Allen Joseph

Update: Photos can be viewed at this sight for those interested.  We will keep these albums updated as we continue taking pictures.  Let me know if you have any issues viewing them.

Here he is–Allen Joseph Speckhals: born on February 4, 2012 at 11:55pm at the York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania.  He was 7 pounds, 15.5 ounces, and 20 inches long.  Mommy was in active labor for about 12 hours, and is thanking God for modern medicine and epidurals!  She has recovered relatively well, and is right now just trying to get some rest.

The baby is also doing really well.  He has caught on to feeding normally, and we are blessed far more than we deserve for a healthy little boy.  It truly is great to see the miracle of a new little version of myself and Andrea.  I am beyond amazed, and still soaking it in.  I’ll just let our unprofessional photography do the rest of the story-telling tonight.  Nana (mom Murdock!) will help us with real pictures here next week.  We’ll be sure to post them!

First Picture!
First Picture with Mommy

 

First Family Picture

Baby Face

 

With Dad
With His Outfit from Mr. and Mrs. Brady
Getting in His Car Seat for the First Time
Going Home
At Home

The Stork is Halfway Here!

Well, we’re over the hump…last Monday made twenty weeks, and I think that is officially considered halfway.  Tomorrow will be twenty-one weeks.  And the next Monday, at twenty-two weeks, we will find an answer to the big question:  He or She!?!  (So, you have just about one week to vote.  Please leave a comment including your guess as to Boy? or Girl?  We would love to read everyone’s opinion, and then announce who was correct when we find out!)

I feel this critter a lot now…lots of little taps and pokes!  It is exciting!  And, yes, I am starting to get into Maternity clothes.  My regular clothes have been getting snug for quite a while, and my closet options seem to be diminishing by the week!  I finally got down to a very few skirts that were still wearable, and a friend kindly offered to go maternity shopping with me!  It was such a nice gesture, and turned out to be a very successful trip.  Now there are a few more choices in my wardrobe, and I am just about to plunge whole-heartedly into the maternity look!  I have actually been waiting a bit anxiously for this, excited to wear some of the cute maternity tops I have found or been given!  It is a bit challenging to change your whole wardrobe, though!  Now I have skirts and tops, but not all of them have a matching counterpart, and, well…we’re still sorting things out!  The funny thing is though, that your size is constantly changing (getting bigger, that is!), so something that worked last week may not work this week!  Keeps life interesting!  (All the moms out there are probably laughing at me and my ‘pregnant newbie’ discoveries!)

Speaking of getting bigger, this baby does not help matters when it wants to eat chocolate and sugar all the time.  And of course, I don’t want to be selfish;  it’s not about me and what I want (whick is only healthy food, of course!) –it is about the BABY.  So I just have to sacrifice and keep giving the little one the chocolate and sugar it wants.  Ohhh the trials of eating for two!  And the other thing is that baby wants to sleep all the time!  Why it’s making me yawn now!  Oh well, if I have to eat chocolate and sleep in every day for the baby, I will suffer through it!  I’m joking!  (Well, kind of…)  I have had a big sweet tooth lately, and the baby does make me more tired, but I don’t sleep in EVERY day!

I might add, Baby’s Daddy has been quite the sweetie lately!  I’ll admit I am getting a little spoiled…seems like we have been going to eat where I want, and buying other little things that I like.  It really pays to be pregnant!

All in all, things are going very well so far.  Didn’t have much of any morning sickness in the first trimester, and even now, there are some common side effects of being pregnant, and aches and pains here and there, but nothing too bad at all.  I think I am VERY blessed compared to what some moms have to endure.  Thank the Lord…He is always better to us than we deserve!  And we are looking forward to raising this child for Him.  What a privilege…and an immense responsibility!

Baby!!!

Yes, if you have heard a rumor, it is true…We are expecting a Baby!  The due date is February 6th.  We do not know yet if it is a girl or boy, but will be happy with either.  One of Mom’s favorite verses was Psalm 68:19:

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.”

It seems appropriate now…

Baby's First Picture!