due

Yesterday was Nicholas's due date. It's strange,
we feel like he's been with us forever already.
He was meant to be a part of this family,
and we see now how much our Heavenly Father must love us, to send Nicholas to us.
We feel so blessed. It's amazing.

We celebrated his due date by drinking the Kiwi Nectar juice we bought in France last year. We've been saving it for a special occasion,
and I don't think it gets any more special than having a new baby.

I also made Nectarine Cobbler. Kent said right away that it is a "do again" recipe. The carmelized butter--SO good.
Yeah, I would recommend it.

We also celebrated by spending a lot of extra time holding Nicholas. He was needing some extra love yesterday, but he still gave us a good night last night, so I won't complain!

And because I would still be pregnant if he hadn't come early, here's one last look at how being pregnant changed me.

38 weeks:


40 weeks:

beautiful

Melissa (from my ward here) was sweet enough to take newborn pictures of Nicholas on Monday. It was a challenging photo shoot- Nicholas wasn't asleep like I wanted him to be, he was fussy from getting a shot at the doctor's office that morning, and Melissa's little girl was understandably jealous of all the attention we were giving the baby. Melissa got some great shots anyway, and I'm so happy to have these beautiful pictures of my beautiful boy.
She said she'd be willing to take baby pictures of him when he's a little older, too. I think I'll have to take her up on that offer!

the life

Kent and I have a saying.
"Ah, this is the life!"
We got it from a funny little moment from a funny little boy we know.

Having a new baby is kind of chaotic, but when I get a chance, I sit back and look at this beautiful baby boy and I can't help but think, "Ah, this is the life!"

He is a great baby. We're exhausted, and sometimes overwhelmed,
but he's very patient with his new parents.
And on Friday night he slept for six hours in a row!
We keep praying he'll do that again.
If he doesn't, though, at least he's still cute at 2 in the morning.

Sunbathing. Can life get any better? I just want to eat him up-all those rolls and dimples and brand-new baby skin. Umm!
Of course, right after I took this picture, Nicholas decided to shoot poop across the carpet.
Anyone know of any good stain removers? We took him on his first outing on Saturday. We walked around some gardening places nearby. It was beautiful, not too hot, and so peaceful. He loved being in the carrier, and he slept the entire time.So yes, although the hormones are wreaking havoc on my emotions, we aren't getting much sleep, and I can't figure out how to make the laundry do itself,
the truth of it is,
life is beautiful, and we are very happy.

home

We got home yesterday afternoon. It was the most wonderful and most overwhelming homecoming ever.

Nicholas was a perfect traveler-he slept the whole way home.


Kent has been the best daddy ever! Also the best husband ever. We've had a few struggles with breastfeeding, and Kent has been so good to both of us when we're in tears after an hour of trying. We went to the lactation center at the hospital today, and things are looking up now.

It's much warmer in our house than it was in the hospital, and Nicholas loves to be undressed! He got his little hands snuggled under his chin, which we thought was just too cute!
(Of course, we think everything our son does is absolutely adorable.)
We spent most of the day and night telling each other to "quick look!" at every little thing he does.I'm in awe at how much I love this little baby.
I never thought I could be this happy about only getting 4 hours of sleep a night.
Being a parent is tough (and we've only just started!) but oh so worth it.

day one

I love this little man. I can't take my eyes off him. He is absolutely perfect, and it amazes me.

This is our family now. I don't think I could have imagined how right it would feel to have him here. He just fits.

Kent is the cutest dad ever. He loves to hold him close and talk to him. Nicholas already knows his daddy, and always calms right down when Kent picks him up.

As for me--I am in love. Even with waking up every single hour last night.
It's completely worth it.

nicholas

He is here.
7 lbs. 6 oz.
19 inches.
Born this morning at 10:01.
We are in love.

meanwhile

It seems that waiting for this baby has taken over. This blog. My conversations. My facebook updates. My thoughts.
Our lives.

But he appears to be perfectly content right where he's at, so we wait.
And meanwhile,
We do silly things, like have a winter-themed dinner.
(San Antonio has had 55 days of 100* or above in the last three months.)

I made snowflakes out of tortillas. Just like they were paper snowflakes. Tortilla snowflakes.
It was pretty much one of the coolest things I've ever done. I had Kent take a full-body shot of me tonight, but this one is all you're going to see. I saw the picture he took and then I realized why the lady at the store assumed I was overdue.
I'm on my way to birthing a nine-pounder, I'm afraid.

And, as you see, I can't even write a "non-pregnancy" post without talking about being pregnant.
I told you it's taken over. I'm sorry.

I made swiss cheese fondue, and we pretended it was snow that we were dipping our food in.
Silly? Yeah. But everyone needs a little silliness now and then.I was thinking maybe I went a little overboard on the decorations for a meal just for the two of us.
Then I spilled a hundred little fake ice cubes on the kitchen floor.
And I think picking them all up made me feel just a little bit colder.
Which at this point, is worth almost anything.