Easter Bunnies at the Eggstravaganza

Happy Easter!
(Or in Lori's mind, Happy Day-to-eat-chocolate-without-feeling-guilty!)

Aunt Kristin and Uncle David hosted their annual superfun Eggstravaganza, and this is the first year we were able to bring our own little tot to enjoy the egghunt and chocolate fondue. Keenan enjoyed riding around on Daddy Ben's chest while Ben searched, and searched, and continued to search for his candy bag. Maybe next year, Keenan will toddle around the yard and join the other kids in their hunt for treasure-filled eggs. Keenan met the Easter bunny, Daddy Ben discovered that some eggs were filled with Rolos, and Mommy Lori devoured more than her fair share of fondue-dipped cream puffs and strawberries. Happiness for everyone!


It was also Grandma Susan's last day in the states before leaving for Turkey to continue her round-the-world sailing adventure. She gave goodbye hugs to our mini-bunny--we'll miss her and look forward to her return in the Fall!

GO BIG RED!

March Madness begins today, and a certain little man wanted to express his support for the Cornell Men's and Women's basketball teams!

Or, perhaps a certain new mom wanted to take the opportunity to play "dress up" with her son.

GO BIG RED!

Tummy time. . .every baby's doing it.

Keenan is a whopping 7 weeks old, or 49 days! So far, Ben and I have managed to keep the little guy alive, so we think we're doing a good job as new parents. Some changes to note in the little guy:

1) Instead of "chicken legs," he now has delightfully squeezable "thunder thighs."
2) His hairline has receded way below his daddy's, and his bald head is now covered in new, soft downy light brown fuzz.
3) He is on the verge of smiling intentionally.
4) He no longer sleeps in mom and dad's room, but in his crib in his own room like a big boy. And he gets up only once in the middle of the night around 3:30 a.m.
5) He likes to have staring contests, and often wins!
6) He loves to take Daphne for a walk and ride on mom and dad in his Baby Bjorn carrier.
7) He has a superman grip. . .especially when grabbing dad's chest hair.
8) He really digs car rides and lunching with the ladies.

4 Weeks Old! They grow up so fast. . .

Unbelievable to us, Keenan is already a mature 4 weeks old! He's filling out his newborn clothes very nicely now (as opposed to swimming in them), and he no longer fits some brands of newborn diapers. We are very proud of his talent and ability to grow :)

A few things we've learned as new parents that we didn't expect or already know:

1) Babies make very strange noises. . .at all hours of the day.
2) Babies continuously "use the restroom". . .they don't finish and then wait an hour or two to go again. . .it's basically a constant process. And, the phrase "blow out" is no longer used to describe tires.
3) Diaper rash is a nasty little ailment, and is seemingly more painful for the parent to endure than the baby.
4) Babies don't pose for pictures.
5) There's nothing better than a warm little baby bundle asleep on your chest.

________________________________________________________

Our lil' Keenan has a "birthday brother"! Our fabulous friends Ben and Kristy also gave birth to their son William Thomas on January 21st, just hours after Keenan arrived. The two Bens have known each other since childhood, were groomsmen in each other's weddings, and have continued to put up with each other since. . .what a wonderful coincidence that their sons would arrive on the same day! William was expected to arrive a few weeks earlier than he did, and Keenan was expected 3 weeks later. . .the little men must have decided together that it would be a pretty cool trick to surprise everyone and share a birthday. Both Daddy Bens agree that there is a great savings opportunity here. . .shared birthday parties for years to come!

GO BENS!!! Ben and Ben holding William and Keenan (4 weeks old).

Lori and Kristy with the munchkins.

Two-week Check-In

Keenan's first walk outside with mom--yay for Virginia's wacky warm winters!

Everyone told me that any and all free-time would basically disappear once the little man arrived, and everyone was right! It seems that as soon as I'm done feeding, changing a diaper, and maybe folding a load of laundry or shoving some food in my mouth, it's time to feed Keenan again.

Little Keenan has a voracious appetite. . .we think he's compensating for the three extra weeks he missed in the womb to bulk himself up :) He's doing a great job of packing on the pounds so far. . .currently tipping the scales at a whopping 7 pounds, 5 ounces of pure cuteness. The docs are quite proud of him for surpassing his birth weight after two weeks.


Ben and I are still adjusting to having the little guy around, but at the same time, it's already hard to remember or imagine life without him. All the hard work that comes along with his arrival is all made worth it when he gazes at us with his big dark blue eyes and makes some of the most adorable little noises I've ever heard. Watching him change and grow is fascinating, even after only two weeks, and we can only guess that the next 18 years will continue to fascinate us!

_______________________________________________

Ben promised that I would give a play-by-play account of the labor and delivery for those who haven't heard it from the horse's mouth, so here it is:

Thursday, January 17th: I had a doctor's appointment and was told that there was no sign of cervix effacement or dilation, leading me to believe that there was still PLENTY of time to prepare for Keenan's big debut.

Saturday, January 19th, evening: We walked around Tyson's Corner Mall shopping for nightgowns for the hospital, and I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions--about 5 an hour. They weren't painful, so I didn't worry. Ben and I managed to squeeze in one final dinner date to our favorite Thai restaurant in Fairfax. . .little did we know it would be the last date for a while!

Sunday, January 20th: Ben and I made a trip to Babies R' Us to do some final prep shopping for Keenan's arrival. We returned some items, and stocked up on items we were missing. I was still having those Braxton Hick's contractions quite frequently throughout the day, but didn't think much of it. We spent the evening in our basement, watching football in front of the fireplace, and I began writing thank-you notes from my baby shower the week before. Since Monday was Martin Luther King Day (a holiday!), we stayed up until midnight.
Monday, January 21st, 1:45 a.m.: I awoke in a complete panic, thinking I had just peed my pants in bed! But it dawned on me quickly that my water had just broke. I proceeded to almost have a nervous break-down and could not control my chattering teeth and shivering. . .a complete nervous reaction that continued for the next two hours. We knew we needed to get to the hospital quickly because Keenan was still in the breech position and would need a c-section delivery to enter the world safely. . .so it was important to get there before I truly started to have severe contractions. We notified the doctor that we were on the way to the hospital.

Monday, January 21st, 2:25 a.m.: Having just raced around the house trying to assemble some kind of appropriate "hospital bag," we left for the hospital in Reston. . .and made it in a record 23 minutes. We were lucky to not have to make this trip in rush hour! We were able to time the contractions for the first time during the drive, and determined that they were coming about every 2-3 minutes and were gradually getting stronger (but still not really painful). Apparently, Benny claims he was a basket case, but did a very good job of covering it up for my sake!

Monday, January 21st, 2:50 a.m.: We arrived at the hospital, and were quickly escorted to a delivery room where they hooked me up to monitors and did some assessments. . .3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Basically, this meant that we were going in for the c-section as soon as my doctor arrived, in order to avoid little Keenan trying to come out feet first the natural way. I had my heart set on a natural delivery, so I was upset that Keenan still had not flipped into the head-down position, but I had come to terms with the fact that the c-section was the best way to get him out safely.

Monday, January 21st, 4:00 a.m.: I walked into the operating room where the anesthesiologist hooked me up to the epidural right away. The meds took effect right away and I was numb from the waist down, a very strange and somewhat uncomfortable feeling. Benny was right by my side during the operation, and despite my uncontrollable chattering, the c-section went smoothly as planned.
Monday, January 21st, 4:58 a.m.: Little Keenan Charles was pulled from my belly and let out his first cry. . .one of the best sounds a new parent will ever hear! I watched them clean him up from my position on the OR table as the docs stitched me up.

The next several days were a bit of a blur, filled with an infinite number of visits from nurses and techs, struggles with learning to breastfeed, recovering from the pain of a c-section, and falling in love with our new baby son. Many thanks go out to the nurses who helped us adjust to our new roles as parents--their help was invaluable!

Thursday, January 24th, 4:00 p.m.: We clicked Keenan into his car seat and drove him home for the first time. Grammy and Pop were waiting at home for us, with a nice home-cooked meal to welcome the new family of three! And Daphne got to meet her new brother for the first time.

Special delivery...Keenan Charles. . .3 weeks early

Keenan in traditional hospital garb,
our son looks very comfortable in Mom's arms

Immediately after birth, Lori's first look at him
(she still on the O.R. table)

Already foiling his mom's planning nature, our son Keenan arrived three weeks early. To be fair, Dad had encouraged his arrival by whispering to Lori's belly while she slept. We are both ecstatic, yet fatigued, and are lucky and blessed to have a healthy mother and baby.

Here are his stats:

Birthday: 4:58 am Janurary 21, 2008
Weight: 6 lbs 12 ozs
Length: 19 inches

The short version:
From start to finish the whole birth was rather quick. Although if you count the contractions Lori was having the evening before at Babies R Us, and the day before that at Tysons corner mall, maybe it wasn't so quick.

Lori woke me up at 1:45 am in a frenzy, telling me her water broke. This was a bit of a surprise, since his due date was three weeks later. After hastily packing, we made our way to the hospital (and made great time too!).

She received her epidural, was prepped for surgery, and a couple hours later had delivered our first son.

We received some amazing advice from the hospital's nurses. By Thursday however, we were beginning to have confidence to do this parenting thing on our own. Instead of giving him to the nursery, Wednesday night we kept him overnight in our room and survived! So we came home Thursday evening, looking forward to our own bedroom and no more nurse/doctor visits every half hour.

I'll let Lori tell the minute-by-minute account, but here are some more pictures for everyone to enjoy:

Proud parents of a well-swaddled little man

Let the bonding begin

Here is Zack, Keenan's cousin born in September

Grandma and Grammy with the munchkins

The best little sucker in Virginia (Click on the Play arrow to see our man in action)

Keenan's first close-up

First bath!
(Keenan is not exactly thrilled)

Merry Christmas, PadThai!

Grandpa Charlie built this fantastic rocking horse.
Strong enough for Ben, made for Pad Thai.

PadThai is very lucky. He is already so well-loved in our extended family, despite his being "just a big ol' belly bump" right now. Ben and I are so grateful for all of the generosity our family has shown us in helping us prepare for PadThai's arrival. Thanks to them, he will be one of the best dressed boys around, riding in only the hippest of red car seats and strollers, and playing with only the most fun and fabulous toys. Besides some fantastic grandparents, aunts, and uncles, he'll also have some very sweet older cousins to look up to--we know he's going to love his new family just as much as we do. The kiddos in this picture are his future cousins Tommy, Sarah and Ally, and baby Zack (Isaac) down below.

All I want for Christmas is a name for PadThai!

PadThai finally has a real name. . .at least it's about 95% certain. But we are still opting to keep it under wraps--in case Benny comes up with a funny reason he doesn't like it. (Yes, this has happened on several occasions.) I'm SURE he would rebut and say the same about me. . .but this is my blog post and I will not allow him to defend himself!

I wouldn't say we ever had that "ah ha" moment I blogged about a few months ago, but we did kind of re-stumble upon the winner and settle on it in a matter of a day or two. Surprisingly, it is not one of the 10 names we had been seriously considering for the past several weeks--instead, it's a name I suggested once upon a time, and Ben nixed it immediately back then. . . .so I kind of let it be and didn't ever bring it up again. . .until we had both reached our breaking point in the name search and had to start recycling previous rejects. It's been about a week now since we "settled" on it, and we both still seem comfortably happy with the idea of our little man's new moniker. To me, it's a name that suits a guy who's smiley and caring and charismatic. . .just a few of the traits I hope our son becomes.

Maybe we'll drop a few hints as the due date approaches! Here's one: PadThai's new name did not originate in Thailand!
____________________________________________

I haven't posted a Belly shot in quite awhile (actually, I haven't posted anything!), and thought I should. . .although, this one is actually a few weeks old, when I was about 30-31 weeks along and PadThai supposedly weighed about 4 pounds. His latest ultrasound measurements still indicate that he is larger than average. His leg bones are, GULP!, >95% in terms of length. Tall genes run deep on both sides of the family, so this is not a surprise to us.

PadThai's Nursery: Unveiled!

PadThai now has a happy little piece of our home to call his own. Benny and I toiled all weekend long to pull this little room together, and we're pretty happy with how it came out.

There are still a few things missing. . .like the fun rocking chair Grandma and Grandpa DeGeorge ordered for us and a window covering of some sort. Plus, we're still missing all those super fun items associated with poopy diapers, like "genies" and changing pads. I think we're still in denial about THAT part of raising a lil' man.

Daphne seems to like the room, too. . .as I painted, Daphne spread herself out right beneath the crib. Once PadThai makes his big debut, we're wondering if she'll decide to sleep in PadThai's room as his personal guard dog, or if she'll stick with guarding us at the foot of our bed. (Oh, by the way, don't worry about pregnant Lori painting. . .Ben did all the smelly primer painting, and I painted the walls and trim with low-VOC paint, so the toxic smell was minimal.)



Here are some pics. . .the blue ones are the "Before shots." The blue really looked quite nice, but we decided to change it up anyway. . .PadThai deserves something fresh, new, and bright!

The fun things we like are: the Moose Family painting above the crib. . .Papa, Mama, and PadThai moose; the dog butt hooks from Ikea which have not been hung yet (but you can see them sitting on one of the dressers in the picture; the framed pages from cute children's books above the changing table and Frog & Toad in the corner; and the Yellowstone Animals Mobile.

Now we just need the baby. And that diaper stuff.

Little Guy Ain't so Little

Despite my doctor's insistence last week that I am the "perfect" size--not too big, not too small--I have felt rather large for being about 6 months pregnant. I think I've been around a lot of small pregnant ladies recently, and it's hard not to compare your size to theirs. There is one woman in my prenatal yoga class who is due at the end of November--2+ months before me--and she is only a hair bigger than me right now. The Ulrich clan keeps taunting me with true tales of 9 and 10 pound babies (one of whom was my husband!), and I'm starting to think that PadThai may be on the "Baby Ginormo" track.

I am 26 weeks along in this journey, and had myself another ultrasound today, just to make sure everybody--me and he--are growing as planned. And, not to my surprise, PadThai is large. . .not super large. . .just 10 ounces more than most babies are at 26 weeks in utero. The doc estimates he's about 2 pounds, 10 ounces now. . .and most babies measure about 2 pounds at this stage. Other than his largeness, he looks perfect in all other ways. He was practicing his "breathing" by moving his diaphragm, and he yawned for us. . .he must take after both of his Grandpas.


Here's a portrait of PadThai from this morning. . .that's his head laying horizontal, looking straight at you. And there's a shoulder or arm on the left side of the frame. We think he's pretty handsome.