Little Zellers

Our first trip to Scottish Rite to treat Randall's club foot went well. It is a great facility, and we were able to get in and see the people we needed to with a minimum of inconvenience.

He is being treated using what is called the "Pontseti Method," which is the standard way to treat club foot and is very successful. Over the next couple months, he will be in a series of casts, changing every week, which will gradually move his foot into the correct position. Then, to make sure the foot holds in place, he will have to wear a brace for a couple of years after that.

If you are interested in what will be happening to Randall, I recommend you watch this video which explains the treatment.

The first cast was put on yesterday, and on Randall's right leg extends from his toes to his hip. He is a great patient. Though he was past due for time to eat, he was very patient, cried only a little, and mostly slept.

Last night was a bit difficult as he was having trouble getting comfortable and can't curl up as babies like to do. Please pray for Randall as he adjusts to this cast and for us as we take care of him!

Here's some pictures:

The First Cast

This came in the LittleZellers.com inbox today:

"Please let me know what you would prefer the little one to be called -- Randall, Randy, Charles, Charlie or R.C.????"

Actually, this has been a frequently asked question over the past several days.

Usually people are called by their first name, not the middle one. The common nickname for his first name, "Randy", besides being the preferred style of Randall's grandfather, is a bad word in most parts of the world. So while I suppose in a free country such as this one you may address my son as you see fit, his mother and I call him "Randall."

You may remember that, a few months ago, a sonogram discovered that our still-unborn baby had a club foot (info from Wikipedia, Heather's reflection).

Now that Randall has been born, it is time for us to begin the process of treating this condition so that Randall can one day play defensive line for the Cowboys alongside his brother Emmett.

The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital is the best place to get this treated. In God's providence, 1) this hospital is in Dallas, not far from where we live, 2) we were able to quickly get an appointment there, which can be difficult, and 3) they provide treatment free of charge. Please pray for Randall and Heather and I tomorrow as we go to Scottish Rite for our first appointment. Please pray specifically that Randall's foot will be able to be corrected through casts and braces and will not require surgery.

After the appointment, we will let you know what we learn.

We have all been enjoying our new little boy. What a precious gift from God he is!

Randall at Home

It just came to our attention that the littlezellers.com RSS feed has been broken. It is now fixed, you can subscribe to http://www.littlezellers.com/atom.xml.

Many people have asked who Randall looks like or have commented on how much he resembles his big brother Emmett. Click on the album below to see for yourself who Randall looks like (that is if you can tell which pictures are of him and which are of Emmett). Mom's conclusion is that he is a Zeller boy, no doubt about it!

Emmett or Randall?

Bonus - here is Caroline as a newborn:

The hospital people said we can leave, so after this feeding we are out of here and going home!

In other news, pray for Randall's pain in a very personal area. Some wait ten years, some till the eighth day, but he was man enough to face the pain on day 3.

Randall has had a lot of people come meet him and wish him well. Click on this album to see some of the pictures:

Randall Gets Visitors

My Dad wrote a long post over at his blog about "Why we named the new kid Randall Charles Zeller II" If you like pictures, stay here; if you like words, go there.

Video of Randall crying right after he was born.

Randall Charles Zeller II

Here are the highly anticipated pictures of our newest addition!

Randall Charles Zeller II was born at 12:45 PM after only a few hours of labor. He is named for his grandfather in hopes that his life show some of the wisdom and faithfulness that are so consistant in the life of Randall Charles Zeller the first.

Randall weighs 8 lbs, 13 oz. Pictures will follow.

The hospital has a strict policy that all visitors must bring BionGiorno Coffee.

Everybody is fine. Details to follow.

It's at 8 - shouldn't be too long now.

All checked in here at the hospital. They checked us in and started inducing about an hour ago. Contractions have started, dialated to about 4. Dr just came in and broke water. Things should get going here...

We are on way to Baylor Hospital in Grapevine, where Drs. will induce labor for the birth of the newest Zeller boy! We will post updates here as we have them.

Please pray for Us!

Reading

Emmett loves to read! Here he is carefully studying The Ugly Duckling.

Mom was busy doing chores this morning so we decided to help out. We carried our laundry to the laundry room and then decided to help her make the bed. Here is how the bed making worked out. Down comforters and pillows are very fun to play with!

"Helping" with Chores

Zeller Barbershop

Caroline and Emmett got to try their hand at cutting hair tonight. Eric decided he needed a haircut and let them do the honors. They thought it was great fun!

Here are some photos of what we've been up to lately. The early spring weather has been great!