Real Men Wear Kilts!

Real Scots go commando...

Fortunately for all you I am still in diapers...with a onesie...so no bare down there. :) But I thought you might like to see some pics from my recent birthday party (mainly to show off my manly legs and my super cool kilt). Mom hired a bagpiper...well, hired is a bit of a stretch...she begged our neighbor who happens to play for Austin fire department to come over and play a few songs...and, out of the kindness of his heart, he did. He's not a real Scot but he sure plays like one. Mom tested out some bagpipe music on me before asking him (she is still scarred from the time she had our uncle dress up like a dalmatian for her niece and nephew's 3rd birthday...101 Dalmatians themed of course...only to have all the kids scream bloody murder at the sight of him)...um, but I guess she didn't have the volume up high enough or something because it sounded really different hearing one up close and personal. I think this picture may say it all. Hopefully he's not scarred...this was his first kid birthday party gig too.



Of course nothing stops a good cry like buttercream frosting. Mmmm....cupcakes...does it get any better than that?! So, I don't officially turn one til Wednesday...I feel I need to put that out there as some of you thought I literally got a sister for my birthday (that would have been truly crazy - huh? what are those statistical odds?!). Maybe I should say she's the turkey we got for Thanksgiving instead but that just doesn't sound as nice. Dad does call her "Lil Punkin" (Mom's nickname was Punkin when she was little...funny, not sure why she doesn't want to be called "Big Punkin" now?!) Besides, I literally did get her as my birthday present as clearly the other one - you know, the gift of bagpipes - didn't go over so well.



So, speaking of my sister...Naomi turned two weeks old yesterday and is doing GREAT! She breathes on her own, is starting to eat on her own (speaking from experience, I know she will enjoy eating through her mouth much more than her nose!), and is even dressing herself. Well, that last part isn't exactly true...but she is starting to wear her own clothes! She is AMAZING!! From what I hear from Mom and Dad, hanging out in NICU is much more fun this time around. Of course if it wasn't for me they wouldn't have made all these friends there! They say that it's possible that she could be home for us to party together on New Year's Eve. She would have to speed through all of her milestones (which she is already but needs to keep at it!)...so pray that she does!! Dad is asking for double prayers...Naomi home AND only one insurance deductible to pay (yep, yep, we Shewmaker kids cost double because we are so stinkin' cute...well, and because we like to be at the hospital during a calendar change!)


Okay, is it just me or does she need to have her eyebrows waxed?

So, in other news...I met Santa yesterday!!!! I liked him...he's much quieter than Andre the Bagpiper. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him what every good Austinite would say..."Whirled Peas of course!" ha ha. Not really...I said getting Naomi was enough. Ugh, I lied to Santa...will that put me on his Naughty list? I hope not.



Actually, the highlight of yesterday was going to see a live nativity at the church down the street. I loved hearing about Jesus' birth and how He came to save me. Yep, even little ol' me. Now that's a great Christmas gift. (oh, and, if you are wondering, the Baptists still serve cookies and punch and do some friendly recruiting at their seasonal events)

Hope you too are enjoying the Christmas season!!
Cheers,
Will

MRI (Mighty Restrictive Incubator)

I had the big MRI today and, whoa, that thing seems like a place where you would place chicks so that they grow into big chickens.  That reminds me of the chickens running around in my neighbor's backyard -- hey, "keep Austin weird," right?

Anyway, so I did have the MRI.  Aside from feelings of grogginess -- Mom said it looked like I had too many margaritas, but I told her that they didn't give me any pizza.  Ha!  And Mom thinks I didn't get any of Dad's sense of humor! -- it went pretty well.  But, and this is kinda important, my paramedic looked alot like Santa Claus (for those of you who believe in him, ;) ) so I am a little unsure if I was bad this year or what.  I mean he put me in a long white tube for three hours, and when I woke up for a few minutes, he put me BACK in there!  Are you kidding?  At least I have always been a good sleeper and was able to fall back asleep.

They got all the pictures that they wanted to get.  At least all the ones Dad could convince the insurance company to pay for.   Now I will just have to see what the doctors say about them in the next few weeks.  Dad said something about each one being worth a thousand words and I thought, "I may not be able to write all that stuff on my blog."  Hmmm?  So stay tuned.  I'll be thinking about how to explain it.

Thanks so much for the prayers!   Keep praying for healing!  Jesus healed people all different ways when he was on Earth.  I wonder if he ever thought someone could be healed while laying in an MRI machine?  Wait a minute, he knew about those way, way back when, so surely he did.  Who knows, he may even have special names for our muscles, different that what we call them.  So maybe He will heal me one day soon.

Ok, that's enough for today.

Before I go, Dad says I should dedicate this song to my sister because the only reason they could ever leave me in the NICU was because they knew that God would take care of me.  So, here you go, Naomi.  I can't wait to see you!