Stats, musings, upcoming visitors and hurricanes, etc...

Jared says I am going overboard with posting Leah pictures, so I figured I'd take a bit of a break from that and just ramble on a bit instead. In slightly outdated news, Leah had her first doctor's appointment on Monday and weighed in at 6 lbs and 12 oz, and was 19 1/4 inches long. Considering she was only 5.5 lbs when she left the hospital a week and a half earlier, I'd say she's doing pretty good in the growing category! The appointment was long (ok, the wait was long, the appointment itself was rather short), and while waiting for the doctor to come in the exam room, Leah managed to pee, poop, or spit up on every blanket, burp cloth, clothing item, etc we had brought with us. Poor kid had to wear dirty clothes and was wrapped in an air-dried pee blanket until we finished our errands and got home later that day. Oops. We're not bad parents, I promise.

I have to say, I got my first inkling of parental protection at the appointment because they did the PKU (heel prick) test on her again. As soon as I heard that click of the needle going in her heel, those little lungs let loose. I felt TERRIBLE and managed to keep the tears (yes, I'm a sucker) from squeezing out of my eyes as I heard the little nugget shrieking. (After all, I'm the parent, so I'm supposed to keep it together, right?) What I wanted to do was knock the nurse over, grab my kid back, and run out of the office never to return again. What I did was stand there and wait patiently until they handed my crying baby back to me. Luckily, she calmed down rather quickly and forgot about what had happened.

While leaving the exam room, I saw a scale in the office and took a deep breath and stepped on. Surprisingly, at exactly 2 weeks post delivery, I was only 2 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. Go me and go nursing.

In between all this baby care-taking, Jared and I have been watching lots of movies and playing tons of ping pong. He's been home from work for the most part as well, and it's been awesome. It'd be great if the two of us could be home all the time. Heck, it'd be great if one of us could be home all the time, but we're just not at that point right now. (One day!) Jared also braved the ridiculously hot temperatures and painted our front and back fences, which we'd been planning on doing for quite some time now. They look great, and I'm extremely appreciative of him for working on that. And of course, I'm also extremely appreciative of all his help with Leah (that goes without saying, but it doesn't hurt to mention it). Our house is certainly not a wife takes care of the baby and all household duties kind of house, and it's great to have someone to share the responsibilities (and frustrations) with.

In other news, we've got visitors coming this week! Dinah is flying down just in time for Hurricane Gustav to meet Leah and spend some time with the fam. We're excited, and hope the weather doesn't prevent her visit or make it miserable. And shortly after Dinah leaves on Friday (and by shortly, I mean one hour later), Leah's grandmother will be arriving for a weekend visit. Jared and I are both really thankful she will be able to make the trip. Hopefully Leah will be a good host for her!

Speaking of Hurricane Gustav, he's a Category 4 storm right now and is expected to make landfall on Wednesday. The stupid "cone of uncertainty" ranges all the way from Alabama to Corpus Christi, so we have no idea whether or not we should be sorta prepared, or board up the windows, pack up the pets and head to my parents prepared.

Lastly, I threatened to throw our daughter out the window the other night/morning (this was at 5:30, after a 3 am, 4 am and 5 am wake up call. You'd have felt the same way.). I think that makes me a bad parent. Or that makes me a normal parent. I haven't figured it out yet.

Tomorrow we are going to the Bark Park Alvin Festival with Heidi, Rowdy and Leah. This will either be an adventure, or a fiasco. Either way, there will be pictures!

Siblings are so much fun!

Bosley-- This is as close as I'll get to that squirming thing. (And it's always good to be prepared for a quick getaway!)

Heidi just wants to give Leah kisses all the time. Leah is not so sure if she's ready for that yet. After all, they've only known each other for a few weeks!

Heidi is whispering sweet nothings into Leah's ear, aka, sneaking in some doggy kisses!

Rowdy will only sniff Leah's feet and only gets this close if we make him. Otherwise, he prefers to keep his distance. We're not sure if it's because she's too loud, or if Rowdy is actually aware that he's pretty big and boisterous and perhaps doesn't want to knock her over. (We may be giving him too much credit here.) What we've learned though is that Heidi prefers infants over toddlers (infants are not so in-your-face) and Rowdy prefers toddlers over infants (toddlers are so much fun to play with!). And of course, Paka and Bosley prefer option C-- just Jared and I and no children, thankyouverymuch.

We have yet to introduce Leah to Rosie and Cheyenne. I'm pretty sure all three could care less about each other and the most that would occur with that interaction would be a huff of warm, horsey breath in Leah's face.

Random shots

Leah is all ready to go for her first stroller ride. We have a jogging stroller (insert laughter here, as you all know how much I love jogging... remember when I said I was going to run the Houston Marathon? Riiiiight....) which we purchased for the large tires since we live on a country road. We just didn't think a regular stroller with plastic tires would cut it. As a result, she looks a bit ridiculous in it. :) (This is the case for most things right now.)
You guys are kidding, right? This stroller is obviously wayyy too big for me!!

Sitting with her daddy and her eyes are actually open! Those cheeks are porking up and that hair is just untameable-- believe me, we've tried. In this photo, Leah actually looks a lot like I did when I was this little.

Heidi is such a good girl. The dogs know they are not allowed in Leah's bedroom, so they (Heidi mostly) often sit right outside the doorway when one of us is in there with her. As you can see, Heidi is pushing her limits right here since she has technically crossed the doorframe, but she's pretty good for the most part!

Tuckered Out!

Leah's grandmother requested to see photos of the teeny one in her crib, so here's a cute one from week 2 that I found. These pajamas were given to us by our neighbors and they look so stinking cute on Leah. Unfortunately, they only fit for about 3 nights and then she couldn't straighten her legs in them anymore. So obviously, she's grown since this photo was taken.

This little cutie sure is sacked out.

Snoozing on the couch...

Gina's first sight of Leah

Not for the faint of heart, but I was looking through our pictures again and thought I'd share this one. It's one of my favorite pics, lacking in quality and composition, but the content is unmatched. Click on the picture to enlarge it to get the full story. Obviously it's right after Leah was delivered (still all gross and whatnot), but Gina was overcome with emotion. It was obviously an unforgettable moment in our lives.

Family Photos

We were fortunate enough to have our friend Laurie over to take some photos of Leah this past week. Jared and I are more than pleased with the results-- Laurie does some amazing work. (And if I do say so myself, she had a pretty cute subject for her photos.) You can see for yourself by visiting her blog page at http://laurieheathstudio.com/blog/Lauriesblog.html and you'll see a smiling little face looking back at you. The pictures on her blog are just a few of the ones she took-- we've got a whole collection to choose from.

Leah was cooperative-- mostly. Although she wouldn't give in and sleep and kept opening her eyes when she heard the shudder click. We also lured the dogs in for some of the photos, and Rowdy was quite anxious as he thought the clicking noises from the camera were just too scary. Heidi of course was unphased and was just pleased we were letting her sniff and lick Leah to her heart's delight. The cats... well, they're cats. There's no coaxing them to do anything so we didn't even bother trying to introduce that chaos. Sorry kitties. :)

Our first walk, Kanga and Roo style

So we took our first walk today, since it was a cool (yet balmy) 77 degrees out this afternoon. We also wanted to test out our sling, which Jenn and Jesse gave us for a baby gift. Wearing the sling is kinda like being pregnant, except with the baby on the outside, and you actually have to think about their head lolling around. It was funny, and the pups were SUPER excited to go for a walk again.

Nap time in the Judy household

The following photos might lead you to believe there is a lot of sleeping going on in our house. Don't be fooled! We sleep often, but in very short intervals (except for the cats, who just sleep often).


She looks like a little frog. :)


As you can see, Leah isn't the only one who likes to sleep on Jared's chest.

Bosley, sleeping in our suitcase from the hospital. (That's right, I just unpacked it about an hour ago.)


Everybody says to sleep when the baby sleeps...

The pups are sacked out!

Cousins much?

Ok, so I didn't want to post the picture of Leah below, because let's face it-- photos of newborns when they are just hatched are not very cute. And what can you expect, considering they are being thrown into the cold hospital room and people are flashing bright camera lights in their faces. At any rate, the reason I went ahead and posted the photo anyway, is because I looked back at Leah's cousin's Kate's first pictures and I couldn't help but notice the resemblance. It could just be the general newborn I'm having a camera flashed in my face expression, but check it out...

Squirmy little Leah (above)... and chunky little Kate (below) and their funny little faces.

If it's pictures they want...

... then it's pictures they shall get! Here are some more photos of our newest addition. And don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the other members of our household. We'll post some photos of the new siblings checking each other out soon.

I am obviously psyched about leaving the hospital. Leah is not.

Apparently all she needed was the magic blanket our friend Sara made for her. It's kind of funny because Jared always says that the reason he cried so much as a baby was because he was too hot and had too many blankets piled on him, and so he promised not to do the same to his kid. Meanwhile, more blankets and layers seem to make Leah more content, thus meaning less crying. Obviously, he doesn't hesitate to layer her up!

Leah spending some q.t. with her Opa. She's got an Eagles cheerleader outfit to match his Eagles shirt, but it's a bit large on her right now. But it should be the perfect size for her once playoffs roll around! (I've got high hopes [for both the Eagles' performance and Leah's growth rate!].)

Jared holding his little burrito on the couch. They both look sleepy-- it was a long night last night!

She's so cute and snuggly when her belly is full.

She's wearing one of her brand new onesies in this photo. (I believe she went through 3 of her brand new onesies today-- between peeing and pooping and spitting up, she just couldn't stay clean!) We had to send her Oma and Aunt Jessica to the store to buy some Preemie clothes because all of the newborn outfits we had were HUGE on her. She's just too tiny for those normal baby clothes.

Welcome Jack William Brian!

Our good friends Susanna and Jeramy gave birth to their brand new baby boy last night, August 14th. Jack William Brian was born at 9:48 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs and 1 oz. Susanna, Jack and Jeramy are doing extremely well and everybody is happy and healthy.

Congratulations Susanna and Jeramy, and welcome little Jack!!

We look forward to making a trip over to Hammond, LA to visit so our kids can "play". (And by play, I mean stare at each other and spit up.)

:)

Going into labor: the TRUE story

Ok, ok... I've been meaning to sign on and post this bad boy for a few days, but I've been somewhat distracted (go figure). Anyway, most of you heard the story of us going on our nightly walk on Sunday and me going into labor while we're still a good mile and a quarter from our house. In an effort to maintain some dignity, I wanted to keep the following to myself. But let's face it, it's just too funny not to tell.

So Jared and I were walking and all the while my stomach was feeling sort of off, but I kind of ignored it because let's face it-- it'd been feeling "off" for 9 months now. A truck was coming down the road, and we called the dogs over to us. As we are standing there waiting for the truck to pass, I notice a "gush", shall we say, to which I respond with "Oh, s*&%." I can't stop it, and so we begin our trek back to the house, this time with our pace picked up a bit. The whole time back, Jared is saying, "Are you sure you didn't just pee yourself?" Of course I'm sure. I think I would know if I just peed myself, thank you very much. We get back to the house, call the doctor who says come on in to the hospital and let's get this party started. Since it's late, we didn't want to wait until 3 am to call people once the baby was born, so we started spreading the word on the way. By the time we get to the hospital, pretty much all of our nearest and dearest have been told that the baby is on its way. And of course, Jared points out again how hilarious it would be if I had just peed myself and were sent home because then we'd have to call EVERYBODY back and tell them that I have the bladder control of a 95 year old woman. Sweet. I'm sure at this point you can all see where this is going...

They check me out at the hospital. Hook me up to a bunch of machines. And check to see if my water broke. Guess what folks... I peed myself. (Insert laughter here.)

My only saving grace at this point is that I was having fairly steady contractions, so they decided to keep me at the hospital anyway since I was technically already in labor. (The contractions are actually what MADE me wet my pants-- what with all that extra pressure on the bladder and whatnot.) And so we got to spend the night there watching the Olympics and being monitored and, my favorite part, we didn't have to call everybody and tell them that it was a false alarm because we would be leaving with a wee little baby.

Come morning, they induced me to make my contractions stronger and more regular, and about 5 hours after that, little Leah was plopped into my lap.

So the next time you think your water broke, ask yourself this question BEFORE you start calling everyone you know-- "Did I just pee myself?" Because there's a good chance you might have.

Now I shall go through our camera to find more photos for you all. Because I know that's what you really want. :)

Leah's 2nd day

Due to popular demand, we wanted to post a couple more picutres of our little Leah in the first 24 hours of her life. Enjoy!

Brand new Aunt Jessica

Gina pigging out while Aunt Jess and Oma entertain the baby.

My two beautiful gals.

She's a wee lass!

Welcome Leah!

Say Hi to the new addition of our family. Leah Elizabeth Judy was born on 12:48 p.m. measuring 6.0 lbs and 18.5 inches. She's doing great. Gina and I are also doing very well, thanking the good Lord for sending such a blessing into our life and being with us through the whole process. Thanks to those that sent their blessings.

More to come tomorrow...

And we shall call her Edouard

During the past 9 months, there were 2 things I liked to say about this baby:

1. She would not wait until August 18th, but instead would make her appearance on August 1. Obviously, I was incorrect.
2. We will probably have her in some sort of tropical storm or hurricane, because sometimes that's just the way things go (and it is hurricane season, after all).

Now I may have been completely off the mark on the first one, but seeing as how we've got a tropical storm brewing in the gulf, and I've got a baby who wants out of this belly, there's a chance I may be able to hit the mark on number 2! And of course, since the tropical storm is named Edouard, it would only make sense to name our child, baby girl or not, after the storm. Right?

Our doctor's appointment on Thursday went well, and apparently things are moving along swimmingly and at a steady pace. Based on what she said, I will most likely not be making it to the due date, so Jared and I are trying to make sure we've got everything set and ready to go here.

One of the things we would like to take care of first is our poor little Heidi girl. While out running with Jared on Saturday morning, she had a bit of a run-in with the German Shepherd down the road. Apparently her and Rowdy rushed the other dog, until they realized that it wasn't backing down. At which point they both retreated, but the other dog picked up Heidi by her hind end and threw her a bit during her attempt to run away. Now poor little Heidi has 2 little holes in her-- one on her back, and one under her nubbin. How sad! She seemed ok at first, but was feeling pretty terrible this morning. So we'd like to make sure she's all fixed up before we have to leave her at home without us for a few days. I guess that's what she gets for trying to stir up some trouble. And she seems to have learned her lesson, because when we went on our walk tonight, she didn't even go near the property with that dog.

Jared's pretty busy with work-- taking down and setting up chicken pens, writing burn plans, mowing fire lines, and doing a burn on his preserve next week. So keep him in your thoughts because he's going to be pretty exhausted and probably suffering from heat stroke. Ya gotta love that August heat... or not.

Anyway, I'll stop the rambling and we'll keep you posted!