Here is a little quick video of Rickey rolling over. I love the sound he makes near the end...

Red Red Wine

So here's an update on how things are going with the new McCrary family. Last Sunday Maria and I were called to be the new teachers for the YSA Sunday School class. Maria also has a talk this Sunday and I have one the following Sunday...which means the week has flown by and we are going to be up late tonight planning. :)

I know everybody says it about their own kid...but Rickey is growing up really really fast! We have realized that his "newborn" look disappeared a long time ago and will "never" come back. You really have to appreciate and take advantage of each stage-phase of life because once its over...its over!

Maria doen't know it right now but I'm watching her dance to UB40 with Rickey on the bed. She is such a great Mom!

We have the best baby ever! ...I'm sure everybody says that too! I can't remember the last time he cried. Well, I guess I do...he cried for like 10 seconds a few days ago when we started to give him a bath....but then he stopped. In the last couple weeks he's been starting to make more and more sounds. He loves it when I sing the primary song "Hello, Hello", he starts laughing and moving his mouth like he wants to sing too. At night he sleeps for about 6-7 hours...then wakes up...eats...and falls right back to sleep. Lately, he's been staying awake more during the day. I'm thinking a couple more weeks and he'll be walking. :) The pediatrician says he is big for his age. He is barely fitting into some of his 3-6 month clothing and he's only 10 weeks. At 2 weeks he weighed the same. At 6 weeks he weighed 10.6 pounds, gained 3.6. We are going to take him on Monday to the Pediatrician for a check-up.

Last night Maria and I went out on a "date" and brought Rickey along with us. I don't know why people say that when you have a baby your life changes dramatically. We haven't noticed much of an inconvenience. In fact, having a son has made our lives even more enjoyable. It's hard to get out of bed to make him a bottle but once I have him in my arms I consider myself lucky to have been the one to get out of bed...I'm sure Maria feels the same.

I love thinking about the future for our family. There is no one I would rather spend time with than my wife and now that we have a baby it is even better! We are so grateful...SO GRATEFUL...for all of our blessings. Especially the time we've spent here in Ecuador for the past year. We feel thankful for having had the courage to follow the spirit's guidance in the hard times and we have seen the blessings and feel very much indebted to the Lord.

One Month Old

Wow, so little Rico is already one month old. We are amazed at how fast he grows up and how fast time flies. He's finally fitting in to some of the clothes his cousin Ezequiel luckily had stored away.

Rickey loves to sleep! We've discovered that he always seems to go down at around 11-12pm and if we load him up with at least 4 ounces of formula then he is out for the next 5 hours. We are so grateful he is such a calm baby. He only cries when he's hungry...oh boy he is soooo impatient when he's hungry, we can't seem to make the bottle fast enough for him. He's the most handsome baby I've ever seen. I love to prop him up just below my left shoulder and burp him with his face showing towards mine. He's got the cutest little mouth especially when he shapes it like he wants to whistle.

Maria is such a great Mom, she's always the first one to Rickey when he starts to cry or needs something. We always play "paper, rock, scissors" when he needs his diaper changed, I win about 90% of the time. Sometimes I feel so bad for her that I change him even though I won. hehe :) I am soooo blessed to have her as my wife and mother to my child. She is the most amazing woman! I consider myself the luckiest man in the world to have a wife that fufills 100% all five of my "Love Languages."

Here are some recent pics taken of little James 2:

Rickey with his cousin Sol Emilia (3 weeks older).

Rickey Ricon with a full stomach.

James 1 - James 2

Mommas boy.

Rocky Jones Art

My Brother In-Law Rocky has a new blog showing off some of his fine art. Let him know if you want to order some prints or originals. Check it out here: rockyjonesart.blogspot.com

Temple Day

On July 4th we spent the morning at the Temple in Guayaquil. Maria's dad went for the first time and I was his guide. It was a great way to start the day. Here a few pictures that we took:

Maria and her dad.

This is a cool picture cause you can see a black bird flying through it.

James and Maria's dad.

Maria and her dad outside the entrance.

James and Jamesito

First Day Home

Here are some pictures taken on Rickey's first day home. He gave us an enormous poooo which he hasn't yet repeated. I'm serious, it did not have a smell and it looked exactly like a pound of thick brownie mix...just ask mom, I sent her a picture of it. hehe He also has peed on me several times while changing him. He pooped all over the towel that I was drying him with after his first bath. He kissed me on the neck while I was burbing him. He smiles while he sleeps- He has Maria's smile. He has James' hairline. He LOVES to look around and see whats going on.
More pics to come!

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Welcome to this World

PROUD PARENTS!!!

Wow, can you believe it?? On June 12, 2009 my son, Rickey James, was born at 1:27pm and weighing in at exactly 7 pounds. Maria's contractions began on June 11 at around 8:30pm and lasted until 1:27pm, June 12. They started about 10-12 minutes apart, they were fairly painless and was only noticed by her stomach contracting and becoming hard as a rock. James being James wanted everything logged down so since the contractions began at around 8:30 we have a list of when every contractions began and ended until we left for the hospital around 5:00am.

When we arrived at the hospital Maria was 4 cm dilated and her contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart. They admitted her, gave us our room and had her walk the halls until our doctor arrived. After about 4 hours of walking, on and off, our doctor gave Maria Pitocin to increase the strength of the contractions. What started out as a 10 scale, 10 being most painful, soon had to change to a 15 scale. hehe About an hour later our doctor told us that Maria was still at 4 cm dilated and the birth not progressing. When the baby's heart rate became a problem the doctors decided to perform a Cesarean.

This was not what we wanted at all, however, seeing that Maria was at about17 hours of labor which was not progressing even after a Pitocin drop and that the heart rate was fluctuating we decided to just trust the docs opinion and go with it. LUCKILY we were able to convince our Doctor to let me in the operating room during the surgery. I was able to get some pretty cool pics of Rickey immediately after being born. We were very happy that I didn't have to miss the birth of my son due to a cesarean.

Maria is starting to feel better now. This morning I gave her a shot in the butt! hehe She still can't move around much but tries her best. She is going to be an incredible mother!! Rickey is super handsome and looks so much like my baby pictures. He has an awesome receeding hairline just like his daddy. :)

Welp, Maria and I are proud parents and haven't even noticed the sleepless nights. Enjoy the pictures! :)

Maria's last day pregnant.

Maria enjoying a sudden contraction :)

Walking the halls and hoping to dilate. During contractions he had some special moments grasping those walls. hehe

This picture looks a lot like one of my baby pictures.

As soon as he was born he was opening his eyes and looking all over the place.

Some things just make you go "awwww"

Here is Rickey on his way home from the hospital.