It is almost time for Ethan's first vacation!

Oh, how the time flies! Ethan is 11 weeks old today. Brad and I are so proud of him. He is such an adorably sweet and brilliant little guy! He smiles and coos all the time, and he even tries to stand when we hold him up on our laps. His favorite things include: his swing, his mobile, funny faces, being read to, bathtime, and being a morning person. I love how he has SUCH a personality already! He has no problem telling us if he is bored or doesn't like something, but he is pretty low maintenance. I barely have the attention span for anything but him, he is the perfect distraction!
EVERYWHERE we go, there are people stopping to say how cute he is. Last night, we went to our friend Mark's wedding, and a couple stopped us as we were leaving to tell us how much they enjoyed watching our baby from the other table. The day before that, a lady stopped me at Sam's to say that Ethan is so cute and she wishes she could pull my car up for me (it was bitterly cold outside).
Brad and I have already filled almost 4 photo albums of pictures! The photo guy commented on how much he sees us.... maybe we should chill on the pictures... Yeah right!
We leave for Boston early Tuesday morning to see some family, and I'm a little nervous about taking Ethan on the plane. I packed his suitcase already... it is so full! For those of you who are about to meet him for the first time... brace yourselves! He is even cuter in person!

Ethan's First Thanksgiving!

So Ethan is now 5 1/2 weeks old. I can't believe it! It is already time for me to go back to work, poo. It has been so much fun staying home and playing with him all day long. I've gotten to witness several milestones: his first smile, his first coo, he has held his own bottle several times, he has peed on me (and Dad), he has rolled from his tummy to his back, he can hold his head up for extended periods of time... My little guy is growing up so fast :(
 We started the day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, then Dad came home from playing football. Gramby came over and Ethan drew names for Secret Santa. We got it all on video :0) Go Go Baby Ethan! It seems he has enjoyed his first Thanksgiving, getting lots of attention like usual. :0) Earlier at Grammy's, he wore his bib with a turkey on it and sat at the dinner table while drinking his bottle. Right now he is sitting on his Aunt Kristin's lap, we are at Pop Pop's house enjoying some of Aunt T T's pie. Yum.

He is here!!!!!!!!

After what seems like forever, our darling baby boy is here. It's still sinking in...and every moment is so amazing. Brad and I stare at him for hours on end and have never been more content. He is such an angel, he was so well behaved in the womb, and he was just as nice to me on the way out. He is already soooo loved and so spoiled, and he doesn't even know it! I'm dreading the day when he finds out and realizes that he has everyone wrapped around his little finger.
So here's how it all happened...
I started having stomach pains that would come and go around 7:30 p.m. Saturday night during dinner (Me, Brad, Doug and Jess, Noah, Briony, Pete, and Mom). We were in the kitchen and Chloe said "Ethan if you don't come out now, I'll corrupt you like your Mommy did us!". Later, we (Doug, Jess, Pete, Me, Brad, Eddie, and Shannon) went to Stanford and Sons to see a show because Jess is friends with one of the comedians who performed that night. As funny as the show was, I was in agony the whole time, the "pains" got more frequent and more severe. By the end of the show, Brad and I were pretty sure they were contractions so we called our Midwife. She said it might be a good idea to check into the hospital. We went home, grabbed our hospital bags, and told everyone we were just going to IHOP (we didnt want to say anything in case it was false labor). We checked in and I was dilated at a 2. I took a warm bath and was checked an hour later: 2.5 cm dialted. That's when it was decided that I was in early labor. I received some pain meds that made me sick, and when they wore off I decided it was time for the epidural. It was so sweet how concerned Brad was for me, his face went white. After the epidural at 6 am, I didnt feel a thing. It was suuuuuch a relief. They broke my water at 9am when I was dilated to 8. By noon, I was a 10. At 1:20 I began pushing. Brad held one of my legs up and the nurse had the other. I felt so bad for their arms, what champs! We waited for each contraction to begin, and with each, I did a series of pushes. Each time, I had to take in a deep breath and hold it in for 10 seconds while pushing as hard as I could while curling in towards my stomach. I did this four times in a row, each series lasting about 45 seconds. After 40 minutes, they said "Oh, the top of his head!" I was like "You've GOT to be kidding me!!!!" The Midwife assured me that this was good progress, but I thought she just didn't want to discouraged me. Soon, I could just feel him there and I got a second wind. It wasn't long after when I saw Brad's face and I knew Ethan was almost here. Good thing, I felt like my eyes were going to bulge out of my skull from repeatedly holding my breath and pushing so hard. One last push and our little miracle was born at 2:36 p.m. It all happened so fast, I saw him for a half a second and they rushed him over to the warmer that was 5 feet away. He looked great, but he wasn't crying. Brad and I exchanged looks, both our eyes became sprinklers. We couldn't believe it, this is the little guy who was doing Kung Fu in my stomach. Soon he cried and I got to hold my son. How amazing... I can't even attempt to articulate it. An hour later, Ethan's fan club flooded in...

Due in 5 days!

Today, the Doc said I was dialated to a one... and her guess is that I will deliver late. POO! Oh well, I guess the important thing is that Little Ethan comes when he is ready. We had our Newborn Care class on Monday night, and guess what!? Brad is a way better swaddler than me! I'll have to practice. Can Dr. Karp just be our babysitter!? I am trying to get everyone's guesses for date/time/height/weight on Facebook. Then we will print it off and keep it in the hospital bag so we can see who is the closest. Just for fun. Brad and I are sooo ready. I've been trying to stay busy... not enough to do to keep my mind off the waiting. So if anyone has ideas on how to pass the time, I am open to suggestions. I was going to learn to knit, but that will just make me feel like an old fart, and the nursing bra I started wearing already does that enough. I feel like Mrs. Doubtfire. LOL. But nursing bras are sooooo comfy! Even more comfy than no bra (in case anyone was wondering).
Tonight, I am making some cheesey potatoes, kind of like the ones that were at Jen W's wedding. I hope they turn out because we are hungry... but then again I have not found myself to be a picky eater these last nine months.
I'll be sure to keep everyone updated, i.e. if my water breaks or I have contractions. Go Go Baby Ethan!!!

10 more days to go! (Give or take)

We had our weekly doctor's visit yesterday. Everything is going great, but no dilation yet :0(
She said that didn't mean much, for all we know I could go into labor tomorrow (but I don't see that happening). Yesterday, we noticed Ethan dropped, and today he has dropped even more. He's getting close! Right now, I'm using all this downtime to do our last minute baby things, like: putting the safety mirrors and shades in the cars, I scheduled our Newborn Care class for Monday night, and I need to go get fitted for nursing bras. Our pediatrician will be the same as our doctor, since it's a family practice. So luckily, we didnt have to go through the trouble of finding one and interviewing them. Yesterday, I finally typed up our birth plan and put it with the hospital records. The day before that, I packed our hospital bags, and picked out Ethan's coming home outfit!
Okay, Ethan... everything is ready... just waiting on you... no pressure. LOL :0)~

19 more days!

I can't figure out whether Baby Ethan likes Kung-Fu or Yoga better. Either way, he's a crazy person. :0) Brad and I went out on a little date tonight, and it was the first time I had Stonewall Pizza since I had become pregnant, and I think Baby rather enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure he did not appreciate the Shake's frozen custard afterward, because there was no room in my belly for him to do his little exercises.
I noticed the first stretch mark today, you can see it in just the right light. I'm sure it will get bigger, and some more of its friends will appear :0( Brad says I should wear them like a badge of honor... UGH.
Today at work, a little 4 year old said "Mommy, she has a baby in her belly... is it a dinosaur?" I can't wait for Ethan to say cute stuff like that! I just hope he doesn't embarass me... and I hope he is NOT a dinosaur.

Today started the weekly Dr's visits...

This morning was the first of our regular weekly visits, and Ethan is just great! We got to hear his heartbeat (as usual) and found out that he moved his butt to my left side while his feet are what has been jabbing me on my right. It was really funny, when our midwife was poking around by his feet, he kept moving them away. He is so playful :0) We really like our Midwife, and are happy that we switched from the doctor we were seeing. She told us a lot about what's going to happen right after baby is born. We talked about how important it was for the immediate hour of skin to skin contact with Mom and Dad, as opposed to what the hospital usually does which is take him away for a bit for Apgar scores, etc. Brad and I keep daydreaming about the moment when we first meet our little guy...