A little footage of Sam

Here is a little video clip from the hospital. We want our family and friends to be able to see Sam in more than just photos.



This was recorded on Friday, February 6th, 09.

Introducing Samuel "Sam" Nathan Mouttet

To all our dear friends and family that have called, sent texts, emails and simply prayed for us...Thank you!

We are excited beyond words to introduce our joy - Samuel Mouttet.

He was born at 12:19 p.m. Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at Loudon Co. Hospital, Virginia.
* To my dear sister, Marie "Missy" Mouttet - Happy Birthday! The 5th of February is now doubly important to us ;-)

Sam was 7.5 lbs and 20 3/4 inches long at birth. He spent some time in the nursery and there are more photos on our flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62275471@N00/

Sam is healthy and is growing quickly (it is amazing to watch the daily transformation!). Kristi is doing amazingly well too. She had a safe delivery and is having as quick a recovery as we could have hoped for.


Any doubts that hide in the recesses of your mind about how will you react to the birth of your child quickly melt when you see your baby and you looks at you (right now Kristi has an overwhelming smile while she is holding him for the first time).

This will be the first of many photos and blog updates over the coming days, weeks and months. So I'll continue to post photos on our flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62275471@N00/ and on Facebook and give updates here on this blog.


So many people have said, "having a baby will change your world." That may be the understatement of a lifetime because it doesn't account for the depth it adds to your life. We have prayed and wondered about this moment for over nine months and more importantly we have prayed for years about whether this is what we should do and now with tears of joy we are certain that God has blessed us.


With love to our family and friends

Great Christmas in Pennsylvania

We had a great Christmas with Kristi's family in Pennsylvania.

We left our house on Christmas morning to spend the Christmas weekend at the Russell's house (Phil and Sue), Grandma C. and with the Moore family (Chris, Kara and Christopher). Before we celebrated with our family we celebrated our own Christmas at our house and Kristi did an incredible job of decorating every corner of our home! (photo left).




Phil & Sue's house was beautiful and gave us all a break from our work and everyday lives to simply be together and enjoy family.








You'll see a theme around Phil's apparel throughout the holiday as the t-Shirt "Grandpas Rule" seemed to make a few appearances. And based on little Christopher's reaction ... Grandpa's do rule!





Even Milo (Nate and Kristi's dog) got in on the gift giving and receiving (primarily the receiving side of things). Christopher and Milo have been great together and this was a good test for how Milo will be like with his own little boy to take care of.






Phil and Sue had a great time with Christopher!






We all got to see a beautiful sunset at the Gettysburg Battlefield and Kara, Chris and Christopher huddled together in cold night breeze to pose for one last shot before we ended our time together.

So you got the Christmas card!

Thanks for coming to the blog after receiving our Christmas card.

We thought we'd show you a couple of the photos that didn't make the cut for the card.



We wanted to include Milo in the Christmas card but we couldn't get him to sit still so most the photos looked like we were wrestling him into position.

So the most memorable photos were't included but we can still say Merry Christmas from all of our house (well, minus the cats - we didn't even consider putting Max and Millie in the photo).

Have a great Christmas!

More to time to help with Kristi's research!

Family & friends,

Please accept my gratitude and thanks, again, for helping with this study of forgiveness in marriage. The objective of this study is to develop a forgiveness scale to be used among married couples.

I and my committee members have decided to extend the study for another three weeks. This moves the closing date of the study from December 15, 2008 to January 5, 2009. We hope this provides you, and those you may know with additional time to consider brief participation in this study.

Forgiveness Study

Thank you, friends, for continuing to consider this request. Please contact me with questions or concerns.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Kristin Russell Mouttet, PhD Candidate
krismou@regent.edu

Want to take a survey on Forgiveness?

Friends who visit our blog here is a request that we want to make to invite you to participate in Kristi's dissertation on scales of "Forgiveness." Here is a letter Kristi is distributing to potential participants:

Dear potential participant,

My name is Kristi R. Mouttet. I am a doctoral student in the Regent University Counselor Education and Supervision program. I am writing this letter to you to request your assistance in a study I am conducting between married couples on forgiveness.

The title of the study is: A Comparative Analysis of Three Scales Intended to Measure Forgiveness. Through this research, we are working to validate a new forgiveness scale that will be used in understanding forgiveness among married couples. The main requirements for participation include:

1. Married partners
2. Each partner will need to participate in the study in order for their results to be added to the study. Though, each partner may participate independently. Couples will be tracked based on a basic identifier such as their wedding anniversary.

The study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Subjects Review Committee (HSRC) of the School of Psychology and Counseling at Regent University. And I am under the advisement and guidance of my dissertation committee who include: Dr. James Sells, Dr. Elisabeth Suarez, and Dr. Gary Oliver.

The survey is available online through SurveyMonkey.com which may be found at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=20CXcne5haLTSidMg4d1QA_3d_3d. The survey questions average 10-15 minutes of time. If you choose to participate or forward this on to someone who might be interested, participation is voluntary and anonymous. The survey will be available online until December 15, 2008.

If you are able to participate in this quantitative study, your time and interest will be greatly appreciated. If you would like to forward this email to others in your community, this will also be appreciated due to the quantitative nature of this study. We are hoping to study a large population of married couples. Once again, you may access the survey link at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=20CXcne5haLTSidMg4d1QA_3d_3d

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study, please contact the Principle Investigator, Kristi R. Mouttet at krismou@regent.edu, or Dissertation Advisor, Dr. James Sells at jsells@regent.edu .

With gratitude,

Kristi Russell Mouttet
PhD Candidate
Regent University
School of Psychology and Counseling
Counselor Education and Supervision

What is in a name?

We're wrestling with the best boy names (by the way, we're having a boy) and we've got a fairly long list but we're leaning towards a few. So if you want to weigh-in just post a comment!

Mason
Samuel (probably go by Sam)
Jackson
Micah