Daddy is 34 and Christian is two weeks!

This past weekend we celebrated Chris' 34th birthday! We kept it simple with dinner and cake at my dad, Pap's house. Christian is two weeks old today! I've gotten used to his feeding schedule, and now it feels like he's always been here. Last Wednesday his umbilical cord fell off and we went to the pediatrician. He is seeing the wonderfully awesome Dr. Saade at West Cobb Pediatrics. He said Christian is in excellent condition. He has gained back the weight he lost in the hospital and then some. He is up to 8 lbs and 12 oz, but he has shrunk a half an inch! This is because his head has rounded out. He lost the cone head from labor. Christian will go back to the doctor in a couple of weeks when he is one month. We gave him his first tub bath on Saturday. He didn't like it at first, but suprisingly after a while he seemed to really enjoy it. He also wore his first pair of shoes that day. Too cute!

What a blessing!

Christian is amazing! There are no words to explain how much we care for him. We find ourselves more and more in love with him every day, and he seems to get more beautiful all of the time . We think he has a good mix of both of our features. He has Chris' ears, chin, and lips, and we think he may have my nose and eyes. I call him my baby monkey because he has long feet, toes, and fingers, and fuzzy little hairs around his ears. He is already very active for a newborn. He lifts up his head and looks around on his own. He also moves his arms and legs a lot. He definately loves to eat!

Our family is adjusting well, especially Christian's four legged brother and sister. Chris caught Missy standing back from his swing on her two hind legs to check him out. So cute! Toby is also doing well. They've both been very mellow and mindful of Christian. As far as Mommy and Daddy goes, I'm starting to feel like myself again, and Chris has gotten back to the grindstone. We've had lots of visitors over the past few days, so it's been busy. But, we've been fortunate enough to have had such generous, helpful, and thoughtful friends and family. Some have picked up things they knew we needed and others have brought us delicious prepared meals. Thank you all so much!

Meet Christian

Christian was born on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm. He was delivered at Cobb Hospital by midwife Lois Hersey and received by nurse Patti Forrester. Mommy labored from Monday evening to Tuesday morning when she was thankfully, given an epidural. She had to push only for twenty minutes and was assisted by an episiotomy and a vacuum. Christian's head was stuck in the birth canal and his heart rate dropped while she pushed. This happened because the cord was wrapped around his neck. However, he was born a hearty healthy little guy, weighing 8 pounds and 8.1 ounces and 21 and a half inches long. If you'ld like to see his hopsital picutres click on the link to the right and type in the password NICULA. More pictures to come soon!

Oh boy! Here he comes!

We went to the doctor today, and I was finally dilated. But just to a one, nine centimeters left to go. Dr.Thompson stripped my membranes to aid in bringing on the contractions. If I don't go into labor on my own this weekend, they are going to admit me to the hospital Monday, October 1st at 6:30pm. Then Patti, one of my best friends and labor and delivery nurse shown above, will put me on an I.V. and start the cervidil. Cervadil will help my cervix efface, and the next morning if necessary I'll start the pitocin. Please pray for us to have a safe and speedy delivery!

Counting Down the Days

Chris took this picture of me today. We thought we should document the uber big belly before Christian decides to come out! We also went to the doctor for a routine check up. Not much changed. Christian is measuring 40 weeks. He hasn't dropped and I haven't dialated. We have another visit next Thursday. The doctor wants to talk about induction then.

We finally did Christian's name wall in his room. We went to Hobby Lobby and bought the letters inexpensively. I painted them here at the house along with alternating colors of background circles. We're really happy with the results. It's even cuter in person because you can see the dimension and cast shadows of the letters.

I apologize if you tried the links on our page earlier and they didn't work. I fixed the links, so you may want to try again now. I also added a link to Lauren's brother Bruce's private Island Hatchet Caye. It's really cool. Check it out!

Pregnancy Session 8.25.07

My awesome and very talented girlfriend, Jessica Hall, did a photography session with us at the studio where she works. If you're interested in using her, her contact information can be found on her website. I've set up a link to it on your right as well as the pictures from our pregnancy session.

Our Baby Shower

We had an awesome baby shower! Patti and Mary Grace Forrester, my step mother Julie, and Jennifer Conner hosted the shower at Jennifer's fabulous new house. The food was awesome, especially the artichoke dip and chocolate fondue! The cake and flowers were adorable, and it was amazing seeing almost all of my friends together in one place. We played a couple of fun games. One were we guessed the baby food in the jar and another were we guessed which chocolate candy bar was melted into which diaper. Yuk!

Chris, such a wonderful involved daddy already, was there filming and helping me open up presents. We received a lot of great gifts. Some of the more unique gifts included a maternity shirt from Laura with Buddah on the front. His big belly went right over my big belly, our navels nearly aligning! We also received an awesome travel system from my mom and nursery bedding from Julile and my dad. Patti, Jason, and Mary Grace gave us a gorgeous Moses basket set with an embroidered blanket and matching burp cloths. My friend Jessica gave us a photography session with her that we used to take pregnancy pictures recently. We received many more wonderful things for Christian that we appreciate all so much!