One week in

I have to thank John for posting the previous announcement about the birth of Nathan. It was a sweet post, and probably the most spiritual one this site has ever seen. John should update more often:) I also was so grateful for all of your kind comments and congrats.

I've been meaning to sit down and write to update, and journal the events of this past week, but to be honest - the events have all become a little bit blurry! I had planned to write about John's Halloween birthday, which came and went without much ado. I'd planned to write about the hillarious Cowboy Doctor that we had.


Most of all though- I'd wanted to write about how wonderful John was throughout it all. The perfect "coach." I am so grateful for his soothing and calming disposition in moments like that, and really in life in general.

All the details of that awesome day are recorded in a journal for Nate, and as much as I wanted to share it here (all the gory details), my brain is mush now.

Consider youself lucky!

Suffice it to say that November 1st was one of the happiest days ever. There is no better feeling then that second when you hold your baby for the first time and realize it is all over! The past 9 months, 5 days, and 7 hours will one day be a distant memory.

I was done. And I felt so VICTORIOUS! Of course it helps to have an awesome awesome husband who makes you feel like you've just conquered the world!

It was a great day!

As John mentioned -Nathan was a little over 9 pounds, which didn't surprise the doctor and nurses much. What did surprise them though, was the size of his hands and feet. This is not going to be a little boy- that's for sure! But he is still little enough to fit perfectly into our arms right now- and we love him as though he's always been here.



We brought little Nate home on Monday, let the kids each hold him once, took a picture, and then I whisked Nate off to our room where he has remained and will remain for the next week. The next day (Tuesday) Sam, Abby and Jess ALL had their own little bout of the SWINE FLUE. Sam was the least severe, complaining of only headache, stomach upset and coughing. Jess was in between with a low grade fever and a cough, and Abby was knocked out with every symptom in the book and a burning fever for a couple of days.



For the past few days, we've been trying our best to sanitize, sterilize, isolate, medicate and quarantine as much as possible.

It has made me so frustrated at times that we have to go through this when I did everything right to prevent it. Remember how much I freaked out about it last week? I stood in line for 3 hours amidst contractions to immunize the family, we're ALL hand sanitizer ADDICS now, and I kept the kids home from church and pre-school for two weeks prior to my due date - just to avoid the germs.

All that Stress last week. Completely WASTED!!!! (There is nothing worse then wasted stress!)

The kids are all on the mend, and Nate so far is doing great! In fact he is the DREAM baby. Not a bit of jaundice. He's thriving for sure. And he is already sleeping for up to 5 hours in between feedings. He has the roundest face and dark hair. His eyes don't appear to be brown, which makes me wonder if this little guy could have some of that stunning hardy blue that so many of my nieces and nephews do. Over all, he reminds me so much of Abby. Almost a spitting image of her in fact.

Well, that is week 1 with Nate so far. Until I get another burst of unexplained energy, here are some more pics of the cute one!

My niece Ava knitted this hat for Nate. I think he likes it!

Nate, John, and Grandpa Max.