Bath Time!

Joseph got a new bath tub! We were bathing him in the bathroom sink and that just didn't cut it. I couldn't really get a good grip on him and I think we were making it harder than it needed to be. So we ventured out to Babies R Us (we've traded in our old favorite bar for this baby mecca) to shop the bath aisle for the latest and greatest. We found this perfect little tub with a baby hammock to help support newborns. Now this is a bathing experience that doesn't require four or more hands like the old sink method. Look at those chubby thighs!!

Boy vs. Mama

Thank you Joshie poo for this horrible picture of Mama from "Throw Mama From the Train". It scared me at first, but then I laughed. Then I got scared again, man that lady is ugly. Then I laughed again...what a funny likeness. Joseph is such a cutie!

We're All Smiles Over Here!

This baby really knows how to make his mommy and daddy's day! All he has to do is flash that little smile and we melt! Putty in his hand! Wrapped around his little finger! The fire in our hearth, the stars in our sky, the love in our hearts!

We were baby watching this weekend and Josh noticed how much Joseph's eyelashes have filled in. So much seems to happen overnight and this is one of those things. I swear he didn't have those cute little lashes the day before, and today I swear they are longer than yesterday! I tried to snap a shot of them with the camera. They are really light colored and kind of hard to see, but these pics were cute none the less.

It's funny how babies always do the deer in headlights look when they're little bitty. Maybe he's practicing for his wide eyed innocent look for when I catch him doing something he shouldn't.

I've had too much coffee today so I gotta run and go work off some of this caffine! Joseph says he loves everyone and he also says "BUURRRRRP"!

Live Coverage of Baby Joseph!

So it's not LIVE coverage, but I bet it will do the job for anyone who needs their grandbaby/great grandbaby/cousin/nephew/general sweet baby fill, eh?! I am pretty excited to be able to upload video on my blog! Now I can really show off my precious Joseph to those near and far. This one is Joseph just kicking around with Josh and I one evening this weekend. Kind of a test post if you will. Technology is very cool!

Little Boy Blue

Yes, I really had to do it. I dressed up my baby for an at home amatuer photo shoot. Man this kid is cute. I could just eat him up with a side of dream salad. I know, I know...I'm not biased. This baby had no way around it, he was just bound to inherit good looks. I'm not one to argue with genetics.



He's not into it right out of the gate. So I stuck his soothie in to coax him into submission. Hey, Joseph, maybe I could borrow that some time? And in case you didn't notice, that outfit has the cutest little white collar under that sweet little chub of a chin.


So maybe...if I pull it out really quickly I can get a good shot...one fast motion...like a band aid. Holy moly, that is the cutest little sad face I've ever seen.

At least I know that soothie works, as if there were any doubt. Here we are all settled down. This is getting stressful, but darn these pictures are cute!

I resigned to a portrait with the soothie (his pacifier), and everything became less tense and Joseph even enjoyed himself a little. I saw him make his first "face"...it's not that easy being incredibly good looking.

And if those big, beautiful, blue (albiet not permanent), searching eyes weren't enough to steal my heart away; those little, teenie, tiny, perfect, soft fingers and hands would do the job. What miracles these little hands could perform someday. If nothing else, I'll raise a boy who keeps his fingernails clean.

But don't let the pictures fool you. Those little nails are razor sharp and can getcha good! Talk about a tense room when those nails are being cut. I've only drawn a little blood - just kidding, don't call CPS just yet.

Ah yes, the money shot...I got a good, silly, wiggly baby face. I think he "got your nose". Or maybe he is practicing his pirate routine. Personally, I think he looks like that ugly old actress from "Throw Mama From the Train". You know the one?

So, our time was over and I let my poor child model rest. I know deep down he loved it. And he can't wait until next time - which will be sooner than he knows, I'm sure. :)

Cousins

Aren't cousins the best?! They can be your best friends and best playmates. If you lose contact you can pick right back up where you left off. You have the connection of blood and special tie of family to keep you close if you drift apart. I am so glad that Joseph has the greatest cousins!

One Month Old?!

One month old little toes...


...one month old little cheeks, eyes, lips and nose...


...one month old little fingers...


...one month old in a little blue outfit...


...one month old precious profile...

...one month old little perfect face...

Can you believe it's been a month? Our little Joseph has come so far in such a small amount of time. He is holding his head up and moves it side to side. He is such a strong baby and likes to push off our chests and stomachs with his feet and hands. He looks around with great interest in his surroundings and tries to find us when he hears our voices. Joseph also likes to grab hold of his bottle when we feed him, and it amazes us each time he does it. It seems like just yesterday (in a way it was) that he didn't have any control of any body parts and we could cuddle him up tight without him squirming!

We've had many visitors come from near and far. Most recently Josh's Auntie Debbie, Uncle Sid and Bobe have come to hug up the new baby. It's been busy around here. I think my favorites have been Jessie and Lindsey, though. I love to see them with Joseph. It reminds me of my own memories with my neices and nephews and the bond that I quickly formed with each of them. Although they are cousins its still nostalgic and special to see them together.

I am officially a stay at home mom! I spoke with my (former) manager at (what was formerly) work and put in my notice. It was really very easy to quit (usually I would be very nervous about confrontation) and I am not sure that I will miss it at all! Not even a little bit! I won't miss riding the train, or waiting on elevators, or work clothes, or answering phones, or transcribing, or being scared of our building being hit by an airplane (yes, its true). So, let the mommying begin! What silly, and fun, and scary, and great adventures we will have! My little Joseph is just amazing and we couldn't have asked for anything better for the holidays and new year.

TWO WEEKS OLD!

Hello to all of my four faithful readers! I am here I am here! I have not been completly swallowed whole by the baby machine that is my new son. I love that phrase by the way. "My son". It is very surreal to hear that word combination. Josh said it for the first time when Joseph was a few days old and it really stopped me in my tracks. I turned and it was the most awesome feeling to see my son and my husband together! I've been itching to get on and journal my newest adventures and now that I am here, there is just too much flashing through my mind.

Joseph is the most precious thing! He is such a good baby...for two weeks old, that is. Check back in a few more weeks and I'll reconfirm that. He lays here next to me now stretching and making the sweetest little baby noises. I have surrendered to trying to keep his arms in his blanket when we swaddle him since he really likes them out best. I figured out that he will fuss until they become free and then he will quiet down...so we let him win that battle. I have actually been getting sleep, although not at the hours I like best. We seem to sleep the best between 6am and 1pm, but then the day is half over. I hear "it gets better" closer to six weeks. Is this true?!?! Oh psh, it doesn't really matter as my new "boss" is really the best I've ever had and we can get through all this newborn chaos one day at a time.

Some of our favorite moments in the past two weeks:
when the booger finally made his entrance after almost four hours of pushing,
our first day at home (we're really a family!),
when Joseph toots...they can easily be a minute long and are the most hilarous thing ever!
when Joseph pees on daddy,
when Joseph poops on daddy,
when Joseph's belly button healed, daddy didn't like that thing very much,
when Joseph squeaks like a puppy or kitten,
when Joseph is done eating and he makes his steal trap lip pout to let us know he is finished!

Much love and baby kisses to all!!

Joseph is very excited to be a card carrying, hard working American!

Our little present!

Our First Hanukkah!


Joseph in his Uncle Peter's blue sweater from when he was a baby!

Diaper run!

WEEK 37!

We had our Doctors appointment this morning. No news! I've started going weekly now and getting examined each time. She did say the baby has started to drop into position but that is not too significant as it could still be weeks. But I'll take anything I can get!

I am considered full term this week. We still want the baby to go to 40 weeks, or even 42 to really get good and cooked. I am eerily calm these past few days. I have had a bought with nerves in the past weeks and I am sure it won't be the last. I may be more focused on how uncomfortable and yucky I feel than on getting nervous for the big day. Funny story: last night my mom and I went to JoAnn's Fabric and Craft store and she bumped into a friend. Mom said that we were getting some stuff for my baby's room and her friend replied that I didn't look pregnant. What a laugh that was!

This weekend Michael and Josh built the crib, and Josh finished the changing table (just reinforcing it with wood glue). Mom made me a valance and bed skirt yesterday and everything is going to look awesome! I've got everything in piles in the dining room ready to be put away...or at least ready for a home to be found as we have SO MANY goodies that are going to have to go somewhere!

Now...I can't wait for Thanksgiving! I will be pacing myself since my stomach if about the size of a lime, but Josh can be released to the table with wild abandon and I am sure he will! Josh has been working so so hard lately and then he comes home and I run him ragged there. Not really! We make a good team even though I can't do as much as I'd like. In work news, Merit was listed in Forbes Largest Private Companies as the 253rd largest private company in America, and they had 1.7 billion in revenue with a fraction of the number of employees that the surrounding companies on the list had. That mean they have really been working their tails off and with efficiency and smoothness!

Signing off for now with thoughts of turkey dancing in my head...
XOXOX Heather

WEEK 36!

We are ONE MONTH out from the baby's due date! Eye yi yi! Thanks to Alicia we now have a bassinette for the baby to sleep in for our bedroom for the first little bit of its life. Of course the top drawer in our dresser was always an option like grandma used to do, but the bassinette will work, too. I need to go buy my g-diapers soon which I keep forgetting to do - so the child will have diapers to cover its hiney. I've already gotten my hospital pjs washed and some personal items ready to go. So, slowly but surely we are getting more ready to go.

I've been feeling like a BIG ol' poop lately. There is pressure and various other sensations everywhere all the time. This makes it hard to walk far, or sleep well, or stand, or breathe and blink for that matter (just kidding!)...but still I've got high hopes! I've made it this far, right?! We had a sonogram at our appointment yesterday and that baby was just sucking away. You could see the lips and mouth in almost full detail! It was amazing and also inspiring to go just a little bit longer until Baby is full and ready to come out and greet the world.

Now for the anatomy and physiology readers out there...from this point on the "finishing period" of growth begins, during which the baby prepares for its birth. My basal metabolism has increased 25%, which is due to the demands of the baby on my body. It helps the efficiency of converting stored nutrients. The baby's fat deposits are continuing to be laid down each day and his or her limbs are beginning to dimple and crease at the elbows, knees, wrists and neck. The baby's skin is pink and smooth. My skin is pink and smooth and stretched to Timbuktu and back, across the blue seas to the windmills of Holland, down to the Australian outback, under the ocean to the Lost City of Atlantis and back to Dallas, Texas. That's a lot.

However, in breaking news at the Blachly house....I cleaned the kitchen and did laundry this weekend!! It kept my mind off of the jellyfish that were swimming around my belly button near Atlantis.

XOXOX

November Sprinkles Bring December Jingles

This is how we welcome Fall in Texas!

And The Winner Is....

...the silver 2001 Mazda Millenia!

We love it! I have hogged it up so far! It really drives like a dream which I chalk up to being accustomed to my trusty but OLD parade of Hondas. We got a big "showroom" detail on it Saturday afternoon and it really cleaned up beautifully. We got it from an outfit in Ft. Worth called European Motor Cars whose specialty is B-mers, Mercedes, Porche, etc. This was a trade and he saw the value in keeping it since it was in good shape. I guess the cards were in our favor since there had been three people in just days (one of them his neice) who couldn't get financing for it. It was waiting for specifically for US, I'm sure. It was really fun looking at all his vintage cars while we were there, too. Maybe someday we'll be able to own a cherry red '66 Stingray of our own!
My favorite feature: the steering wheel automatically moves up and out of my way when I turn the key off. Now I can get in and out of the car without breaking a rib. Very nice.

Hello Weekend

Ahhhhhhhhhh; a big ol sigh to welcome the weekend. It's a good thing it's Friday afternoon because I don't think I can sit here at work much longer. Sometimes my hiney starts to hurt and I can't get comfortable. But more interestingly, there is a lawyer here that likes to bear his teeth and growl at me. It's frightening in an insane assylum/liver with fava beans kind of way. It's really weird and frankly quite rude - and although I am really good at ignoring these guys most of the time, I just don't know how much longer I can take it. Maybe it's tourettes, who knows? I just think he is weird. So I reiterate...thank goodness it's Friday!

We are heading out Saturday morning to do more car shopping. We have these two cars that we want to look at. We're taking the gold one in to a mechanic to make sure it isn't a lemon cause it's our front runner right now. It a 2001 Mazda Millenia.
The blue one is a 2002 Mazda 626 and I love the color! Both are good looking on paper and very clean with low miles...so wish us luck! We're gonna go check out truck bed liners too. Right now we need to decide between Rhino vs. Linex spray in. We've already got some hauling to do and want to get it lined asap!

On Sunday Shannon (thank you thank you thank you) is coming over to paint a little cloud action in the baby's room. Here is my inspiration shot...
I know "we" (she) can do it wonderfully since "we" (she) can paint anything, anywhere! Then "we" (Josh) will be ready to get the furniture put together and arranged. Hang on Baby, we're almost there!!

The best weekend wishes to all and talk to you next week!
***Love to All***