2003 January 10 March 12 May 10 September 14 (January 10, 2003) Hello!! We are PREGNANT!!! YIKES! : D We found out less than a week ago that we are going to have a baby. This baby and Cassie will be 13 months apart!! OK PRAY FOR US! It was a SHOCK. But, Children are always a blessing from the Lord. His timing is always perfect. Shannon is wondering how things will work with 2 infants in 2 carseats at the grocery store! We found out really early, so we have lots of time to pray and prepare. Shannon hasn't been to the Dr. yet, but the baby will be due sometime in September. We are living with Chris's family in Cartersville, Georgia. Chris is aggressively job hunting. He is filling in (part time) as a minister of music at a church in Cartersville. Shannon is spending lots of time with Cassie and STILL unpacking boxes. This pregnancy has her a little short on energy, but she is feeling well overall. Cassie has FOUND HER VOICE! She yells and jabbers during most of her waking hours. She sleeps very well at night. She has also started solid foods. Bananas are her favorite! There are also a couple of Christmas pictures up on our website. Chris hopes to get more up there ASAP. Please pray for the following... *A job for Chris that provides for adoption bills and insurance *Shannon during her pregnancy *That Cassie's growth and health would continue to go well We want to take your requests before the Lord, too. So, let us know how to pray for you. (March 12, 2003) Family and Friends, We hope you all are well! We wanted to write to update you on what's going on with our family. We would also love to hear back from you. We pray for each of you and are happy to pray for specific requests, just let us know what they are. We are still living with Chris's parents in Cartersville, Georgia. It is really great being with family. Cassie LOVES being with her grandparents too! Chris just began working full time at Lowe's! Praise the Lord for a job!! He does not get benefits yet, but hopefully soon... Don't worry though...we're insured : ) We are still seeking the Lord's wisdom about a church job. Please pray for guidance for us there. Shannon is home with Cassie full time. She loves caring for her and seeing all of her "firsts". Shannon is in her 12th week of pregnancy and is starting to feel SO much better than those first few weeks! Certain foods are still "NO WAY!" for now : ) She had an ultrasound last week and was able to see (in the words of her midwife) "a perfectly formed baby". The baby is the size of an apple. He/She has ALL of her fingers and toes. He/She even opened his/her eyes and raised his/her arms for the ultrasound photo! We are going to finding out the sex. Shannon is using a Certified Nurse Midwife. She IS having the baby in a hospital, She WILL WILL WILL have an epidural! She even wants them to hook it up to her now so they don't miss the "window". : D We have also chosen names. If we have a boy, he will be named after Shannon's 2 favoirite men EVER (her daddy and her husband). He will be William Christopher Randolph (Will). If we have a girl, she will be named Addison Elizabeth Randolph. Now for CASSIE!!! What can you say about the smartest, most beautiful baby in the world??? She is precious. Spend 2 seconds with her, and you are in love. She is sitting up. She loves to stand. She loves to play piano and sing with mommy and daddy. Her uncle Mark just taught her how to blow raspberries and spit bubbles! (Thanks Mark!!) She is growing and up to 15 pounds! **LOOK AT THE NEW PICTURES ON THE WEBSITE! Also see an ultrasound photo of the new baby!** We love you all and can't wait to hear what's going on with you. To our Rock Creek Baptist Church Family... boo hoo we miss you : ( (May 10, 2003) Dear Friends and Family, Baby News IT'S A BOY! We learned yesterday that Cassie will have a baby brother. William Christopher Randolph (Will) is expected to arrive around September 22nd. We are so very excited. Shannon has been losing weight through the entire pregnancy, but the weight loss does not seem to be affecting Will. He is a "big boy". At 20 weeks the average baby weighs 12 ounces and is 9 inches long. Will weighs almost a pound and is almost a foot long! He's his Daddy's boy! Cassie News Cassie is doing great. She just had her 9 month check up, and the Doctor was pleased with her development. She is weighing in at 16.5 pounds and is still in 3-6 month sized clothes. She is just going to be a small girl. She can't sit still for ONE SECOND! She can get where she wants to go by pulling herself on her belly. She can sit up from any position and is starting to try to pull up on furniture. She loves to laugh (especially at Daddy). She also likes to explore everything she sees with no fear. She LOVES animals and will crawl after them. Though she still has a sweet disposition, she knows how to protest her grievances against Mom and Dad's rules. Fortunately, she is still a good sleeper. She sleeps 12 hours at night and still takes 2 naps a day. Family News We are going to be celebrating our 6 year anniversary on the 17th of May. Time flies! Chris has been given an permanent full time position at Lowe's. It is such a blessing because it provides us with benefits and more hours to work. The best part is that he is no longer sweating in outside lawn and garden. Now he's in hardware. Just when he was learning all the valuable uses of manure!!! : ) Shannon is enjoying being home with Cassie full time. She enjoys watching Cassie grow day by day. She is also enjoying the excitement of feeling Will doing flips in her tummy. Prayer Requests Please pray for - a continued healthy pregnancy - peace and wisdom about our future -the spiritual growth of our family Please let us know how we can pray for you! We can't wait to hear from you soon! (September 14, 2003) Family and Friends, We would like to introduce William Christopher Randolph, born September 9, 2003. He was born at 5:03 pm, weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. Shannon developed Pre-Eclampsia at around 36 weeks. Her blood pressure continued to rise and the symptoms worsened, so they decided it best to induce her labor at 38 weeks. It was a very difficult labor and delivery for Shannon and Will, but they both made it through! Will's heart rate dropped a considerable amount during labor, so they had to begin the pushing stage early. They were able to deliver Will with the aid of a vacuum extractor. Shannon lost a lot of blood, which made her blood pressure go from very high to very low. She felt yucky for a while, but now she is feeling better and able to fully enjoy Will. Cassie is very interested in her baby brother. She likes to look at him and touch him. She can't stand for him to cry. She will point at him and cry too until Mommy or Daddy makes it better. It is very cute! In other family news: Cassie was "readopted" in the state of Georgia on August 28th. This gives her a Georgia birth certificate and shows us as her Mommy and Daddy. It also officially changes her name from Nguyen Thi Ha to Cassie Suzanne. Chris is working on updating the family website with more pictures (of course)! We will let you know when it has been updated. We are sending some pix now as attachments. Take Care! Home | Update | Cassie Pictures | Will Pictures | About Us