It’s a Girl!

Kristy and I are proud to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby girl:

Lila Caroline Vickerman

Mom and baby are doing great!  Mom and Dad are tired of course.  And so is Grandma Vickerman who is here being a huge help for us!  We just brought her home today and instead of sleeping I am up blogging.  In fact I am getting pretty good at typing with one hand and holding a baby in the other…

Obviously, I have decided to update the site a bit too!  The new look reflects Lila’s more feminine side!  You might also notice the new name at the top (but the html link is the same)  Also there is a new page entitled “Milestones” that will include important Milestones in Lila’s life (including a picture!)  And a page devoted to her name!  Enjoy!

Due Date comes and goes…still no baby!

Well – as of 5:30 pm on October 2nd, there is still no baby. However at the doctor office yesterday, our doctor said he would be surprised if we don’t have this baby over the weekend – so that is exciting. The baby is also much bigger than we originally thought. Based on the ultrasound they believe it is 8.2 lbs! Kristy is also 100% effaced, so it should be any time now! I took the liberty of taking pictures of her on the due date, so here you go – I really hope the next post is from the hospital!

Countdown to Baby’s Arrival!

Since we are so close, I have posted a countdown timer for everyone! The next major posts will probably be from the hospital!

Cradle Refurbishing & Picture of the Belly!

Okay  – Kristy and I are about to begin week 36, which means it is almost GO time.  Although Kristy has nested off and on for the past couple weeks, my nesting took the form of refurbishing the family heirloom cradle.  I wish I would have taken before pictures, but oh well.  The cradle was in need of some TLC, so I decided to take it on.

I had to sand down the paint and in doing so noticed at least two different colors it had been before (an almond shade and a salmon pink color).  We decided that to keep the tradition going in the family, we should paint it something that will be universal, so white it is!  I used almost an entire tube of wood filler due to the numerous nail and tack holes throughout the years.

I also decided to replace some of the hardware since the whole cradle is being upgraded – so new screws and cool little plastic caps to go over them so it blends in with the white of the wood.  And also new wheels.  These proved hard to find, but a great hardware store in Eugene, Jerry’s, had what I was looking for…

Since we got the camera out to take the cradle’s photo, we decided to get some pictures of Kristy in too, since a few people have requested pictures of her and the belly!  The other pictures include the wall stickers that go with the room theme, so we took some pictures of those too.  Kristy like the branch that looks like it is holding the diaper bag!  Enjoy!  Only 31 more days!  1 month!

Showers!!

Sorry that it has been a while. We’ve been busy since we got home. August 1st and 2nd were very special times for us.  We had two showers back to back and got to see all our friends and family.  It was so thoughtful of everyone to help us prepare our nest.  We practically got everything off our baby registries and many gift cards!  Thank you to everyone for making those two days so special.

The first shower was mostly Vickerman family and friends (ladies only).  The boys went golfing that afternoon. It  was hosted by my sister- in-law Amy and was held at aunt Kathy’s house in Concord.  The theme was woodland themed and brown/green.  She made a beautiful diaper cake and had some clothes hanging up in the backyard on vines.  The clothes were soooo cute.  They had beavers, owls, and woodland type creatures on them.  The theme fit perfectly with the baby’s nursery.

We loaded all our gifts from the shower into car.  Which was a lot and headed straight to Hilmar to see my family.  The next day we had a duck themed baby shower (very fitting since the UO mascot is the ducks!)  It was hosted by my future sister- in- law Lauren and cousin Shannon. Also a little help from my mom and dad, brothers, and aunt and uncle.  This shower was mostly Correia family and friends (ladies and men included!).  One of the highlights of the evening was that Bryan made the cake for the shower.  It was 3 tiered, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and covered with fondant.  It took Bryan about 11 hours to make it.  Lauren and Christopher help him too.

It is so touching to see the out pour of love and generosity that this bundle of joy is already getting and isn’t even here yet.  Almost though, only about 42 more days!  YIKES!!  Thank you to everyone who made all 4 of our baby showers so fun and memorable.

My new hobby – tummy listening and singing…

So Kristy and I have a new daily ritual.  She lies down on the bed and I lay my head against her tummy in an attempt to commune with the baby!  It is something I look forward to everyday.  I can already see how hard it will be to go to school/work and not be around all the time, and the baby isn’t even out yet.  I still love feeling the little kicks and punches against my cheek and hands.  It is a feeling unlike any other and it makes me so jealous of Kristy that she gets to experience this and I can’t!  Of course,  I can feel the baby and hear the baby much better than she can since I can put my ear right on it!  The other day I must have been right over the baby’s chest because as soon as I put my ear on her tummy I heard the heartbeat.  That was the first time I heard the heartbeat without the help of the ultrasound from the doctor’s office.

In fact just about every time I listen I also speak to the baby.  Sometimes I even sing.  “Stardust” (click to hear…) by Hoagy Carmichael seems to be my favorite so far and I am hoping that Kristy learns the lullaby I wrote so she can sing that to the baby.  For some reason it feels weird for me to sing a lullaby to the baby that I wrote.  I don’t really have an explanation as to why that is though…  I met and talked to a leading international pre-natal music therapist in Austin (yes, that is an actual career path…) and asked her if she could only give me one piece of advice, from a pre-natal music therapist point of view, what that would be. Her answer:  “You and your wife should be singing to that baby every day…”  She also pointed me to a website: birthpsychology.com where she has written articles and helps maintain the site.  There are some pretty interesting articles in there pointing out the benefits of singing to your baby in utero.

We start birthing classes next Monday, so I am sure the posts will be coming faster and faster!

Adventures in Baby Furniture!

Here is a video of when I surprised Kristy with having the nursery all set up when she got home from her trip to California

Enjoy!

Pre-1st Father’s Day

Well – yesterday we celebrated Father’s Day here in Eugene with Kristy’s parents, Lonnie and Angie.  It has been fun hanging out with them!  We drove to see a BEAUTIFUL waterfall yesterday: Salt Creek Falls! (seen below)

But the most amazing part of Father’s Day for me was getting to feel the baby move for the first time!  I wouldn’t call it a kick, but I definitely felt “Little Nemo”.

What a special gift!  I included a picture below of Kristy pointing to her belly!  She doesn’t look like she is 6 months pregnant, but I am sure that will change much too fast to her liking!

On another note – there is only 101 days until the baby arrive according to my countdown timer!  Yikes!  We also selected our Pediatrician today – Dr. Fuerth.  She came highly recommended by UO faculty and the hospital!  We meet with her in a few weeks.  We will talk to you all soon!

What to call you?

Okay – so now that Kristy can feel the baby “swimming” around in there we are beginning to refer to the baby in the first person…BUT since we have decided not to find out the sex, it is getting awkward saying “it” or “he” or “she”.  Most of the time it is just “the baby”, but since “the baby” feels like fish swimming around we have taken to calling “the baby”, “Little Nemo”.  Sure it is a bit masculine and in both the Pixar film and Jules Vernes’ Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Nemo was a man, but it sounds cute, so it stuck.

The last doctor appointment was very simple.  He just used the fetal monitor and we heard “Little Nemo’s” heart again.  Healthy young baby.  So far so good!  Kristy is being a great host!

People have been asking for pictures of Kristy, but we do not have any yet.  Rest assured, pictures will be coming shortly!  She is definitely pregnant and you can definitely tell!  We miss all our friends and family and are looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Maternity Jeans

So yesterday I finally broke down and wore a pair of maternity jeans to work.  The are very stylish, dark denim wash and I wore a brown tunic-type sweater to make sure that the blue band across the top of the jeans wouldn’t show.  And let me tell you… those jeans are the most COMFORTABLE things in the world.  They just slip right on and you don’t have to worry about zippers and buttons to constrict you.  Actually now I’m thinking that after the baby is born, they are going to become my Thanksgiving Day jeans!!! I think everyone should invest in a pair