Big daddy

Since there are some people out there who are unable to come see Braden right away, I'm going to keep posting pictures so they can see what he's up to. At some point I'll get to photoshop all of the pictures, but for now you get raw uncut footage. We should be going home today, hooray! I think we'll be much more comfortable at home. We sent the little man off to the nursery a couple times last night so we could get a little more rest. I think we both got about 5 hours (two 2.5 hour blocks). Angela is trying to get a little more sleep in now as well. Some notes about the pictures; Braden is going to be in karate, that little girl on my shoulder is not laughing at me, and belly buttons start out really gross (as a matter of fact, life starts out really gross).

Praise God.

Well the wait is finally over!! Braden Addison arrived at 6:00pm 11/28/06. He weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz and was 22.5 inches long. For being the closest to the actual date and for rocking the house; Angela Harshman wins the baby pool!!!

Watching this little guy come into the world was an amazing experience. We got very little sleep last night but Braden and Angela are healthy and doing well. Obviously Angela is having some major discomfort but with the assistance of high-powered pain killers, she is making it through.

A big thanks to all who kept us in your prayers even after keeping you hanging for 5 days beyond his due date. Come by and see us if you wish, or see us later at home. We are at Cox South. Give me a call if you need further directions...the phone is charging. We have baby CPR this morning at 10:30, so anytime after 11:00am we'll be hanging out in the room I guess. So much more to be said but I'll save it for later.

Praise God!!!

I know many of you are wondering about Angela and I. No, Braden isn't here yet. We didn't forget to call you, it just hasn't happened. We spent our Thanksgiving weekend with each other, watching a lot of TV and getting a little stir-crazy. I think our patience is being tested. We feel as prepared as we can be and now we are just waiting around. I guess this has been a good lesson on God's timing. As much as we have planned on having a new baby around this weekend, God decided that it was not to be so. It has been very nice to be home with Angela. For the most part we have spent that time with just each other. We had family over on Thanksgiving day, it was nice to have family here for a change. We normally have to do the driving. It's amazing the power a 40 week pregnant lady can have over people.

I know that he'll be here soon but I can't help but wish Braden were here. We'll keep you posted (get it) on what is going on with us. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Praise God.

I was hoping that my next post (this one) was going to announce the arrival of my new baby boy. However, this is not the case. I am very excited that he will be here soon though. We went to the hospital last night to get Angela monitored but no luck getting that baby out. Angela is getting bored at home and I would rather be at home than at work. Though all I have been doing most of the time at work is moving into a new office. I guess I might as well finish out the week now. I only have to make it through tommorow and it'll be a full week. 9 of you have been knocked out of the running for the baby pool, just 5 lucky contestants remain. The more I think about it, the more it seems that Angela might be holding back on us to win the pool. She has an unfair advantage I think. With just 2 days until his due date, I'm very excited about meeting him. I got to see Braden's 2nd cousin Ezra (born Nov. 7th) and this made me even more excited and impatient to have Braden here. Thanks to everyone who are keeping us in your prayers. Updates and photos will be posted right here for all to adore! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Get those pre and post Thanksgiving posts up, everyone has been slacking on the posts! My next post will be number 40 and hopfully will announce Braden's arrival.

Praise God.

Only 8 days until Braden is due. I realized yesterday that we were into the single digits. A cold chill of excitement shot through me when I first thought it.

I made an exception to my baby pool deadline to include the illustrious, ever-welcome, spanglish speaking, campus minister Dave Embree. He explained to me that he is "too busy" to read blogs but wanted to give his guess anyway. So I added him in. Unless Braden comes today the Ferguson's will be eliminated from the pool today. That will leave 11 in the running. Right now I am actually rooting for the 17th or 20th (neither of which are my official guess) because these are the days that Angela's doctor is on call. Otherwise, Braden may be delivered by another doc. This is fine, but it would be nice to know the doctor in whose hands is the life of my wife and child.

I have found that I have relatively little interest in going to work lately. I am actually doing my job better as a result however, because I always assume that I won't be here the next day, so I am always caught up on everything.

Angela is pretty uncomfortable all the time now. But she is still working (amazing!). Pray for her during these last few days (only three work days left including today). As a matter of fact I would appreciate it if you would pray for her as soon as you finish reading this, then she'll get prayer all day long as different people check out the bloggers. Thanks.

Praise God.

It is done! No further entries for the baby pool will be accepted. For those of you who waited too long, that's too darn bad for you. I'm going to rearrange the list of entries from earliest to latest so we can all check them off as time goes by. HEY CARLYE YOU'RE NUMBER ONE! (remember the thing about the caps!...for more information see "How do you say?" in the October archives). Were down to single digits in the countdown de Braden (assuming that I am correct on my baby pool guess). The doctors (know-it-alls) say we have 13 days left. But that's still less than 2 WEEKS! Hate to disappoint Carlye but I think Angela's going to make it to your shower. Angela has her last shower today. Afterwards we are going on the "BRADEN'S COMING, BRADEN'S COMING!!!! Shopping extravaganza" to pick up what we still need prior to his arrival.

I want to take a min to say how awesome Angela is. Throughout this pregnancy she has been a phenom. I know she has been uncomfortable (understatement) but she never whined about it or made it a big deal. She continues to work even in the 38th week. She is the strongest woman I know and I love her for it. I owe her two of the best things in my life; her hand in marriage and my son. Angela, I love you and thank you for everything you mean to me.

Ok, I'm not going to sit at work and cry so the rest will have to come later.

Praise God.

I mourn for our nation and our state. Yep, I'm going political on you.

As many of you have heard me say, "so goes Missouri, so goes the nation." It is my feeling that Missouri voters most closely resemble the nation as a whole and it also happens that we are a swing state and the fate of many elections has rested in our hands. I'm not all too upset that Democrats (whom in general aren't bad people) have taken the house and seem to be in a good place to take the senate; I actually think that it is good for the democratic process to have a change in power every so often. What saddens me the most is that we (MO) passed the stem-cell research amendment. As I was driving to work today, I was thinking about how history might judge this period of time in our nation. I was trying to project myself into the future and I thought that if I looked back and observed a nation that legalized abortion in the 70's (and still hasn't done anything about it) and now legalized the cloning and destruction of millions of living embryos, I might compare that to how we currently look back on blood-letting, leaches, labotomies, and human experimentation. I can just hear 7th graders of the future asking their history teachers "What were they thinking? They were pretty stupid back then."

I find some solace in the fact that I had to stand in line for 30 min to vote yesterday. I have never had to wait in line to vote, and I liked it. It has been reported that 56% of registered voters cast a ballot in Greene County yesterday. There were places in Missouri where they were running out of ballots and had to wait hours in line to vote. I pray that even more people turn out for the next election. The worst thing that could happen to American democracy is people not voting. So despite the fact that nearly every statewide issue I voted on went against the way I voted, you can bet your mom's last copy of 'Ghost' that I'll be standing in line next election to vote...Hopefully for an hour.

Praise God.

We are 17 days from Braden's due date. I'm setting the official cut-off for the Braden baby pool at 8:00 am CST, Friday the 10th of November, 2006. There haven't been any recent submissions to add to the pool but I've been told by a few people that they are going to submit a guess that haven't. So there's your warning people.

I have discovered (vicariously) that I have misranked the organs of the body. I have a top 10 list of organs I would prefer not to lose if given a choice (this list was first constructed in 1972 and has been updated periodically). Up until recently I have ranked them in the following order:
1. Skin
2. Brain
3. Heart
4. Man parts
5. Stomach
6. Lungs
7. Liver
8. Pancreas
9. Colon
10. Bladder

However, after recent conversations with my wife and an inspired message from Weird Al, the new ranking is as follows (with some explaination for the changes):
1. Bladder (because it is used far more often than any of the others. Source: Angela)
2. Pancreas (because it connects to the duodenum, and that's fun to say. Source: Weird Al)
3. Skin (because it's gross to walk around with no skin)
4. Man parts (I don't care what happens this one isn't falling below #4)
5. Brain (I have observed that many people exist with only half of one)
6. Heart (actually a muscle but it still makes the list, it's that important)
7. Lungs (take a deep breath, now thank your lungs)
8. Stomach (without this, the following two wouldn't have much to do)
9. Liver (Mmmmm, mmmmm, gotta love liver!)
10. Colon (no one likes to think about it, but what would you be without one?)

Praise God.

YIIPPPPPPEEEEEE!!!!

Really, that's the best I could come up with. It's official. Braden is full term as of today. That means he could come any time now, seriously, any time now would be fine.... Yeah, any time... Oh, you know I just realized that Braden doesn't read this blog, so nevermind.

I hope everyone survived Halloween without too much automotive paint repair, domestic ovum removal, or other typical vandal related cleanup.

Myself: "Boo"
Me: "Ahhhh"
Myself: "You didn't think you'd see me again didn't you?'
Me: "Actually I can't see you, you're imaginary."
Myself: "Shut up, you know what I mean."
Me: "Get on with it then."
Myself: "You kind of let yourself go on the candy there didn't you fat boy?"
Me: "But it's Halloween!!"
Myself: "Yeah, keep making excuses."
Me: "I swear, no more candy...until Christmas."
Myself: "Right, and what about the little candy pumpkins on the dining room table?"
Me: "Uhhh... Well, maybe just a couple per day, that won't hurt."
Myself: "I guess, if you only want to get a little fatter."
Me: "Shouldn't that be 'a little more fat'?"
Myself: "I don't know, ask Andy."
Me: "Why are such a stick in the mud?"
Myself: "Because you keep choking down the sugary death nuggets and it's getting on my nerves!"
Me: "Well excuse me for living!"

It took a while but I got there.

Praise God.