A Newborn Christmas

Christmas with a 2 week old was quite interesting :). It took us 5 hours to open presents on Noah's schedule. Despite the challenges of Noah's first Christmas we still managed to keep up with our holiday traditions including our Christmas hike and a full on ham dinner. The pumpkin pie almost got nixed, but Jeff managed to whip one up at the last minute. One of the best parts of the day was when we realized that Noah's stocking was bigger than he was. Of course as the twisted parents we are, we actually put him in his stocking--we'll spare you the pictures, but boy did we find it entertaining. B.C. and Maggie are not to be left out since they had a great day as well. Aside from doing their favorite hike, they loved nosing through their stockings and were very excited as I opened their presents for them. At one point Jeff put up the extra biscuits and bones they received and I objected with the quote of the day "But Jeff, Christmas is all about indulgence...let them have the cookies." (I of course paid for it later when Maggie got sick from all her indulgences). Despite the quirks of the day we had a great Christmas and look forward to next year when Noah might actually be awake when he opens his presents. :)

Our Little Guy

First Bath

Needless to say Noah was not a fan of his first sponge bath.

Sleepy Days

The last 2 weeks have been a time warp--we've been completely out of it, but have managed to stay afloat. As you can imagine our days are filled with the never-ending routine: Eat, Diaper Change, Activity Time, Diaper Change, Sleep, Diaper Change, start over. Even with the routine though Noah is keeping us guessing everyday. We're still trying to figure out his elusive cries...one of these days we'll understand what they mean. Jeff is on the verge of cracking the code. He tried to explain it to me the other day in the following way (and I quote): well when it's a wa wa wa then he's hungry, but when it's more of a waaaa waaaaa then he's got a dirty diaper and if he gets that old man quiver lip face with a waaa wa wa then he's tired. Hmmmm, okay.

Noah is Born -- Dec. 7th

So the big day finally arrived. I went into labor right as I got into bed to go to sleep on the 5th and after 27 (yes, TWENTY-SEVEN) hours of labor and no sleep, Noah Moreno Kilpatrick was born at 2:23 am on the 7th. He weighed 7lbs, 3oz and was 20 inches long with a full head of brown hair with red highlights. He has Jeff's eyes and mouth, my dad's dimples and widow's peak and my fingers and hair color. The other features are still indeciferable and it will be fun to figure them out.

The last 5 days have been a whirlwind, but we're doing fantastic. Jeff and I are spending our days staring at Noah. He's especially cute all swaddled up like a football. He's not so cute when he has his explosions, but it cracks us up. He's enjoying his walks around the block and had his first trip out when we went to the doctor yesterday.

40 Weeks

40 weeks came and went and Baby Kilpatrick was not quite ready to make an appearance on his due date of December 2nd. We passed the days getting and decorating our Christmas tree and spending time with our parents. On the morning of December 5th we went hiking with the dogs and Joel, Carol and my mom. Then Joel drove to Atlanta to pick up my dad from the airport. Before they got back I managed to squeeze in one last prenatal salsa workout. I think that is what did the trick :) or perhaps the baby just wanted to wait until all 4 soon-to-be grandparents were in town. Whatever was in the cosmos, December 5th was definitely an auspicious day as the contractions started at 11:10 pm that same night.

Thanksgiving 2007--39 Weeks

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving that started out with our "Thanksgiving Photo Shoot." We had a lot of fun documenting what we are really thankful for. We then headed to Cardee and Jere's annual Bloody Mary party--Jere even made the virgin version for me. Afterwards we went for a hike with the dogs at Watson Mill Bridge State Park. It was beautiful out since all the leaves had just changed and were falling all around us. We hiked for an hour and then headed home to make our turkey dinner complete with homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and the works. Our night was topped off with a pecan AND a pumpkin pie straight out of the oven. There may have only been two of us, but we lived it up in true Thanksgiving style.

37 Weeks--November 11, 2007

Playing ith Our New Toys

So we found B.C. and Maggie to be great testing subjects for our new toys. I love the way the sling works and laughed hysterically while carrying Maggie around the house for the test session. B.C. took pretty well to the jogging stroller but I don't think she'll mind never getting in it again. :)

Halloweeeeeen 2007

Jeff and I got some laughs this year as the high school jock and

the pregnant cheerleader. I managed to make my junior high cheerleading outfit fit (although the skirt did not really zip...surprise, surprise).

Jeff also went to town this year on the house. One day I came down from work to find him slaving away on a GIANT paper mache spider! Despite making fun of him for a month, I have to admit that the spider was an awesome addition to his decorations. He also made up some tombstones and 4 ghosts that he positioned around the yard. Boris, of course, also was dressed up as Frankenstein thanks to Jeff. :)

35 and 36 Weeks

Prep Work

Jeff and I have had fun preparing for the new arrival. From stripping and repainting the buffet in order to transform it into a changing table and dresser, to recovering the rocking chair, we've been having a blast. I've also been working on a painting for our Children's Classics inspired room. The idea of a magical flying ship full of classic characters like Pete's Dragon and Babar came to me last summer in Italy and I worked out a couple rough sketches on the plane home. It's now in the final stages of completion and will be a fun centerpiece over the crib when it's done.

More from the Nursery

The nursery has been finished and we love it! It actually livens up my office quite a bit.

34 Weeks--Jeff

Kayaking in North Georgia

We spent Saturday, Oct 13th up at Jere and Cardee's (Jeff's uncle and aunt who live here in Athens) cabin on the lake. We spent a nice day touring the lake on a boat and then followed it up with a short kayaking tour of the cove. We managed to squeeze me into a life jacket and off we went.

33 Weeks

Well I'm finally feeling like I got a case of the preggers. I'm moving around slower than before and it's a noticeable effort to get up. I'm still exercising almost every day, but my sweets cravings have also increased along with the size of my belly. Jeff caught me in the act of purposely walking by the bakery section at the grocery store just to look at the cakes and donuts. For those of you who know me well, cakes and donuts typically make me feel ill. I have never liked them even since I was little and now here I am doing drive-by tours of the cake isle. I also made Jeff stop the other night to get me Hershey's syrup because I decided it had a myriad of "necessary uses." Jeff looked at me as if a martian had taken over my mind since it's all so anti-Rhia.

Diapers!

So we received a mysterious package of cloth diapers and covers today and got so excited that we had to immediately try them out. Of course we had no idea what we were doing and our moose baby would surely have some major problems if it were to have an accident. I guess we'll need to do a little more research on the elusive diaper fold.

31 weeks - Leggo my Eggo!

I did it! I finally gave in to my Eggo waffle craving! It helped that I magically found a coupon for it which I translated as a sign that I was supposed to buy the Eggo nutri-grain waffles of my childhood. It only took me almost 8 months to give in to temptation. I've had to even avoid the frozen section of the grocery store. :)

Other pregnancy cravings? It's changed throughout the months but I've needed the all-too-common ice cream which is a bizarre concept for me since I've never been a big ice cream fan. I went through a tomato phase where I was eating a couple of whole tomatos a day complemented by V-8 and Clamato or the daily virgin bloody mary. There was also the random must-have deviled eggs moment back in the first trimester. I broke down for that one and boiled, made and ate 6 deviled eggs in about 3o minutes. Other than that it's just been fruit, fruit and more fruit. Oh and my mom got me hooked on mini Shredded Wheat n' Bran cereal. Can't get enough of it...as evident by the fact that I have eaten it every morning and sometimes afternoon for the last 2 months. It's 9am and I've worked myself up so much thinking about food that I am about to go down stairs and make the difficult decision of Eggo versus Shredded Wheat. It's a hard life. :)

Road Trip - Sept 23

On our way back from camping Jeff and I drove around the Georgia mountains checking out some of the backroads and little towns. As we usually see in the South, there were plenty of really cool old houses and structures that were just sitting there but no longer in use. I really liked the general store that we passed.

As we were driving through yet another church community where there is a sign at the town entrance that says "The churches of so and so town welcome you!" we drove passed this HUGE Christ painting and for some reason we both turned around as we passed it and low and behold the other side had another Christ painting on it...this one super smiley and in bright colors. It was too much for us and we had to stop and take pictures.

Camping Trip - 30 weeks

On Sept 22nd Jeff and I hit the road for the Blue Ridge Mountains. We found a great campground next to this little trout lake that had a trail that connected up to the Appalachian Trail. As soon as we pitched our ancient tent we hit the trail and had a merry ol' time for 2 hours. The dogs loved the little watering holes and my calves loved the straight up climb for freakin 45 minutes of the trail. Do you sense the sarcasm? :)

Jeff and I cooked the old fashioned girl scout version of dinner...everything was prepared in tin foil packets over the fire. It was outstanding. We played multiple games of Yahtzee and Kings' Court while swatting the Southern bugs away from our lantern. We turned in early and eventually fell asleep despite Maggie walking all over us to find the perfect snuggle spot. The ground was hard, but we managed with our little foam mats. Luckily it was not cold at all because I had to get up to go to the bathroom 4 times. B.C. kept me company each time. Oh and ode to my mother...I was totally freaked out about bears for the first time in my life...perhaps all the bear warning signs around the campground were not the best thing for a pregnant lady. :)