Two week check-up and more tiny milestones

Well, Liam made a name for himself at his two week check-up. Not only does everything look amazingly good (he's grown an inch to 20 inches long, and gained over a pound to weigh in at 7 lbs. 13 ozs.), he also managed to pee on the nurse and poop on the doctor! His momma was so proud of her little man! Here's a photo of little Liam on his quilt to commemorate the event!

As for milestones, in the past week, Liam had his first lunch out, his first dinner out, and his first trip to the mall. He did VERY well at the restaurants, but I don't think he liked the mall much. He wasn't fussy the whole time, just a tad aggravated now and then. Perhaps it was the awful music selection in Gap and the Apple store.

Love to all!

One week of firsts!

In his first week of life, Liam has reached several milestones. He's had his first (and now second) bath--he enjoyed neither one; he's becoming more awake and alert after eating and is making some funny faces; he's taken his first stroller ride around the neighborhood; he's watched his first Auburn game in his AU gear, and he's watched his second Ravens game in his Ravens gear. Time is passing very quickly so it seems, and Geoff and I are determined to enjoy every minute of his generous paternity leave. Next on the schedule will be to take Liam out to the Appalachian Mountains when the colors of the trees begin to turn, and to take him down to the city for a stroll around the monuments.

Liam's here!

How to begin this post? Words will never be able to fully describe the utter joy of Sunday, September 13th. I suppose I'll start with the beginning.

I woke up between 3 and 3:30 a.m. and asked Geoff to start timing my contractions. We were waiting for the consistent, "5 minutes apart for an hour" contractions the doctor and all the books said would be the time to leave for the hospital. Well, this "pregnancy overachiever" (remember that nickname from the doc?) just kept getting hers closer and closer together. At 6 a.m., Geoff called the doctor, and after we had some coffee, walked the dog, and a slight breakfast, we were at the hospital by 7 a.m. I was quickly admitted, and Geoff and I were again expecting the traditional long wait of a first-time labor. Yet again, we failed to meet those expectations. My doctor arrived a little after 8, I began pushing a little after 9, and William Davis was born at 9:28 a.m. (Geoff got to announce to me that he was a boy--that was AWESOME!)

I was in labor a total of 6 hours--amazing! (The nurses joked that Geoff would have to deliver our second child!) He weighed 6 lbs. 12 ozs., and was just over 19 inches long. Geoff, Liam, and I were able to hang out a good hour, just the three of us, and that hour will be one of the most precious of our lives! Here is our first family photo (and then one when we're not so scary looking)!

Casey and Cassie were the first visitors on Sunday, then Uncle Colin and Aunt Steph arrived, and finally "Mims" and "Grandfather". On Monday, Dani came by to see us. Everyone was so in love with Liam instantly, and who can blame them? Just look at that sweet face!

The first week has been wonderful. Liam is a good baby, only fussing when he needs to eat or be changed. Geoff is a wonderful partner in parenting--he does all the nighttime changes and most of the daytime ones too. We figured if I'm in charge of Liam's food intake, Daddy can handle the output ("but don't get too comfortable with this arrangement", Geoff has just reminded me)!

We promise to send pictures by e-mail in addition to posting them here. Our love to all!

The Howard Family

Assembling Baby's stuff is AWESOME...

This past weekend, Geoff and I took advantage of some sales and got Baby Howard's pack-n-play and swing. The swing, as with most of Baby Howard's things, was no problem to assemble, but the pack-n-play was a different story. Geoff and I consider ourselves relatively intelligent and not completely without handy bones in our bodies, but the pack-n-play was a challenge.

We began earnestly and excitedly, pulling things out of the box and arranging parts in a logical order. But things went downhill quickly. Graco provided a lovely little paper book of "directions." However, the directions were not directions at all. The directions were statements such as "Tubes should appear exactly as shown" placed next to a monochrome illustration that showed tubes sticking out of fabric and offering no guidance on how to insert the tubes. So, we inserted tubes the wrong way, put things on upside down, and took a break for Geoff to grab a beer. Then we realized we needed a screwdriver and some batteries, so we had to take a break to hunt for those (and for Geoff to get a beer--ha, just kidding!). We eventually gave up on using the "directions" and figured out the pack-n-play ourselves after a good 45 minutes of fiddling. Now Baby Howard has a place to rest and be changed in the basement (only our pack-n-play is green and brown). We ended up laughing and having a good time with this frustration, thinking ahead to the days of assembling Barbie dream houses or Star Wars "Geonosian solar sailers" late on Christmas Eves. We look forward to those challenges as well!

Love to all!

An online scrapbook

For a tiny assignment for my last grad class, I was asked to research alternatives to the PowerPoint presentation. There are so many multimedia presentation applications, but one I found that I enjoyed playing with was "Scrapblog", an online scrapbook! It was easy to learn, and I had fun creating a short sample to share with my professor and classmates. I created a "Ready for Baby Howard" scrapbook, so I thought I would share it with you as well!

Click on the link below, then click on "View in full screen". If the scrapbook is advancing too quickly, look for the bar in the lower right hand corner that has a rabbit icon at one end, and a turtle at the other. Move the bar towards the turtle to slow down the transitions between pages. Enjoy!

Ready for Baby Howard

Baby update and fun with stroller!

I visited the doctor today, and she thinks everything looks "textbook." While I am happy to hear that, I sure hope she's not jinxing me! The baby's head is down, and I have "dropped", so we're looking somewhere in the vicinity of 4-6 weeks to meet Baby Howard and finally call him/her by name! I gained another 6 pounds, which puts me at having gained 25 pounds overall, and I can really feel the immense tummy weight in my back now. (I sure do wish Steph were closer so she could constantly remind me how to sit, stand, and walk to help alleviate some of the discomfort!)

On the homefront, the nursery is coming along. Geoff is almost finished installing the crown molding, we're waiting on our ottoman to be delivered, and I need to decide where to hang my "literary lunar" decor (a la Goodnight, Moon and 'Hey, Diddle, Diddle"). Then I think we're set as far as baby needs go! I will post photos once the room is complete.

In the meantime, here are 2 photos to tide you over. One is of Geoff assembling our totally awesome City Mini stroller, and one is of me testing it out with the carseat attached! Love to all!

The master at work--MUST DESTROY THE BUBBLETAPE!

I look a tad pale and tired, but I promise I am super excited about this awesome stroller. It folds with the pull of one tab with one hand, collapses flat, weighs just 17 pounds, and we can use it until the kid weighs 50 pounds! Totally worth the money--seriously, view the demo! City Mini Review and Demo

Virginia Baby Shower

These were the shower favors Steph created--aren't they fantastic?

What can I even say about my baby shower on Saturday, August 8, 2009? It was truly amazing! Steph and Cassie worked so hard to create a "high tea" for all the guests. We had mimosas (I had cranberry juice) and mingling upon our arrival; then we sat for tea. Steph served a delicious salad along with our choice of various teas, and then we had finger sandwiches, fruit, scones, shortbread, cupcakes...the list could go on forever! After the tea, we played some baby shower games, and then it was time for presents! I certainly have very generous friends and family, and I am so grateful to everyone! Here are some pics from the big event!

Here's a pic of the tea food! Yummy!

Here are SOME of the guests--top row--part of Gretchen and Meghan; 3rd row--Janet, Julie, and Cass; 2nd row--Steph, Mom (who is red in the face due to dermatological treatment), and me; bottom row--Robin; not pictured--Fran and Mary Kay! Well, part of Fran's arm made it, and MK is taking the photo!

Here is the quilt Janet (G.G. for Grandma Gallagher) made for Baby Howard--that square in the middle is Bella!

Here is a gift from my mom (Mims)--that's the outfit I wore home from the hospital as a newborn!