Braden is Here!

Well, after a full day of labor, we have a baby boy!! With mommy's eyes, and daddy's nose, and both of their fat baby cheeks, Braden Henry Henke finally decided to come see his family at 7:24 pm last night. Cortni was a trooper and did such a good job with this labor thing! I arrived for my coaching job at 6:30 am yesterday, armed with Starbucks and breakfast for Adam and me. We watched Cortni contract for 4 hours before she really started having any pain at all. After her water broke around 1:00, she finally started the REAL labor pains! A little while later, she had her epidural and all was happy again in Cortni's
world!

What none of us anticipated was just how BIG this boy would be! After almost two hours of pushing, Braden was born. And, to our surprise he was even bigger than expected!! A whopping 9 pounds, 8 ounces....and he technically had two more weeks to go until his December 12th due date! He is so healthy and is the best little baby already! The only cry he's made was when he breathed for the first time. And, since then, he has been as calm as can be, looking around and studying everyone's face. He is already eating well, and slept great last night, according to mom.

So, another blessing of a healthy birth and healthy mom. The whole thing is just amazing evidence of the Lord's Hand in creating each of us and being on this side of it was just awesome. I'm so proud of my sister, and I'm so proud of Adam too. They already are such wonderful parents and could not have been happier to welcome their baby boy into their arms. (as you can tell by the picture of them moments after he arrived....just a few tears were shed by the two of them, as well as all of us!)

Thanks for all of your prayers on their behalf. Continue to pray for their new family of three and that all will continue to go well for them, as they head for home tomorrow. And, say a special prayer for Cortni's recovery. She has a long road ahead, since Braden was such a fatty!! :) But, it's all worth it, isn't it mommies?

Of course, Kendyll was the most excited of the bunch for her new baby "tuzzin" (cousin). She just kept giggling so hard when she saw him, saying "Awwwww!!" Then she told him that she was his biggest "tuzzin" and that she would take care of him. Nothing's more precious than watching your big girl get that excited about a baby. And, to think of the friendship they will all share as cousins or tuzzins or whatever they will be.....that is a prayer my sisters and I all pray---that our children will be as close to each other as we are.

Have I mentioned yet how excited I am to be an AUNT?!