Julia Day 6

Julia has been a delightful little addition to our family. She slept through most of the night last night, waking up only to be fed. Mark and I got an excellent night sleep!
Like all new parents, I'm sure, we spend a great deal of time trying to figure out who Julia looks like. She definitely has her father's long hands and feet. Her top lip is just like mine and her bottom lip is just like Mark's. Funny how a mouth can embody the mix of both sides of her family, eh? Her hair colour is a strawberry blonde/brown... much like her dad's. Her eyes aren't open for very long, so the jury is still out about them. Her nose just seems to be the typical "baby nose." Time will tell, I guess. In the meantime it's just incredible to marvel at every little feature on this perfect little being.

Today is Mark's first day back at work after having 5 days off for paternity leave. It wasn't easy to say 'goodbye' this morning. Thank GOODNESS he's a teacher and only has a little over two weeks left before summer vacation. The three of us are ready for a summer full of new experiences and adventures. Julia's first ex-utero concert is going to be Wilco in Portland in July. As you can probably tell by the picture below, Mark and Julia are ready for summer!Here's a picture of Janelle and Julia getting to know each other. Julia spends most of her day doing exactly what she's doing in this picture: sleeping. Even in her state of slumber she is filled with the cutest facial expressions. We often wonder what she's dreaming about when she dreams. Does she remember her aquatic life?

This picture shows a 3 day-old Julia posing beside the flowers sent to us from Auntie Barbara, Uncle Brian and cousin Aislyn.

Speaking of cousins, Julia has four of them. This next two pictures show Julia hanging out with Luisa and Charlotte, and then Noah and Lars. What a lucky kiddo to have so many adoring fans!

29 hours of labour. But wow, what a reward.

Little Julia may have decided to come 3 days early, but she did not come quickly. The photo below was taken minutes after her birth @ 4:12am on Wednesday May 27th.

Now rewind about 15 hours. Here's a pic of us on the couch, Mark is keeping track of my contactions and it is becoming clear that we must soon head in to the hospital. Can you find Tiger Cat in the picture?

For the most part, things were pretty jolly and upbeat in labour & delivery. Here we are playing around with the disposable "La Senza" underware.

Of course, things got a little more intense as my contractions intensified. Here I am taking in as much nitrous oxide as I can possibly suck while I wait for the epidural. Thank GOODNESS for the epidural. It enabled me to be a coherent human and actually enjoy the birthing experience. There was a period of a few hours when it wore off and I got a taste of life sans-epidural. It was grueling.

Grandma Margaret and Julia meeting each other for the first time:

Auntie Meghan was instrumental in making the labour & delivery as cool as it was. She was excellent at documenting everything.

And of course we have Mark who is above and beyond a "natural daddy." I don't think Julia yet knows that she won the jackpot in landing him as her father. The photo below shows father and daughter dancing around the living room. Julia is 2 days old in the picture.

her name is ............

Julia Elizabeth McDermott Bray

The three of us agreed that we were tired of all the attention in the Hospital Womb (womb/room, ha ha ha ) and we also agreed that our daughter was so healthy so we decided that we would head home early. We are currently resting and enjoying the company of Erin's sister Meghan and her mother Margaret. Meghan is gently and lovingly holding our sweet daughter in her arms as I type this entry and Erin is proudly snappin' photos of her lovely little Julia. Erin has been a real trooper through all of this birthing and bonding process. She has slept about eight hours in the last three days but she is smiling and chatting away about baby with Meghan on our livingroom sofa. I am a very proud and happy daddy!!!

It's our baby's birthday!

She arrived at 4:12 am on May 27, 2009.
She weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz and measures 21.5 inches.
This photo was taken when she was about 16 or 17 hours old.

9 days until due date

It's a gorgeous day here in Fredericton. Currently it's 32C out there. Meghan is sitting on the lawn in a sun dress patiently weeding out all of the dandelions. The picture above was taken a few days ago. This is our second spring in this house and we are finally getting to enjoy the rewards of planting perennials. What a treat.

Below is a picture of me taken earlier today. Has my face rounded out or what!??! I am 38 weeks and 6 days today. I've somehow managed to keep my rings on (as in, not yet cut off) but that day may soon be approaching. I keep taking it one day at a time. I didn't ever think I'd be a candidate for so much swelling! My fingers and toes look like sausages. Fortunately my blood pressure is still really low, so it's nothing to worry about.... as long as I don't lose a finger that is!

Here's an updated picture of the nursery. Last night we put hooks in the ceiling for the hanging plant and mobile. We bought her a heart-shaped philodendron. It's nice to have living things around. The valance and lamp were bought for us by Grandma Margaret and it makes the room so cute. The only things missing now are a few things up on the wall and of course, a little person to enjoy it all.

Here's a view of our stocked closet and new light switch plate. We decorated it with little owls that we found in the scrapbooking section at Michael's. This baby just might be a night owl herself since she is most active every night after 9pm. She put on quite the show last night for her auntie Meghan. Crazy belly action! Fortunately Meghan went and got the camera and took some footage. I'll try to figure out how to post it on here.

Here's a belly shot from 2 days ago that I didn't get a chance to put up. I would have been 38 weeks and 4 days there.

Meghan came with me to this week's obstetricians appointment. I'm up to 171 pounds!! I started at 129... so I think I need to hold back a little at indulging in all of these crazy pregnancy cravings. Or I could just hope and pray that most of the recent weight gain is all water. I gained 14lbs in the first five months of pregnancy and the rest has come since then. Weird, eh?

The baby has "dropped" in that her head is now down in my pelvis. He let me feel her head and I could feel the base of it, right around where her neck starts. She's getting ready for her big debut! The dr. said that she doesn't feel like a huge baby, but that it's hard to estimate.

As Mark likes to say, "we're down to the 2 handed countdown now!" It feels like Christmas eve times a thousand. I'm going to go and join Meghan on the lawn now.

Holy Shower Power!

Once again we are rendered speechless by the generosity of the people in our lives. This week the staff at both of our schools hosted baby showers for our little one. The photo below depicts a spread of the goodies that the kind folks at Liverpool Street School gave to us. Thank you everyone, so much. Wow. Here's an Erin picture at 36 weeks and 5 days:
We went to our first weekly obstetrics appointment on Wednesday (May 6). All is well on all fronts. We were even given the green light for a road trip to Montreal on the Victoria Day long weekend for Marguerite and Daniel's wedding. This baby is getting some good road trip training!

Clothing Massacre!

Good day dear reader! Below you will find a photo of the 2009 Topcliffe Clothing Massacre. We have been humbled by the kindness and generosity of our friends and loved ones when it comes to baby clothes. This past weekend we took the time to sort through the boxes and bags full of clothing. The nursery was quickly splashed with multicoloured textiles!

As you can see in the pictures below, we were sorting out outfits based on size and clothing item. Onesies in one pile, sleepers in another, dresses in another.... and so on. By the looks of things, our little one is going to have a different outfit for each day of her life for at least the first six months. Her wardrobe is larger than both of ours combined! Crazy.

We've been cautioned by many a veteran parent NOT to sort clothing based on the age that the tag reads. That being said, it isn't easy to make sense of the drastic difference in size that babies seem to grow from newborn to even 6 months.

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to share their cothing with us, in particular Grandma Margaret who has knit this baby some heart-melting outfits. We are truly lucky parents-to-be.

On Sunday May 3rd we stopped by the cottage. It is on the verge of a nature explosion! We'll be sure to post pictures over the summer because the difference is remarkable. Carol's daffodils were in full bloom and asparagus was just sprouting up. A week ago today (April 27th) the temperature in Fredericton actually got up to 29.6C!! With everything coming to life, how can you not love this time of year?

We are 36 weeks in and four to go....

Erin, our li'l one, my sister Marnie and I returned from Moncton last night from our annual Teacher's Union Conference in Moncton. As part of the deal, all of the teachers in New Brunswick meet together for professional development at a common location. This year it was the Moncton Coliseum where we attended a few workshops and ran into colleagues from the present and days gone by. It was good and all but it played its toll on Erin's ankles. Last night, her ankles were non-existent and her feet had a blueish tone to them. We put up her feet and watched "V for Vendetta" or rather, 38 minutes of it before the snoring started.... Erin is really doing an amazing job as a mother. She is carrying around our little kicker who just keeps getting bigger and bigger and ...when will she stop???

it's official.........

The other day when I called the local fire department to properly register our new backyard chiminea for campfire fun, I never foresaw that they would send the #3 (water) Tanker to our house. First three firemen jumped from the cab doors and we exchanged, "hello's" then they followed me to the backyard where the man in charge asked a few questions before asking me to sign the permit shown in the above photo and then, just as quickly as they arrived, they were off. I have tried to get Erin out for a fire three times but all of the baby growing has been knocking her out very early. As I type, she snores from the sofa behind me.

my baybie's hit 36 weeks

Got Wood??? This entry goes out to those who enjoy burning wood and to those who get a kick out of those who can't get enough burnin' wood. (Meghan are you reading this???) Last Saturday morning, we spun down to the "John" (Saint John) to visit with our friends Bob, Cathy and their son Matthew on Bob's big ol' four-oh. Well it turns out that earlier that day, Bob received a tender gift from his loving wife Cathey - a brand-spankin' new Husquavarna chainsaw. As a result, we scored free cord wood to burn in our woodstove or backyard chiminea - we choose.