Thankful

Things that we are thankful for...

• A healthy and easy pregnancy
• 1 beautiful day with Addie
• A sovereign God
• A good God
• That we were able to hold our little girl close
• Our God hears our prayers
• Our God understands our pain (He lost His Son)
• Going through labor/delivery as a team
• Our relationship with each other has deepened
• Our amazing family
• Our wonderful friends
• All the prayers that have been said on our behalf
• A beautiful daughter
• A surprisingly fast recovery for Kristin
• The time we spent in our room as a family
• The word of God
• That we had such good times with our family (they love each other!)
• That we're learning what it means to grieve and be comforted
• We are parents
• We belong to Christ and heaven is our home
• The sweet pictures of Addie to remember
• Our times together as husband and wife - in prayer, tears and joys
• The wonderful care Addie & Kristin received in the hospital
• People who grieve with us
• The Navigators' love shown toward us
• The kindness of God through His people - phone calls, hugs, flowers, tears, prayers
• We know God in new and deeper ways
• God's Presence that never leaves us
• Students who love us and came to be with us
• The hope that is found in Christ alone
• That Addie is with Jesus

My Portion Forever

Our hearts are heavy and the tears still flow. Life is strange to us right now. We have become parents, but the people around us can't tell. We feel that we should have a little one filling our home with sweet noises and little cries. Instead, it is still just the two of us in a strangely quiet home. It is filled with some pictures and many flowers, but no Addie.

But we serve a God that can be trusted. We serve a God that is infinitely good. We will praise God in this time of sorrow. We will praise Him for His goodness and we will not question or curse Him.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

"But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." Psalm 73:28

Labor & Delivery

After having strong contractions for hours, we headed to the birthing center in Redlands at 5am on Monday morning. I was 5 cm dilated and happy that I was so far along. My labor was long but normal and without complications. Addie’s heart rate was always good whenever the midwife would check it. Brandon was with me the entire time: coaching, cheering, helping, holding me and loving me. We were both exhausted by the time Addie arrived at 4:50 pm.
I had been waiting and waiting for the moment she would appear and be placed upon my chest - to have my little baby close and near me right away. But our little Addie was born without the oxygen she needed. Something had happened in the last minutes of labor that kept her from being born full of life and breath. She received good care from the minute she arrived and through her entire time at the hospital. But there was too much damage to her little organs.
We had been able to see and hold and touch and kiss Addie in the NICU but for the last hour of her life, she was brought to our room and we were allowed to be together as a family. This was a precious gift from God. I was able to hold her close and we were able to hug and be with her in the way we had been waiting – just our little girl in our arms. Her daddy committed her to her Heavenly Father and Jesus took her home. We are so thankful to God for what He did by giving us a beautiful daughter. Addie’s enjoying His Presence and Glory forever. He is so good to us.

We wanted to give you a little more of the story. Thank you all for your deep love and prayers on our behalf. We feel so upheld, and carried by God. And we rest not in our strength but in Him, knowing that your prayers for us in the midst of grief have been deeply answered. We enjoyed a sweet service on Saturday in memory of Addie and in honor of God. He has been gracious in His provision and love to us. Tomorrow, all of our family will be back in their respective homes. But we have great support and friends here in CA that will take over as our family. God's kindness is indeed shown through His people. Please pray for us as we face the coming days and weeks without our little girl. We love you and are so grateful for you. This last week has been so, so hard and sad but also so deep and such sweet days with each other, our family, friends and others. We will continue to record some thoughts and more pictures in the coming weeks. Thank you.

Adella Mae Crouch

Our beautiful baby girl was born on June 25, 2007 at 5:00pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long. She was so lovely and precious and we loved her so much. She lived for just 21 hours and passed away on June 26, 2007.

God is so good and He gave us the most precious gift we could ever ask for. We will treasure that day with Addie for as long as we live. We loved her, kissed her, held her, prayed for her, sang to her, talked to her, committed her to Jesus, and she died in the arms of her mommy and daddy. Now she is with Jesus and, though we are so sad, we praise God for that one day.

We will have a service for family and all of our friends who can make it. So, if you are able to attend, we would love to see you there.

The location is...
Cortner Chapel
221 Brookside Avenue
Redlands, CA 92373


The schedule is as follows...

Saturday, June 30
9:30 - 10:30 family visitation
10:30 - 11:30 friends visitation
11:30 - 12:30 service

This will be a very informal gathering. we will not dress up at all, we just want people to be together.

We are incredibly blessed to have so many friends who love us and we value all the prayers that have been said on our behalf. As you grieve with us, we ask that you would also praise God with us. He is so good and He gave us the most wonderful gift that day.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" - Romans 8:28

"For those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough; for you are a God who does what is right and you smooth out the path ahead of them." - Isaiah 26:7

Contractions

The moment we have all been waiting for is upon us. Kristin started having contractions today (Sunday) at noon. They were very mild at first, but are becoming more frequent and more intense. We have had a great day... Kristin took a nap (in preperation for one of the most exhausting things she will ever go through), we took a couple of walks, we played monopoly (I won), we got an A&W rootbeer float, and we have been praying frequently.

We find that the most common prayer is that we would remember that God is good and that He is sovereign. No matter what happens or how it happens, God is good and He is sovereign. We can rest in that. Please take a brief moment and pray for us right now. We appreciate you all and the next post on this blog promises to be even more exciting.

Reflections

Here we are with the due date a mere 29 hours away. When is our daughter going to show up? Every morning I am still asking Kristin, "is today the day?" And each day passes with no daughter. The good news is that the odds go up everyday. I am bound to hit it sooner or later. We are trying to be patient and trust God in His timing.

We have had a wonderful time together lately. We have had fun talking, laughing, and praying. I am blessed to have such a wonderful wife.

Please continue to pray with us that God would introduce our daughter to the world in His perfect timing. Also pray that we would be patient in waiting and that we would fully trust in God's sovereignty. We serve a wonderful God who is good through and through. We serve a God who is all knowing and all powerful. We serve a God who is much more wise than we are. We serve a God who wants to live life with us.

Still waiting...

Hello everyone - no picture today. there's not much new here. we're basically waiting for our little girl's big day. I'm feeling quite ready, especially since I was kind of planning on her coming early and well, my "official" due date is now only 3 days away (although everyone tells you the due date is only an estimate). anyway, I've definitely picked up the nap-a-day routine and it's nice. It's just been the last week or so that I've felt dramatically more tired. she seems to be sucking my energy which I gather is what she will continue to do after she is born. but I still am anxiously awaiting her arrival. I can't wait to see her face and touch her skin and hug and kiss her all the time. We'll keep you posted on any new activity. love, Kristin

That's My King - Dr. Lockridge

This is one of the greatest talks ever given. It doesn't directly have anything to do with our soon-to-be daughter, but we are praying that one day her heart will cry these words. Take a look at it... it is AWESOME!!!

A Glimpse Into Our Lives

15 Days and Counting

15 days until the due date!!! It is hard to believe that these 9 months are drawing to a close. We are getting more and more excited every day. Our little daughter seems to be getting more and more anxious to meet us as well. She is constantly moving, and kicking, and turning. We have had a good time playing Name That Body Part. We can feel little parts, bigger parts, and hard parts.

All in all, I think that Kristin would say that it has been a pretty easy pregnancy. And I have to say that it hasn't been to difficult for me either. We have had a good time these past few weeks as we have been settling in. We are enjoying a slower pace and a resonable amount of sleep. We are fully aware that this will all change soon enough... but it has been fun and memorable.

37 weeks

Hello - here I am in our new Riverside apartment - in our kitchen. It's pretty nice - with new cabinets, appliances and countertops. and I'm 37 weeks along which means "full-term" and our little girl is supposedly ready to arrive any day, although it also could be weeks. I still feel good overall, although I'm still hoping for the earlier than later arrival. I am definitely excited to meet our daughter and see what she looks like and get to know her better. She still is the little mover and squirmer although if I feel her little feet or legs and I push on them, she moves right away (which either means to me that she's ticklish or just doesn't like to be messed with). I'm hoping she's just ticklish. please pray for us as we wait and get ready for her - that my labor would go smoothly and that there wouldn't be any complications. we love you!

Guess the Due Date

June is finally here and the days just keep ticking away. The official due date is June 25th, but my money is on the 20th. Kristin is pulling for the 15th. It is pretty crazy knowing that it could happen at any time. Each day we are one day closer to the arrival of our new baby girl... but that could mean 1 more day or it could mean 30 more days.

Anyone else out there who wants to get in on the "guess the due date" game, just leave a message with your guess. Just so you know... Kristin might not be as friendly to you if your guess is too far into July. :)

35 Weeks (and our friendly moving crew)

This was the crew from ASU that helped us move to Riverside! They were an amazing help! We'd still be in AZ without them. They not only helped us load the truck but they caravanned with us all the way to CA and then helped us unload - once in our apartment and then to our storage unit. They had great attitudes and made the whole thing fun. Thanks to everyone! The other picture is in our new little back patio that Brandon has adorned with all our potted plants from our house. We even planted a tomato plant and some herbs. yum. I'm about a month away from the "due date" and still feeling well. Sleeping has become not quite as fun with achey hips but I can't complain - this pregnancy has been great. We are eagerly awaiting this girl's arrival - she weighs over 5 pounds and it's evident as she moves around inside - trying to find a comfortable position. We'll post some more soon.

Settling In

We are well on our way to official CA residents. We have been here 12 days and already have California tags on our cars, California drivers license coming in the mail, insurance switched, and mostly unpacked. We have been out exploring and have found a few really good places to eat, a really fun place to hike, and a secret avocado grove. Kristin is looking great and feeling great. Her tummy is slowly growing and we are getting anxious to be parents. Please keep us in your prayers as you think of us... that the baby would be healthy and on time and that God would speak to us as to how we should shape this ministry. Also pray that we would be good parents.

Tempe 2 Riverside

So this isn't my favorite picture but I've been slow at the blog lately... so we'll take another picture soon (maybe even today!) and post it but I wanted to add something. this picture is from our ASU end-of-the-year luau. It's at least a decent pic of Brandon's new facial hair design(aka trucker stache) and a profile of my ever-growing belly. We love you! Riverside is great - we already have our new CA license plates and we know where a grocery store, Home Depot, Target and Trader Joe's is located. We also know how not to get on the 215 North and to avoid Interstate 91 around any sort of traffic times. The weather is cooler than AZ but we don't know anyone here... yet. We miss our friends in Tempe and are trying to get ready for our baby's arrival. I guess this is getting to be random. I'll tell you more next time!

32 weeks!

Hello again! My parents came to visit this weekend and we had a great time. They hadn't seen me pregnant since Thanksgiving so they enjoyed the drastic changes since then. They were amazing help, too, since we had lots of projects to do (cleaning, packing and going to fun restaurants). Brandon and I enjoyed every minute of it - we also swam in our pool, took walks and talked about babies. thanks, Mom & Dad!

30 weeks!

Here I am - a nice profile shot for you. I'm definitely sticking out. I still feel good and happy to be pregnant. We have been taking a 4-week childbirth prep class and I also just took a breastfeeding class. we're learning a lot! Our little girl is still tumbling and moving and kicking and she even had hiccups one night when I was falling asleep. I thought she was kicking at first but in my half-sleep state, I noticed that her kicks were quite rhythmic and the same each time... I yelled out: "Hiccups" but I woke Brandon up and then I fell asleep. oh well. she also has taken up sticking something up in my rib area which makes it a little harder to bend or breathe. I just poke her back but it doesn't seem to bother her. And today, I finally made the trek to Babies 'R Us with a friend who could help counsel me through baby registering. That place can be slightly overwhelming. But I made it.

Mexico - 30 weeks

This picture was taken on our way back from Mexico last weekend. We had an amazing 4 day weekend (courtesy of my cool brother and sister-in-law) in Puerto Penasco as a pre-baby vacation. We had a great time relaxing and playing poolside. The cactus behind us is called an ocotillo and are in bloom this time of year. they're strange and beautiful.