Thank You for Your Prayers and Support

He really is a good baby. Hardly cries at all.

Daddy got the wonderful job of first diaper change. Something like riding a bicycle when you have 9 brothers and sisters younger than you.

You can never have enough pictures of you and your boy!

Still holding him and happy!

Holding Jackson for a few hours so Becka can get some rest

Proud Daddy

Very Happy

Loving Mother

Great Grandma Intagliata

Grandmama Brothers

Grandaddy Brothers

Uncle Jason Brothers - Mark this one in the record book - this may be the first time ever holding a baby!

Aunt Jessica Brothers


I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have called and sent texts. I try to answer them all, but sometimes it gets so busy in the hospital here that I cannot. It makes it hard, too, that I really don't get service in the room. We both wanted to have Jackson in the room with us as much as possible instead of in the nursery so I have gotten to hold him for hours on end while Becka was and is trying to catch up on some very much needed sleep. I was glad to do it. There is nothing like having your own son.

Here are some more picures from later on in his first full day of life on earth.

Thank you again for your prayers and for your care for us. We really do appreciate it and we really thank you!

Happy Birthday to Jackson

Great Grandpa Intagliata

He is a very good baby - just looks around at everything when he's not sleeping

Just before a sneeze

Singing opera style at the top of his lungs - he didn't even need a microphone!

First thing Friday morning

This is Becka less than 10 minutes after birth - I look more like I've had a baby than she does.

First Photo after birth - 7:17 p.m.

We are so happy to announce that our first son (and child) was born September 17, 2009, at 7:15 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long.

We got to the hospital around 4:00 in the morning and it was a long long, day (and night before). He was finally born and the doctor told us that everything looks perfect. Becka is still very sore, but doing well. He has blonde hair, and although it is still pretty hard to tell, looks to me like he will have blue eyes. He's pretty cute if you ask me. He looked much different last night right after he was born than he does even this morning. I'm sorry for not putting the pictures up last night. Something was messing up with my computer. The nice thing is that I can put up pictures of him today, too. I think you will be able to tell the difference between the pictures from last night and this morning. His head looked like a football when he was first born because they had to use a little suction to help him come out, but it has already started to look normal and they say he will be prefectly normal in a couple days. I want to teach him to play sports, not use him for the ball, so that's a good thing!

39 Weeks and Counting

Disappointed and waiting!

Happy to be near the end!

We just had a doctor's appointment at Becka's week 39. We were a little disappointed that the baby hadn't come yet. We have thought from the beginning that the due date they gave Becka was a little longer than it should have been so we assumed she would have the baby a little sooner. Of course, everyone usually goes long on their pregnancy so we're probably in extra innings right now even though she is not due until this coming Friday, the 18th. Everyone and everything is ready, except the baby.

Patrick Henry Half Marathon

The only good thing about my race

Chewing on a dry bagel after the race

Disappointed!

Almost to the finish line after I passed where Becka was standing

Coming toward Becka near the finish line

Pinning on my number before the race - It was still dark

Stretching before the race

I have been running a tremendous amount the past few months. I'm training for another marathon (26.2 miles). I've run 3 up to this point, but I want to break 3 hours. My best time was in my last marathon in 2005, which was 3:21:00 in Indianapolis. I'm about half way through actual marathon training now. I figured it out and since I started running heavily again in February (when the weather broke) I have run about 630 miles, and adding about 35 - 40 per week.

I just ran a half marathon in Hanover County where Patrick Henry lived for many years. Sad to say, I really didn't have a good race. I set out to get 1:25:00 and ended up with 1:33:55. Mile 5 was all uphill and I started the first four miles WAY too fast. I was runing around 6 minute miles. The hill killed me, even though I have been training heavily on hills out here, and I couldn't get my rhythm back for the rest of the race. I do have somewhat of an excuse. The humidity was 93%. It was awful. You can probably tell by the pictures, but I was absolutely soaked by the end of the race. This has happened several times in practice runs, by the way, but I was so soaking wet that by mile 10 my shoes sounded like I had just run through several foot-deep puddles. I was sloshing around in them - very uncomfortable. You can tell by the pictures that I was dying and that I wasn't happy with my performance.

I was very disappointed but I got back out there on Monday to hit it again, and today, one week later, I punished myself with a huge 1.6 mile hill at mile 8 on my 14.1 mile run this morning. I did a lot of hills, in fact. And, I felt much better because even after all of that, I was only 10 seconds per mile slower than my race pace last week. I am posting some pictures that Becka took last week, but I am also posting a link to the photography website that actually did race photos. You can click here to see them. I did get a technical race shirt out of the whole deal!

"The Baby could come any Day"

That's what the doctor told us on the last visit, which was Friday. The pictures here show Becka at the doctor at 37 weeks. She was actually 38 weeks this Friday. We told the baby it would be good if he decided to be born on Tuesday. That would give us Labor Day to make sure we have everything in order. Hopefully he complies. Becka is doing very well, though. Except for the HUGE stomach, you would never even be able to tell she was pregnant.