On December 14, Schaeffer Elliot Philpot, the son and first child of US English teacher Maggie Philpot and Theater Manager and US Technical Theater teacher Mark Philpot, arrived. Schaeffer, or Schaef for short, weighed eight pounds and six ounces and is 19 inches tall. Mrs. Philpot was in labor for 13 hours, but Schaeffer was finally born at 6:57 p.m. Monday night.

“I am still too exhausted and completely overwhelmed to say much at the moment except to express gratitude for this life that somehow made the journey from inside me to outside of me yesterday after 13 hours of labor,” Mrs. Philpot posted on her Facebook account. “Life is miraculous and terrifying and absolutely beautiful.”

Mr. and Mrs. Philpot picked the names “Schaeffer” and “Elliot” after their two favorite writers, Francis Schaeffer and Elisabeth Elliot, a very fitting naming process for a couple passionate about Christian literature.

“I think I’m most excited to get to know him,” Mrs. Philpot said. “It was different with marriage because I knew who I was going to spend the rest of my life with, but this is a whole new person that I’ve never met before, and he’s going to be with me the rest of my life. It’s pretty amazing.”

The Philpot family left the hospital on Wednesday, December 16. While Mr. Philpot will likely be out for the rest of the week only, Mrs. Philpott will be out of school until around March 28. In her absence, Myrna Sam, retired Aledo High School teacher, will be the long-term substitute for all of Philpot’s English classes.