Visitors from Texas...

In my short little life, I've already had a number of visitors. And next week, my Great Mama Peggy is coming to see me. Here are some pics of the visitors I've already had.

This is me with my Pop...I was named after him, so we're pretty tight.


...with Bebe...and that's pronounced be-bay.

...with Aunt Zsazsie...aka Chelsea.

...and with Whitney, who is expecting in August! We were so excited you got to come visit! We can't wait to meet your baby!

Surviving the first week...

Well, we survived the first week of parenthood. The first two nights were pretty crazy...with lots of feedings, some baby belly aches and sleeplessness for mommy and daddy. Since then Clinton has been sleeping at least 6 hours a night. Sometimes it doesn't start until after 3am, but still 6 hours. We've even had a couple of 8 hour nights...with one quick feeding in the middle.

Clinton is becoming much more alert and giving us a couple of hours of awake time in the morning and again in the afternoon. He had two doctor's appointments this week. He had his initial appointment and then a follow-up appointment to test his billirueben (sp?) levels. Everything looks good. His continuing to gain weight and eating like a mad man. Mommy had a little doctor's visit of her own. I took a little visit to the ER last night with severe pains in my abdomen...something I had been trying to tough out for several days, but finally gave in. Turns out everything was fine, just some normal post partum complications that can be fixed with a pill. I'm feeling much better now.

We'll keep you posted as Clinton reaches new milestones.

Chillin' with Daddy.


Snoozin' all day.

Hanging out with my cousin Emma.

Snoozin' in my car seat...

Mommy took my 1 week old pictures.

Introducing...Clinton Robert Williams

Praise God! We have been blessed with the most beautiful and healthiest baby boy. He weighed in at 8 lbs. and was 21 1/4" long. He is the longest and skinniest newborn I have ever seen. Labor and delivery went well. We were actually scheduled for an induction Thursday morning, but Clinton must have been as anxious as we were. Thursday morning I woke up at 3 am with contractions which continued until we arrived at the hospital. Once we arrived we had to register, get settled in our room and then I had to "get dressed". Around 9 am they started the pitosin (sp?) to make the contractions stronger, around 9.30 am they came and broke my water, and around 11.30 am I reached my breaking point and received my epidural. I was scared of the epidural so I waited a while before getting it. Then, of course, the epidural was a piece of cake and my attitude drastically improved. Rodney's dad stopped by several times to check on us and spent most of the day in the waiting room. Mother and Cathy (Rodney's mother) arrived around 1 pm and hung out with us in labor and delivery for the afternoon. We watched A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby and the breaking news about Anna Nicole Smith. The nurses had predicted an 8.30 pm "go time" for pushing, but Clinton and I surprised everyone by being ready at 5.30 pm. When we got ready to push they informed me this process usually takes a couple of hours....try less than 45 minutes. So at 6.22 pm on February 8, 2007, we had a beautiful new son. Rodney and my mother stayed with me for the delivery. Rodney surprised everyone by being able to watch the entire delivery and cut the umbilical cord...I was so proud of him. My husband has a bit of a weak stomach, but he was able to take in and appreciate every moment of this miraculous event. Check out some pictures below of our wonderful new blessing!

Mommy and Daddy enjoying new baby Clinton.

Checking everything out from Daddy's arms.

Sleeping like a baby...my favorite thing to do!

Look at this beautiful face!!

All ready to go home!

Clinton's coming tomorrow!!

Sorry...this is going to be a short post, as I have a million things I'm trying to get done. We went to the doctor today and everything looks good so we're going in tomorrow morning to be induced. I've already heard plenty of objections to being induced, but everyone will just have to live our decision. :-) This way my mother can be here with me which is a moment I would really like to share with her.
Rodney and I are so excited we're not even sure what to do....so we're going to go out and eat. I will post Clinton's picture on the blog as soon as we get home. If you're in the area, please feel free to come visit us in the hospital after the baby is born.
Love to all! ...and say a little prayer for us!

We got snow! (...and we're still pregnant.)

Friday morning (maybe it was Thursday), we woke up to what seemed like tons of snow. Having been through an unusually warm winter, mostly 60's and 70's, and hearing about all the snow my family was getting in west Texas, we finally got some snow of our own. Most of it was gone by lunch but it was pretty while it lasted....and Gracie Mae loved it. I've posted some pictures below.

As far as the pregnancy goes...we're still pregnant. Of course, our due date isn't until Valentine's Day...but numerous painful contractions and a lack of space in my torso is making us eager for him to arrive now. The doctor is hopeful that we might be able to induce on Thursday...but we'll have to see if I have a favorable cervix at that point. We'll keep the blog posted to let everyone know when little Clinton gets here...

The Baby Shower

Yesterday my friends Adrien, Lynn and Susan hosted a baby shower for me at Adrien's house. It was wonderful. There was good food, lots of friends, and gifts for the baby. I've attached a few pictures for you to see.

The food display along with a diaper cake.



Adrien on the left, Susan holding the bib, and me...all checking out the handy work of Chelsea and mother who sent a whole big box of gifts for the shower. Thanks, girls.


Some more of Mother and Chelsea's handy work.


The all important Longhorn blankie...thanks, mom.


My friend Kelly Smith (my first Tennessee friend), me, and my sister-in-law, Alesha.

Baby Belly Update Week 37...

We're finally at Week 37...considered full term and expecting the baby any day now. Well, any day from now until February 14.

Rodney and Gracie Mae awaiting the arrival of Clinton.

The nursery is finally finished...almost!

All we have left is a couple of pictures that belong in the frames over the twin bed. Those pictures are currently in the mail on their way here. They are pictures of my dad riding bulls. Other than that, we are done...now we're just counting the days!

Christmas was fabulous...

Christmas came and went so fast! And we had much to be thankful for this holiday season. God blessed us with lots of family and friends, safe travels for everyone and tons of good food! Mother, dad and Chelsea flew in on the 23rd and stayed until the 29th. Of course, I just loved having my family here....and they shopped me to death! Since everyone made the big move out to West Texas, they were eager to hit all the good shopping available to us here. I even had to resort to the electronic wheelchair as my aching feet and back began giving out....and those are quite difficult to maneuver through aisles and mad crowds of people! We were able to buy lots of things for the nursery...which I will post pictures of later.

We spent Christmas Eve shopping, then went to a party at Rodney's mom's house, and then stopped in at one more party at Adrien's house on the way home. The next morning we did Christmas at my house which was lots of fun and then went over to Rodney's dad's for gift exchanging. That night I hosted Christmas dinner with our family and Rodney's mom. We had roasted chicken, sweet potato pone, jalapeno corn pudding, salad, rolls and buttermilk pie. I was exhausted by the time dinner was actually ready and I'll think real hard before I insist on hosting Christmas again. The rest of the week was spent on more shopping, decorating the nursery and resting.

Thursday night we had a visit from the Voigts family. We happened to be on their holiday route and they stopped by for a visit and hamburgers. It was so great to see them! We hadn't seen Julianne and Sheryl since the wedding and Mike and Daniel even before that! Julianne and Daniel are so grown up and seem to be very active in a number of fun activities.

I've posted several pictures below. Hope you all enjoy...and hope you had a blessed Christmas, as well. Much love--Courtney

Chelsea, dad, mother and me before our Christmas Eve shopping trip.

Rodney's niece Emma helping him open his gifts. She received a box of hair bows from us for Christmas (which Mother made) and she wanted to wear them all!

Me, Chelsea and Rodney's half-sister, Alexis, at Rodney's dad's house for Christmas.

Dad and mother got Gracie Mae the cutest coat to wear this winter. It appears to be the perfect shade of burnt orange.

The Creech and Voigts families together again! Hopefully we won't wait so long for the next reunion!

I love Christmas time!

The cold air has blown in, even a few snow flurries this morning. All our Christmas shopping is done with gifts under the tree and all wrapped. The decorations are in place and I sip on some apple cider every evening...just to keep me in the spirit. Last weekend we had my company Christmas party. Beforehand, we met a group of people at The Palm for drinks (and, yes, they had water) then went over to party. It was a fun dinner and dancing at the downtown Hilton in Nashville...seeing as I was unable to partake in the open bar this year, I was also unable to participate in the dancing. Rodney and I finally had to bow out around 10 p.m. because the belly was sinking and getting tired. I've attached a picture of us all dressed up.

For those of you who have been concerned about my health...here's the update. They discovered that the baby has made me very anemic which was partly why I was feeling so bad. They have put me on iron supplements which has increased my energy levels tremendously. However, I start feeling too good, then I do too much, then I start having contractions again....so I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy which is hard for someone who truly values their independence and hates to ask others for help. Rodney has been a big help....he's doing laundry, making runs to the grocery, cooking dinner, rubbing my aching back and walking me through the breathing exercises when the contractions hit. (The pain can be pretty intense, but goes away in about 30 minutes when the pills kick in which stops the contractions.) The doctors are still saying we have a Valentine's due date...but I already have our bags packed and by the door, just in case....you can't ever be too prepared. So far mommy and baby are both feeling good and looking forward to Christmas!!!

I've attached a few holiday pictures...

This is us all dressed up for my company Christmas party. Ever try to find a flattering dress when you're toting a soccer ball on your tummy and a "few" extra pounds on your hips?

I swear I don't torture her everyday...but she's so cute in her little outfit. This is her "I hate you, mommy" look....usually she smiles and wags her tail.

Rodney and his mom in front of her tree, and her dog, Scarlett.

If you look really close, you can see little specks of snow....Gracie was the only thing the flurries showed up on.

It's Christmas Time Already!

These pictures may be boring to many of you, but I busted my little tail on this and I want to show it off to all of you who can't be here to see it.

These are the few lights I managed to get out...which is actually more than last year. Last year we only had the six miniature trees down by the front steps. Now I have garland around the front door accompanied by a wreath, and I wrapped the two evergreens in our beds that look like Christmas trees. Please remember I am 7 months pregnant...and manual labor is not at the top of my list of things to do, so maybe next year we'll have more lights....when Clinton will be here to help. :-)


This is our 10 ft. tree. I purchased it last year after Christmas. You should have seen our 5 ft. tree last year....it looked pretty stupid with our 14 ft. ceilings. While this much larger tree was a bit of a pain to put up and decorate, I still love it.


Just a close-up of my beautiful tree.


A few more decorations for the mantle.

Clinton's Nursery

Rodney and I (and I mean mostly Rodney) painted the nursery last week. We're starting to piece it together...so this is not the final product.

Finally....a camera!!!

This week has been a trying one for me and Clinton. We have been in the hospital twice with contractions, which seem to hurt me more than Clinton. Saturday night I started out with lower back pain and according to my book that is common in the seventh month. So I spent the whole night trying to tough it out...about 3am I finally got up to take a warm bath hoping that would make the increasing pain subside. That actually made me sick to my stomach and then my pain moved around to the front. By 4.30am, I took a couple of Tylenol and the pain became bearable enough to sleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I was miserable once again...and called the doctor. She said, "Get in here now." So we headed off to the hospital to find out that what I thought was normal pregnancy pain and Clinton stretching and kicking, was actually full-blown contractions...good to know, right? Turns out I was completely dehydrated, triggering contractions. It took forever to find a vein (which left both my hands bruised) and I took in two liters of fluid before even thinking I might need to pee....not really a good sign. I was released that afternoon and told to drink lots of water.

So, Monday I took in my recommended 90 oz. of water and did the same for Tuesday. But Tuesday night, the back pain began creeping in once again. Thinking I was dehydrated again I started on another 30 oz. jug of water....still, it got worse. By 5.30am I was in tears and not sure what to do. Since Rodney was out of town, I decided to drive myself into the ER. Apparently, not the wisest decision...I received lectures from my neighbor, my father, my sister-in-law, and my nurse. It seems as though there is a whole long list of things that can go wrong with a pregnant woman who is contracting....so she shouldn't be driving. Anyway, once in the hospital we were watching contractions again. This time I was not dehydrated. I had had 130 oz. of water within a 24 hour period, which the doctor said was overkill...can I ever win? They finally decided there was no real reason for the contractions this time except that my body had already started them and it may take a while to kick my body out of that mode. So now I have pills I have to take when I start contracting...which I have had to take twice since Wednesday. I was told no cleaning, lifting, walking too far, etc. So basically I spend a lot of time resting in my bed.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving lunch at Rodney's mother's house. She made Turkey, dressing, rolls, corn souffle, green bean casserole, macaroni salad, mashed potatoes, and gravy. It was delicious. My brother-in-law also made a chocolate coconut pecan pie...to die for! We then ventured over to Rodney's dad's house to visit with his grandparents and aunt and uncle in from West Virgina.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures here. First, our precious Gracie Mae...mother sent her a Santa outfit...she wasn't as amused as we were.

This is my 28 week belly. I think it's rather large, but the nurses said I could be feeling so much of the pain because I'm so small....??? Whatever. Excuse the laundry in the background, and the not-so-cute outfit....not everyday can be a beauty day.

Tristan Has Arrived!

For those of you who knew my college roommate, Samantha, I thought you might enjoy seeing this picture. Her and her husband, Victor, welcomed their precious little boy, Tristan, this morning. I'm not exactly sure what time he was born. Samantha called me at 8 this morning and was at 10 cm. The doctor told her it would be about an hour. I received this picture about 11.30a....so sometime this morning he was born. I also don't have any weight or length details....but I think the picture is enough. Congratulations, Sam and Victor! I can't wait to see your little blessing in person.