Sweet Baby Daniel

After 41 weeks and 1 day, Sherry and Will welcomed their first baby, Daniel Melvin Russ into this world at 7:42pm. He weighed in at a whopping 9lbs. 10oz. and was 21 3/4" in length. For me it was love at first sight... well I've loved him all along because he was Sherry's son, but I was really smitten when I finally got to meet that sweet little face I have been praying for. He is SOOO CUTE!!! SOOO PERFECT!!! SOOO SWEET!!
About thirty minutes into the delivery phase the doctor thought the baby was too big for an easy natural delivery and suggested a C-Section was a better route. Carol and I waited anxiously in the waiting room for news, but when we felt we had patiently waited as long as we could, we went back to do some investigating. We heard from a nurse at the desk that the baby was here and fine, so we breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the waiting room eager to hear news of his stats. Waiting in this kind of situation is no easy task, but we gave it another half hour or so and then tried to get some news on Sherry. We were in luck because she was now in recovery and we got to peek in on her. She looked great and seeing her put all the worry to rest so we could now move on to the star of the show! We got a call from Will letting us know that he and Daniel were in the nursey, so we headed that way to get our first glimpse of this new little miracle.
Will so gently picked him up and brought him to the window so we could see him...

He kept looking up at his Daddy... it was precious!

Did I tell you how cute he is?!?

Then we watched as he got his first bath...



and got all pretty for Mommy.

Seriously, He's a cutie pie!

Proud Daddy! So Sweet!

Then we had another long wait as Sherry attempted nursing and then had to stay in recovery until a post partum room was ready for her. But we had fun visiting in the waiting room with family friends and Will's sister, reminiscing about how Sherry and Will met, some of their first dates, and their surprise engagement. We laughed as Carol told the story of how they announced their pregnancy to her and just enjoyed the chance that Daniel's arrival allowed us to catch up with each other. We finally got back to see the new little family around 11:00pm.
Doesn't Mommy look great after a long day of patient waiting and labor. She's amazing!

And Grandma Carol has been waiting for this moment all year... so sweet!

Sweet Adorable Daniel...

Welcome to the World Baby Boy!

I got to hold sweet Daniel too and I told him how much I loved him and how excited I was that he was finally here. I'm going to tell him stories of his Mama one day that will certainly make him laugh so hard his belly will ache! Sherry is one of my best friends in the whole world. We met our freshman year at ACU and the rest was history. College with our girlfriends was so much fun and each one was truly a gift from God. We did almost everything together from classes, chapel, Sigma Theta Chi, late night snacks, Texaco runs, being silly and growing together in our relationships with Christ. I found my lifelong friends at ACU and Sherry was one of the best! After graduation Sherry and I were roommates in Plano, both teaching elementary school. We were in each other's weddings. I loved her, cried with her and prayed for her when she lost her Dad, and she was there for me too when I was in the hospital for almost three weeks before Lila was born. She took me to doctor's appointments when I couldn't drive, painted my toenails to make me feel better, and sat up at the hospital keeping me company while knitting Lila a little pink bunny! When Emily was born she kept up with her progress, and even brought me a pair of sassy shoes after my thyroid surgery when I was worried about having a big scar on my neck. She is loyal, funny, wise, dependable, fun, honest, and sincere. She is also now a Mommy and I couldn't be happier for her! I am so honored to have been included in this big day for her family. We've had a lot of fun together through the years and I'm sure there will be many funny stories for us ahead in the future. Congratulations Sherry and Will. Daniel is beautiful and will bring you both so much joy and happiness. I can't wait to get back up there and hold him again!