1 week old

Looks like we're starting things with Elliott off on the right foot ... late already! Today he is 10 days old but I'm just now posting his 1 week photo from Tuesday!

Elliott wanted to copy his friend Vale and take photos beside the same stuffed animal every month so everyone can see how he's growing! Hope E's favorite stuffed animal Chomps is big enough to last all year!

One fun discovery is that after bathtime, Elliott's hair is curly! It's kind of crazy which makes it so precious! We couldn't decide what hairstyle to go with for the 1 week pic, so we're bringing you both.

Party Hair:


Business Hair:


Everyone warns us that these days of them being so little go quickly so we are trying to cherish every moment. I can already tell that his cheeks and hands are filling out ... trying to be excited about this and not sad that he's already growing! We love our little boy!

So much to say

Oh ... where to begin? In an hour and a half, our sweet boy will be 1 week old! What a week it has been! We are everything ... tired, thrilled, overwhelmed, happy, exhausted ... you name it, we've felt it this week. On top of everything, we are mourning the loss of my cousin Tyler who passed away unexpectantly this week. I've never been through such a mix of sorrow and joy all at once. We're definitely still processing everything.

I have lots to say about everything ~ excited to share our birth story and what all has been going on this first week. It's amazing how time has passed so quickly in this blur of nursing, napping, and trying to live life with our new addition!

So I hope to be blogging more soon, but in the meantime I'll just leave you with our latest favorite picture. Elliott has just started smiling momentarily while he's asleep ~ guess he's having some good dreams! Adam caught one precious smile tonight.


Man, I really like that baby!!

He's here!

freaking finally!

after a long night, very long for the mother in this story, we finally got to meet our son around 4:30am.

7 lbs, 14 oz
20 inches
lots of dark hair
pretty stinkin cute

enjoy a couple of quick pics. more to come, i'm sure...

Elliott's Birthday...probably**

**don't worry...this is adam posting. mary's got more important things to do.



We're at the hospital, Mary's doing great. Check E's twitter for updates:

http://twitter.com/thebabyelliott

Thanks for thoughts and prayers!

39 weeks ... late again!

Shoot ... I'm late posting my monthly photo AGAIN! Here's where we were about 10 days ago at 39 weeks:


Only 1 slot left for the final moments of having this baby inside! It's funny because I've already forgotten what it feels like to not be pregnant and just have a "regular" stomach. I guess the days of "regular" stomach are already over, even when I'm not pregnant anymore! So I'm told ...

So here we are at 3 days past our due date. I really am thankful to NOT be miserable like some people describe. I've had a nasty cough that H1N1 gifted me with that we can't seem to knock out, but other than that I don't feel totally desperate for this to end, which I'm thankful for! If things continue progressing (or rather, NOT progressing) like they are now, we will be headed for induction early next week. It's nice to have a finish line in mind so we know we will get to meet Elliott within a few days!!

My mom has been here for about a week and other family coming in today, tomorrow, Saturday. So fun! Feels like one big party!!

And, in case you were wondering, here's how I'm coming on my list:

~ Blog more! CHECK
~ Update my website BOO...BORING...TO-DO
~ Make and decorate Christmas cookies CHECK
~ See An Education CHECK (yes ... go see it!)
~ Buy baby things ... bottles, pack 'n play, bathtime stuff, etc. CHECK
~ Make an apple pie (but don't catch the house on fire this time) TO-DO
~ Attach Elliott's bedskirt CHECK ... See HERE
~ Go to Disneyland CHECK
~ Pack for the hospital CHECK
~ Buy rugs for the living room, Elliott's room? CHECK
~ Assemble and figure out how stroller, carseat work CHECK
~ Start yearly MyPublisher books like Callen's TO-DO
~ Take naps CHECK AND CHECK
~ Finish reading Babywise CHECK
~ Go to the beach TO-DO
~ Figure out how to be a mom ALMOST DONE ... 90% :)

Anything else we should be doing in our last child-less hours/days?

Baby Adam

As we wait for E to arrive, we've both been pulling out newborn pics to try to get a better idea of what our little boy is going to look like!

Here are some pics that Mimi sent of baby Adam! I wonder if this is what Elliott will look like?




*Another side note is I can't believe how much Sydney looks like Melissa as a child!

We are about 33 minutes away from seeing our due date come and go ... but it's ok! We can be patient! I've actually been still feeling crummy from flu-leftovers and we've been slowly whittling away at our to-do list ... so maybe a few extra days aren't such a bad thing.

I have my weekly appointment tomorrow (Tuesday) so check Elliott's twitter for any updates!

Nursery

Hope that you aren't all on baby overload since that's pretty much all I've been posting about the past couple of weeks! Basically we've procrastinated on EVERYTHING that we needed to do for Elliott to make room for work, life, travel, etc. all summer. And now we are doing baby BLITZ and getting everything ready in about 2 weeks! I think it's kind of like planning a wedding ... you just get it done in however much time you have ... 2 weeks or 2 years!

Here's the most recent picture of our little nursery!


My mom has been so awesome and made our bedding that I LOVE! A close-up:


Our crib is from Craig's List, shelving from Target, floors from Adam and George's sweat and tears, artwork from my talented Aunt Lisa (Elliott sign) and our awesome friend Ryan (elephant canvas), and stuffed animals and books and toys all from our sweet friends!

Now we just need a little guy to make it complete! 8 days ... but who's counting?

**By the way, in case I don't get another chance to tell you ... Elliott is on twitter! We felt like this would be the easiest way for people to get up-to-date info about the whole baby arriving process, especially once we are in the hospital. Adam will be updating as we go, hopefully, so feel free to check for updates on icky labor and delivery details:

www.twitter.com/thebabyelliott

Update

Well, here we are at 38.5 weeks! I had my weekly dr check-up today to find out that I am still sitting pretty at a whopping 1/2 cm dilated without any change in the past 2 weeks. I think he's pretty comfortable in there. My doctor also explained today that they very rarely induce anyone so we will just wait it out until my body is ready. So basically I feel like I could be pregnant for another month.

I've been having some "contractions" on and off all week but they must just be Braxton Hicks that aren't really accomplishing anything.

The one bit of good news is that we also had an ultrasound this week and his size has dropped back down into the normal range ... woo hoo! We love the 55th percentile! We also got our first 4D image ... I'm thinking Shrek, Adam says Klingon (I have no idea what that is):


So to cheer me up, I've been coming up with a list of things to do in the next few weeks to make the waiting more fun. Here's what I've got so far ... any other suggestions to pass the time? Some are things that probably should have been done a while ago, some I'm just creating for fun:

~ Blog more!
~ Update my website
~ Make and decorate Christmas cookies
~ See "An Education"
~ Buy baby things ... bottles, pack 'n play, bathtime stuff, etc.
~ Make an apple pie (but don't catch the house on fire this time)
~ Attach Elliott's bedskirt
~ Go to Disneyland
~ Pack for the hospital
~ Buy rugs for the living room, Elliott's room?
~ Assemble and figure out how stroller, carseat work
~ Start yearly MyPublisher books like Callen's
~ Take naps
~ Finish reading Babywise
~ Go to the beach
~ Figure out how to be a mom

The funny thing will be now that I've let my guard down, I'll probably go into labor tonight and all of this will be for naught. Bummer ... I'm kind of excited about my list!

Baby Pool!

Well, as most of you deduced from my last post, we've had a little run-in at our house with H1N1. Adam and I have both been down for the count since Tuesday. This wasn't exactly what I had on my calendar for the week, but thankfully it shouldn't affect Elliott at all.

The one thing I keep thinking in the midst of feeling pretty terrible is that I'm just SO glad I'm not in labor simultaneously! But, we are getting close, so I think it's time for a little baby pool to see who can guess when Elliott is coming to play with us!


Here's what I know that might help you make an informed guess:

Due Date: November 16 (3.5 weeks!!)
As of Tuesday: 50% effaced, 1/2 cm dilated, -3 station
Elliott's size: potentially large :) measured at 5 lbs. 11 oz as of 2 weeks ago
Family History: Both my mom and sister delivered late
Dr's Induction Policy: With a first child, she wouldn't induce until at least 41 weeks without a specific reason to (in theory, Nov. 23).

So, leave a comment (yes .. that's you ... I know all of you silent blog stalkers want to come out of the woodwork!) with your best guess of date and time, and let's throw weight in there too in case we need a tie-breaking factor!

Wanna party?

I'm your girl.

**Notice lamby's leg sticking up there by my face ... we're in this together.**

"What is CDC’s recommendation regarding "swine flu parties"?
"Swine flu parties" are gatherings during which people have close contact with a person who has 2009 H1N1 flu in order to become infected with the virus. The intent of these parties is for a person to become infected with what for many people has been a mild disease, in the hope of having natural immunity 2009 H1N1 flu virus that might circulate later and cause more severe disease.

CDC does not recommend "swine flu parties" as a way to protect against 2009 H1N1 flu in the future. While the disease seen in the current 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak has been mild for many people, it has been severe and even fatal for others. There is no way to predict with certainty what the outcome will be for an individual or, equally important, for others to whom the intentionally infected person may spread the virus."

During/Afters

Hooray! Our house project is finished and we've lived to tell the tale. It ended up taking almost a full week to rip out, prep, install, clean, etc. but we are really happy with the results. We are still putting the house back together in terms of finding where we stashed everything, etc. but it is clean and livable at this point which is what we needed!

I thought to take pics of the "during" process but not so much of the "befores" ~ hopefully you can still appreciate the transformation! Just imagine nasty beige-turning-to-black carpet and cheap laminate everywhere before ...

If blogger is cooperating, you should be able to click on any of these photos below to make them larger:

Office:


Nursery:


Master Bath:

Kitchen:

Living Room:

Guest Bath:

We could never have done all of this without my awesome brother-in-law George who came out to make it all happen. Also thanks to Kyle and Drew for helping out!! And to Elliott for the wonderful supervising and encouragement. He was a big help.

So happy to have our new and improved house back!

Monthly Again ... 35 weeks

So I was late posting the last one which has made this one come quickly ... we are at 35 weeks! I am actually feeling great. The past 6 weeks or so have been the best by far of my whole pregnancy, so I am super thankful!


We had our monthly ultrasound last week and he is looking ... well ... big. Some of his measurements were even in the 90th percentile ... yikes. That's all I can say. Adam is hoping that the head measurement was just big because he has so much hair (let's just pretend that shows up in ultrasounds). I just came across this photo of yours truly, so who knows what we are working with here!

I am now going for appointments every week, so I'll keep you posted on any big changes. Baby pool is coming soon so start working on your date and time predictions!!

Our House

This is what our house looks like right now:


We are living in a construction zone/dust storm. But totally worth it because we are getting all new floors! I'm so excited! My bro-in-law George flew out to help us install them over a long weekend.


The running movie in my head is how this process would be going if he weren't here ... yikes.

Monthly Photo

So I'm already 2 weeks late with this ~ we took it at 31 weeks but I didn't have a chance to post before we left for our FINAL trip of the year!!



Everything is still going great. We are having monthly ultrasounds to monitor Elliott's growth and everything is checking out great. As of 3 weeks ago, he weighed 3 lbs. 11 oz. and looked a little something like this:


We are on countdown ... 7 weeks to go!

Our morning

Somebody was w-i-r-e-d this morning! Lucky to get her to sit still for about 3 seconds for this photo in her new big girl room!


More photos including shots of our new niece coming soon!

Football is back!

All is well ... football is back. Yes, it's a really big deal, mostly for the men in my life (husband, brother, etc.) but also for me because I really love football weekends of hanging out with friends and cheering for the Titans!

We were so excited that the NFL opener last Thursday featured the Titans! Even though we didn't win, I still thought we looked good.

Raegan was so excited about the Titans, that she left the room in one outfit and came back in this!



Ok, it was actually just a loaner outfit from Elliott, but he said she can use it until he gets here. Her mom and dad LOVED it and it was MUCH cuter than the Raiders cheerleading outfit she showed up in for Sunday football!

Go Titans!

Catching up: Miriam's Wedding

Earlier in the summer (like, 2 months earlier!!), my first cousin Miriam got married! She asked us to shoot it which was super fun (family wedding ... no pressure!), plus we just loved getting to be with all of my family, immediate and extended, for once!

At the rehearsal dinner:


The wedding was in my aunt and uncle's backyard ... so awesome! I LOVE weddings at home!

My mom's side of the family:

Cousins ~ we've grown from 6 to 13 (too bad Dan didn't make the wedding due to summer camp):


Girl cousins:

Love this pic of Caroline!!


And, for a couple of photos of the bride and groom ~ we're excited to add Chris to the clan! Here's the photoblog entry about their wedding if you want to see more!

Look who's growing up! (*edit*)

Over the past couple of months, we've gotten to see some favorite friends on our travels to shoot weddings all around! Thought I'd show you who all is growing up! Can't believe how big they are all getting!!

Annabelle and Judah:


Taylor is 1!!


Timothy and Samuel:

Ryan, Brittany, and Reese (notice they don't have a link ... don't you wish that would change?):


And Melissa, Sydney, and Taylor! We are so excited that Taylor came to meet everyone yesterday ~ 5 lbs. 14 oz., 18 inches. Can't wait to meet her in person in just a couple of weeks!


*Edit: We just took Raegan's 1 year pics today ~ I figured it was worth a blog edit for you to see her!*


Such cute and wonderful kids ... I think Elliott has a lot to live up to!!

Mad People

TV on DVD is such a wonderful thing. Most recently, Adam and I have been watching Mad Men thanks to some friends who gave us Season 1. It's not at all what I thought it would be from the title and visuals that go with it. It's about advertising executives in the 60's and their work and home lives (rather than gangs, violence, etc. like I initially assumed).

It's super interesting ... I spend a lot of time wondering how real it would feel to someone who lived and worked in that era ... is it totally accurate or overly-dramatized for entertainment?

Today, Adam and I both Mad Men'd ourselves.



Whose do you think is more accurate?

We just started Season 2 ~ I'll let you know how it goes!

My boyfriend's back.

Adam has been in Germany with all of his brothers (total=4) for 10 days visiting his brother Mike who has been working there in the cast of a German cowboys and indians theme park all summer. Yes. You might need to read that sentence twice.

Today he came home!! It's been a long 10 days ... I really like that boy.

Here's a photo of the 3 other brothers (I think Adam is in 1 photo total ... so is the life of the photographer). I'm so glad they had this experience. And I'm glad they're home!!

I stole this.

I directly stole everything following the colon from my friend and fabulous artist Brian's blog without permission. I just loved it and wanted to share. He does cool things (like reading books of Van Gogh's letters) and designs things for me and our business which are wonderful. Thanks Brian:

I stumbled on this a while ago when reading a book of van Gogh's letters. i like it.

"[Anton] Mauve takes it amiss that I said, 'I am an artist,' which I won't take back, because it's self-evident that what that word implies is looking for something all the time without ever finding it in full. It is the very opposite of saying, 'I know all about it, I've already found it.' As far as I am concerned, the word means, 'I am looking, I am hunting for it, I am deeply involved.'"

Top 25

I've been spending a lot of time lately at my computer (edit, edit, edit!!!) which means me and iTunes are starting to get a little tired of each other, but still trying to be friends.

I noticed the Top 25 Most Played playlist that it automatically creates. Here's mine. Nothing suer cool or exciting, just some songs that I like for everyday listening.

I tend to go through musical phases and each of these songs/artists definitely has a strong association with a specific time from over the past couple of years.



What are yours?

The name!

Yes, it's true. I've actually made a really important decision somewhat in advance. I think it's my husband's good influence on me. Our son has a name! Introducing...

Elliott Lewis Rosenbaum

Coming soon (but hopefully not too soon!)!! It's amazing how steps like this (finding out gender, choosing a name, etc.) make him feel more real and like I'm getting to know him little by little! Fun!

Can you believe it's time for monthly photo again? Time is FLYING! Sorry for the awkward photo ~ Adam wasn't around this morning to take it for me, so I had to do self-timer with camera precariously teetering on a couch pillow. But let's be honest, what about ALL of these photos isn't awkward?

More Catching Up!

In June I got to spend a fabulous evening with wonderful girlfriends from college ... I cherish every minute that I get to see them! We were lucky to get this many of us in one place and we missed those of you who couldn't make it!!


Everyone surprised the other prego Katie and me with some baby gifts (and cake!!) ~ our first ones! You guys are so sweet!


Another group shot ... mainly so Lauren could prove how long her left arm is ... she's right.


I'm so glad that you guys are still in my life ... 5 years later (yikes ... sounds like a long time ago!).