The Myricks

First Day of Pre-K

2011-08-01T10:46:00.004-05:00

Today is Ada's first day of Pre-Kindergarten. She is so excited! Her new teachers are Mrs. Byrd (she's not a real bird though, Ada told her Granny) and Ms. Emily. Her closest friend from school last year, Avery, is in her class and she will be going M, W, and F this year. They don't take naps this year and classroom rules say she can't bring her B. She took the news like a champ.

When we arrived in class, she was told to hang her backpack on a hook (that she's too short to reach) and to sit at her spot at the table where she had her own 3-ring binder and school supply box. She learned so much last year and we are excited to see what many things she learns this year. They will work on numbers, letters and reading, math, science, even some Spanish.

You are such a smart girl, Ada. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. Not only are you smart, but you are kind and care for others well. You are the best big sister! You are so fun. You sing and dance and dress up and pretend to be a princess or to play family. We love who you are and who you are becoming.

We have a crawler

2011-07-14T09:48:00.002-05:00

I came to pick up David yesterday from work and my mom said that David had crawled. Until now, he would rock back and forth on all fours and scoot backwards, but now he's moving forward! It's a little unorthodox, but he gets where he needs to go. This happened on his 8 month birthday, as did an ear infection.

As far as talking goes, he said "ma ma" a couple of days before my birthday. He said, "da da" a couple of days after Father's Day. And a couple of days later, he said, "A da." He's kept with "Ada" and says it all of the time. I haven't heard "mama" or "dada" lately though. It's pretty easy to see who his favorite person is:)

Our Christmas Story for Mosaic

2010-12-27T12:08:00.002-06:00

Kim & I had the privilege last night of lighting the Christ candle in the Advent Wreath at Mosaic. Here's what we shared:

Sam: After our 4 weeks of Advent stories and people sharing their experiences with waiting, I’m here to tell a “Christmas” story – one where our waiting turned eventually into hopes being fulfilled. I’ll keep this brief and kind of vague, since I didn’t know until the last day or two that the kids (including our own Ada) would be out here with us tonight instead of in the kids’ room.

Most of you know about, or have seen us the last several weeks with, our 6 week old son David. What you may not know, depending on how long you’ve been around or if you were present when we shared, is that we had a miscarriage last year. It’s Christmas now, and tonight’s supposed to be joyous & hopeful. And that’s what I want to focus on – but I will tell you that was the hardest time in either one of our lives so far, and certainly as a couple.

We waited through weeks of thinking we were probably going to lose the baby, but hoping and praying things would be ok. Once the miscarriage did happen, then we waited for the grief & mourning to become bearable. After a few months, we decided to try again – which became a new season of waiting where conception wouldn’t occur. This brought up our grief again, it wore away at the way we treated each other, and it brought up a new issue…fear. Even though it would have been a perfectly normal amount of time for the average couple, after 2 quick conceptions (Ada & the second baby), this longer time was new for us. We wondered if we’d be able to have kids again. We tried to hope. We prayed and encouraged each other when we had the strength to. Many of you prayed for and encouraged us when we didn’t.

Then, in March of this year, Kim took her monthly pregnancy test. I wish I could tell you we were hopeful or had the right attitude, but I think she walked into the bathroom saying “I don’t know why I’m even bothering with this, it’ll be negative again.” And that’s why from 5 minutes later when we saw the word “Pregnant” all the way up to now, a lot of this year has felt like grace to me. It’s felt undeserved. After 2009, AKA the worst year ever, most of 2010 has felt like gift – at least for us. I remember coming in to the office one day around that time, when the Spring weather was great and several things were going well and telling Don I felt like composing a sonnet or a song about new life springing forth from death.

And I guess part of thinking about and writing about all this the last few days has reminded the poorly rested, easily frazzled and forgetful new father in me just how wonderful this year has been for us. And this is just what’s gone on with us related to children. Our marriage has probably grown more this year than any other. I’m finding new fulfillment and new ways to serve by counseling and pastoring more here at Mosaic. It’s been a good year.

And for those of you who’ve not had a good year, those who have had a tough year, I hope you receive what I’ve shared in the spirit I share it in. I’m not saying every part of our lives are perfect now. And I’m certainly not naïve enough to think we’re done with our suffering for the rest of our lives. I don’t want to gloss over the pain and scars that we will always have from our losses and you’ll always have from your losses or pain. But Advent’s over & it’s Christmas now. It’s the time of the year when we remember and proclaim that Christ has come and is being born in us. God has wrapped himself in flesh and come down to us. He is Emmanuel, God with us – always with us, in our highs and lows and everywhere in between. Always looking for ways to redeem, always working to make things new, always stepping into our death and our pain and calling out new life, and mercy, and grace. For these gifts, thanks be to God.

Kim: God of love, Father of all,
the darkness that covered the earth
has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh.

Sam: Make us a people of this light.
Make us faithful to your Word
that we may bring your life to the waiting world.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Kim: Tonight, we light the Christ candle - to proclaim that in the person of Jesus we encounter Emmanuel – God with us. Please read this with us:

Myricks: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Mosaic: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Myricks: Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

Mosaic: We have beheld Christ's glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

Myricks: For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given.

Mosaic: And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

All: Thanks be to God.

David Samuel Myrick Is Here

2010-12-02T12:53:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

I've wanted to get on here & update those of you that might not be connected to us on Facebook - but life has been crazy the past 3 weeks or so. I really hope to write in depth soon about David's arrival on November 13th, and what life has been like since. But with returning to work this week and being either busy or asleep when at home - it can't happen yet. But I thought I'd go on and put up some of favorite pics from the last few weeks to tide whoever might be reading this over.

Why We're Naming Our Son David

2010-06-30T16:02:00.000-05:00

As I posted last week on Facebook, we've decided to name our son David - in memory of our good friend David Gentiles. For those who never knew David, I thought I'd try to introduce him to you - at least in part. And for those who were lucky enough to know him - I wanted you to know what he means to us.

I should begin by saying that if you only have the time or energy to read one thing about David Gentiles, you should close this blog and go read the eulogy that writer Donald Miller gave at David's memorial service. And if you only have time to read two pieces - then you should go here and read what his oldest daughter, Ariele, wrote several years ago about life with him. Those two incredible pieces of writing - by writers both more gifted than I, and who knew David longer and more intimately than I - really fill out who David was. But if you have time for three…

I can't remember the first time I've met a lot of people in my life. And I know the fact we were meeting David to begin planning our wedding ceremony is probably what helps me with this one. But I remember exactly where I met David Gentiles, and I remember a lot of what I was thinking at the time. Kim had talked plenty about him before. He had been her youth minister, but they'd stayed in good contact even after she graduated. I'd heard about how caring and generous he was, how funny he could be, about how great a father he had been since his wife left him to raise 3 girls by himself. And I'd not just heard stories from Kim, her mother and brother knew and loved him as well. So I expected a lot.

But as he walked into the Starbucks at 183 & Anderson Mill, I'm now very ashamed to admit that I felt...underwhelmed. In all of those talks about David Gentiles, no one had ever thought to show me a picture before. So when this stocky little guy with thinning salt and pepper hair and a mustache (gasp!) walked in, I was let down. [Once when remembering this a few years ago, I wondered for the first time whether or not David was let down by the appearance of this lanky, awkward 24 year old with thinning hair and a goatee that was now on the arm of his precious Kim Luckie. Probably not.] I guess I was just really hung up on appearances back then, before David and others taught me it was ok to wear the same simple clothes or pair of shoes (or in David's case - boots) to work every day. The truth is it didn't even bother me that long for that day. For as we began to chat and get to know each other, I fell head over heels for David the way everyone else always seemed to do.

We discussed both growing up in Louisiana, and how he'd worked at Barksdale Baptist in Bossier (where it turns out a lot of my stepmother's family knew him). He told me stories about Kim from his perspective - which usually lined up with her's. And I guess there had to be some wedding planning in there. But mainly, I remember him talking about his daughters.

I don't know if that's because he talked about them more than he did anything else or he just spoke of them with more passion than the rest of our topics. He spoke of Ariele, who would be finishing up soon at Baylor and who'd become quite a writer. He told us she was in the midst of deciding to whether or not to pursue her writing by moving to Portland and become a part of a writer's group there. Although it was clear he'd hate to have her that far off, you could tell he was excited for her. He told us of Hannah, who had become so passionate about social justice and the inner city near the end of high school that she had decided to go work in Oakland with a ministry there BEFORE she went to college. I remember thinking that might be the coolest/scariest thing I'd ever heard of an 18 year old doing. And he spoke of Calla, his youngest - who was the lone kid still at home finishing up high school - but who it was already abundantly clear was becoming an incredible woman who he was just as proud of as the older two.

I don't remember what it was she said, but Kim made a comment about one of the girls that I remember evoked the first of many "David Gentiles smiles" that I would see in the next 5 years. I don't know exactly what it was about David's face that made this possible, but when he would smile big or laugh - he would scrunch his face up in a way that would make his eyes disappear. His face became just a huge grin and a nose.

I don’t remember much about our wedding day or David's involvement in it. This is partly because most people don't remember much of their wedding day. But mainly because I was sick with a 102 degree fever and was kind of hoping I would just die after Kim and I consummated our love that evening. But I know David was there that day, I've seen the pictures.

We kept in touch after we got back from our honeymoon and as I continued to look for a church to work with. We weren't sure if Austin would be home for a long while or just a little while, since I had no leads on jobs and we were open to moving if we needed to. But we preferred the idea of staying around here, so at first we looked only for ministry opportunities in the Austin metro area. But after a few interviews and no offers, I had to take a job delivering pizzas. I “moved up” from there to working at a Dr’s office answering the phones and scheduling appointments. I loved being married to Kim and living in Austin, but with regard to work and vocation – I was miserable. I remember calling David on my lunch break one day. I was crying and asking all types of big questions “Will I ever get to do ministry? Where am I supposed to be?” etc… David listened well and was calm and encouraging. Then, he proposed something that I’ll always believe was a turning point in our lives – a prayer gathering. That very night, a small group (that was mainly my family) of people met to pray with me and for me in David’s office at Riverbend Church. The people in that room were pretty much all the support I had in Austin at that early time. David led the time by asking questions of me and focusing the prayers.

The first by-product of that night was immediate peace. I felt loved and supported and that there were at least 5-6 people who agreed with me that I was supposed to be doing something else. The second thing I believe came out of that time of brokenness and prayer was two very different ministry opportunities that soon presented themselves to us. One of those was pastoring at Mosaic, and David would be invaluable in that decision as well. He continued to pray with and for me. He continued to ask good questions. Together we talked about the differences in large and small church ministry, about rooting yourself in a community indefinitely, and about how different types of church work impacted family. It quickly became apparent that none of this was theoretical for David – he wasn’t just helping me through these questions. He was asking them of himself too as he was making the decision to leave Riverbend to go and pastor at Journey.

And once the decision had been made for me to begin working with Mosaic, David’s support and mentoring wasn’t over. He gave when he could financially to my support account. He showed up without telling me he was going to for the first time I preached at Mosaic. One of the greatest gifts he gave me the last few years had been participating with several Mosaicians in my Pastoral Care Team – a group that exists to meet with me every few months and listen to what’s going well in my ministry, what I’m dreaming or thinking about for the future, and what things are tough at the time. David’s voice and his prayers in the midst of those meetings were so comforting. I remember that it was at one of these meetings a few months after Ada was born that he got to see her for the first time. It was evening, and she was already asleep. But Kim and I walked him back to Ada’s room and all three stood there watching her curled up and asleep. It was dark, but the nightlight put off enough light to see one of those David smiles I talked about earlier. He was beaming, and when we came back out he hugged us both and said she was beautiful.

I remember those hugs so fondly. I can see him giving me one before we had breakfast tacos at Arandas Taqueria, or when we’d bump into each other in town at a concert or event (like in the balcony of a Sufjan Stevens show). I know how much he must have wanted to give us a hug when we lost our baby last Winter. That happened just a few weeks before his death, and in the last email I have from him he wrote “Kim and Sam, I am so sorry. I love you, David.” Many people wrote us in those weeks, and most wrote a lot longer emails then that. And we were grateful for every single one of them. But David’s was one we remember because it was succinct – and because we knew him, we knew he meant it. We knew he hurt for us but didn’t know anything more to say then that he was there and loved us.

I was waiting to hear back from David about us getting together and discussing the possibility of a more structured mentoring relationship when the news broke about his accident. I can’t remember if it was on Facebook or Twitter that I first read that he was in the hospital, but there weren’t many details. All anyone from Journey was saying was that there had been an “accident” and that he was in ICU. My first thought was that I had to call Kim and her family to let them know. But then I realized it’d be helpful to know a little more first. So I called Bob Carlton – Bob and I had only met once but we were connected online and I figured he would know more. It was Bob who made it clear to me that David’s condition was serious and that he’d been injured at his gym. I called Kim and told her what I knew. She began crying immediately, and I knew I needed to get home and be with her. For the next few days, we prayed and cried, cried and prayed – not ever knowing much except what we could piece together through Journey folks’ posts online. It was frustrating to feel out of the loop. We knew that it was to protect the girls and the family. It also became clear pretty quickly that although we loved David and considered ourselves close to him, it seemed the rest of the world did too. We so wanted to go and see him, to say goodbye and to hug the girls. But if everyone around the world who had felt the way we did got to go, Brackenridge Hospital couldn’t have held us all. Late one night we got the news we had figured was coming. David had died surrounded by his family and there would be a memorial of some kind after Christmas. I don’t really even remember Christmas. I know we traveled to Louisiana, but it had just been such a horrible couple of months that every day felt like we were just going through the motions.

But in a way that only David (or the people closest to him) could have orchestrated, the memorial events began to open up and heal us. David Gentiles, of course, had the largest memorial service I’ve ever been to. Over 500 people from all over the country (and I suspect, the world) gathered around a high school baseball stadium to sing songs, hear stories, look at pictures, give thanks and remember. David loved baseball, and so the location was a perfect place.

Sitting right on a wall by the backstop was a lone baseball that must have been left there after a practice. I looked at it a lot of the service, as did at least one other person who took this picture and put it on Facebook.

And when everything was over, without even thinking about it or knowing what I was doing, I walked over and put it in my pocket. It sits on our living room bookshelf now, right beside this baseball card of David they were passing out that night.

David’s been gone for a little over 6 months now. Just like everyone else seems to, we miss him dearly. But there seems to be something that happens when great people die. Their one life well-lived is like a seed. And when buried it springs up even greener and stronger than it looked before – and it grows every which way. I can’t be the only minister who’s recommitted to loving people and witnessing to the Gospel the way David Gentiles did. I can’t be the only father who’s cherished his children even more the last 6 months, and has prayed that God would make me the kind of father David Gentiles was. I can’t be the only person who is working to be a friend like David was - who listens well, asks good questions, comforts those who mourn and rejoices with those who rejoice.

I bet there are a lot of us – like enough for an army… or at least a baseball team.

And like I said last week - I’m sure we’re not the first friends or family members of David’s to name a son after him, and I know we won’t be the last. But once we found out Kim was pregnant again back in March, it’s really the only boy name we've thought about. Now that we know we’re definitely having a son, we’re all calling him David already. Sometimes I talk to Kim’s belly and tell him about our good friend David Gentiles. I tell him he’s named after one of the greatest men I’ve ever known, my hero, my mentor.

And if our little David turns out to be half the man that big David was – then we’re all going to be in for an awesome/beautiful/wild ride.

We're (Probably) Having A Boy!

2010-05-28T13:45:00.000-05:00

We've left this blog unattended for longer than we ever meant to. We had been pretty busy lately with work and Ada's getting to the point where she demands more and more time and energy. So, we're letting you in on this more specific news a couple of months after the more general news. But we're having another baby, and we're pretty sure it's a boy.

On Monday, we had a sonogram scheduled for our 15 week checkup. We think it was ordered since we'd had the miscarriage in October and because earlier in this pregnancy Kim had a cyst they wanted to keep track of. We had heard and read that this was too early to find out sex of the baby, and that's also what the technician reminded us of as she began her work.

But after a few minutes of taking measurements and showing us the head, spine, hands and feet, etc... the technician asked "Will you two want to know the sex of this baby when it's time?" We said yes, to which she followed up with "Because I have a pretty good guess right now." We told her to go on. She informed us again that we could't know for sure until next month's anatomy study, and that she hardly ever tells people this early. "But," she said, "I'm about 80% sure that this is a boy." We smiled at each other and I tried to refrain from laughing uncontrollably. She then went on to point out exactly what she had noticed that made her think that, and pretty quickly we agreed with her. Then just to make sure, our little guy started doing what looked a lot like Elvis' famous Ed Sullivan dance. At that point, the technician said "He's a proud one. Now I think I'm 90% sure it's a boy."

So we'll be letting you know for sure in a few weeks, along with the name we're going with. But right now we're so excited (and a little bit anxious since a boy will be quite a change for us) about this week's unexpected news.

Elmo's Potty Time

2010-02-21T10:56:00.002-06:00

We love Elmo. Ada has always loved Elmo. She also loves to watch TV. We've actually had to cut back on the amount of TV that she's been watching lately, cause that's all that she wants to do. So when I saw the Elmo's Potty Time DVD at Target, I thought perhaps he could inspire her. And yes, he has!

This morning we watched it together and after some coaxing, she decided to wear some of her Elmo panties. (You see, it has to be her decision to do something. I can't suggest that she wear panties because she won't do it. But after they had sat around for a while and she thought it was her idea, she put them on.)

I was in my room getting dressed so that we can go outside to play and she ran in and said, "Mommy! I went pee pee on the potty all by myself!" I ran into the bathroom, following her as her panties hung around her knees and sure enough, there it was! I had suggested a couple of minutes before that that we were going to play a game. I was going to set my alarm for every 20 minutes and we'd try to use the potty. But she did NOT like that idea. So she showed me. When I'd left her alone, she went on her own.

I guess we have an independent and strong-willed child...a beautiful and wonderful strong-willed child. Yay, Ada! We are so proud of you!

Dear God...

2009-07-16T20:45:00.002-05:00

Every night before bed, we read Ada several books and then say prayers together. Kim and I take turns each night praying for family or friends and thanking God for His blessings.

Tonight, as a total joke, I asked Ada "Why don't you pray tonight?" Immediately, she said "Dear God, thank you for Megan and for Tata [Clayton]. And thank you for Nana and Papa, and for Granny and Papa, and for Mommy and for Daddy." Then she prayed for someone who was sick (we couldn't understand who)! and closed with "and thank you Meme coming to Ada's birthday party. Amen."

Kim and I were amazed and both agreed it's the best prayer we've heard in our lives. I guess she's been paying attention during prayer time.

Hosebee listen to Boney Bear?

2009-07-14T09:20:00.002-05:00

We don't know what "hosebee" means, but it preceeds most questions. We're guessing that it means, "how about we..." Ada loves music and asks to hear one or two songs over and over and over. So I put on Bon Iver to see if I could get her to like him. I told her that it was Bon Iver (sounds like Eever) and she said, "oh! Boney Bear!" Now she asks for him too, yay! Ada is talking all of the time now, almost always in complete sentences. She keeps up laughing and surprises us constantly with the things that she knows. The photo above was taken at Sam's favorite BBQ place in the world in Lockhart from a trip when her Nana and Papa came to visit. She still asks for them and wants to know when her Meme will be coming next. She loves her grandparents!

Pootcakes and Sunshine

2009-05-05T10:52:00.002-05:00

Ada is talking more and more every day. She uses complete sentences a lot of times and is very good at communicating what she wants. One of her best words is "pootcakes." She normally imitates words pretty clearly but for some reason, pancakes are pootcakes. This morning, as we were sitting at the breakfast table eating pootcakes, she saw Nolan down in our roommate's living area. She said, "No Nolan! Tum outta der. Jaime and Todd's room!" She continues to amaze us.

The other day Sam used the word Republican in a conversation with me and from the back of the car Ada started yelling, "Obama!" How she knew that both of those words are political and belong in the same conversation, I have no idea. She also started yelling, "Obama presdident!" at the front of the communion line at church this week. Bad timing. She doesn't know that we don't talk about politics in church :) I think it's just a fun word to say.

I was talking with her on the phone while she was at my parent's house. I asked her what her favorite color is and she said, "orange." I said, "you're a little Longhorn, aren't you?" She said, "Papa's pen!" and ran over to grab an orange Longhorn pen of my dad's that plays the Eyes of Texas. We realize we have to be very careful with what we say at this point cause this little genius doesn't miss much.

I always tell Ada that I love her. I say, "I love you SO MUCH." A couple of weeks ago, Sam was changing her diaper and she grabbed his hand and looked up to him and said, "Daddy...so much." I thought Sam was going to eat her up.

One of our favorite things that she does now is ask us to sing to her before we put her down for a nap or bed. First, she asks us to rock her. "Mommy rock!" And then she'll look up at whoever is holding her and rocking her and say, "Daddy...sunshine." And Daddy will sing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

We love you, sunshine! SO MUCH!

Happy Eatso!

2009-04-12T16:24:00.003-05:00

That's how Ada says, "Happy Easter!" She has called all of her grandparents this morning to tell them, "Happy Eatso!" She first learned the phrase with her Aunt Megan (Meh) and Uncle Clayton (Ta Ta), so she has been saying, "Meh, Ta Ta, Happy Eatso!" Her daddy has been trying to teach her, "Christ is Risen," but I think that one's going to have to wait until next year. I can't believe that it's been a whole year since my baby was dedicated! Time sure does fly by when you're hanging out with a toddler.

Ada Loves Noles

2009-01-12T20:52:00.003-06:00

Ada was watching Sesame Street the other day and Nolan jumped up there to join her. They have become best friends and he puts up with her sitting on his back because she also feeds him from the table. He never had people food until Ada came along. She talks about him all of the time. She calls him, "Noles."

Halloween

2008-11-03T14:40:00.003-06:00

We put a few pics up on Picasa today from the last week or two (including Ada as a daisy for Halloween). The closeout Halloween rack at Babies R Us is a great place to get a costume, by the way.

So smart!

2008-10-26T10:09:00.003-05:00

Ada is talking all the time now.

She says:
Mama
Dada
Papa (always whispered)
Meme
Ghee (Granny, just like her dad used to call his Granny)
Nee (Nana or Nolan)
Meh (Aunt Megan)
Cha (Charlie)
Ta (our roommate Todd)
Chee (Cheerios)
Wa (water)
MMma! (Elmo)
B (blanket, Big Bird, belly button, balloon, or book)
Ba (bottle, ball or bath)
Saa (Sock)
Sues (Shoes)
Wee! (that means she wants to go to the park in the stroller and ride the rides...wee!)
Peas (please)
Da or Oof Oof (dog)
Maow (cat)
Bye Bye! (with a big Texas accent)
Night Night (also with an accent)
after praying with us each night, sometimes she says Amen
when we say "one, two..." she says, Free!
her new favorite, Nu Nu Nu Nu! (No!)

She's not only busy talking, but busy doing as well. She loves to turn the TV on and off. She plays her piano. She watches Sesame Street (Elmo's World is her favorite). When it comes on she dances! And she loves Mr. Rogers and a locally produced show called The Buscuit Brothers. She plays in her sandbox and runs around the yard with Nolan. She'll go into a room and close the door behind her. She loooves books, especially her children's bible. But it's rare that we get to read whole stories before she turns the page. She drags her blanket around behind her with her thumb in her mouth like Linus. Yesterday, she was with Sam and she put her thumb in her mouth, grabbed her blanket and walked into her room. She then walked over to the crib, patted on it and said, "night night." When she wants to go somewhere, she pats on the door and says, "bye bye!" She put her big stuffed Elmo to bed the other day by covering him with a blanket. She is getting quite good at problem solving with her toys.

Basically, our 14 month old daughter is brilliant. We just wanted you all to know.

Walking Talking Ada

2008-10-13T13:50:00.002-05:00

We've not posted in a bit. Partly because of busyness, school, or unplanned for travels. But mainly, we've been disorganized and lazy. That should all end soon as Dad has been reading "Getting Things Done" and is now the archnemesis of disorganization and laziness.

A lot of our "free" time has also been spent chasing this toddler around and laughing at her... a lot. We put up a few new videos and pics on Youtube and Picasa, so make sure to check the links on the right. For now, here's some video.

1 Year Old

2008-08-18T12:08:00.005-05:00

Ada turned 1 year old on Saturday. We had a party for her at our house that a lot of her friends and their families attended. There were also out of town family members of Ada's present. It was a great day filled with swimming, music, snacks, drinks, homemade ice cream, and of course... cake.

For tons more pictures and video, make sure to check out our Picasa and Youtube pages.

Catching Up

2008-07-29T19:21:00.002-05:00

Ada’s just a couple of weeks from her first birthday, and she seems to be doing new things everyday:

-She stands up unsupported for 5-10 seconds.
-She takes one or two steps before needing to sit down.
-She can say “Daddy,” “ma,” “dog,” and has an inquisitive “Huh?” kind of noise when she doesn’t understand.
-She waves, french kisses on the mouth, and as of this morning, blows kisses too.
-She knows the difference in and points to: “Ada’s nose,” “mommy’s nose,” and “daddy’s nose.”
-She grabs her blanket and lays down on it or in it when she is ready for a nap or bed.
-It’s a tad early, but when you ask “How old is Ada?” she holds up one finger.

We had a great time on our first family vacation last month. We’ve put up pics from the last several weeks on Picasa and will soon have new video on Youtube as well.

Her new thing

2008-06-03T13:31:00.003-05:00

The photo has nothing to do with what I'm writing about but it should make ya smile!

So Ada has been waving at people for some time now. It used to be a whole arm up and down motion, but now it's just a hand rotating from side to side like a pageant winner. Our little princess...

But yesterday Sam taught her to clap. They watched a local PBS show called the Biscuit Brothers and they sing and teach kids about music. And if there is anything that Ada likes, it's music! The girl is bound to be a musician...or a dancer...or both!

This Always Happens

2008-05-25T11:47:00.002-05:00

I've had a few different blogs in the last several years, and it seems like this always happens - long amounts of time between posts. Life just gets busy, and other things always seem to be above blogging (parenting, pastoring, etc...). Still, we are sorry it's been so long and we'll try to do better. We do sometimes put up pics or Youtube videos even when we aren't writing, so remember to check those from time to time.

Here's a video of Ada crawling:

A Communal Blog

2008-03-10T14:55:00.003-05:00

For the first time ever, we're both writing this blog together - stream of consciousness style:

Kim: We could talk about all of the new food she is eating.
Sam: Oh yeah, so far it's what? Peaches, carrots, apples...
Kim: Peas, Sweet potatoes
Sam: How do you spell potatoes? Ever since Dan Quayle messed it up I get self conscious.
Kim: Dan Quayle's nephew sold us our car, he's a nice guy.
Sam: Oh, bananas too. And still some rice cereal. Those two are the archenemies of her butt.
Kim: Ok, I don't know that we have to talk about all that.
Sam: You're right. Let's just say she sometimes has difficulty "going" and it makes us sad to hear her cry. It sucks that it's the first thing we can't really fix or help her with.
Kim: But the good thing about her crying is that she lets us know when she's going, so maybe we can put her on the little potty and have her potty trained by the time she's one...
Sam: Kim is always the optimist in our family. We should talk about other things now. Like how great we have been at updating our picture and video sites lately. Everyone should go look at them if you haven't yet. We're a lot better with that than we are at blogging.
Kim: I didn't think that it was possible, but she just keeps getting cuter. And now she has two teeth so we can't let her bite our fingers like we used to...owie.
Sam: The level of her cuteness is really too much to handle. It's hard not to smother her with kisses while holding her. And when other people talk about other children being cute, I want to say "Yes, they are cute. But ours is empirically and scientifically the cutest baby ever...in the world." We don't know how it happened; we both think of ourselves as average - but somehow we have created superbaby.
Kim: Hunny, you don't have to be so dramatic. But I do worry about the next child. How will they ever compare to her greatness? Are they doomed? But then again, I was worried that Damien Rice could never create music as beautiful as his first album, yet he did. So maybe we can too.
Sam: Who's being dramatic now? It's a good point though. I have a few rebuttals, then we will move on. First, it's entirely possible that Ada becomes less attractive with age; it happens pretty often. Secondly, if later Myrick children are less attractive, they can excel at other things besides being really really good looking. And finally,...well I forgot my last point. But we should wrap this up. It's getting to be pretty long and I think it's going to scare a lot of people.
Kim: Though you can't tell it from this blog, we really aren't such superficial people. We do care about things other than looks...look at us. Right now I'm wearing what I wore yesterday...and the day before that. Anyway, when Ada gets older, we know we won't be able to tell her so often that she's beautiful cause it will make her self-conscious and materialistic. We'll tell her how great she is at the piano and how nice she is to everyone. We look forward to seeing who she grows up to be.
Sam: Of course. So in conclusion, there are new pics, new videos, Ada eats things, sometimes poops, has some teeth and we think she is beautiful. Am I forgetting anything?
Kim: Ada and Nolan are getting along great now. They love each other! You can see the video of the two of them at the bottom of this blog. And lastly we are going to dedicate Ada on Easter. Come to Mosaic that night if you can make it. We will be such proud parents.
Sam: Thanks for reading and indulging our boredom while we are rained in and Ada is napping. We love you all and hope to see you soon.

Sam and Kim, over and out.

"They grow up so fast..."

2008-01-26T23:49:00.000-06:00

Everyone says so and everyone is right. Ada has such a big personality these days. She laughs at us when we make funny faces and she screams at the top of her lungs when she gets bored...which is often. She's not even mad a lot of the time, she just likes to scream for attention. She loves to go places and see things and people. She loves to be in the Baby Bjorn facing out when I go to Whole Foods so that everyone can smile at her and stop to talk to her and tell her how beautiful she is. She hates being stuck in the back seat of the car all by herself. She's a social one, for sure. We have a bedtime routine that we stick to religiously and she responds the same way every night. She loves her bath, especially now that her Meme got her some flashing ducks to go in the water with her. She doesn't like to be dried off and she always screams when I put lotion on her (she's just like her Daddy there--he hates lotion) and she hates when I put clothes on her. She prefers to be naked. Too bad it's so cold!

She's so much fun right now. I love being with her. I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to spend so much time with her. Thank you, Sam, for making sacrifices with me so that I can have the job that I do and so that I can be home most of the time. We may never have much money, but I'm so happy.

Peek A Boo

2007-12-21T13:38:00.000-06:00

Ada's learning how to play Peek A Boo, and other ways to respond to us:

Kim also took tons of pics yesterday of Ada in a Christmas dress. We didn't get Christmas cards out this year, so this will have to do. Remember to check Youtube and Picasa for more.

So Tired

2007-12-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

We're moving pretty slow lately. No pics, no videos, no stories...no sleep. After an amazing three months of 7-8 hour nights of sleep, Ada has completely changed at night. For the last week, we're all only getting an hour or two at a time all night. It's of course the hardest on Kim, but neither one of us function well on low sleep. It's tough on our bodies, tough on our minds, tough on our relationship.

We of course still love her like crazy, and are thankful for how well she has done so far. But we sure are longing for "the old days."

Back From The South

2007-11-06T12:01:00.000-06:00

Kim, Ada, and I took our first big trip as a family last week. We made a trip through Louisiana and Mississippi to visit my mother and family in Bastrop, LA, Kim's grandmother and family in Columbus, MS, and then back through to see my dad and family in Benton, LA.

We are exhausted and have a lot to catch up with (work, cleaning, sleep, etc...), so this won't be a long post. Just wanted to let everyone know there are some pics up on our Picasa album from the first half of the trip. I haven't gotten to download any of the second half, or any of the videos we took. But soon, they will all be up. Since we're taking so many pics and videos now, I'm going to stop organizing them as I upload them or making captions. It's terribly complicated and time consuming. So from now on, just go to the Picasa or to the Youtube site to see everything that we don't post directly to here.

Finally

2007-10-15T11:15:00.001-05:00

This is Kim and I'm finally able to blog about my baby. Sam has done a great job of writing and handling photos so that family and friends can stay updated, but I actually have some time now when I can write.

Ada will be two months old tomorrow. I can't believe it.

Whoever came up with the post-partum period lasting 6 weeks was right on in my case. It took about that long for me to feel like myself again. After the c-section, it took about 6 weeks for me to be able to use my stomach muscles to sit up, for me to drive, for me to feel more emotionally like myself, and for us to get the nursing thing down. As for Ada, it was around then that she started sleeping about 6 hours at night. Yeah, we got a good one! And I'm writing now because she's still asleep at 10am and we put her down around midnight. I woke her up to feed her about an hour ago, but then she feel right back asleep. I guess she's about to go through another growth spurt.

She is so much fun these days. She's seemed to develop so much in the past two weeks. She's awake a lot more during the days and she doesn't cry as much. She's able to focus on things and she's very interested in her mobile, in her bouncy chair with lights and music, and in her play mat that has stuffed animals hanging from it. But the best thing these days is her smile. She smiles now AT us and when she does, it makes us so happy that we laugh.

I've heard people say that you love your kids unlike anyone else in the world...and they are right. I can't even begin to say how much I love this little girl. We feel so blessed that she is healthy and happy and beautiful. She has these wonderfully chubby cheeks that beg to be kissed over and over again. Everyone comments on her eyes--how they are so big and alert. I love how she folds her legs up and throws her head back when she stretches her arms. I love what her little sock feet look like when I lift up her nightgown to change her diaper. I love her round little belly and chubby thighs. She's perfect, as far as I'm concerned.

I guess it sounds like I'm bragging, but I've never been so proud of anything in my life. I love to show her off. She gets her first round of immunizations tomorrow and then we will be able take her to church with us and we can travel with her. We're looking forward to visiting family at the beginning of November.

Ok, she's still asleep--in bed with Sam who is also asleep on his day off. I'm going to go wake up my lazy family cause I want to be with them. Sam is going to get some new photos and videos up soon, so look out for those.

Adventures in Bathing

2007-09-30T14:05:00.000-05:00

We've started bathing Ada every night before bed now. Kim realized that it helps her sleep much longer and harder, and we're big fans of that. So most nights now, Ada will sleep 6-7 hours after a good warm bath. But the process isn't without its problems.

A few nights back, Kim took off Ada's dirty diaper pretty close to the sink we bathe her in and cleaned her off. But as she held Ada close to her to walk the 3 or 4 feet to the sink, Ada crapped all over Kim and the bathroom floor. We quickly got her to the sink, but then realized that we'd need to drain it and get new water because of the green excrement now floating around in it. Kim cleaned herself off and wiped up the floor, as I drained the sink and held Ada in a towel in case she decided to let loose with #1 or even #2 again. We collected ourselves and got the new bath ready, but as soon as we put Ada down into it she let loose a torrent of urine that shot up and fell back down into the water (it looked like a fountain).

The third time was a charm, but I shudder to think about what our water bill might be like these next few months.

Out & About

2007-09-18T13:04:00.000-05:00

Kim and Ada are getting out a little more in the past week. Kim's finally feeling close to normal from her c-section and was cleared to start driving last week. Ada hates being put in her car seat, she cries and screams and kicks. But once she is in and we are moving she normally calms down or even falls asleep.

Ada's made trips now to her grandparents, the Dr's office, Rudy's BBQ, Kerby Lane and even the grocery store. We can't wait to get her to Mosaic on a Sunday night, but she hasn't been cleared yet to be around other small kids or groups that big.

Bath Time

2007-09-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

Ada's umbilical cord fell off recently, so she had her first full bath in a tub tonight (so far we had just baby-wiped her a lot). She did great, and didn't even cry.

Wake Up Little Ada

2007-09-02T00:38:00.000-05:00

The Dr. told us yesterday we didn't have to wake Ada up anymore for feedings at night. But this afternoon she slept for over six hours, and we started to get worried she wasn't going to sleep tonight. We also knew she'd be real hungry (which is bad for her mood) whenever she did wake up. So, I started trying to wake her with this impromptu song. Kim thought it was funny and started up the camera.

Two Weeks Old

2007-08-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

Ada was two weeks old yesterday, and we had her two week check-up this morning. She now weighs 7 lbs 13 oz, which puts her in the 25th percentile for weight. And she is 20 inches tall, which is also in the 25th percentile. I asked if it was normal for the height to drop, since she was 21 inches at birth. Apparently it is, since babies come out kind of swollen most of the time. Her head is 36 centimeters, which is in the 50th percentile. So she's got an average size head, but her weight and height are below average. Her weight gain however is great, which means we can now start letting her sleep until she wakes up in the night hungry. This was the best news of the morning, as we were getting tired of having to wake her every 3 hours for a feeding at night.

She had to have more bloodwork today to check for a host of metabolic diseases and disorders, so she didn't like having her foot pricked. And the Dr. said we should start using a pacifier since she likes to put her hands in her mouth so much. We had hoped to avoid a pacifier as much as possible, but some babies just have strong sucking tendencies or oral fixations. And a pacifier is better than her hand or whatever else she could find. But all in all it was a good visit and everything is progressing as it should be.

How It All Went Down, Part 4

2007-08-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

It felt like as soon as Dr. Cosentino left the room, 5 new people came flooding in to get us ready for the c-section. They pulled me away from Kim and instructed me to get into a pair of scrubs, complete with a mask a hat, and even booties to put over my shoes. In the mean time, they began prepping Kim for her trip to the O.R. Even with the good that came out of it all, I don't think I'll ever forget watching helplessly as they instructed her to drink something to settle her stomach that actually made her throw up immediately. She looked so scared, and so tired. And all I could do from the other side of the room was to fake a smile and to mouth the words "Everything's ok." The truth is I didn't know that for sure, I had never been so scared in my life - but there really was no time for fear (not yet anyway).

Once we were ready to leave the room, I finally got back to Kim's side. I put my hand on her arm and kissed her forehead. As the nurses began to wheel Kim's bed out into the hallway, it occurred to me that all of our family was out there waiting - and we weren't even sure if they knew what was going on. I made a quick decision that I wouldn't look at any of them, I was afraid I would totally break down. So we exited the room, made a hard right and proceeded down the hall to the O.R. I wanted to look back, but instead focused my attention on Kim. Soon we were at the double doors to the O.R. and the nurses told me I would have to have a seat and wait while they took Kim back and got her prepped.

Now there was time to fear. I spent the 10 longest minutes of my life on a loveseat outside one of the O.R.s at Seton Medical Center. If I had known that was coming, I would have asked my dad or my brother-in-law to sit with me. And to make matters worse, I could now see all of our family walking through a door down the hall and into a waiting area. I called out to them, but no one heard - and I wasn't going to leave my post right by that door in case Kim needed me. I began to cry uncontrollably, you know those big breathy weeps that make you feel like you are going to suffocate. I had never felt so alone. If a hospital janitor had sat down by me at that moment I would have buried my head in their chest and cried. I worried that one or both of the most important people in my life were about to die. I'm someone who prays fairly often, but I prayed more fervantly than I ever had before. And then, when I was exhausted from crying and didn't know what else to pray, I just sat. I sat and I waited peacefully and quitely, for there was nothing else that I could do.

Finally the door swung open. "Mr. Myrick, you can come back now. Please put on your mask." I followed the nurse back into one of several small rooms where I saw Kim laid out on an operating table with 8-10 people all around her. The anesthesiologist and her assistant were right behind her head. Dr. Cosentino and another surgeon were standing near her stomach. 3 nurses or pediatricians (I'm still not sure) were huddled in one corner waiting for the baby that would soon come out. Nurses scurried back and forth between the 3 groups, calling out numbers and words that we didn't understand. I was focused on Kim, I had no desire to look over the sheet at what was going on. Her arms were pulled out to her sides and tied down, like Jesus on the cross or Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart. I sat down right behind her head and kissed it again. I think we were both so relieved to see each other again that a lot of the fear we had worked up individualy gave way to peace.

Everything happened pretty quickly once I got in there. Kim had been medicated enough to not feel any pain, but she still felt the pressure and the movements. And that was a weird thing for me to see, her facial expressions as they cut through her 7 layers and began to move things around from the places that the good Lord had always meant for them to be. Kim says she felt someone push down on her abdomen and force the baby up and out, and then we heard the most wonderful sound in our lives - Ada screaming at the top of her lungs. We looked at each other just like they do in every tv show or movie you've ever seen about birth and just totally lost it. We began crying tears of joy, we began giggling, and kissing each other. We could tell that they moved her over to the corner to check on her, and that they were running different tests and trying to get all of the fluid out that would normally be pushed out during labor. So we spent several minutes just waiting to meet her, while hearing her scream and cry. A nurse finally brought her around to us, where we touched and kissed her head. Little bits of blood and other goo were still on her, but we could not have cared less.

The nurse told us I would need to go with Ada to the nursery while they finished up with Kim. It was hard to leave her again, but we knew the hardest part was over. I walked in with Ada to the nursery, where all of our family was waiting on the other side of the glass. We all watched as they weighed her, measured her height, cleaned her off, and gave her the Vitamin K shot. Dr. Cosentino came in to tell me congratulations and to explain to me what the problems had been. Once he got in and found Ada, he discovered that her umbilical cord had been wrapped twice around her neck and that it was a very thin and weak one. Each time Kim had a contraction or pushed the cord was simultaneusly choking Ada more and giving her less blood and oxygen. We would have done it all exactly the same over again, but it felt good to know the c-section had been necessary.

The 2 weeks since have been a blur of sleepless nights, crying, breastfeeding, dirty diapers, smiles, burps, family visits, friends' visits. And we'll do our best to keep you updated on all the changes a exciting things that occur. But we felt like a good start would be for us to let you know... how it all went down.

The end (which is really the beginning).

How It All Went Down - Part 3

2007-08-25T13:24:00.000-05:00

We arrived at the hospital around 12:30, and were checked into our labor room by 1:00 or so. As nurses got Kim situated and into her bed, I stayed busy plugging cell phones and camera batteries into wall sockets. After a round of questions from the nurses, Dr. Cosentino came by. He was skinny, middle-aged balding man with a shortly trimed goatee. He introduced himself to both of us, and came across as witty, humorous, and even a little sarcastic - he was just what we needed. And it certainly didn't hurt anything in Kim's eyes that he was wearing a UT Longhorns watch. He checked Kim as we told him all that had happened so far - that Kim was past her due date and that her water had broken about two hours before.

Most women's water doesn't break first naturally, we had known that already. Usually contractions start first, then the water breaks later or it gets ruptured by the Dr. to speed things up. But however it happens, once the water breaks most people say the baby needs to be out within 24 hours. So, we were 3 hours into that timeline and Kim was still not having any contractions. She was also only 60% effaced and dilated one and a half inches. So, Dr. Cosentino told us we needed to get things going a little quicker and put Kim on an IV drip of Pitocin. And from that point on through the next several hours, things got pretty boring (from my perspective only, of course).

Kim's parents showed up and brought me some lunch (Kim was already on an ice chips only diet). Then in the early evening all of my parents and my brother showed up. Kim's friend Dey, and my brother and sister in-law showed up too. People would take shifts coming in to check on us, then go back to the waiting room. Some of us made phone calls here and there to let others know how things were progressing. Somewhere in there, someone brought me a hamburger for dinner. But mainly, we all just waited. Kim began having mild contractions a few hours in, then in a few hours more they really started hurting her. We all took turns having our hands squeezed as she tried to breathe through the pain. She decided to get an Epidural once the pain got to be too much, and there was a night and day difference then. In fact, she had one of her worst contractions right before the Epidural; and within a few minutes after it she looked at her mother with a smile on her face and said "I'm having a contraction right now."

Dr. Cosentino would come in every hour and a half or two and check Kim again, look over all of the monitors, and ask her how she was doing. Later in the night, the nurses picked up on Ada's heartrate dropping when Kim was laying on her left side or when stronger contractions would come. Dr. Cosentino and the nurses told us that might become a factor during the pushing stage, but that it was too soon to worry yet. Around 12:30 am, Dr. Cosentino said Kim was getting real close, and that he expected her to be ready to push around 1:30. But he also told us that Ada was far enough down for him to be able to feel her head and realize that she was face up instead of face down. That isn't necessarily a dangerous position, but it normally means a lot harder time pushing on the mom. We didn't let it bother us much, because he said he could probably turn her as Kim was pushing later on.

Around 1:30, our family told us bye and cleared out for us to start the pushing phase. But Dr. Cosentino and the nurses soon discovered that Ada's heart rate was now falling dangerously low during every contraction and push. She always rebounded during the breaks, but with every contraction Dr. Cosentino shook his head and looked a little more perturbed. He told us that she just didn't want to turn, even though he had tried it to the left and to the right. He also told us that he could only keep watching her heart beat dip so many times before he'd want to do a c-section. That thought was tough on us at first, we had never even really thought much about c-sections. Kim just knew she wanted to avoid one at all costs, and we both had heard about how often OB's do unnessecery c-sections. But Kim had been pushing for around 30 minutes, with no progress at all. And everyone in the room who knew about birth could tell that something just wasn't right. Dr. Cosentino said he was going to step out for a few minutes to take a phone call and to give Kim and Ada a break. He told us when he got back we'd push a little more, but that if there was no change a c-section would be necessary.

After about 10 minutes that felt like hours, he came in and got Kim to push through one more contraction. After looking at the monitors and sharing a silent look with the nurse that spoke volumes to us, he turned to us and told us Kim would need a c-section. We knew things were about to get much tougher on us all, but we trusted our Dr. and couldn't imagine doing any harm to Ada just so we could spend less money or be able to say that Kim had her vaginally. We nodded our approval and Dr. Cosentino said "Ok then, let's go get your daughter out."

How It All Went Down - Part 2

2007-08-24T10:52:00.000-05:00

Here's my perspective:

Ada's due date (August 12) had come and gone. Since we knew most first babies come late and there was no way to know when Ada would make her appearance, I had been working like normal last week at Mosaic. I had worked some on emails and returning phone calls, and had coordinated with Don on all the things that needed to happen that day to keep getting ready for the weekend's grand opening of Mosaic's new building.

I was walking into Home Depot to rent a jam saw so that Tim Brosnan and I could work on some flooring when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I saw that it was Kim, and I tried to not get too excited. I had been excited every time she had called me for a week thinking that was the call, and it never was. "Hello," I answered. "Hey baby, I think my water just broke and they want to see me at the Dr's office right away." Somehow I navigated out of the Home Depot and the Home Depot parking lot, and was home in 2 or 3 minutes. I was still trying to keep my excitement in check, since we weren't sure whether Kim's water had broke or not and since we had started to think the baby would never come.

Once we arrived at the Dr's office, it felt like forever before they called us back. I remember thinking it was weird to make a couple who might be having a baby wait while other women there for routine checkups or in earlier stages of pregnancy kept getting called back. But I'd soon discover that nothing happens too fast with labor or delivery, and that everyone but us knew we had plenty of time. Once we made it back to see Dr. Hooi she quickly ascertained that yes, Kim's water had broken, and that she was one and a half centimeters dilated. She told us that she would call the hospital to let them know that we were coming, and that Kim would be treated by Dr. Cosentino - a man from her group that was on call for that day and night. Dr. Hooi told us that we would love him and that he was a great Dr. to have.

We'd find out real soon just how right she was.

How It All Went Down - Part 1

2007-08-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

This is video of Kim's stomach the night before her water broke. It was her last big party in the womb, and maybe even when she wrapped her umbilical cord around her neck twice. We'll write about what happened the next day real soon.

We're Home

2007-08-20T13:26:00.000-05:00

Ada was born on August 16th at 2:33 am. She weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz and was 21 inches long.

We're home now and have done a little work while on the interweb. Check out Ada's Picasa Picture Album on the sidebar. Soon, there will be updates on this blog on Ada including our versions of her birth story and what she's up to now. But for now, we need a lot of rest.

Love,
Sam