Babyland

Graham is three weeks old now, and we are starting to get into a rhythm. He seems to have a schedule of his own that works pretty well with what we already have going. That is a small miracle in itself!
Natalie has adjusted to being the big sister and most baby relapses are over now, although she is definitely still our baby too. Graham is now sleeping in three to four hour stretches, which makes life much easier for me.
At first, I didn't leave the house with the kids without Chris - well, actually, didn't leave the house at all! Now we are venturing out, and I think I've got it figured out how to maneuver with two little ones and their gear. Minimalism has it's advantages!
Things are going well for us- spit-up is at a minimum, the peepee fountain is now under control (anyone with boys understands this!), and the tears are fewer and farther between. Just wanted to post a quick blog update with some photos. I have been out of touch with the technical world. So to those of you who have not seen an email from me in...oh, say three weeks - hello, I have missed you & will get back to you soon.
Now for the photos...and bedtime...Good night!

Who says a ball cap can't be glamorous?

P.S. Will post "Big Girl" bedroom pictures, and "Computer/Craft Room" pictures soon...

Baby Graham is Here!

Graham has actually been here a week now, but I am just now finding the time to blog about it. Pictures are below.

While we were scheduled for a March 12 induction, Graham decided he was ready last Friday night. What I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, turned into what I thought was false labor while we were watching a movie. I even looked up false labor and symptoms of real labor, just to make sure. "False Labor" got a little worse, and then at 12:30am we decided that maybe I should go get checked out, just in case. Having been induced with Natalie, I really didn't know what to expect if labor came on it's own. So we called Chris's mom, who lives really close, to stay at our house while we were gone. I was still pretty certain we would be back, and that I would feel like a fool.

Willow Creek Women's Hospital is just a few minutes away in a little town called Johnson, which is notorious for it's cops who pull people over for the slightest infraction. We're driving through and Chris says that there is a cop behind us who just turned on his lights. What?!? Noooo...yes. We got pulled over for a tail light being out, but as soon as the cop looked in & Chris told him where we were headed & why, he quickly sent us on our way without a ticket. It was one of those moments that is so similar to the movies, you have to laugh.

I was so certain that it was false labor that I told the nurse when she was hooking up the monitors, "If you send me home tonight, you HAVE to send me home with some sort of pain relief. I cannot live like this until Thursday!" Turns out, real labor pains can be an awful lot like the definition of the false ones - and mine were real! Graham was well on his way, and it was time for an epidural! I was so shocked & relieved that I started laughing - I'm sure they thought I was nuts!

After a successful epidural and a fairly good night's sleep, we welcomed Christopher Graham Davis into the world at 9:09am, weighing in at 8lbs 6oz. At one week old, he eats well, cries little, and is a pretty laid-back, easy going baby. Natalie is settlng into her role as big sister as well as can be expected of a 2 1/2 year. She is very sweet, kind and gentle to her baby brother, but it's so hard to have to share the attention of others with a new one. Chris and I are starting to get it figured out too. We couldn't believe how out of practice we feel with a newborn.

We really appreciate all of the help from our families and friends, it has made things so much easier. We are so very lucky & blessed to have our families in the same town - I don't know what we would've done without them! Many, many thanks to all of you!

Announcing...

Christopher "Graham" Davis

March 7, 2009
9:09 am
8lbs 6oz
19 1/4 inches

Nursery Complete! (with pics)

With our baby being due yesterday or March 5 (depending on which due date you go by), we think we finally have everything done! And while it seems like I have been nesting since Chris and I got married (home=hobby to me, but not so much to Chris!), it's definitely kicked up a notch or two lately. While both of us are procrastinators in a big way, it could not be put off any longer. In fact, we should have started all of our projects way sooner - I don't know what we were thinking. Apparently, we weren't. You don't even want to know when we started working on the baby's room.

It started with the craft room, which we had to pack up and move to the dining room so the craft room could become the baby's room. All of that mess ( and I mean MESS) was to later be moved into the computer room where Chris and I would share space. With a tiny computer desk and no storage space for all the craft junk, that was going to be a BIG problem.

Next, Natalie had to relinquish her baby bed - which really weighed heavily on me. Turns out, it didn't bother HER one bit! She was actually excited to get a "big girl bed" and her room revamped. That was a major relief! With a new bed and area rug in place, she has happily gone from a baby bed and diapers, to a twin bed and pull-ups -without issue. Apparently, change is her thing - go figure. More on this in another post...

Our To-Do list was enormous, filled with building in a desk to patching and painting walls and furniture to sewing all sorts of things. But we did it, we actually pulled it off- with help, that is. After the husband balked at building in the desk for the third or fourth time, I took to the neighborhood email to find someone who would. I think he thought I was bluffing (I was not!), and we actually found someone in our neighborhood. He is an actual carpenter and did such a nice job on my desk, that Chris had him build his desk in also. We had him add more shelves in a walk-through closet and install shelves above both of our desks. He also went above and beyond and replaced a rotten crawl space access door and installed some weather stripping. We are thrilled to say the least! So if you need a good carpenter, I'll be glad to pass his info along.

So now the baby's room is finished, Natalie is all moved in her room, the Computer/Craft room is moved in, and the bag is packed for the hospital. We still have a few bits and pieces to finish, but it is definitely more livable now. Below are Graham's Nursery photos, photos of the other rooms to come later.

I bought this dresser for our kitchen when I was pregnant with Natalie. It was truly a mess, but I fell for it anyways. The finish was so bad, it looked like it had been in a fire -thus earning it the name "the burn victim". When we remodeled the kitchen, we moved it to the garage - I couldn't part with it. Chris gave it a good sanding, we painted it glossy black and added glass knobs. It doesn't look like the same creature! The brackets on the shelves above were made by Chris's grandfather, Lyn. The hat, shoes and little bear frame were Chris's when he was a baby.

The milk glass belonged to Chris's grandmother, Sara, who passed a little after Easter last year. She had told me at Easter that she dreamed we would announce we were having a baby sometime that year. I told her she could be right, to keep it under her hat though. I really wish she wasn't missing out on all of this.

The picture of the kids fishing belonged to my grandmother, Irene. It's from a calendar she had kept around since the 1920's. I vividly remember it hanging in her living room. The baby drawing was Chris's when he was a baby.

The bassinet was Chris's, as was the green & yellow quilt hanging out of it which was made by his grandmother Rose & great-grandmother. The doll was his great-grandmother's and is actually a girl, but I dressed it in Chris's old baby outfit - I thought it was a little more fitting! It's actually Natalie's doll now, but 2 year olds probably shouldn't be playing with antique porcelain...so it's about to go into hiding again for safekeeping.

These metal racks are so versatile, they work great when you don't have a closet- and so cheap! The nightlight was a kit, and it was SO fun & easy to do. I'd like to make more of these!