Tag Archives: shower

Surrounded with Love (5w2d)

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As we settle into the daily routine of having a baby, it’s amazing the things we start to take for granted. The tools and gadgets that make life so much easier right now – things that we never would have given a thought to before.

We are so blessed to have friends and family who take an active interest in Kieran’s life – even before he was born! We were (and still are) blessed with gifts from family and friends throughout the pregnancy, not just at the shower – which was overwhelming in a very good way. The little gifts keep coming now, and are hugely appreciated as we discover new things that are required to keep Mr. Kieran happy and healthy.

A huge example of that right now: Kieran is getting slightly thickened feedings now due to his acid reflux – 1t of oat cereal per ounce of formula or EBM. The bottles we have for him (Born Free) don’t really support thickened feedings – which require a different type of nipple. Fortunately, Kelly (Gnoam in the comments) had just sent us yet another care package of hand-me-downs from her 9 month old daughter Kara – which included four 5oz Avent bottles. The Avent system has a FANTASTIC variable flow nipple for thickened feedings. So Kelly’s hand-me-downs saved us from having to go purchase other bottles for these next few months of feedings for Kieran. So HUGE thanks to Kelly (and hubby Peter and Ms. Kara) for the great hand-me-downs.

But even more than that – when I look around Kieran’s room I see what he cannot. That every minute he is surrounded with reminders of how much he was loved before he even arrived. That he is (literally) cradled with and wrapped in love from people who have never met him. Aunt Nita provided his crib; Auntie Lisa & Uncle Mikey provided the mattress and sheets he sleeps on; Donna, Lisa, Kym, Becky, Lisa & Tia, Aunt Cassie & Uncle Kurt, and Grammy Jeanne provided the stuffed friends who keep watch over him as he naps. Every time we change Kieran, we’re grateful to Great Grandma Cat and Grampa John for the wipes warmer which makes all the difference in the world to Mr. Sensitive Tushy. Bathtime is made possible by Uncle Oin & Aunt Cynthia who completely stocked our cabinets with baby necessities, and by Caroline who passed on her baby bath now that her little Hannah has outgrown it.

And that doesn’t even start with the clothes!! Admittedly, nearly everything he’s worn at this point was provided by Mama & Daddy (or Kelly again with the hand-me-downs in newborn sizes) but Paul and I look ahead with a bittersweet glance to the future when Kieran can wear outfits provided by everyone – from adorable onesies, to rompers and safari outfits and teeny tiny smoking jackets. (I don’t think any of us expected me to have such a tiny little peanut!) But the flannel blankets that we received from so many people have been put into daily use – as well as the burp cloths! (Admittedly, I wish the burp cloths weren’t so needed now – the reflux really made those a necessity.) Once he’s able to wear the outfits that fill his dresser and closet – we’ll think of the friends and family who gifted him with such cute togs every time we change his clothes!

The books we’ve been gifted with right before I gave birth are being put to use already – not that Kieran has much of an attention span… but it’s nice to have something to read to him.

So thank you, again, to everyone. The love and support that you have shown Paul and I since we announced our news last Thanksgiving to our family and to the world at Christmas; the care and concern and interest shown during the roller coaster ride of my pregnancy; the generosity shown as we transformed our house into a haven for our son; and the fact that you’re even reading this now… it means more to us that we can say. Kieran has no idea how lucky he is.

Shower Pics (31w2d)

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A couple of pictures from the Shower… Click any picture to see the whole gallery!

This way to the party!Oooh, hooray! The Martian Sleeper Sarah loved was right on top!Crochet Stegosaurus from LisaPaul enjoying the heck out of filming the shower with our new camcorder (an HFS21 from Grampy and Grammy!)'Baby's First Smoking Jacket'Paul having fun with the wrapping from Aunt Susan & Uncle Ken's gift.Jeanne & TomCAKE!!

A HUGE thank you again to Tom & Jeanne for doing the physical hosting of the amazing day. The food was great, and you took care of every last detail. Thank you for making our day so special.

Lost Shower Gift? (31w2d)

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I forgot to mention in my other post – but we have a seemingly lost shower gift… Or at least separated from the herd.

Last week a package arrived from Target to our house. So we took it (along with any other packages that arrived at the house) with us to open at the shower. Inside, there was a packing slip stating that the contents of the package (The Martian Sleeper) was only part of the order and that the rest would be sent separately. Problem is, there was nothing to indicate who the gift was from! The card inside was blank, and the packing slip didn’t say anything about who sent it.

So if you sent us something from the Target website that included that Martian Sleeper, could you drop us a line? We’d like to thank you – and maybe have a hint of what we should be on the lookout for, since according to the packing slip the sleeper was only part of the order?

Thanks!

Shower (31w1d)

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I hardly have words to describe this weekend. Overwhelming, joyous, exhausting, and WONDERFUL.

Lisa, Tom and Jeanne knocked themselves out to prepare for the shower. Lisa came prepared with games that weren’t stupid or gross, and prizes to go with them! Her games got progressively harder – but they were fun! Tom and Jeanne outdid themselves with the food and decorating. Furniture was moved around, and anything that would hold still had a balloon strapped to it or was draped with streamers. “It’s a Boy” was everywhere, and in varying shades of blue. Tom had Tri-Tip out on the grill and Jeanne laid out quite a spread of accompaniments, cheese, and salads. Everyone seemed very impressed with the food – no burgers and dogs at this baby shower!

After a couple of rounds of games came the gifts – and WOW was there a lot of gifts! Our friends and family were so generous! I unwrapped gift after gift and opened bag after bag! What fun to see all the adorable little baby clothes, and all the nifty baby gear!

Lisa’s (and her sister Donna’s) gifts were especially wonderful, as they are both master knitters and crocheters (is that a word?) Our little man has quite a wardrobe of sweaters, hats and booties – as well as several stuffed friends (currently a stegosaurus, a tiny sperm whale, and a teddy bear!)

But Lisa outdid herself in one other way. A million years ago I told her that when I got pregnant (which I assumed wouldn’t be too long after Paul and I got married) that I wanted a stuffed Eyeore doll that was bigger than the baby – based on the assumption that we would have a Pooh-themed nursery. Well, things didn’t work out quite the way we had hoped – and the years have rolled on by without an Eyeore. I won’t say I’d forgotten about it – but it’s one of those things that just got (foreceully) pushed aside over the years. Until yesterday. Lisa pushed the final box in front of me, and I had no idea what was coming. The last thing I was expecting to see was an 18″ Eyeore staring back at me. The gifts portion of the program ended with happy tears. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

All in all, it was a wonderful day filled with friends, family, food and fun. (good lord, that sounds corny.) We sat around talking and laughing until 6:30 before loading up our car, Lisa & Mike’s car and sending the car seat home with Joe. The front room and the baby’s room are now filled with random packages and bags. I have a lot to sort through, but not much to return – as there were just a few duplicates (altho the Pack & Play is one…) I’m actually looking forward to writing the Thank You cards. We have so much to be thankful for right now.

It was an amazing weekend. I can’t believe we’re at this point – I remember thinking that the shower was SO far away when I first got pregnant.

Pics tomorrow. Sleep now.

Dry Run Results (30w4d)

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So we had a good time last night testing out the UStream system. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and got a tour of the nursery! We discovered a couple of things about interactive broadcasting with UStream:

  • Lag kinda sucks. There is a lag between what’s happening in front of the camera and when it shows up on the webcast. The speed of your connection seems to make a big difference. But as long as the camera stays fairly stationary, there don’t seem to be any problems with things getting chunky. The camera will mostly be sitting on a tripod during the shower, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
  • In order to participate in the chat feature to interact with us during the shower, you must have a UStream account. (Yeah, we’re not happy about it.) You can use your Facebook or Gmail or Yahoo account to get started, but you’ll still need to create a UStream username and password. Or, you can create a UStream account from scratch on the main UStream.tv website, or when you try to click in on the chat window for the first time, it will pop up a login dialog box that has a “Sign Up” option as well. It would probably be best to set up a UStream account before Saturday if you can.
  • I need a script. I end up babbling kind of a lot if I don’t have a script. Also, arm flailing commences pretty quickly.

    • We’re gonna do it again tonight for anyone who wants to give it a shot (Aunt Nita, I’m looking at you…) or who wants to watch as I make Oreo Truffles. (Yes, see I’m not below bribing friends to come to the shower – if you come, you get Oreo Truffles!) We’ll get going around 6:00pm, but I’ll be working for a while, cuz it takes a bit to form all the little balls, and then they have to chill before they can be dipped. I’ll work in batches though, so you guys can see the dipping process without waiting until midnight. :)

    If you have a problem getting in on the UStream chat thingie or you don’t have sound – please Skype me or txt me to let us know so we can fix it. Just click on the Webcast link above to join in on the broadcast!