Here he is!

Here is our newest arrival

Weighing in at 7 lbs 14 ounces, 20 inches long
Reddish hair, beautiful bouncing (tiny) baby boy.

Daddy all in scrubs ready to go.

Baby Bean's arrival into this world

Here's the short of it:
We checked into the hospital for our planned C-section and everything went very smoothly during check-in. Even the I.V. went in well, which was great. (my veins are not great with needles for some reason) Everyone who helped me-all the nurses, anesthesiologist, etc.- were super nice and I felt in good hands. I wasn't nearly as anxious as I thought I would be throughout the whole thing. I think the entire surgery only took around 45 min or so. Turns out he was footling breech, so a good thing we were doing a section anyway. Everything was fine with the baby--he came out and began sucking his fingers early on. I took that as a sign he would be a good nurser. Turns out to be true! He is a great nurser, latching on well from the start.
The post partum nurses were also very nice. I had a couple that I had with Dr. D! Also a good friend from high school is now a nurse and she happened to be working one night I was there, so we were able to visit. They took good care of us, not being too invasive and leaving us alone most of the time. My uterus didn't want to contract back down to size so I had a lot of bleeding going on for a while. They set aside two units of blood for me, but thankfully I didn't end up needing them. Just a lot of medication to contract the uterus down and I guess it finally worked.
My stay was made all the better by my awesomely awesome DH, who supported me and stayed by my side everyday. He is such a great dad--I LOVE seeing how much he adores his babies. The nights were made survivable by Naunee, who came and stayed with me EVERY single night, all night. Talk about a bff going above and beyond!!! She even rubbed my feet with fennel essential oil, which is supposed to make muscles contract better and help milk come in. I think it worked, because my milk came in after two days, which is the best is has ever done with me! I can never thank my DH and Naunee enough for those few days of help.
So, here I am at home (yay!!!) and we are getting along very nicely with my wonderful mother-in-law staying here to help for the week. She is taking care of everything so I am just resting, being lazy, moving around slowly, and taking care of baby bean.

Brothers meet for the first time!

We sure love this little guy! I thank Heavenly Father constantly for such a beautiful family and that everything went so well.

Tomorrow, tomorrow

I love ya, tomorrow. You're only a day away.......

So, today is my last day. Last day to be pregnant, probably EVER; last day to have a good night's sleep for a while; last day to eat very spicy foods without worrying about a nursing baby suffering; last day to wear my favorite dress (which happens to be a maternity dress); last day to wonder what our new little guy looks like; last day our family picture is current; last day our custom license plate is correct (it says "7whe10s" tomorrow we will be "8whe10s"); last day to sleep with just my DH for a while (I'm a baby-sleeps-in-my-bed type person); last day to drive for at least a couple of weeks; last day for Dr. D to be the baby; last day to feel a little person moving around in my tummy; last day of miserable hugeness; hmmmmm what else? last day to be only swamped by laundry, after tomorrow I will be completely overtaken by it (you know how laundry like TRIPLES with a baby...).

I may think of more later, but I am happy that today is my last day.

Scenes from the shower

Diaper shower, that is.
My good friends Wen and Naunee threw me a diaper shower extraordinaire, and I had to post some pictures to show how cute it was. Not to mention it TOTALLY stocked me with diapers for MONTHS!! Yes!!!!! Anyway, here is the spread that was as tasty as it was a-dor-a-ble!!


Especially these cupcake pops, which Naunee made. They were super delish and oh, soooooo cute!
The diaper cake which was borrowed and then doctored up by us was smashing.


Wen came up with several games. That word scramble was HARD! I worked on mine for days and didn't get them all. :) My favorite was this one where she had me put up baby pictures of everyone in our family and people had to guess who was who. It turned out to be more challenging than I thought it would! Cool.


The best part was being surrounded by family and friends that love and support me. Thanks so much to all who came or contributed in any way. XOXOXOXOXOXO

Inquiring minds want to know...

What baby item can you NOT live without???

Some relief

I have a lot on my mind lately. One thing I have been kind of worrying about is keeping up with cooking after the baby is born. I know it's going to take me some time to recover, and you know, I'm the one who cooks in our house. I have a most excellent DH who is a huge help and does pretty much anything I ask of him. But cooking... Well, it's just not his thing. (so he says) But now that we have a grill, well, things are changing a bit around here. Let me just say, he's getting his grill on, baby! He can make a great burger, but this week has branched out into pork chops, which came out soooooo good. I marinated some chicken in teriyaki sauce for him last night, and once again, he did not disappoint. The chicken was perfectly done- still juicy and firm, mmmmmmmmmm- and we grilled onions and red and yellow peppers to go on the side, and fresh pineapple slices which were DIVINE. Serve all that with a side of quinoa and we had a great dinner cooked by none other than DH.
So, I am relieved. One of my worries is disappearing and that is a good thing. And, even though if you ask him he won't fully admit he is enjoying this cooking (yes honey, grilling is still a form of cooking) I can tell he likes it.

Prego Pictures

I went to my neighbor (otherwise known as the neighborhood resident photographer) today and she took some fun maternity pictures for me. She is great, and even though I waited until the end here when I'm feeling huge and not very lovely, she brought out some fun and beautiful shots. Thank you so much, Debe!!! (and Lindsay for helping)
Here are some of my favorites:

The above shots are cool and pretty flattering. You can't see the all-over hugeness, just mostly belly. Wow, that's a lot o' belly!



I really like the silhouette shots. They have a very classic, romantic feel.


Here's the boy pointing to his belly while I point at mine. Can't believe he's going to be a BIG brother!!

I had a birthday!

I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and need to post about it. It was made special for me by many special people. First, the phone calls. You have to get phone calls from family and friends on your birthday. Some with singing, some leave messages, some just say happy birthday. They are all fabulous and add to the greatness of the day. I'll include emails in that category, too. And the cards. E-cards and paper cards alike are sweet!
This year my mom took me out the day before my bday. She asked what I needed and as I was almost out of makeup (and that is a necessary luxury, yes?) we went to Ulta to get some more. She got me the Bare Minerals I was running out of, plus a couple other little treats. We took an unexpected detour to Old Navy to get me a new shirt, too. Truth is, she was embarrassed to be seen with me in the shirt I was wearing. You see, I don't have that many shirts and the one I had on was especially worn. She got me a cute new black t-shirt. She also made dinner for us (I think it was the day after my bday). Thanks, mom! It was so awesome to be pampered like that.
On my birthday, I woke up to a clean room (courtesy of DH) and that made me feel like a queen!! Actually, he got the girls to help clean in general and it made my day wonderful. Naunee and I took advantage of the birthday food specials and she took me to Joe's Farm Grill for lunch. They give you $10 off on your birthday. We split a Fontina burger with sweet potato fries and a BBQ chicken pizza. Oh-and a chocolate shake. They were soooo fabulous!!!! Then on the way home we stopped at Joe's BBQ and I picked up my free bday meal to go. (I ate it the next day for lunch. Yes!!) We also had to make our routine birthday stop at the Cheesecake Factory for a slice of cheesecake. Heeeeaven! Later we stopped by HomeGoods and she got me a salad spinner. (did we do all that in one day? Maybe we stretched in out over two. anyways...) I have been needing one of those for a long time. Love it! It has been well-used since then.


When we got home, there was a gorgeous chocolate cake waiting for me. The first time I haven't made my own cake in a long time! Anyway, this was no ordinary cake. It was made by our good friend in culinary school and was beautiful as well as deadly chocolate. Fabulous! Tasted as good as it looked.
I'm a big believer in stretching one's birthday for as long as possible. So on Friday night, Naunee and my friend Wendy and I went to the late-nighter at our favorite scrapbook store. Guess what we all worked on? Dr. D's baby scrapbook!! I had one page done in it, and with another baby coming in 2 weeks was feeling dreadfully behind. So I brought his baby pics and we scrapped and got them ALL DONE!! Now I'm not behind!! (at least with the baby books) What a great feeling. DH and the kids love all the pages as much as I do. Wendy bought my dinner (my favorite AZ burrito from Filibertos WITH a large horchata. YUM) She also gave me a gift card to spend at Bath and Body works! Woohoo! I'll just say two words about what I got: Lemon Pomegranate. Yeah. Baby.
So, I just didn't want to forget what a great birthday I had, and especially to thank all those who had a hand in making me feel like a Birthday Princess. Thanks, and love ya!!

Things pregnant women DON'T want to hear

Just to remind myself, in case in the future I forget all my manners and want to say any of these things to a pregnant woman, I am putting them here so I will remember NOT to say them!

1. Are you SURE you're not having twins????? -for anywhere, anytime
2. You're still HERE????? -really great at places like church
3. You can't do THAT, you're too pregnant!!! -about simple, everyday things; I mean, who else is going to do it?!?!?!
4. You look exhausted/terrible/miserable/any other negative adjective inserted here!!!! -especially nice to hear when I am feeling just fine!

*Just have to add that a lovely cousin of mine told me how great I looked last night. Now, that there's a smart woman!! ;) Thanks for making me feel so good cous!

So, does anyone have something to add here? What do YOU hate to hear when you are huge and pregnant?