One Blog Too Many

I'm sure if anyone has checked this blog lately, they've figured it out, but...I'll formally say it anyway. I have one too many blogs! Originally, I started this blog as a forum for pictures of Will, etc., and then started the other one just "for me." Well, the two kind of merged and I was basically putting the same exact thing on two blogs...and honestly, I don't really have time to do it all twice! So, I am giving the formal announcement that I will no longer be posting on this blog. You can always check on us at Life & Laughter. I update that one as often as I can. I will also leave this one here in case anyone (grandparents, I'm sure) wants to go back and reminisce. See you on the other blog!

Brother and Sister

Just a few new pictures of our precious kiddos...I had a very hard time getting Will to be still long enough for a picture.
She's growing!
No, he's not strangling her, he's hugging her :) This is the first time Will has "held" Claire.
Aren't they cute? I'm not sure Will is too thrilled with this set up, though :) And yes, I was sitting right next to them!
Will is "petting" Claire's head again :)
"Huh?"
Claire in Will's bed, hugging his beloved Lion. Will was quick to take it away a few minutes later once he realized she had it!Daddy and Claire

Clean Kids

Pictures of Claire

Just a few pictures of our girl!

Sleeping Beauty

Almost 11 Years

In August of 1996, I (Scott) first met Leland Mallett who was my R.A. in Johnson Hall. We have been friends for 3985 days (I went to a website to figure that out...really). In that time we have both broken up from a serious relationship (he fixed his and I found a new one), gotten married, graduated, had 6 cars besides the ones we came to LCU with, purchased 3 houses, had 2.5 daschunds, fathered 5 babies, and moved 3 times.

I have a great deal of respect for Leland and Harmony. We have watched them forge a life for themselves in West Texas without having parents or older mentors right there with them to show them how to do things. They are hard working employees and awesome friends. They did everything we did, but they did it first. They bought a house first, they had kids first, etc. They were like mentors for us.

More than that, they are the closest friends we have had for the 5 years we have been in Big Spring. Leland and I were already close, but Lauren and Harmony have gotten so much closer. She has been a HUGE support for Lauren when she needed it. She has also been a get-away partner for Lauren when she needed to get away from Big Springness (you would have to move here to understand). Once upon a time, the four of us could go out to eat and have a nice time. Now we still go out to eat, but there is a lot more talking over kids, shushing kids, cleaning up after kids, etc. Still fun, but a lot harder. :)

Leland, Harmony, Ryland, Raylee, and Reese moved away this week. They are starting over in a new town at a new high school, at a new church, in a new life. But it doesn't matter where they move (although the fact they moved 10 minutes from Six Flags was nice), we will always be friends. May God bless you in your new adventure!

We are HOME!

Yea, we were finally released from the hospital yesterday!! :) The culture came back negative for Group B, which is very good news and also what we expected. I am so glad to be out of the hospital! Claire has been doing great since we got her home, she's eaten and slept. Maybe later we'll attempt a bath. Unfortunately, our Internet is having difficulties right now...what a week for it to go nuts on us! Anyway, I have tried several times to post more pictures but keep getting shut down. So, I promise, as soon as I can get it to work, more pictures will come! Thank you to everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers!

Not Quite Home

We just got some news about Claire. When Lauren was pregnant with her, she was tested for Group B Strep and the test came back positive. That meant that Lauren had to have antibiotics when she was in labor to keep Claire from contracting the disease. When it was time to deliver, she did get the antibiotics. However, there was still a 5% chance that Claire could still get the infection. They did a culture to see if she had it (all of this is a fairly normal situation for Labor & Delivery staff). Unfortunately, the culture was tainted (other germs were in the culture that weren't supposed to be in there) which meant that it was not conclusive. They are going to perform another culture on Claire today.....which means she cannot come home like she was supposed to. As you can imagine, this is not fun news for the any of us.

If the culture comes back negative, then she can go home and it's no big deal. If the culture comes back positive, Claire gets to stay at the hospital for about 4 days while they give her antibiotics through an IV (which is normally placed in the baby's thigh or in her head). That will not be much fun. At Terri's (Lauren's mom) suggestion, they started the antibiotics today until they find out the results of the culture.

The most annoying thing about this situation is that they have known since Monday morning that the first culture they performed was tainted. However, they chose not to do a second one until TODAY. If they had done the culture yesterday when they realized the first one was tainted, Mother and Baby could be coming home now. Wouldn't it be nice if doctors thought about these kinds of things a little more thoroughly. :(-

So for now, Lauren is at the hospital feeding Claire and waiting. Please keep all of us in your prayers, especially the new momma who was supposed to come home with her little, precious baby today.

She's Finally Here

Claire Elise Prather was born on July 8, 2007 at 10:14 a.m. in Big Spring, TX. She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 inches long. Both mother and daughter are doing very well. We will have more pics and information in the very near future!!!