he uses his tools and he asked if they were like daddies tools in his tool box, but have no fear they are not. Logan still insists he wants to pet your head. So many people will be waiting when you come out you might be a little overwhelmed because we are kinda loud, but I know you will learn to cope just fine.

13 Weeks

I feel like I need to catch up on some thoughts being that its 13 weeks already and I have already usually logged about 8 posts by now. Well your brother Logan is feeling pretty excited that he is going to be a big brother like Gavin. He will do anything I say if I tie it to a part of being your big brother. He keeps saying he wants to pet your head so just be prepared for that.

I feel like I am being greedy by wanting another perfectly healthy baby boy or girl, but I really do! Sometimes I want to sing to mommies belly, but I feel like I am going to make you a bad singer if I do. Seriously tho, that stuff goes through my head!On similar line of thought Daddy has a picture of Logan and Gavin velcroed under the back of his helmet, but all I have for you is the ultrasound picture so I have it tucked in there so you are always with daddy just in case I have to say goodbye. I don't want you to worry tho because daddy works very hard so that doesn't happen, but we always trust that God knows better than we do so if he needs daddy then daddy has to go.

I have to get back to work, but I just got off the phone with mommy and your brothers so I just wanted to take time to tell you I love you too and goodnight.

Daddy

12 Weeks 5 Days

What an adventure it has been. I have held off writing this until now because we weren't sure how things were going to turn out. Mommy had miscarried late last year and we didn't know if you were going to be able to hold on in there. We had decided that no matter what happens this was our last attempt and we put it in Gods hands. That being said it looks like God wants us to have one more little baby. Thats where you come in! All the standard worries are there, but ultimately it doesn't matter. You are ours and we can't wait to see you.

I asked Logan what he wanted to say to the baby and he said, "I pinch her head cuz shes so tute". Gavin said, "She's cute!" So apparently they already think you are a girl. :)