Reading

Reading with Daddy is a lot different than reading with Grandma.

Daddy lets me read Consumer Reports.

Grandma reads me books about bunnies.

Shopping and Cracker Barrel

After reading some books with Grandma, today was a day of firsts. Lydia had her first shopping trip in her strollers and her first meal at a sit-down restaurant with Grandma and Mom. She did great and spent most of her experience like this:

Two Months

Two months old today! We had two-month check-up with the pediatrician today and all was well with the little miss. She is in the 25% percentile for length (21 1/2 inches), weight (9 lbs. 10.5 oz) and head (15 inches - kind of a strange measurement, but apparently a standard one!) We also had to get our first round of shots since being in the hospital which went surprisingly well (the oral vaccination seemed to bother her the most actually) and we were blessed with a good long nap and a great night's sleep afterwards.

This month we made it into Size 1 diapers and into some of our 0-3 Month clothes which was quite the milestone (especially for Mom, aka The Laundry Lady!) Lydia is also learning to smile which has been really fun to watch and enjoy!

In the middle of her photo shoot she sneezed (which happens quite frequently!)

But mostly she is a very happy baby!

JungleTime

Surprising to everyone, one of Lydia's favorite things to do is to lay in her jungle. There are a lot of things to look at and feel. Sometimes we wonder if she'll be confused as to why the butterfly is larger than the koala bear, but we just try not to think about those things too much ;-)

Miss Lydia doesn't seem to mind so we shall cross that bridge when we get there (and we'll worry about telling her that puppy dogs aren't pink in real life a little later too...)

She's starting to really master holding her little head up though and no longer screams during tummy time in the jungle!

One Month

One month old today...kinda hard to believe isn't it? There was no one-month appointment with the pediatrician, but we have taken a few measurements ourselves and the little miss is around 21 inches long and just over 8 lbs.

Picture Time

Today was picture day! Since we did not take advantage of the newborn portraits available at the hospital after hearing some iffy reviews of the packages, we opted to head to Portrait Innovations for Lydia's first photo session. Lydia did an amazing job and our photographer was wonderful.

Here are a few of our favorite shots (more images have been uploaded to our Picasa site):

And yes, we realize how insane it seems to get pictures taken so early, but we have not been taking as many photos at home as we anticipated. We don't want to miss capturing moments from these early days, but practically, taking pictures around the house just hasn't worked out for us so far.

First Days

During her first few days at home, Lydia spent most of her time doing this:

...but I'm sure her daddy doesn't mind a bit, what do you think?

One thing we have discovered, Miss Lydia HATES getting her diaper changed (as evidenced below:)

All in all, we are doing quite well. Rachael's mother is staying for a while until we get things under control which has turned out to be quite the lifesaver since Rachael's road to recovery has been something we did not anticipate. An extra pair of hands has been crucial and we could not have done it without her!

Hospital Stay

Our first days in the hospital were as one would imagine, with lots of on-the-job training for Mom and Dad! Lydia had several visitors during her hospital stay and received lots of beautiful decorations for her room.

Rachael and Lydia were discharged on Sunday evening and everyone was more than ready to head home by this point. Bing was a champ getting Lydia all ready to go all snug in her car seat. She is much smaller than we expected, but we were able to get her into a newborn outfit for her journey home, even if it was still a little big.

We are very thankful to be in our own home getting settled into our new lives and appreciate all the prayers from family and friends during this new adventure!

She's Finally Here!

On February 26, 2010 at 10:16pm we welcomed Lydia Jeanne into the world and into our lives. She weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long.

Baby Shower

Much to our surprise (given the winter we have been having) Rachael's baby shower was scheduled for the most perfect weekend we could have asked for in January. Family and friends gathered together for afternoon tea, games, and celebrating the upcoming arrival of Baby Bing.

Here are a few photos from the shower although many more are posted on the Picasa site:

Three (Almost Four) Generations!

A sample of the afternoon tea fare (very tasty!)

The Cake

Rachael and Jeremy and the massive stack of gifts (thanks everyone!!)

4D Ultrasound

Today was quite the day. During the first snow of the "winter", we made our way to see our little girl with a 4D ultrasound. The trip out into the snow was definitely worth it! Baby Bing was so cooperative and entertaining throughout the entire 20 minutes session. We were able to watch her yawn, stretch, and play with her fingers and toes. We were shocked by her little upturned button nose and thought her little chubby cheeks were adorable and "just right". The technician was very helpful in explaining what we were seeing and was kind enough to double-check on Baby Bing's gender to confirm we had chosen the appropriate nursery color!

We both love getting to put a face with the name and have a hard time wrapping our heads around just how peaceful and amazing our Baby Bing is developing. (Given the amount of heartburn Rach has had, we were quite surprised, although pleasantly surprised, that Baby Bing did not have a mountaineer beard by now!)

Overall this was a much better experience than the first sonogram, with much better equipment, yielding MUCH better pictures. Here are a couple of our favorites (more are on our photo website):

Nursery

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Bing was quite busy getting the nursery put together. After some deliberation (or debate over Bing's color "blindness" with regards to blue vs. purple) the decision to go for the pink was made and paint colors were selected. In this "before" picture you can see that Bing had yet another wallpaper border to deal with in this room.

After many coats of paint and the addition of the chair rail, the room is adorable. While this is now probably the most bold color choice for the entire house, it seems fitting for out little girl. Furniture was delivered shortly thereafter and has really started to make this room feel cozy.

Kitty has already taken a liking to the glider, and hopefully will be just as pleased when the new arrival makes her appearance in February!

Next up, the window treatments and baby quilt will be Rachael's project over the Christmas holiday. Rachael's friends are also planning a baby shower in January which will really help pull all the odds and ends together!

Sonogram Day!

Today we had our sonogram. While Baby Bing was looking more like a Terminator than a baby, everything seemed to be in working order.

We were able to see just about everything in the first 20 minutes of the appointment. The coolest was probably watch Baby Bing's heart and lungs doing their thing. The one thing we really wanted to see however, was not available...so Rach wandered around for a while in the hopes that Baby Bing would roll over and then it was time for a second attempt. Without much hesitation or difficulty the tech was able to give us the news...

Baby Bing is a she!!

After our appointment, we met up with Rachael's parents to celebrate (hence the giant cookie)!

Sharing the News

Conveniently (or looking back, strategically planned) the Schwarz family had planned an impromptu gathering on Friday. This also, just happened to be the day the first doctor appointment was scheduled for Baby Bing. Jeremy and Rachael headed up after the appointment to meet up with Rachael's parents before heading onto the cook-out. Just before heading out, the comment was made that "We had something we wanted to say before we joined the rest of the family..."

Much screaming followed and of course, plotting on how to tell the rest of the family.

We did not think that Rachael's mom was going to be able to keep a secret for long and not long after we arrived at the cook-out, in typical Schwarz-fashion, a riddle of sorts was used to share the good news. Each of the women in the family were gifted with a wrapped photo of Rachael as a baby and instructed to open their packages at the same time. It took a little while before it sunk in, but it didn't take long for Rachael's mom to blurt out, "I'm going to be a grandmother!"

Much screaming, crying, laughing, and hugging ensued afterward and continued for quite a while. Phone calls and emails followed announcing the news to other family and friends and over the next few days and weeks the network of friends and family praying for Baby Bing's development grew exponentially. For that, we are truly grateful.

Just the Beginning

After much excitement, and three separate tests, we were convinced.


We are having a baby!