Team Mitchell

Enjoying the afternoon with friends at L&O's.

Atoning...

...for 3 a.m. fussiness.

Cleveland friends in Vicksburg

Ned and Susan knew each other back in junior high. David and Sullivan met tonight.

Good morning!

It's a happy morning on National Street. David's looking forward to having MA and Jimmy visit for the weekend. He'll be spoiled, for sure! Mary Beth's appointment with the oncologist last week determined that nothing could be decided re: treatments until there were more tests: an MRI and a spinal tap. So, while MB and Ned check into St. Dominic's on Monday for even more testing, David will be hanging out at the house with his grandparents. We should know sometime during the week what kind of treatments will be prescribed and, if necessary, we'll begin them in late March. We have a road trip to Valdosta and a baptism on the calendar already in mid-March, and they can't be missed! David still needs to meet all of Mary Beth's family, and there are a LOT of them in town.

Too full to fuss

And, as a friendly reminder to all of David's fans, you can order a free 8x10" photo from Walgreens today. Click here to access the public photo album, pick a picture, and order it for your fridge!

Things are never so bad

that they can't get worse, per my Grandpa Lasseter. Doctor's diagnosis today: thrush. Blame the antibiotics from my days in the hospital. So, now we add even more meds to our daily regimen, and we have to sterilize everything David puts in his mouth for 20 minutes. Oh, and then there's a crazy laundry factor, too--hot water, light bleach, and nursing pads need to be changed after every feeding. Great...this house has all the time in the world for all this extra work. Grrrrrrrrrrr

Thanks, L&O!

Our friends, Lauchlin and Olivia, delivered a handmade Elvis bear for David this past weekend. Thanks, ladies! We love Elvis, and bears, around this house!

Baptism Invitation

Please join Ned and Mary Beth
for the baptism
of
David Allen Mitchell

Sunday, March 14
2:00 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
800 Gornto Road
Valdosta, Georgia

Reception following
Parish Center

*out of town guests should contact Mary Beth

to learn about the Marriott hotel rooms

blocked at a rate of $79/night.

David's secure

Who cares if his chair is pink? It vibrates! Hence, the smile. Photo courtesy of Uncle Patrick. Chair courtesy of Madeleine.

Friday was "Spoil Me Day"

Thanks to these folks, I got everything I wanted on Friday, even when I demanded constant motion (rocking, walking, bouncing, etc.). That's what grandparents and great aunts are for! Dad's just in the photo to do the heavy lifting.

Saturday visitors

David greeted Uncle Patrick and Sharon with screams, then fell asleep.

Celebrating Mama & Daddy's engagement

3 years ago today Daddy proposed. Lucky for me!

Meeting great-grandmothers

Meeting Mama Doyce (above) and Jessie (below). This was a month ago. See how little I was back then?

How big is baby?

SO BIG! Today, on his 2-month birthday, David tipped the scales at 11 pounds and 1 ounce. Must be all those bottles he's had of late...

Back home

Sleeping it off. David was so strong and brave. Parents feel horrible, of course. If you look closely, you can see some baby Tylenol on his lips.

At doctor's office

Bravely awaiting vaccines.

Verdict's in: David looks like his daddy

Daddy Ned (at about one month older than David is now). For a side by side comparison, click the "play" arrow on the FlickR photo stream to the right. (We've added new pics, btw!) Definite resemblance.

Lunchtime fun

Mama loves David

Catching up on the news...

(Nearly) naked babies are the cutest!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mary Beth's Valentines

Got 'em right where I want 'em!

With that look, Ned and Mary Beth don't stand a chance...

Dose of cuteness

And test video.

Missing Aunt Sarah

Snow day!

Bundled up for photos.


And hangin' with my 'rents.


And, the big news from our house: last night was David's first full sleep-through-the-night experience. Aunt Sarah got him to bed at 11 p.m., and MB had to wake him up to eat at 5:30 a.m. He wasn't opening his eyes on his own! After the early morning feeding, he fell right back asleep and stayed in bed until 7:30 a.m. Amazing. We hope there'll be a repeat performance tonight!

71-63

Hangin' w/ Aunt Sarah

An Update

Hello to family and friends,

Apologies for the generic and wordy post, but it's been a LONG day and this is the quickest way I can think to share the news we promised everyone.

The appointment with our neurosurgeon went as well as we could have hoped this morning. The short version is this: There are no good brain tumors. But, from the menu of bad brain tumors, mine was far from the worst. I was diagnosed with an ependymoma and, for those of you who will automatically look it up on Wikipedia, please know that I did not exhibit any uncontrollable twitching, which is a common early symptom! I'm told that my tumor was apparently aggravated by the stress of pregnancy and David's delivery, and could have developed anytime in the last ten years. I had headaches that began after the baby was born, which we incorrectly attributed to side effects of my epidural, and in treating these headaches one of my CT scans discovered the tumor.

In my surgeon's opinion, my surgery went well (I've not experienced problems like slowed speech or limited motility), and my scar is healing nicely. He believes that he removed most all of the tumor from my left frontal lobe during surgery, though some cells undoubtedly remained behind. He'll require that I be followed for a lifetime with MRIs to monitor the area where the tumor was, and to watch and be sure that it does not attempt to regenerate. I will be referred to a board certified neuro oncologist to manage my long term care, but my surgeon will continue to receive copies of all reports and scans, and he'll manage my regularly scheduled MRIs and CT scans. They'll tag team on my care, in other words. In my neurosurgeon's opinion, chemo will probably not be necessary, though he will not rule out that the oncologist may require that I take radiation. She will also be in charge of monitoring my drug regimen (my dresser looks like an old lady's with all the pill bottles!). While this medical adventure is far from over -- more treatments and appointments loom on the horizon -- we're definitely on the road to recovery. The best words I heard all day: "There's no reason that you should not be able to have more children and see them all grow up." I couldn't have hoped for anything more.

These past few weeks have been unbelievable and overwhelming, but Ned and I are more grateful than ever for all of you wonderful family and friends. We are appreciative of your support, whether it came in the form of prayers from your church, casseroles from your kitchen, messages through Facebook, or midnight duty with a fussy baby. We feel so loved, and are deeply grateful for our blessings, which grow more apparent every day. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we move forward with treatments, and be sure to throw in a "thank you" every now and then for the good news today. We're both humbled and encouraged by the outpouring of support we've received.

Love,
Mary Beth, Ned & David

I am trying to sleep

No more flashes!

22 1/4"

Despite lack of any true routine in his first 7 weeks, it hasn't slowed down David's growth. As best we can measure, he's now an inch and 1/4 longer!

Birthday Bite at The Hat

An impromptu gathering... Chips-n-salsa made #33 much more bearable. There are three babies in this photo. The third is under the table, though!

Happy Birthday, MB!

Excited for the Super Bowl

Sunday Swap

MA and Jimmy left this morning. Sadness ensued, but we're lucky that Aunt Sarah showed up soon after to distract us. She'll be on duty this week.

A visit from Will

Will is just 3 weeks younger than David, and he's the son of our friends over at the Kennedy Chaos blog. They had a good first visit on Friday. Fast friends, we think they'll be!

I'm 7 weeks old today!

A visit from Joe

He gave me his hat. I gave him my burp rag. Good trade, for a little while.

Happy morning!

And happy 30th birthday to Aunt Sarah! Also, happy other birthdays to Chris Schultz and Cousin Rachel today. Many, many reasons to smile!

2 for 2!

David is practicing for Aunt Sarah's visit. He slept through the night again yesterday, from midnight to 6 a.m., which makes the streak 2 nights in a row. MA has the magic touch for getting this little one to snooze. Hooray!

Daddy's on duty

Check out David's little feet hanging out from under the blanket!