cousins come to visit too

2007 04 29 jenni allison kelly

akiko visits!

2007 04 28 akiko

2007 04 26 grandma grandpa foss

yay! grandma and grandpa foss come to home from their travels to meet our little sunshine meredith! she loved all of the attention and cuddles!

pony! pony!

2007 04 16 pony

wow! ever since i wore my pink cowboy boots, grandma and grandpa have been saying that i needed a pony too.... and now magically i have a pony! poof! thank you grandma and grandpa for spoiling me! i know, i know what you are thinking. i am too young for a pony...... but if you can tell anything from these pictures you can see that i have been dreaming of this little pony and we both just get along fantastic! maybe i can ride the pony when i get older???

easter with grandma and grandpa

2007 04 15

i am 7 weeks old and grandma and grandpa shooks are spoiling me with another easter celebration! i got some nice treats like this cute bonnet. grandma is so excited too so here are some pics of us living it up! i think that they missed me when they were gone for a few weeks in texas......

happy easter!

2007 04 08 easter

first outdoor ride

2007 04 01 real stroller ride

first stroller ride

2007 03 27 stroller ride

click on the photo to see the whole album

the weather has been ooooh so nice outside, nice enough to actually share the great outdoors with meredith. it was a testy situation at first getting meredith in her stroller because she was trying to tell me it was time to eat... or time to do anything that required being held real close! but once she was 'swaddled' tight in the car seat that snaps into the stroller, she became quiet and alert. her eyes were so big as we made it onto the front porch outside.....

and then slowly i heard thunder crack in the air. i looked up and the pretty blue sky was purple with energy. a soft noise became apparent and i realized that it was just starting to rain.

wow, we were not even completely out the front door yet. i was still hissing at the kitty to keep him inside while also trying to absorb meredith's reaction to her new experience.....

so what are mommy and baby to do? well we went for an indoor stroller ride! we were turning and moving and spinning our wheels to the sound of thunder and waterfalls as the rain just poured. and our sparkly new stroller and baby stayed fresh and dry!

3-25

2007 03 25

click on photo to see album

first pair of blue jeans

2007 03 22 blue jeans

click on photo to see album

angela and sienna

 

tummy time

 
 

arundel fam visit

2007 03 17 arundel visit

click on photo to see album

today is not only special because it is st. patrick's day, but because i get to see my auntie and uncle and cousin today! yay! it was nice to be held and kissed and luv'd! i love my aunt kerry, uncle joel and cousin jake!

baby wearing

3-15 baby wearing

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-15

3-15

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-14

3-14

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-13

3-13

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-12

3-12

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-9

3-9

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

3-6

3-6

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

2-28

2-28

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

2-27

2-27

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

2-26

2-26 going home

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

2-25

2-25

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

day 2

2-24

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

day 1

2-23

click on the photo to see the whole album.
**i hope add a little note or two 'soon' to go with the pictures!**

it's a girl!!!

2-22 The birth

click on the photo to see the whole album.

we are proud to announce the birth of our daughter meredith emma born today! she is a happy, alert, and healthy baby girl! we are so proud of her already! she is just so ambitious.... she broke her water just shy of her 39th week of gestation. she had only just started to descend into the pelvis for birth just a few days ago and really hadn't gotten far enough down. she must have been just too excited to come out and meet us. at the hospital daddy coached mommy through natural childbirth (no pain medication) just as we had planned.

progress was being made on all fronts except little meredith's head was just not cooperating. she wouldn't budge even after 18hrs of labor! mommy and daddy were then just too excited to have her out and in our arms so we decided that it was the best choice to go with a cesarean birth as the grand finale (there is only so much time that they will give you to deliver the baby in a hospital.)

the procedure was quick and we were able to both see her birth through a mirror in the operating room. the moment was very surreal.

we actually have a baby girl, a daughter, we are parents!!!! hurrray!!!!

through all of the joy we heard the doctor say that little meredith had been trying to get out with her head facing my belly instead of my back.... she chose the slowest and most time-consuming way to come out.

alas, her method was revealed! i had no idea that i had been in back labor throughout the day, but daddy suspected it because i required almost constant back massages during his coaching. mmmmmm back massages.

isn't life just wonderful? this is soooo amazing that we have brought a wonderful little person into this world. thank you God for the most wonderful hubby and baby for me!

guessing game

it is still fun to be preggo at 38 weeks except for one thing, 'she is pinching me.'

i actually felt that this pinching was a urinary tract infection.... but the doctors have now assured me (and the proper lab work of course) that i am just experiencing the magical moment of our little girl's head descending into the pelvis. wow. i was wondering when and how that would feel, but this pinching feeling has really thrown me off guard. i am actually USING my relaxation techniques to cope with the pinching. is this our girl's little way of preparing mommy for an easy labor? let's hope so!

and then that brings me to the whole reason for this post today. let's get some guesses in for baby's due date, weight, and length!

you can post your guess as a comment to this post or sign the guest book with your guess. so far we have only had cousin hope and daddy respond to the guessing request from the right hand column titled 'baby predictor.' (see what they think in the guestbook.)

i was just asking baby's grandma s for her guess and here is hers:
birthdate : 3-2-7
weight: 7.8-8lbs
length: 21 inches

37 week belly and more

happy valentines day from our clan to yours!

here we are at 37 weeks pregnant at my cousin angela's new photo studio! the baby luv'd getting the special photo treatment and we enjoyed taking the time to 'capture' our 'great expectation.' we think she did a great job showing off our new curves....

today happens to be a snow day in our neck-of-the-woods and we couldn't be cozier all bundled up in hybernation! scott took advantage of the time to do some baby proofing and well i uh, uh, have been napping! well i'm just giving the baby what she needs and what my snotty nose needs too. i won't complain too much about the snotty nose though, i have been so lucky to have not dealt with much more than that for the pregnancy :)

do you want to know how silly we are? we do some valentine celebrating on a grand scale on the day after valentines day. that is when i come home with the stash of freshly discounted ferrero rocher chocolates and we feast like kings and queens! the kitty likes to chase the little tinfoil wrappers around on the floor..... it is a wonderful way to celebrate! mmmm can't wait until tomorrow!

baby shower

2007 02 03 baby shower

click on the photos to see an online album of baby shower pics! grandma put on a lovely shower saturday and we had fun. it is nice to share the excitement of the upcoming birth. i think everyone was excited to be together on such a cold cold cold day to warm up to baby baby baby stuff! right now everything baby is somehow just sacred and special.

hmmm maybe even diapering is starting to cross over from 'the darkside' in my mind. well almost! i am trying to think positive about diapering and toileting anyways! scott and i will both be newbies to that whole world when baby finally comes!

well back to the shower! i've included a variety of pictures from the shower, including pictures of the gifts because everyone was so generous. our little baby is one special girl already! thank you everyone!