Of all the photos so far...

...this is the one that makes me smile the most-Gabriel's passport photo taken at a quickie foto-mart this morning:

There is just something about the funny look on his face :)

Pics from the hospital

Too busy enjoying our little one to compose my current musings on motherhood, but just know we are doing really well :)

More baby photos

Lo and behold, there is internet access at the hospital. Haven't had much time to make any calls yet, but I wanted to get a few more photos up.

An efficient eater so far, Gabriel/Gabe (we plan on using both) has been happily napping the day away. Today is the first day there's been lots of milk for him, and he's been enjoying having a full belly.


Zach was really cute when he first met Gabe. We brought a gift we'd been saving: little stuffed characters from his favorite CBeebies show. It was absolutely precious how he was smiling and naming each one as he pulled them out of the bag.

A great photo of Dad and baby:

Do I even have to tell you to expect lots more photos in the coming days?

Finally, some real news!

Just so everyone knows...

After what seems like the full nine months of waiting, Beth and I have finally welcomed a new arrival into our family. Zach is now officially a big brother to:

Name: Gabriel Justin
Birthdate: 12 Oct 2009
Weight: 8.135 lbs (they measured 3690 grams)
Length: 20.4 in (they measured 52 cm)



Mother and baby are doing well. They will be spending the next few days at the hospital getting to know each other. Zach and I plan on doing a lot of visiting...

- Frank

Just posting to report that I have nothing to report

Nothing new from my doctor's appointment, nothing new as far as signs of labor. I'm past 38 weeks and still waiting, getting anxious to meet this new little cutie, wondering if he'll be at all like Zach or completely different. And feeling lucky that I'll have another little boy to love.

Ready, set...Please let me go into labor soon

Granted, I am only 36 weeks and 4 days along, but I've had enough. Everything is stiff or swollen or sore, and dealing with Zach-man is a whole other story. At my doctor's appointment a week ago I was two centimeters dilated, which really doesn't mean a lot, but it gives me hope that I won't go to 40 or 41 weeks. We'll see what my progress is next Monday.


We are quite ready for this baby in all sorts of ways other than my discomfort:

We've been completely packed for at least a couple weeks now. Even stuff for Zach in case he has to go to the sitter's house. Depending on the situation, a coworker of Frank's may come to our house or Zach may end up going to his. We did a trial run of him staying with this family for a long day and all went smoothly.


Over the last few weeks we have stocked the pantry, fridge and freezer to completely full. If baby doesn't come before this weekend we'll be hitting the commissary again. I don't know if frozen pizzas and taquitos are what others have in mind when they advise expecting moms to make meals ahead to freeze, but they're staples around here.

We've set up downstairs accommodations for napping and diaper changing. Baby will be sleeping in our room in our other pack-n-play, and our plans (for now, at least) are to move Zach out of the crib in a few months.

Clothes are washed and sorted by size.

I've even worked on the quilt a bit more. It's coming along, but at this point I don't know if I feel up to getting it back out.

I don't know if this exactly qualifies as baby preparations, but Frank's decided on a new car and we finally did a test drive. It's the Volvo XC60, and all that's left to do is for him to decide on options and place the order. It'll take a few months to come in, but I'm glad we are getting all the details settled before baby comes.

A gift for the big brother-to-be

We'd been thinking about making this purchase for a while...

He loves all the little tikes cars/tractors/bikes at playgroup, so we decided to get him one of his own. He can reach the pedals but can't quite work them yet, so the push handle is still a must.

It has been in the upper 60's/low 70's lately, and hopefully it stays there...it is good biking and walking weather. Check out Zach in action!