Christmas Eve

Twas the morn before Christmas and John felt a sloth. His family was growling, his friends were all wroth. Though he had been fairly busy in this new baby phase, his blog remained stagnant for nearly ten days!

"More pictures, more updates, more news," they all cried, but John's brand new family had kept his hands tied. But a new dawn was breaking, it was time to repent, so John snapped a few photos and then online he went.

The family is healthy, all are just swell. Baby Dani is sleeping and Tanna as well. John has been shopping, to spread Christmas joy - but the lack of success has begun to annoy. But come Christmas morning, all will be right - the family and presents are sure to delight.

We'll be sure to capture all the 'First Christmas' fun, and post for your pleasure in a day soon to come. From the Bills, Merry Christmas, God bless you and yours - get shopping done early and stay out of the stores!

Homecoming

Well, so much for the wisdom of modern medicine. When our little Danielle was born 1 week ago, the doctors told us she would have to be in the hospital for 6 weeks. Just Tuesday, they told us it wouldn't be that long, maybe 4 weeks. Yesterday, they told us to pack her up and take her home - less than a week after her birth! It's a Christmas miracle!

It is true what they say about the first day you bring a new baby home - you don't get much sleep. Only a few hours after we got home from the hospital, we had to turn right around and go back. Not for Dani, but for Tanna! Her foot swelled up like a big ol' balloon, but only on one side. Her doctor thought it might be a blood clot and told her to go to the hospital. Tanna wanted me to stay with Dani while a friend drove her 40 minutes back to Seton Medical. I got to be a lone daddy for awhile, it was, uh, fun?

Long story short, Tanna is OK. The swelling is going down and she is keeping an eye on it. She got home at 2:30 or so and we didn't get to sleep for awhile after that. So, first night, no sleep.

I wanted to post a few more pictures. My dad took these on his camera phone, I like them a lot. If you start to get tired of baby pictures, TOUGH! Enjoy-



Goodnight *yawn*

Proud Daddy

Tonight, Tanna and I returned from the hospital, visiting baby Dani, and we finally have some good pictures to post. But first, the story.

We knew Tanna could pop at any moment, but I really expected she would deliver a day or two after Christmas. Last Thursday, Tanna started having contractions. This was nothing new, she has been having contractions since 20 weeks, but this time they were frequent and persisting. She called the doctor, who told her to time them, and if she had more than 6 in an hour, to call back. She had 13. The doctor told her, as a precaution, to come to the hospital and get an examination. When I arrived home from work, Tanna met me in the driveway and told me she had to go. I was annoyed at whatever doctor told her to come in- just to be extra careful.

We got to the hospital and the doctor examined Tanna, 1.5 cm dilated, 50% effaced. They put her on some monitors and told her to lay still, they would probably send us home in two hours. Two hours later, they told her they wanted to monitor a little longer, and gave her some medicine to stop contractions - again, we would probably go home in an hour or so. I was pretty surprised when they came back and told us Tanna would be staying over night, with lots more drugs, including some mega sleep aides.

The next morning, the doctor came in and checked Tanna. 3 cm dilated and still contracting. They told us she would get a bigger dose of the medication to stop contractions and would go home soon. In another hour she came back and told us she would be delivering the baby. It was a bit shocking, Tanna fretted a bit and I got on the phone to tell parents. Fortunately, Tanna's parents were already planning to come that weekend, they just had to leave a few hours earlier. From the time they told us they would deliver to the time I had a baby in my hands was about 25-30 minutes, that was a total blur.

As I wrote earlier, Tanna and baby Danielle did just fine and are recovering very well. Tanna was tough!! Major surgery and 8 months of pregnancy and the worst pain she felt was Friday night when she started out of bed screaming. I was obviously worried and called the nurse. Tears were streaming down her face as Tanna grunted through the pain, trying to communicate with the nurse. The nurse got her up to pee, all of a sudden the pain was gone. Major surgery and the pain my wife feels is a full bladder - one tough chick!

I wanted to get several more pictures up here and maybe a few videos. Enjoy!



And my favorite....


I wanted to try a little video, I don't think it has sound, but it's cute...


Well we're all exhausted, and it's past our bedtime, so we'll check in on you guys tomorrow.
Goodnight! *yawn*

Special Announcement

Big News! Tanna had the baby!
Danielle Marie Bills was born Friday, December 7th at 11:19 AM. Despite being almost 6 weeks early, she was still a healthy 5 pounds, 5 oz. She eats great, breathes on her own and is overall very healthy. She will spend a week or 5 in the neonatal ICU until they are absolutely sure she'll eat and breathe and all that. Until then, We will be making trips to the hospital twice daily. It's been a long weekend, and mommy and daddy are glad to be home from the hospital. When we have a chance to catch our breath, I will be back with the full story, complete with pictures and all. I'm sorry to keep you all in suspense, but here's one little picture to get you started - check again tomorrow for more.

Baby Book Recommendation

A friend from church gave us the coolest baby book called "Baby 411". There is also a "Toddler 411" that I will be investing in soon.

It's got some really good practical advice and information. If you have babies or toddlers on the brain, be sure to check it out!

www.baby411.com

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I have been hard at it in the last few days, hanging lights and assembling our Christmas tree in the hours after I get home from work. I am really, really proud of the lights. I am terrified of heights so this is even more of an accomplishment - with no ladder involved - all hanging from the roof! They're simple, I know, but I plan on adding some color in a week or so. At any rate they look clean and classic - and I like them, so there!

(funky light photo)

We also have a tree. Because Tanna can sometimes be irritated by tree pollens, we decided to go plastic. A few years ago, we bought this tree for like $20, what a deal! The photo doesn't do it justice, it's really tall and actually quite pretty, it just needs decorating.


Speaking of decorating, Tanna wanted to replace our standard door wreath with a more festive version. She went to Wal-Mart and got a few bits and pieces and put this together. I think it looks fantastic - and it was very inexpensive to put together. Wreaths like these were selling for $40, but I think Tanna put this one together for $8. What do you think?


In case you didn't know, or haven't guessed by now, I can be terribly cheap. Not scrooge cheap, but pretty close. We don't like to spend money when we don't have to, so we'll opt to make things if it will save us a buck. This is a far cry from younger John, who must have thought money was made of hot lava and would burn you if you held on to it too long. I guess I had to grow up sometime.

Preggy pics, by request

I've had a few people ask me how Tanna is doing and how big she has gotten, so I'm posting the obligatory belly shots. Tanna hates them, but I think she looks really cute. You can't tell from the pictures, but she's got little legs, and a cute little body with this BIG belly! You can tell she is super excited about having her picture taken :)



If she ever gets to feeling really bad, she can always look at this pic.

How ridiculous!
That should make her feel better :)

One more thing.....

Texas plays the Aggies today,
Hook em Horns!!


oh, and while you're at it, go OSU! Beat Oklahoma!



Well, as a final note, the Longhorns couldn't pull it out. For the second year in a row, the turkey got the better of us. I think I won't shave, bathe or leave the house for 11 days - I am officially in mourning.

Happy Thanksgiving (weekend) Everybody!

So I'm a day late ......sue me :)

We had a very enjoyable and very relaxing turkey day with the family. We had planned on being in Houston, but Tanna's doctor told us it was not a good idea as she could go into labor anytime between tomorrow and 10 weeks from now.

Speaking of Tanna's doctor, she told us that Tanna is progressing nicely and the baby looks to be doing very well. Because Tanna is at a higher risk of early delivery, we get monthly ultrasounds- possibly one of the only perks of going to the doctor 6 times a month.

This brings me to my thoughts today. I have repeatedly told Tanna how incredibly blessed we are. We have good jobs, great families and all the comforts we never thought we deserved. I am very thankful for all of this, but most of all for my very special wife. She has put up with a lot from me in the last 5 years, but these last few months she has been a saint in what is usually a very difficult time for women with child. I love you honey, and thank you for taking such good care of our baby.


In what is sure to be the first of many, many baby pictures, I offer this for your enjoyment. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sneaky John....

I guess John's been busy putting all of this together! It looks good. Nice work John. =)

Today is most likely my last day of teaching for the semester because I am going on bed rest - I'll find out for sure today at 3:00. We're very excited to meet our little princess, but not quite yet!

Our family and friends have been so incredibly generous to us in preparing for the bebe. Thank you all! We really appreciate everything that you have given us, and most of all your love and support!

Introductions

For those of you who are new to our little family I will try to bring you up to speed.

We met at school through some mutual friends in 2002. It wasn't long before the sparks flew and by Valentines day, 2003, we were engaged. We gave each other ample opportunity to back out, Tanna went with the Bills on a week long ski trip to Winter Park Colorado, and I was taken camping in Rocky Mtn National Park en route to a Maddox family reunion. Talk about running the gauntlet :)
























We were married in Houston August 2003 and our little family was born.
Since then we've been blessed to enjoy a little traveling and accomplish some pretty big things. Together we've been to Colorado, Mexico, Seattle, Navoo, and most recently I was
able to go back to Latvia, where I served a mission, with Tanna and my parents.































We've also celebrated two graduations, building a new house, and some pretty intense cycling tours. Nothing has been as exciting or as rewarding as the project we've been working on for the last eight months.

Welcome!

Following the lead of my more ambitious sister, Amanda, Tanna and I started this blog to share our new little family with our friends and relatives. Come back often to see new pictures and check on the progress of new baby_______. Oops, almost let the name slip - check back later for more details. :)