Happy Christmas Eve!

So this year is a little bit extra special : ) Wonder why? Hehe!So I'm way excited for tonight. We always go to the candle light Christmas eve service at church. This year our dear friends the Poor's are singing which I can not wait to hear and our best friends the Day's are joining us as well. So its already a fun special evening. To top it off its going to be Maylee's first time at church! I can't even tell you how much this evening is going to mean to me and what wonderful memories we're going to make. I always love the Christmas eve services, but I think this year might be more joy then I can wrap my heart around.So today remember the reason we celebrate this fun holiday every year and the baby born to save us from our sins and to give us ever lasting life! The best gift of all! Amazing!

Hope everyone has a blessed day and a beautiful Christmas!

Love, the Simpson's

Riss, Clint, and Maylee

The Critics Have Been Quieted... Watch "All Smiles"

While holding my precious little Maylee last night, I flipped the Macbook open in a moment of randomness and turned on the camera. Many of The Simpsonian's followers have commented that the videos I've previously posted of her show her either screaming her head off or fast asleep. Maylee happens to be one of the most content babies on the block, so I set out to set the record straight. With her eyes wide open, I decided to roll film and satisfy all those raging critics. To my amazement and sheer joy, she stepped it up a notch! Listen for a proud daddy's laugh holding back tears. I hope you all enjoy! This one's pretty darn cute!

Helpful Hint: You might be able to see the video better if you click on it to go to the YouTube page.

Maylee's Picture Show

Folks have been asking for some pictures of Maylee. Being new parents, we had a few. Thousand. I created a 4-part chronological picture show of the whole process and posted them to the right. The first video is called A Marvelous Pregnancy and it shows Larissa through some various stages in her pregnancy. The second is named Labor of Love and shows the actual day(s) in the hospital. Up next is Maylee Has Arrived! which shows moments directly after her entrance into the world. And finally, Maylee's Home at Last. This one is my personal favorite as it shows her coming home after a long 9 months and a week stay at the hospital. We're so glad to have her home! I hope you enjoy the music and the pictures.

Maylee's first bath at home!

New video to the right! It's a music video of Miss Maylee's first bath at home. I decided to put a bit of different spin on the occasion because I thought 4 minutes worth of sheep screaming might make for an exhausting video. Hope you like the music video! She's just shouting it out!

A late night moment to give thanks.......

So it' s about 1:00 am and we (me and this sweet little girl)

just got done with one of our many feedings for the night. Clint's been doing a wonderful job keeping everyone updated and I'm grateful for him for doing that. This is the first opportunity to get on here and read all the post and comments. I just wanted to tell all of you thank you so much for you prayers and love you have extended to all three of us. I have been so overwelmed by all the love. I've been so blessed to have you all in my life and can't ever tell you enough how your love got me through this past week.Going Home!

I'm just now starting to feel a little bit back to normal. Last week was such a crazy spiral of events that now its just a blur of craziness (plus all the drugs I've been on haven't been helping with that!). Maylee has been doing really well and is just a beautiful addition to our lives. We have been taking a few trips to the doctor due to her jaundice and loosing some weight; but our doctor is very reassuring and just wants to err on the safe side which I'm grateful for.

Well they say when baby sleeps, mommy sleeps! So I should head to bed. Just wanted to let you all know how much you all mean to me and how much I appreciate you guys!!!

Sweet Dreams!

P.s. I'll leave you with a few fun pics! Tomorrow I'll have Clint make a slide show of all that has happen in the past few days and I'll give more details on all thats been going on around here!Love at first sightProud dad!First family pic!The BEST Christmas gift!

Maylee's first video message!

Maylee made a video message (to the right) for Auntie K in New York City. She's definitely a Texas girl! Enjoy the video and the little bit of magic at the end of the mini-movie. Miss Maylee can't wait to meet you Kato! Brainwashing phase 1 didn't work. Try again. Love you!

MISS MAYLEE GAIL SIMPSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Words don't do her justice. My vocabulary isn't capable of such a description. Here she is...........oh she is soooo beautiful!!!! I told you.... GOD IS GOOD!!!! Thank you all for your prayers!

BORN DECEMBER 3, 2008...

Maylee Gail Simpson

9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long!

She'll be here soon!!!

We're heading right now to get a C-Section. Please check back for pics and video and news. We love you all! Thanks for the prayers! We felt them. I'm so excited. Got to go now. I'm going to meet my little girl for the first time. Her name is Maylee Gail. I'm so in love with her. GOD IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He lives!!

I know that I keep posting on this blog and I realize its just a blog but right now its my only communication to the outside world. I keep going over and over in my head why this process is taking so long. Why God has put us in people's hearts due to a prolonged stay at this hospital. I can only tell you what's been put on my heart....so here goes...

I keep asking for prayers and while I am asking that I understand that not all people believe in prayer. I'm here to tell you that Jesus Christ is so at work in this room! He's at work in the lives of the nurses here, in the hearts of those in the waiting room, and I know, I know that He is doing a great work in someone's life reading these words right now. I was where you are right now almost ten years ago. I thought of prayer as some thing that people just said and could just as easily be replaced with "I'll keep you in my thoughts" or some other useless derivative. It's not. It is a supernatural conversation between you and God because you have a relationship between the savior of the fallen world and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Find someone who you know lives out their lives for Jesus Christ. Talk to me or Rissa. Read the Gospels in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. He lives! Prayer is not simple. It is a glorious exchange. He lives!! Those tears are not mere emotion. It is the Living God crying out to you because He longs to know you. Run to Him! God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this world to receive the payment for your sins so that you could have eternal life in an indescribably beautiful places called Heaven. He died on that cross so many years ago because of my sin, because of yours. But here's the good news...he defeated death and He lives! Bow down before Him and acknowledge your sins once and for all before God, ask forgiveness and turn from them and serve Him with your life. He will give you eternal life and joy that is endless. He is in the trenches. He's here with me now. He lives! Jesus Christ lives today! Please listen to these words. I beg you. Please listen.

Dr. BFF

We just met our new doctor, Dr Dean. She checked Rissa and said she's dilated to an 8 now. Dr. Dean is my BFF. We are so excited to hear that news! Progression. According to the doctors, at least my take on the situation, is that we should know something (or start pushing) by midnight at least. Don't hold me to it. Larissa is sleeping. Please keep praying. I know your knees are raw by now. God is good.

The Numbers Game

So let's figure this out.......Rissa is dilated (I've been spelling it wrong- oops) to a 6, we've been through 7 different nurses (Nurse Betty had to go home - Nurse Tonya is up to bat), 2 doctors (our new one is named Dr Dean - should be meeting her soon), 3 nights totaling 52+ hours, 12 folks (and growing) in the waiting room patiently standing by for 4 hours and going (rock stars), 9 cups of ice chips in two days, 2 people (1 Godly girl +1 humbled goof) in love with 1 itty-bitty girl, and 1 (and only) very good God. You do the math.

LARISSA IS AMAZING!!!!!

We are heading into our 48th hour of being in this nice room. Larissa was fighting through the contractions wonderfully. At one point, Nurse Betty exclaimed, "Wow that was a big one!" When the nurses start getting shocked then its time to get an epidural and so she did. This was the part of it all that Rissa was most afraid of. She didn't want one at all. That's also how I know the pain was excruciating. We had a great group of Godly gals up here when she decided to have the procedure and they had soul soothing words to say which brought me to tears for the umpteenth time and Larissa as well. The weight of those words brought her through the scary and painful procedure perfectly. (I realize I'm using a lot of alliteration but I'm not meaning to.) After a few aftershock contractions, the epidural did its trick and she is now sleeping beautifully. SHE IS AMAZING!!!! She's my hero!!! I'll never forget what she has done for our family these past 48 hours. I vow to jump up extra fast when she needs something off the top shelf or when she notices the trash needs taken out or, for whatever reason, wants me to run across hot coals while swimming with sharks. I know that last part didn't make any sense but I'd do it. I'd figure it out to show her how much I appreciate her going through all she's gone through. Ok so I guess I need to get some sleep as well. With your prayers, we should be able to have a baby pretty soon. We love all you!!! God is sooooooooooo good. Have I mentioned that yet?

Maylee's First Friends

Rissa is now dialated to a 2! And everyone said...."Hallelujah!" Not much else has happened since the last update but I did want to introduce everyone to the fine folks and brilliant minds who will be bringing Miss Maylee into this world. The first pic here to the right is of Dr. Carrington. He's awesome! I don't have a candid pic of him right now basically because I'm afraid to ask. He's very intimidating. I'm scared of folks who are so much more smarter than me.

To your left you'll find smilin' Nurse Betty Lou. She's a peach! I like the idea that Maylee will see a bunch of smiling faces when she finally sees dawn. She has a real good one, don't you think? Rissa looks amazing as well. Almost 48 hours later and she is still so beautiful!! Don't forget, God is good. Our spirits are high! I'll be back.....

What A Day Can Bring

Today is a new day. We knew the routine so when we awoke this morning at 5:30am we went into the motions of inducing a baby. Dr Carrington came around and was in the middle of doing "his thang" when he decided to "flip da scrip" on us. (My brother claims he always goes hip hop during big moments so I thought I'd follow suit.) Out of the blue, he (the doctor not my brother - that'd be weird) decided to break Rissa's water. He most astutely said "Well the line has been drawn in the sand." 24 hours is the time period we are now working within. Ha! Jack Bauer's days are going to pale in comparison to the day I'm going to have! So here we go. Still waiting, but a different kind. Please keep praying. They are being heard. Rissa and I can feel them. God is soooo good. Praise Him for He is worthy! Stay tuned....

All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Here's the problem with having a sweet, sweet wife. The staff at the hospital falls in love with her and wants to keep her here as long as possible. Now they won't actually say that because it doesn't sound very medicinal but I was sitting around with the other nurses and heard them basically say just that. Those ladies are crazy! By the way, Julie just broke up with her long time boyfriend, Stacy's in-laws are in town (egad!), and Rosetta is back to having those darn hotflashes. Please keep my girls in mind!

Anyhow, we are going to restart the whole process tomorrow. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. All good things come to those who wait. We're the ones who are supposed to be doling out the parental advice right about now, but the tables are turned and it seems we're the ones learning lessons in patience. We're trying to wrap the day up as a dress rehearsal. Tomorrow is the really big show!! This blog is about to get interesting. They'll give Rissa more potocin at 6am. Then we wait. I love that word. God is good. See you tomorrow!!

-Nurse CeeCee (blog title accredited to Stephanie Gaston)

Baby Update #3....aka...Waiting.....

We want to, first of all, thank everyone for their prayers. They have certainly been felt. Ok, so here's the rundown. I'm basically becoming a doctor while I'm a resident at the hospital. The nurses have taken me under their wing and are treating me as one of their own. I go by Nurse CeeCee. So if I get too technical with the medical speak, please excuse me.

Maylee ain't comin' yet. Larissa is doing well, thanks for asking. She is a trooper

 among troopers. She's having contractions but they're not extremely painful just yet. They started the potocin at 4 this morning, but as of 3pm today she is still dialated at a 1 (out of 10). Doctor Carrington said he'll revisit with us at 6 or so to see if  "mother nature" has taken her course or not. If not, and let's pray this isn't the case, we'll have to start this wonderful journey all over again. 

We know that the Good Lord has a perfect plan for this family. We put this little girl in His hands before we even knew her name. She's in great hands, trust me! We know that God is doing great things, intricate things behind the scenes with Maylee and Larissa. So we wait. We'll have another update soon. Stay tuned. Talk amongst yourselves. This has been a Nurse CeeCee announcement. Signing off...for now.

P.S. I wanted to share this picture we took of hospital warnings. We all think its pretty hilarious. It's on Larissa's monitor. 

The First Night

So we are here at the hospital. I'm sitting here in the lobby just coming down from the clouds. Larissa is great and Maylee is great as well. Thanks for all the wonderful texts and phone calls! So here's the lowdown. We entered into the hospital at four o'clock this afternoon so that they could give Rissa a treatment to make her begin dialating. So it has officially started. Tomorrow they'll wake us up at 4 am and give her potosin and then, oh baby, then we'll get things rolling. I'll be updating as often as possible. So keep coming back. Please keep praying. God is so good.

A shocking turn of events!!! Baby Blog entry #1

Well here we go! Rissa went to her doctor this morning and we planned for him to say that they were going to induce sometime later this week. To our surprise, he said 4 o'clock today!!! She is going in to have some procedure done to get her body to the point to where they can induce. It supposedly takes 12 hours, so it's gonna be a long night. I will try to keep this here blog as updated as I can. Please pray for the brilliant doctors and nurses, Larissa and Maylee. I wouldn't mind some prayer either but focus on those folks. Wow! This is really happening. God is so good.

Showered with love

A couple of weeks ago(Sat, Oct 25) We had our big family and friends shower. My sweet neighbor Leslie had it at her home and she took some wonderful pic's. My friend Shelley made all the delicious food and the prettiest cake : ) Kristin and her mom Vickie help with the invites, the too cute diaper cake and all the little details that come with a shower and Step (with help form my other sister) did the cutest favors. We were so blessed by everyone and can't even describe how much love we felt from all of you guys! I definitely feel ready to bring this little girl home now!

My friend Trinli gave us this super cute bag with a M for Miss MayleeKelsey (who drove in from College Station for the shower! So sweet!), Lizzy, & Jacy

The Hostess

My little dancers! Jenna & Hadley

A full house with sweet friends & family!My Sisters!

Clint surprised me by flying in my sister Katie from New York! It was so nice to have all of them here for Maylee's shower.

Once I get the next set of pics to upload I'll share Clint's work shower, My work shower, and the ever growing tummy update!

It's A Pink World

Here's a little glimpse into my world as I write.....it's a pink world.....

Mr. Squeakers Found Dead!!!!

Well as most of you might know, we have a lot of life going on at our house. From the sweet addition of Maylee to our lives to the overpopulated (and growing) fish tank, we are bursting forth with life in our humble abode.

Yesterday, however, we discovered a terrible sight. One of the very beloved members of our little family was found ravaged. Yes, murdered!!! He came to live with us about a year and a half ago and we have had some wonderful memories within our short time together. We met him at our local pet store and instantly knew that he would fit right in with our family. His name was Mr. Squeakers.

When we first brought him into our home, right away Harvey was quite cordial, but Toby however quickly became jealous of our new found friend. He became quite agitated because of all of the attention we began to shed upon Mr. Squeakers but being naive we assumed that Toby was merely going through a phase and that eventually he would become accustomed to our guest.

We were wrong. Saturday morning I awoke and began to make a venture to the kitchen. Halfway down the hall I felt an imperfection in the carpet so I looked down to find a cloud on our floor. A small cotton ball. I didn't think much of it until I detected a small cotton trail. I should have known the horror that awaited but my inquisitive mind followed the path of fluff.

And there he laid. The sight was horrible. I bent down to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation but it was too late. It was hard to see at first what had been the fatal blow because Mr. Squeakers' insides had been pulled out of his body and laid to rest upon his body. Clearly only a villainous creature could have done such a thing to Mr. S. I vowed right then and there I would track down my friend's murderer. I vowed that no matter what the cost, the time, or the effort I would avenge Mr. Squeakers!! Two minutes later, I found him.

He had already moved onto a new victim and was in the act of committing yet another act of terror! He was clearly a serial squirrel killer. Realizing that no one would believe that the cute face of Toby would be believed as a killer I snapped some shots to seal his fate. Larissa thinks we should let him go with a warning though I know what happens to little dogs once they get a taste for fluffy squirrel stuffing. They want more and more and more until eventually their craving is unquenchable and then they move on to bigger ground! First pillows, then couches, and then in a final climatic bid of passion they go for the insulation inside the walls.

Please keep our family in your thoughts. Although we found another Mr. Squeakers look-a-like, I still know its not him. This is a hard time in our life. Hard times.

Tagged

So this my first time to be tagged! I was tagged by Mrs. Kris to post the sixth picture in my sixth file. So here it is.......

This is my sister Lizzy and one of her best girl friends Darian. This was during Lizzy senior year last October. They were about to compete at the cowboys stadium. Man those lips are VERY red on those fair skinned, red headed girls : )

So now Im tagging my sisters.......you know who you are! Post it on the family blog!

This is the day the Lord has made.......

Every Wednesday at the day school we go to chapel. Being first thing in the morning its always a feat to have a group of wiggly 3 and 4 years old sit still for any extend period (exsp first thing in the morning;Ha!) So that being said chapel consist of two or three songs and a quick bible stories which includes puppets. The one thing we do every week to start chapel off is have us all stand up and raise our hands up to the sky and we all say together "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it" then we all clap our hands and cheer. I love this! What a way to start the day. I love the cheer. Isn't that how we should all start everyday off? Praising our Lord and in such child-like excitement of the day He has given us? There something so precious and sweet about the fact of getting up and thanking Him for the new day He has made.

So I've found that after doing this on a weekly basis for the past two years that I now find myself saying the whole verse to myself (and yes,with the sounds of cheering and clapping in my head is included,ha! Such a preschool teacher!) in the mornings as I get ready for my day. I never realized what a blessing this simple saying has been to me and how it has help change my perspective in the morning! Who knew that I'd be the one to learn something from the day school chapel?!? Don't ever underestimate the Word and how it can touch you in the most unique ways!

Fun time of fellowship

So this past weekend was full of friends and fellowship!

Saturday morning we went out to the Botanical Gardens with our very talented neighbors Leslie and Brian. They took the prettiest maternity pictures for us. We were so blessed by their generosity and kindness. The weather could not be better for September in Texas and the pic's turned out beautifully! Not the hard part deciding what to print.......

Saturday afternoon Stephanie blessed is with a 3d-4d sonogram. So we got to see our sweet little girl!!!! Our last sonogram was at 18 weeks so It was fun to see how much she has grown, It was such a sweet and beautiful thing to experience. We also got a video of the whole thing. I think Clint and I have watched it 10 times already. God is so good! Its amazing how He has formed this beautiful gift inside me.

Saturday evening we celebrated Clint's grandmothers birthday. By this time in the night I was exhausted (so no pics from me,ha!)but it was a full fun day of celebrating life so it seem fitting to celebrated life of all ages and stages!