Category: Valerie (Page 1 of 16)
The boys and their parents are scheduled to come home from the hospital later today, and we’re all ready for them!
Little Sammy had to pass a 90-minute car seat test late last night. He’s borderline premie-sized, so they had to verify that he can do the ten minute drive home safely. Valerie’s been cleared this morning by her doctor. There’s also the technical matter of a couple of circumcisions this afternoon. Those of you at GCR in the middle of our sermon series on Galatians know that I only have one circumcision joke, and I’m not going to publish it here. But after the boys recover from that–just one hour? are you sure?–then they’ll load up and come home.
Both little guys are doing great and, it seems, so are the parents. Honestly, we’re not paying much attention to Valerie and David–everything’s directed toward these precious angels straight from heaven. These amazing little gifts. We feel so thankful and blessed by our gracious and loving God. What a joy!
Peace,
Granddad
One of the great things about having twins is that it cuts the wait time for holding a new baby in half!
Elliott Walker and Samuel Heath made their long-awaited arrivals at 7:44 and 7:45 this morning in Tulsa to great acclaim and wild unabashed adoration. The twin grandsons were delivered without a hitch and immediately transformed our family dynamic and our lives for the better. And for a whole lot more fun.
Elliott made it out first at 7 pounds even and 19 inches long. Sammy came a minute later and a whole lot lighter at 5 pounds 3 ounces and 18 inches long. Both sets of grandparents and two aunts and an uncle waited patiently for the boys to get cleaned up and for Valerie to recover a bit before we stormed the gates and started passing those babies around like we’d never seen one before (as always, click on the pictures to get the full size).
Both babies are healthy and good, they’re both eating and doing the other things babies are supposed to do, and they’re both just absolutely perfectly beautiful. We all feel so happy today, so deeply grateful, and so graciously blessed by our God.
We also feel so very well loved and supported by our Lord through his Church. All the texts and phone calls today, all the expressions of love and encouragement, all the well wishes and advice and wisdom — it’s overwhelming. Thank you! And the support Valerie and David have from their friends at the wonderful Jenks Church. The perfect ending to our long day together was hanging out in the hospital with Hailey, Corley, and Amanda, some of Dave and Val’s best friends!
Carrie-Anne is CoCo, and I am Granddad, For now. You’re never really sure how those things are going to stick. Val and Dave might be able to bring the boys home late tomorrow, but it’s more likely they’ll be released Thursday morning.
May our merciful Lord bless these sweet boys with good health, with great courage, and with an abiding faithfulness to him. May he grant David and Valerie everything they need to raise these sons, our beloved grandsons, in the nurture and admonition of our Lord. And may his holy will be done in and through this precious family just as it is in heaven.
What time does the hospital open in the morning?
Peace,
Allan
Whitney and I took in Midland’s annual Fourth of July celebration in Centennial Park Friday night, along with thousands of other West Texas folks who love live music, food truck food, and a good fireworks show. We had a great time, of course–the Whitster and I always have a good time. But I was pleasantly surprised–no, blown away!–by the young guitar player who fronted the evening’s second act.
Leon Carrasco is my new favorite thing about Midland.
This 19-year old phenom owned the stage for his 45-minute set, wowing us with his blistering guitar, his impressive vocal range, and his unabashed joy. He’s just so much fun to watch! A local Midland kid, Carrasco played baseball at Legacy High and still lives in town. When he talks, he sounds like Chris Rock, kinda funny, in your face, not angry, just high pitched and committed. But when he plays, he sounds like Stevie Ray. Oh, man, this kid can play guitar. It’s deep Texas blues. A lot of soul. Depth. Intense and easy at the same time. And it’s infused with such joy. He’s just happy to be on that stage doing what he’s gifted to do.
Here’s a video from Friday’s show. Watch the whole two minutes. What else are you doing right now?
I don’t know anything about him yet. After three songs, I started texting people I knew who were somewhere in the park with me. “Are you watching this?” “Who is this kid?” “I don’t think the crowd knows what they’re seeing.”
Whitney and I left our seats to get closer and ran into a couple of people who’ve known Leon since he was a kid. They just gushed about Leon’s attitude, his personality, and his extraordinary gift. I was mesmerized. This guy’s good.
He hasn’t cut an album yet. I don’t know where to get his songs. But I’m on the lookout for the next time he’s playing around here.
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We’re all in Tulsa today, counting down the hours until the births of our twin grandsons in a scheduled C-section tomorrow morning. There will be a family dinner this evening with our side from Texas and David’s side from Virginia, and then I’m assuming a massive gathering at Hillcrest South tomorrow for the arrival of these two highly-anticipated boys. God bless Valerie and David with his divine comfort and peace. And God bless Elliott and Samuel with a safe delivery and good health.
Peace,
Allan
The latest measurements from Friday show Elliott Walker at 6 lbs 3 oz and Samuel Heath at 5 lbs 3 oz and Valerie Nicole is ready to deliver. If not physically, certainly mentally and emotionally.
The doctors keep telling Val she’s having a textbook twins pregnancy: the boys are in great shape, she’s doing really well, all the numbers look good, and there’s nothing to worry about. That’s wonderful, but Valerie is ready for this part of the journey to be over. She’s miserable. She’s carrying nearly twelve pounds of baby inside her! She calls them her two watermelons. It makes my back hurt just to look at her pictures.
Carrie-Anne left for Tulsa early this morning to be with Valerie and David during this last week. The C-section is scheduled for July 8, one week from tomorrow. If her water holds, Whitney and I will drive up Monday for the births Tuesday morning. If something breaks before then, Whit and I will head up there as quickly as possible, but we’ll probably miss the births–it’s an eight-hour drive and a C-section won’t take that long.
I’m pulling for her to make it to the 8th, and I believe she will. There are no signs that anything is imminent. In fact, she’s worried she’ll still be pregnant in August. Or September. Like these boys are going to be born with facial hair.
I’ve landed on “Granddad.” I say “I’ve landed…” because Valerie and Carrie-Anne are not thrilled with the choice. It’s not cute enough. “Granddad” is traditional, conservative, historically Texan, and decidedly un-cute. For me, it couldn’t be more perfect.
As the countdown has reached single-digit days until our middle daughter delivers our first grandchildren, here’s a couple of favorite baby pictures of Val.
Having grandkids is a lot different from having your own children. When you’re pregnant with your own kids, you fret and worry and you pray a lot. But you really don’t know anything. You’re mostly clueless. You worry about things that don’t really matter and you fret over stuff that never happens. But when you’re having grandchildren, that’s a whole different deal. Now I’ve experienced some things. We’ve been through some stuff. Now, I know a lot. I worry differently. I fret differently. I pray even more than I did then. And for very different things.
Peace,
Allan
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