The winner is...

The panel of judges (Stacy's husband) has assessed the entries into the recent contest, and a winner has been determined.

Before we announce the winner, I want to thank all of you who participated, and give credit to those who did well.

As you know, we had a girl, our beautiful Audra Joy. The votes were exactly split on this one, so half of the 40 entries guessed this right, including our winner.

She was born on Sunday, February 22. Cutzi, Fletch, Duckygirl and Kimmie all had this right. Guessing only one day off were Lucy, alittlelife, Micah, Quinne, Michelle, Helen and EEEEMommy. We'd like to give thanks to Fletch for making this happen on a Sunday, because in his guess he noted that the 22nd was "a day of rest..."

That mango-munchin' Fletch also guessed that our baby would be born at "10AM (typical time for morning worship)." He was way off, but we did think of him when Stacy and I were standing in the church foyer (the kids remained in the sanctuary) at 10 a.m., trying to figure out if Stacy's water had just broken. It had.

Audra Joy was actually born at 9:05 p.m. Our dear friend Amy, who was with us during the birth (THANK YOU AMY!) guessed the closest. (No wonder she was saying "You can do it!" around 9 p.m.) The next closest was Duckygirl (8:53), followed by Hilary and Camee.

Audra Joy came into this world weighing 8 lbs, 14 oz. Here, the judges want to give a shout out to Beverly, who guessed this exactly right. This was the most impressive single guess in the contest. Angie and Jodi were 1 oz. off. Others who were within 4 oz. were: Hilary, Iowa Birdie, Quinne, Michelle, Angie, Duckygirl, Angela, mom of 3..., Sandi and Charlotte. A majority (70%) of the guesses were too high. We were also surprised at how "little" our bundle of joy is.

So... after tallying your votes using our secret scoring system, we're pleased to announce that the winner, with 26 points, is Duckygirl. Congrats. Well done. To claim your much-deserved prize, please email Stacy about which you'd prefer (Amazon or Starbucks). The second place finisher is Hilary, with 20 pts. No prize for you, Hilary, except for the fact that you live close enough that you will actually get to see and hold our sweet Audra Joy, which is priceless.

Again, thanks to all for participating. Once Stacy gets time and energy, she will post the entire birth story, with pictures.

And on a final note, the judges would like to say what an incredible, unbelievable, superb, astounding job Stacy did in carrying this baby and bringing her into the world. I am in awe; and forever and deeply grateful.

- Mark