Family Visit

"The Tom" with Sam

Nana and Sam

All the Grandparents together!

Three generations of Gravelins

The little duder (Day 12)

More Pics

Day 6:

Sam's get-up for our daily walks:

Picture of the week:

I pulled out the camera to document how Kyle was caring for Sam and May at the same time. Just as I snapped the photo, May, who was obliviously enjoying a belly rub from Kyle, rolled off the couch, landed on the baby bouncer which bounced her back to the ground on all fours. It was hilarious! Here you can see her just about to take flight:

Day 7:

Chief and Abba came over to share dinner. Then they took the first babysitting duty while Kyle and I ran  errands (such is a Saturday night when you're a parent; getting out to grocery shop suddenly seems exciting!)

Day 8:

Happy week-old birthday Sam!

What better way to celebrate than with three generations of Weisbrods watching the Falcons win?!

The Life of Sam (some pics and video)

So, here it is day 6. There's a lot of posting to be done but I'm not going to do it now. Time seems to be operating differently the last six days. It's gone by tremendously slowly in the sense that our life before Sam feels like millions of years away. But it's gone by so fast as the details of each day are already starting to blend together and fade. Hopefully, we'll have some stuff written while the edges are still sharp enough. But for now, here are some pictures and videos of Sam's first few days. Apologies for the formatting of everything.

Day 1:


















































Day 2: Apparently we don't have too many pics from Monday. We were all very sleepy.

Day 3: Yes, Sam's bilirubin was a bit elevated and the poor guy got a little bit jaundiced. This meant he had to have a UV light over him for about 20 hours or so. He took it in stride though - here he is with his shades on pretending he's sunbathing on a beach.










Day 4:

Sam came home on Wednesday, Day 4. Here he is already to go in his "Daddy's Champ" outfit.

Day 5:









Day 6:

EDD

Our estimated due date (EDD) has come and gone and left me feeling a bit disappointed (mostly because I had to return to work today after a nice relaxing weekend). EDDs are always +/- 2 weeks so we're still well within a reasonable time frame; it's just that the waiting is agonizing and my body is ready to return to normal.

Isn't it so strange that at a certain moment, my body and Champ's little body will decide "It's time!" and things will start to change drastically?

There is, no doubt, some evolutionary benefit to the end of pregnancy being so uncomfortable. Until about a week ago, the last nine months has been rather pleasant and certainly transforming. It's been exciting to experience each new step of pregnancy and to receive so much positive attention from the people around me. Overall, I've had a very easy time of it (little nausea, virtually no leg swelling or heart burn, no trouble with sleep). If it didn't get a little uncomfortable in the end, perhaps more women would grieve the end of their pregnancies, or worse, feel more reluctant about laboring.

I am definitely getting fired up to get things moving. Kyle and I took a walk on Saturday, a loop that would normally take 10-15 minutes. I think it took us 30 because I had to walk so slowly and stop multiple times to catch my breath. After that and a quick errand, all I could do was lay on the couch while Kyle unpacked the groceries and waited on me with snacks and hot apple cider (he's the best). Additionally, the shear weight of Champ has been making it harder just to turn over in bed. I have to lie pretty far over on my side to take his weight off of torquing my back.

I'm pretty sure Champ is getting just as uncomfortable as me. When he does move, he seems like he's trying to stretch out and create more space for himself. When he pushes his feet outward, I can feel that they're full-sized!

This pregnancy has gone by fast and I'm trying to savor the last few days of it, but I'm also so eager to meet Champ and see what he looks like. I can't wait to meet this little creature that developed inside of me and discover what makes him unique.

I'm ready whenever you are little man...


(Photo not me btw.)

The Nursery

Since a few of you have asked, here's a few photos of the nursery. I decided not to do anything too theme-intensive since we're planning to sell the house later this year. Half the room is still being used as a storage and work-out room. The juxtaposition of soft, fluffy baby gear and hard, cold dumbbells is pretty funny.






The walls are decorated with adhesives that can be reused and don't harm the paint. There are super cool designs at http://www.whatisblik.com/shop/explore






I LOVE our new glider/rocker. I've already been rocking myself to sleep in it... Thanks Dad and Karen!


Cool bucket-drawers from Ikea for toys and books:


I thought about omitting this part of the room, but to give you the real-life effect I had to include it. I think it reflects the slow progression of how this baby is slowly- though not completely- claiming his place in our lives.



The balloons are usually in the crib to keep the cats out. The dumbbells are a part of Kyle's morning work-out routine. And the rest is, well, other random stuff I haven't had time to organize. Nice.