Addie's first week

You hear that newborn babies don't do much besides eat, sleep, and poop. Well, Adeline is VERY gifted because she eats, sleeps, poops, passes gas, sucks her fingers, kicks her legs wildly out of her swaddle blanket, and enchants us with her smiles. Well, the smiles may be related to the gas, but we'll take them. She's also quite adept at dirtying her diaper immediately after Steve changes it. Smart girl ;)

Here are a few photos from Addie's first week. Enjoy!

A little ball of sleep.
Sporting the Pooh hat for her first walk around the neighborhood. She was so bundled up during the walk we could barely see her face, just her hat--so it was like we were pushing Pooh Bear in the stroller.

Addie's first sponge bath--hooded towels rock.

Napping on Mommy

Napping on Daddy
Napping (yes, lots of napping!) in the cradle that Steve's dad made--which both Steve and Doug slept in when they were babies.


Is your diaper dirty? Oh yeah...Addie's baking beans for Daddy again

Business in the front, party in the back--Steve loves that Addie is sporting a baby mullet :)

Thanks for looking!

Meet Adeline Eve!!!

After 40 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, 24 hours of labor, and lots of love, Adeline Eve Silvestro made her way into the world on November 10th, 2007, at 8:58 PM! She weighs a happy 7 lbs. 7 oz., and is 20.5 inches long. Monica did a phenomenal job during labor and is feeling great. We had so much support from Tara, our doula, who was absolutely fantastic; Monica's mom, Eva; and our friend Kye, who happened to be Monica’s nurse for most of her labor. We’re all a little sleepy, but incredibly happy! Addie is healthy and cute, and is already breastfeeding like a champ! Below are some pictures from the last few days, and there will surely be more to come!

One day to go...

Or more?

What does the due date *really* mean? Not much considering only 5% of babies are actually born on their predicted due date. Why don't they give us a "due month"? You're considered full term as early as 37 weeks and usually will be allowed to go 42 weeks before they induce the baby. So all this time when everyone asked "when is she due?" and I responded with "November 7th" I should have said "late October, early November....ish...."

So in honor of the fact that we have no idea when this little one will show up...a poll so you guys can have some fun guessing :)

So she wasn't a Halloween baby

Despite some urging from kind friends who a). have Halloween birthdays themselves or b). know how much Steve and I love the holiday, the little peanut did not deem Halloween the day to make her appearance onto the drier side of this world. We did celebrate by dressing up (as a skier and his slope), making sushi and miso soup for dinner (but of course, what else do you eat on Halloween?), and welcoming neighborhood trick-or-treaters to our door with our friend Erin (aka "The clown" aka "Chef Boyardee").

We were getting low on candy after awhile, so we "tricked" the little ones by putting kashi granola bars in the candy bowl with the name of the bar facing down. Those kashi bars are MUCH bigger than the snack size milkyways and nutrageous bars, so the kids eagerly went for the large-sized treats and before they knew it--gasp--they grabbed HEALTHY treats. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha......

As of Tuesday's doctor's appointment, there was still no progress. This doesn't mean anything, but when I asked the nurse practitioner about the likelihood that I'll go into labor before the due date she said....eh....why don't you bank on a few days late? In the words of the wise Homer Simpson...d'oh!

And on that note ....I'll leave you with a "Happy November," please keep wishing "go into labor" thoughts for me.

Enjoy the photos! Love, Monica

The skier and his slope.















Erin talking to the little peanut.












And a little fun with photoshop.

Progress?

Hello friends and family!

We had our week 38 appointment on Tuesday of this week and the doctor reported no progress yet, so we're probably not going to have an early baby. That's okay, because everyone knows how important Halloween is to me and Steve, so how could we NOT get dressed up this year? Stay tuned for costume pictures next week! Steve will be a skier and I will be the slope :)

And just because I like putting photos in the blog posts, I'm adding one I took of Steve a few weeks back as he was putting together the mobile for her crib...he's already dreading the holidays of the future when he has to put together toys with a gazillion parts. Have no fear, he put it together correctly and it now plays Bach, Mozart, and Nature sounds as it twirls around....the stuffed animals currently holding the little peanut's place in the crib.

Love,
Monica and the little peanut (who is almost fully baked and ready to meet the masses of people who already love her!)

Little.......Pumpkin?

So, we're 37 weeks today! That means full term---and the big day could be just around the corner! And there's no better way to celebrate that than by carving jack-o-lanterns. Imagine the look on the OB's face when we tell her that Monica's water just broke, and our hands are covered in orange sticky, seedy goo. Yum! (clearly, this is Steve back at writing posts again...)

What little peanut wouldn't want to be welcomed to her new home by a shrieking cat, pirate skull, and....albino Winnie the Pooh? As you can see above, Monica's looking great--and the "little" peanut is about the size of a jack-o-lantern herself!

More belly and visiting aussies

Okay friends and family, here is another belly picture slideshow...the last shot was taken at 34 weeks. I'm 35 along now...that's a mere 5 weeks until the due date! Crazy!

And fully clothed...




My cousin Jonathan visited the US from Australia with his fiance Anita. They got engaged a mere 2 days before they arrived from Vegas to DC! Congratulations Jonathan and Anita!

Here they are sitting on good old Albie Einstein during a day of touring around the DC monuments with me and my brother Dan.



And to leave this post with a note of humor...here is me resembling a beached whale wearing a Hawaiian shirt--we had just eaten a big dinner with Jonathan, Anita, my mom, and brother at our place.....mmm...steak.....baby likes meat...Monica no longer vegetarian...