Elsa

Elsa MaryAnn

Born 30 May 09 at 12:08 am (Local Time in England)

9 pounds 10 oz      21 inches long

I will write more later, but everyone keeps hasseling us for photos (especially the proud new grandparents)

First family photo--at this point I had been up for 26 hours...look a little punch drunk :)

She didn't really care too much for her first bath, but was nice and content when it was all done

of course, we can't stop staring at her!!  We think she is so beautiful and it is amazing to think about how she was growing inside of me for the past 40 weeks.

What seemed like the next day, but just later the day she was born...some of my friends from work stopped by to meet Elsa.

Day 2...Elsa was excited to get out of the hospital gear and get into some pink attire!

In her going home outfit...Yeah! Even though we had a great experience at the hospital, I was so excited to be able to sleep in my own bed (speaking of which...)

Yeah!!  We are finally home!!

The rest of the pad

Now that I feel that we are finally "settled", I went through and took some pics of our new house (#3 for those of you counting..LOL).  This is what you see when you walk in the front door.  Straight ahead is the kitchen and nook.

Then, if you take a right, it leads to the family room and office.  We went from a 4 bedroom at our last place, to a 3 bedroom here.  But, we converted half of the living room into an office.  We will add a rug in the "office"  to make a little play area for Elsa

Here is a picture of the eating area alongside the kitchen.

A view of the kitchen

The master bedroom

More of the master bedroom.  Notice my suitcase all packed for the hospital and Aaron using the pack and play as a clothes hamper.

And, the guest bedroom...or, as my mother prefers to call it: "her bedroom"

Still no baby...She is quite content staying put for right now.  I turned down the option to "get things moving" because I would rather nature take its own course.  I may be kicking myself for that choice later in the week.  But, we have everything ready in the event she decides to make an arrival.  We have decided to bank the stem cells from the umbilical cord, so we got that kit ready to go;  bag is packed;  nursery is ready;  camera batteries charged;  and our list of contact numbers available.  Aaron will send out an email once she arrives.  We are so excited to meet her!  I am so grateful that God is blessing us with this miracle!  

Elsa's Nursery

A little of everything....

I get a kick out of looking at the pics of the guys in Dublin...those three definitely know how to have a good time!  

Lots to report here since my last entry.

1.  I passed boards!!!!!  What a huge relief that was.  I felt good when I walked out of the exam, but then, started going over everything I should have said, didn't say, etc....  But, no more tests for 10 more years when I take my recertification exam.  Until then, I am a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (board certified).

2.  We enjoyed having Amy and Mike visit.  We met them in London and took the Eurostar to Paris.  The Eurostar is a new high speed train that was AWESOME!  We went from central london to central Paris in about 2 hours!  The weather in Paris was okay, but very chilly and on and off rain during our three days.  But, it was fun, nonetheless.  The first place we went to see was the Arc de Triomphe.  

Then, the next day, we took the opportunity to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower.  We took the elevators to the top of the Eiffel Tower....I was fine once we got to the top, but the ride up there was not fun!  It was so windy, so the elevator was shaking gently...palms were sweaty, heart was racing.

And, when you have two pregnant ladies...finding bathrooms are a necessity and when you gotta go, you gotta go...even at the top of the Eiffel Tower.  They had to be the smallest bathrooms ever!

And, on our last day we went to the Louve!  By this point, I was so exhausted after trekking around Paris and my ankles were so swollen, that I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I would have other wise.  We could have easily spent two days there and still not have seen everything!

And, Aaron imitating art....

After Paris, they came up to our house for a few days and we went to see a castle in the nearby area.  But, we mostly just hung out...which was a nice break from all the traveling we did.

3.  Things are continuing to go well with the pregnancy.  My OB put me on half day profile (meaning I only work for half days) until I deliver!  A nice little perk of the military.  He wasn't concerned about anything in particular, except wanted me to stay off my feet because my ankles were getting swollen and I was having a lot of back pain after operating.  So, I plan on finishing the nursery and starting her scrap book.  I can't believe she will be here in about 4-5 weeks!  

My friends Jess and Liz planned a baby shower for me with some girls I work with and for some wives whose husbands I work with.   Here is a pic of me at 34 weeks right before the shower.

And, some of the girls I work with (Heather, Jess, Amy, me, Liz, and claire (Liz's daughter))

We are lucky to have such great friends over here.  Little Claire was so cute...she kept staring at my  belly.  I kept rubbing my belly saying how full I was from eating so much fondue...she got this huge grin on her face "its not fondue...its a baby!"  

Well, that about sums up everything in the past few weeks.  We finally feel settled into our new home and love living on base.  It takes me a whole five minutes to get to work!

Dominating Dublin St. Patty's Style

I thought I would post a few photos of some friends that came to visit us here in England during St. Patrick's Day.  Jeff and Brendon flew into London and we spent the first day in Cambridge hitting a few pubs with the wife and her friend, Jess.  

After spending the day in England, we thought it would be wise to get the hell out of this country and go directly to Dublin, Ireland for St. Patty's Day.  Upon arrival, we went directly to the Jameson Distillery for a tour and some free hooch!

After this tour, we hit the streets of Dublin for a little "Irish Fun", which is basically drinking at every bar in site.  From what I could see, this is basically the only fun to be had in Dublin, but thats just my opinion.  Here are some of the scenes from Dublin during the St. Patrick's Day celebration:

One of the highlights of the Dublin tour was hitting the Guiness Brewery for some live band music and free beer...for about 2 hours!  A steal considering every pint of Guiness was about $8.

Well, that about wraps up the St. Patrick's Day Celebration!  Courtney is going to publish photos of our Paris trip next.  Take care!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are finally moved in, but still getting settled.  We are so happy we made the decision to move on base and we love the new house.  Here is a pic of the outside.  I will defer posting pics of the interior until we are more settled.  

Although I miss the character of "The Manor House", I feel much safer and content here...it will be much better for the baby!

And, for my sister Lindsay, who keeps pestering me about posting more belly shots.....Aaron took these before Church today...I am a little over 30 weeks along.

I can no longer enjoy the view of my pedicure, unless my feet are up.

And, here is a profile shot.  People keep joking about how it looks like I am carrying a boy...if that is the case, "He" will have to be dressed in a lot of pink for a while!

I am definitely noticing it being harder to move around!  And, I still have a little less than 10 weeks to go!  She is very active!  Aaron and I were sitting on the couch the other day, laughing at my stomach moving...we saw a limb move from one side to the other.  I am still absolutely amazed by this miracle!!  

Now that we are settled in, we can now focus on getting the nursery ready and "preparing" for this next stage of our life.  Aaron will be posting some pics of his trip to Ireland for St. Patty's day with two of his college friends.  And, this week we are heading to Paris with our friends Amy and Mike, who are visiting from the US!  Probably our last trip until Ms. Elsa arrives.