Our First Outing!

Zach is five days old and had his first appointment with the pediatrician. Of course, today couldn't be just an appointment with the doctor...no.

First, Chuck had to take Jackson to the base vet at 9 AM for have blood drawn to test his FLVN levels to begin his 180 day quarantine to prepare for our move to Japan. BTW, if you read my "Guam" post you will love this. They still thought Blaze had an appointment today and Chuck had to walk them through the reason why we didn't bring him. Yikes! Anyway, the clinic is closing so we have to finish the process with our regular vet out in town. I'm sure it will be more costly, but I bet they are a bit more clued in. Not knocking the Army vets at all, just this particular clinic seemed to be a bit disorganized.

While he was taking care of the dog I was trying to get CG, Z, and me ready for the 11:15 appointment at the pediatrician. For the most part it went well, but I was grateful when Chuck returned since the baby started crying as I was getting out of the shower. We were loaded up and on our way by 10:40. The appointment went well. Z is in great health and weighed in at 6 lb 13 oz. The doctor thinks that is fine, but asked us to return next week for a weight check just to make sure he is gaining since his birth weight was 7 lb 3.5 oz. I scheduled the appointment for next Thursday.

After we left the doctor's office, we were fairly hungry and decided to pick up some food from McDonald's since neither of us adults had had a chance to eat yet today. CG has been wanting to make a mask of The Firebird which is a ballet they have worked on during her ballet class. She described how it should look so we stopped at Michael's and picked up the stuff we needed to make the mask while Chuck stayed in the car with the baby.

We went home, ate, and took care of the baby. Chuck completed the forms and stuff so we could overnight Jackson's stuff through FedEx and before we knew it, it was time to take CG to her swim lesson. Z was such a sport and slept in his carseat the entire 30 minute lesson. Oh, I took some cute pics and video of CG during her lesson. She is doing GREAT! I'll post those later. Oh, CG was also so precious as she walked up to a mom from the group lesson before her lesson and informed her that she is now a big sister and to come look at her baby brother, Zachary. She is quite the proud big sister and also did the same to her instructor.

Once we were done with the lesson, we headed over to return The Lion King to Blockbuster and CG selected Pete's Dragon for family movie night tonight. I had not seen that movie since I was probably close to her age! Anyway, we put that on and Chuck had some recruiting work to do while I tended to the baby and had a friend drop by with dinner (yes, my Sunday School class collaborated and are bringing us dinner each night this work week). That was so nice of them and the food was really yummy!

That is pretty much a recap of our day. I'm looking forward to a more relaxing day tomorrow though. Today went really well, but I think it will take some time before I am good at coordinating scheduled outings for us.

Both kids are asleep so I'm going to do a couple of chores and try to get some sleep myself. Z allowed me to get a little bit last night and I'm continuing my prayers that that is the case tonight too.

We are home!

We entered the house as a family of four today! The past nearly 48 hours have been quite the whirlwind and we have spent the afternoon adjusting as we ate, unpacked, and set about taking care of our newest addition. Clara Grace is thrilled, and quite the mother hen. I'll update more when I have a bit more time, but thought I would quickly upload some pics to share and I'm sure they are way out of order so forgive me on that.

Here is a picture of Zach getting all cleaned up. I was so glad that they did all of that there in the room instead of whisking him off to a nursery.

Clara Grace holding Zach for the first time! She is so proud to be a big sister and takes this job very seriously.

Another shot of the siblings!

Father and son

Clara Grace keeping watch over Zach at home. I told you she takes this seriously.

This was right after we arrived at home and thought we would document Zach's first ride in the carseat. It was quite a relaxed affair which will humor anyone that recalls Clara Grace's first ride and my hysterical reaction. It also turned out to be a rather nice weather day!

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Perhaps I went overboard on the pics in the carseat...

Here we are, looking out for Zach as he sleeps. Clara Grace insisted he have the teddy bear, so I compromised and let her put it in there for a few moments as long as it was away from his face.

Can you tell she is proud?

Zachary Christian, one day old.

Zachary Christian was born at

Zachary Christian was born at 1:50 AM at 7 pounds 3.5 ounces and 19.5 inches long!

We are staying! Updates will

We are staying!

Updates will come as I can share.

I think this is it!

I think this is it!

We are on the way to the hospital and will update later whether we stay or are sent home.

Sweet!

If you've noticed the two most recent additions to the blog, you might be wondering what on earth I was doing. Basically I wanted to find out if there was a way I could use my BlackBerry to send updates to the blog, making it very easy to pass the word when we head to the hospital, and provide short updates along the way. Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture of Zach to the blog as well!

I figured it out, so now I just have to wait on this little guy to decide he is ready to meet the world! Oh, and hope I don't run into technical difficulties either. If that is the case, I'll resort to good old phone calls at a decent hour.

Double checking! If from my

Double checking!

If from my phone updates will be short and to the point due to a limited field. I think I'm set!

Testing If this works then

Testing

If this works then I will be able to update the blog with info while at the hospital. Keep your fingers crossed!

Crazy Hair Night!

What do you think? Can I fix hair or what? Poor Clara Grace, she wasn't very thrilled with my creation as it didn't fit into her idea of pretty hair...but I think we made a style that was indeed crazy! She did get over it once we arrived at Awana and saw that there were far crazier styles there. As soon as we got home she pulled each one of those pony tail holders out and requested next time I use pink ones.

39 Week Dr. Appointment

Nothing overly exciting. I did not gain any weight since last week (yay!), blood pressure is still good and all that. My doctor said that she generally does not like to let people go too far beyond their due date. I am to go back next Friday (one day past my due date) if the baby hasn't arrived, but she will be on vacation the following week...so if I still haven't given birth she will induce me Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

I'm hoping to be able to announce a birth story well before April 7th though!

I saw that on TV for $9.99!

This was just an adorable moment that I wish I had on video. Yesterday the spouse had a table at a career fair and came home with a couple of items for me that was handed out at a different table. Spray hand sanitizer and a book light. This tells you a lot about me in itself, but anyway, as we all sat down on the couch to watch Ariel's Beginning I thought I would use my nifty new book light to read some literature about what to expect after the birth.

I'm reading when all of a sudden I hear a little gasp followed by an excited, "You've got a book light! I saw that on TV! I saw that on TV for $9.99!" I explained that Dad brought it home for me and she went on to say, "That is so cool of Daddy to bring you a book light!!! That was so nice of you Daddy!"

It was just a priceless moment and her excitement was so genuine. She has become very interested in the products advertised in commercials. Unfortunately she thinks the Snuggy is one of the greatest things ever.

Anyway, I'm very thankful for my Robo Reader Book Light (that did not cost $9.99), a spouse that knows I like to read and live germ-free, and a little girl that shows such delight in even the minor things.

Which one is larger?

This is the most recent photo of me. I'm huge, but don't think I've gotten any bigger. I might have a pic taken tomorrow and replace this one with it though. I'm so ready!

So, do you think I'm larger the second time around? Here I am carrying Clara Grace the weekend before she was born on Monday.

Get Up and Boogie!

Clara Grace was asked to go tidy up her room. Shortly afterward she popped in a cd of kid's disco tunes. I couldn't resist checking out the cleaning progress and thought I would share. Needless to say, the room is still not clean.

Keep in mind this video was taken on my phone, so not the best quality.

Eating, Entertainment, Enlargement

Clara Grace is enjoying the incredibly delicious cake balls we made over a two day period. My friend Jamie shared this delightful treat idea and I could not resist. All you do is bake a cake (are you surprised we selected chocolate), crumble it up in a bowl and stir in your favorite frosting (again, chocolate here) and cool in the fridge. Then you make balls out of it, dip it in something melted and roll it in something yummy. I actually skipped dipping, but we did roll them in sprinkles and they are fantastic! Below you will see Clara Grace playing her first real video game. Charles has an XBox360 racing game which you of course need a steering wheel for...and CG has been wanting to play with it...soooo in a moment of lunacy I went online and discovered they have a couple of games for youngsters, told Charles about it and home he came with a Mater National game (for those that do not know, this is Mater from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars). I was literally laughing out loud as CG drove. We watched her just batter the tar out of her car until Charlie finally assisted her a little with steering. It was good fun.

Do you think I ate a few too many cake balls? Just kidding. Someone indicated the picture CG took a few days ago was fuzzy so I asked Charlie to take one on Sunday. This is evidence that you should take pictures before you leave the house because I promise I didn't see this same image in the mirror. This is me at 37.5 weeks along. Today I have 15 days until the due date. I think I'll have him take a picture of me in another week and post it with the picture we took the weekend before CG was born (she was born on Monday, at 39w1d) so we can compare.

You're going to Guam, right?

Ok, I just cannot resist blogging about this particular experience. I'll have to go back and check to see if I shared this, but I was a little concerned when I registered the pets at the vet clinic on base and she kept telling me that results would be sent to them and Guam. I didn't know where Guam fit in the picture.

Fast forward to today when both pets were scheduled for a rabies vaccination and Blaze got a microchip. Charlie took them in since they do not allow children in under 12 years of age. When we got home (we also squeezed in having our passport photos done this morning since it is right beside the vet) he had some conflicting information than what the lady and I discussed at registration. So, I gave her a call. Here is a portion of the conversation:

First, there is a brief discussion where we discussed each animal's prior rabies shot history (both are current but there is a little concern with the process since Blaze just had the microchip and one of Jackson's certificates has him named as Taylor although it was changed to Jackson at some time prior to our adoption).

Lady: Let me double check. You are going to Guam, right?

Me: No. Japan.

Lady: Oh, ok. I'll be right back.

(I'm put on hold for a few minutes with some very strange sounds, not music at all but close to the sound of testing an alarm.)

Lady: Everything is on just as we originally discussed. The FLVN can be drawn on the 31st for both animals. You are going to Guam, right?

Me: No. Japan.

Lady: Oh no. I checked for Guam. I'll have to go back and check for Japan, but it is getting busy. Can I get your number and call you back?

I cannot help but chuckle over this! For some reason this lady has Guam on the brain! Of course, part of me is slightly annoyed because I want to make sure all is in order...I'm not big on surprises of this nature. So, keep your fingers crossed that we are 100% in order at some point today when she gets back with me.

Random Pics

Not much has been happening with us lately that is interesting enough to report, however I've been told I've really slacked on providing pics of the girl. Soooo, here are a few random pics snapped over the past week.

Clara Grace wanted to help clean the floor. I would be crazy to tell her no!

Look at her working so hard!

Oh, my girl is getting so big. She dressed herself completely this morning which includes picking out her clothes. Lovely ensemble eh? Too bad she will have to change before we can actually go in public.

Clara Grace snapped this picture of Jackson herself. In her honor I'm including it.

Ok, she could have done better snapping this one, but we'll cut her some slack since she isn't five yet. This is me at 37 weeks. Like CG, I'll have to do something to my appearance before leaving the house today.