We Have a Baby Girl!!

Kathleen Marie Hamer is 2 weeks old today! In case you are not aware, Kathleen was born on May 5, 2008 at 5:19 in the evening. She weighed 6lbs. 11 oz. at birth and really is the cutest baby in the world. Not that we are biased. Kathleen is named after my (Theresa) paternal grandmother, Kathleen (Kay) Burnett. Her middle name, Marie, is my middle name as well as the middle name of many women on Andy's side of the family, including his sister Emily (who has dubbed herself Aunty Em!) and his paternal grandmother, Margaret Hamer.

We have had an exciting 2 weeks complete with little to no sleep and lots of explosive diapers. :) Nothing like learning on the job. We keep laughing about the moment when they left her in our room at the hospital and both of us felt genuine panic as we became ultra aware of our parenting inadequacies and skills we still had to learn. Well, good news is we have learned that she won't break, her dad won't accidentally drop her, and she doesn't know how it's "supposed" to be done- so we're fine and the best parents she's ever had. :)

Some highlights of the last 2 weeks:

1. Daddy got to kiss away her first tear.

2. She pooped 4 times in succession during a 3 minute time period.

3. She has peed on her dad (and mom) multiple times.

4. She reached her birth weight last Monday.

5. She does this hilarious thing where she appears to be smiling and chuckling after she eats and is nestled in at your shoulder.

6. She sleeps in her own room like a big girl.

7. Kathleen's dog, Chauncy, is great with her! Although Chauncy will steal a pacifier if given a chance.

And many, many more....

We're back, and we're having a baby!

Ok, so I know we have taken a mega-hiatus from the world of blogging-- we apologize. I guess we just got to the point where it's like, "Hmmmm we don't currently live in, nor are we visiting, a cool foreign country;we have normal, regular jobs; we aren't raising money for some great cause;we can only write about our little nugget of a dog so much before people think we're crazy..." You get the point. So, the blog faded out for lack of material I guess. We did go to Hawaii this summer, so we should share a few of those pics. But other than that, I got bored with blogging.

But, now we have SOME NEWS. And this qualifies as real news. We are having a baby. Yes, you read correctly...we are pregnant. There is a child in my belly. :) We are 12 weeks pregnant and are expecting our little joy around April 26. Yes, for all you educators out there, the timing is perfect for me. 7 weeks until the end of the school year, baby!!! The next question people usually ask is "Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?" No. Definitely not. We are surprise people. We want to appreciate one of the last great surprises on earth when the little guy or gal pokes his or her head out into the world and can share the moment with us.

We are handling the pregnancy quite well at this point. Probably because we haven't really started to plan for baby. I am waiting for my nesting insticts to kick in-- why force the issue? Andy may argue that I may be the one woman who does not possess nesting instincts (but at least I can cook), but I think they are in there somewhere. And they better be unless the baby wants to live on a twin bed in a room with random furniture and an ironing board.

Below is a picture of the 7.5 week ultrasound. That was about 4.5 weeks ago. Can you believe you can hear a heartbeat at that point. It was amazing. At that point I really started to believe that there really is a baby inside of me, but now I am convinced. There is no way I could have "grown out" of my clothes on my own. :) Not too much. Just enough to make it uncomfortable and a pain in the butt to find something to wear. Sigh. Small price to pay I guess. Anyway, the ultrasound is self explanatory...

Final Installation of the Ultimate Update

Not much else to say.... Chauncy is getting big, Andy learned to surf in Malibu, and we're starting to count down to my spring break.

The Ultimate Update Part 4!

I am on a roll!!

Happy Valentine's Day, and I got a haircut...woo hoo.

The Ultimate Update Part 3

On to January...

We were able to travel to DC for Martin Luther King weekend. On a whim, we and the Wollersheims decided to visit Philly for a day. It, of course, included a trip to the Rocky steps, a stop at a cereal bar (no joke), and a famous Philly cheesesteak sandwich!

The Ultimate Update Part 2

Next comes December...

We had a tacky Christmas sweater party.

We survived the loooooooong drive home. We did bring the Chaunce. She was a rockstar in the car.

Chauncy got her first stocking stuffers. Christmas at the Hamer's!

Chauncy got "lei'd". The Burnett's brought a little Hawaii home for us.

The Ultimate Update Begins

Starting in November...

1. We went to Charleston. Awesome. Highly recommend it. We did not bring the Chaunce. Check out the photos.

2. We went to Chicago for Turkey Day! Yea for the Windy City. Had a wonderful time with the Gidley's, Burnett's, and Grandparents Luzum. We did not bring the Chaunce (Sharon wouldn't let us)

The Elizabethan Collar

Ok, so we're back to the Chaunce. Chauncy had surgery on Friday and thus, had to wear the bucket on her head. Oh, excuse me, the "Elizabethan collar" as the vet puts it. Basically, it's a big plastic cone that no dog is thrilled to wear at all, much less for 4 days straight. So, our entertainment for the past 4 days has been to watch Chauncy navigate her way around the house. The first day she came home she was so doped up and freaked out by the collar that she would just walk up to a wall and stare at it, afraid to move. Pitiful but funny. The calm was short lived. She soon became her smart, spunky self and has proceeded to destroy her collar. This dog is too smart for her own good. You may have noticed the gradual demise of the collar as the pictures progressed. Who knew we needed an industrial strength collar? I hope you enjoy the video...it's not her funniest moment, but you get the idea.

Earthquakes in North Carolina?

So, I experienced my first earthquake last night. Yep, a 2.4 on the Richter scale... Who knew? There was an earthquake tuesday morning around 5:00 of the same magnitude, but Andy and I were sound asleep. But, then last night Chauncy and I were sitting in the living room and there was this low rumble that sounded like loud thunder, but it wasn't coming from the sky. The house trembled a little, and the Chauncinator had a fit. I thought maybe I was just losing my mind. So, I called my friend, Karver, who lives nearby, and he confirmed that he had heard it too. Both earthquakes originated in Winston-Salem.
I have to be honest and say that I don't think I am a huge fan of the whole earthquake thing. It's unpredictable and widespread...not to mention unsettling.

Vernacular shmernacular

For the Yankees out there....there has been some confusion regarding the proper pronunciation of the word "Appalachian". Here, in the land of Appalachian mountain goodness, we pronounce it App-a-la-chen. Not App-a-la-shen. Surprised you didn't know that...And just so you don't think we are ignorant, dumb southerners: dictionary.com agrees.