Christmas at Home

We had a great day today. After church we went to eat with our
families. It was fun for us to all be together again.

After lunch, we came home and decorated our house for Christmas! We
hope many of you will plan to stop by and see the baby and enjoy this
season with us.

Britt, Lauren, and Jon came by this evening to fellowship and watch a
movie. It was fun!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas again! This has to be my favorite holiday. Everything
about it is wonderful. The family, friends, lights, gifts, food, cards
- I love Christmas!

Today we setup decorations at my parents. It is a tradition that is
fun but also a lot of work. The house is almost completely ready for
the season... Including a new HD TV with Tivo!

OU beast OSU tonight 61-41... Go Sooners! What a great way to start
the season :)

Merry Christmas to you and your family. May this season be filled with
love and joy in your heart.

Downtown for Christmas

Last night, we all went downtown with my family to see the Christmas
decorations. They look great! We had fun letting the girls break in
the new double stroller. Liz liked it a lot and Katherine stayed
toasty and warm. Thanks to everyone who contributed for this gift at
the shower... We are blessed!

We walked around, ate pizza, had ice cream, and just enjoyed the
season. It was lots of fun!

Tonight we are watching the big game with family... Go OU! See you all
at church tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Begins!

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday. I love remembering what God
has done for us and setting aside a time to thanks Him.

We went to the Tuter's for thanksgiving on Sunday. It marked the first
of many thanksgiving feasts we will partake of this year.

Liz and Jaz were so cute... And a little cranky. They enjoyed sitting
at their very own table this year; they are getting so big!

Happy Thanksgiving!

God is Good!

God is so good!!! I am overwhelmed at the many blessings the Lord has given to me. Just today as I watched Elizabeth running across the yard with her big smile, blonde curls, and little legs, I was just so grateful for my little girls, my fabulous husband, my home, and all the many other blessings far too great in number to list them here. Yes, God is good; all the time!

Things are going well for us. I had so much help with Elizabeth the first week and that has really helped speed up my recovery. Yesterday we started trying to get back into a normal routine. Of course we are trying to find a new normal and making the necessary adjustments to keep life functional. I am trying to learn how to manage my time so that we won’t always be late places. Here are a few shots I have taken over the past few days.



This hat was made by a friend of ours. She made it so quickly I was was very impressed. She made Elizabeth a hat too. I am going to try to get their pictures in them together. If I am successful I will try to post them.

Sleepy Baby

Elizabeth is a great big sister. She loves the baby but has done a good job not smothering her. Believe it or not she is actually very gentle with Katherine. Elizabeth always refers to her as baby but can say her name if you ask her to. A couple days ago I had Katherine sitting in the recliner and Elizabeth went over to see her so I asked Elizabeth if she wanted to hold her. Lizzy said yes so I set her in the chair and put Katherine in her lap. I didn’t expect this moment to last long and was somewhat afraid it might get violent when Elizabeth decided she was done so I had the camera ready for a quick shot. To my surprise Elizabeth sat there perfectly still for several minutes holding Katherine just looking at her and giving her kisses. It was so precious!


At the hospital when Elizabeth came to see Katherine she was somewhat sleepy and therefore in a silly mood. When I was looking at the pictures after we got home I just had to laugh at the sequence I found. I think it looks like we have a very talented dancer on our hands. Her specialty appears to be breakdancing.

I will try to post a web album of the birth pictures another time. Finding time to blog might even be more difficult now but I will try my best! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. We love you all!

Brandon, Rachael, Elizabeth, and Katherine

My Girls

My two, beautiful girls. Elizabeth Grace and Katherine Faith.

Day Four

Katherine is doing very well during here first couple days at home.
Elizabeth is warming up to her. She will now even give her a kiss on
the head goodnight.

I am going to the Kimmal funeral today to run camera. Kelli is over
staying with the girls. Thanks you to so many who have helped us but
especially to our moms and my grandma for keeping Elizabeth so many
times. We love you!

Going Home

Katherine is dressed and ready to go home. We are waiting on one more
doctor and then we will leave. I plan to be at church tonight so I
will see many of you there. Rachael is going to get some rest tonight.
Thanks for your prayers.

Katherine Faith Werner

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for us and taken time to visit us.
Katherine is doing well and we should get to leave the hospital today
at 12:00. We are planning to go pick up Elizabeth and head home. I
will have to leave for church today around 3:30pm so if you want to
visit plan to come between 1:00 and 3:00 today. I should be able to be
at home allday tomorrow (thur) so come and visit anytime then if you
like. A call would be helpful. Use my phone to call (517-5686).

Thanks again for you prayers. More updates and videos to come!

Katherine Fairh is Here

At 10:00am, Katherine Fairh Werner entered the world. She weighed 6
pounds and 8.5 ounces. She is 19 inches long. More updates to come!

Mom and baby are doing well. Liz will meet here new sister very soon!

Delivery Room

We are in room 17 on the fourth floor. She is getting close. There is
a large waiting room so you are invited to come up and visit and wait
for Katherine. Please be praying for Rachael as she finished this
labor. Thank you for your prayers!

Katherine is on the Way!

We are at the hospital and Rachael has been admitted. Any time now
Katherine will enter the world. Check facebook for more pics.

This picture was taken just before we left the house. Rachael's water
broke at midnight and has been laboring since. It is now 5:20am. Keep
us in your prayers.

We are at OU medical downtown. You can stop by or call my dads cell
for an update. We are about to move to the deliverey room so I don't
have a number yet. Fourth floor. Leave a comment for Rachael!

It is finished!

The to do list is officially finished! All of you who voted I would have little Katherine before the 9th were obviously incorrect. I have officially started doing everything in my power to put myself into labor and really hope she will come by the 17th. That would mean she will be here between now and next Monday. We shall see! Some people say that knowing the gender of the baby is like opening your Christmas present before Christmas. I feel that waiting to go into labor is plenty of suspense for the occasion! Now I am so excited for her to be here. I want to kiss her cheeks and let her little hand wrap around my finger. Too bad excitement doesn’t induce labor! Each day I wonder if today is the day but I am also trying to do my best to soak in each full night’s sleep. :) After Katherine is here I know some things will change for me and Elizabeth so I am also spending time playing with her and giving her lots of love.

One thing on my to do list that wasn’t a requirement but was a want is making my new nursing veil. My aunt made me one when I had Elizabeth but I had worn it out and it had some holes in it. So, I bought some fabric and attempted to make one for myself. It turned out pretty good I think. I didn’t have a pattern to follow and around the neck it was a bit puckered. I think you have to make notches somehow to help that problem but I had no idea how to do that. This was the first time I attempted to use my sewing machine to make a button hole too. It was sooooo cool! I really like the fabric I chose and the veil is reversible. The neck hole is big enough to just slip on but I can also button it on if I don't want to mess up my hair. Fun Fun Fun!

Tomorrow I have another appointment with Ann. Maybe it will be my last before the baby. One of the fabulous five friends that was due in November had her baby yesterday. I am so excited for her. She is the only other one having a girl amongst the bunch. So now there are only three!

Blessings!

Jacob Austin

Bryce and Alli's baby boy is here! Weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21
inches long, Jacob Austin entered the world today by c-Section at
9:21am.

Mother and baby are both well. Please pray for a quick recoverey for
Alli and continued developement for Jacob.

I am still at the hospital. I love my iPhone :) this update was sent
through it.

See you all tonight at church. Enjoy this pic of the Reid's new pride
and joy!

Elections

It is good to know that God is on His throne and that nothing will
shake Him.

Last night, Obama said in his victory speech that the victory
ultimately belonged to the people. I say the victory will ultimately
belong to God.

As Christians, let's pray hard and prepare for battle. We are one step
closer to the end. It is time to choose which side we will stand on.
It is time to live what we believe.

Trust God. He is faithful.

Leave a comment with your thoughts about the election.

Soon and Very Soon!

The two week countdown has begun! Wow! Yesterday I went to see my midwife, Ann, and everything was looking good. After I left her office I was so excited. I am starting to show signs that things are getting close. How close no one can say for sure but all of the symptoms I am having are things that happened shortly before I had Elizabeth and are all common signs of new baby being right around the corner. Plus the moon is working its magic with the pull of the tides and Ann said I will be feeling the effects of that from now until around the 13th. The last few days have had increased contractions which is most likely a direct result of that.
My sweet mother helped me clean my house yesterday….nesting style. We worked very hard but got everything done! Anytime Katherine decides to come is fine with me now. Although I would still prefer she wait until at least Saturday and preferable Sunday. Anytime is manageable except Friday night between 5:00-10:00. Of course by saying that I may be jinxing myself into her birth at that very time frame. Haha! It will all work out so I’m not worried.

The girls room is put together and ready to go! Elizabeth hasn’t slept in her big girl bed yet but I might get brave and try her nap today in it. We shall see.


This is our new double stroller! What a blessing!!!! I think it is going to work out great! Elizabeth helped me test it out this morning. It is too windy and cold outside so we just went around and around the kitchen island. The infant is actually supposed to ride in the front seat but I like it better in the back. The car seat feels plenty secure to me and that way Elizabeth can see better. When Elizabeth gets older we can convert the stroller by taking off the back seat which leaves a bench seat and foot step that Elizabeth could use to sit or stand on while she rides. What an awesome design! This stroller should last us for many years.



I have a couple of prayer requests I would like for you to remember.
1.) A friend of mine was supposed to have a c-section this morning. As far as I know evrything went as planned. Please pray for quick recovery for mommy and easy adjustment for this growing family.
2.)Also, I have a very sore throat and a cough (this is one of those soon to be labor signs) Please pray it heals quickly, before Katherine is born.

Blessings!