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Thanks for being my godfather, Uncle Mike!

 Aunt Becky will be a GREAT godmother too…. she’s very high energy and always up for something fun.  When I was younger, I apparently frequently told Becky that “I’m the boss of her” (after all, I am 362 days older).  Hopefully, Becky won’t follow suit and tell the same to Natalie. 🙂

See you in February for my baptism, Aunt Becky!

Thanks, Becky and Mike, for taking on this very important role in our daughter’s life!

At less than two weeks old, Natalie was lucky to meet her Pop, Nana (the grandmother formerly known as Gigi, when Natalie was in the womb), Uncle Alex and Aunt Jira on New Year’s Eve, although we didn’t make it to midnight!  Happy New Year to everyone!  

Happy New Year's! Go Irish!

A special shout out to Tim Dowling, Jordan’s best friend from growing up who he has spent the last 3 New Year’s with…. at least this year, Jordan didn’t get into any scuffles and didn’t playfully wrestle anyone to the ground – that I know of, at least).

We also celebrated a late Christmas.  Gotta love this little outfit that Nana gave her!

Aw, who knew a reindeer on your rearend could be so cute

We feel very lucky that they were all able to visit!  Pop helped Jordan fix a leak in our tub and put up curtains in Natalie’s room.  Uncle Alex whispered Thai to Natalie, which led to her sleeping through a lot of the night.  Aunt Jira picked out super cute Thai clothes and toys that she cannot wait to use. 

Aunt Jira has about 3 weeks more experience living in the US than does Natalie - welcome, Jira!

And, best of all, Nana stayed an extra 3 days!!!  She has been amazing – taking Natalie shifts at 3:30 a.m., cleaning our condo, and cooking!  (For those of you who have tasted Kathy’s cooking, you know this is a BIG treat – our freezer is stocked with everything from Indian curry to eggplant lasagna to beef stew!)  We will really miss her when she leaves tomorrow. 🙁  Yet, we are glad that both grandmothers want to visit every 4-6 weeks!!! 🙂

Thanks, Nana, for the Christmas Dumbo! Its one of Natalie's favs!

Natalie is on the edge of her Lil’ Lion Activity Gym playset, cheering for a win against the Bears!

Cheering for a play-off spot!

(Okay, to be honest, she has slept for almost all of it, and I’m encouraging her Dad to cheer loudly so that she spends a little time awake – in hopes of us having a more restful night tonight.  Between 11 and 3:30 last night, she only slept 45 minutes – thankfully, we were able to call Nana for relief, and she came down to help out!)

Amazingly, it was in the high 40’s yesterday, so we were able to take our first family stroll (a whole two blocks to the ATM machine). 

Natalie made her first deposit for her college fund!

It was a super smooth ride… thanks Grandma Julie for the stroller, Aunt Becky for the car seat converter, Aunt Lisa/Aunt Jonna/Kelsey for the car seat, and Tricia/Luke for the bundle me (we went to grad school with Tricia’s husband, and they live in Evanston – Natalie is excited to meet Luke, who was born in Sept)!  (We’re spoiled – thanks everyone!!!)  We were strolling in style!

I know I'm biased, but could she be more adorable?!?!

My family came to visit over Christmas.  My mom had bought Natalie a cute Christmas outfit, which said “Santa’s Favorite”.  Turns out that Natalie was Everyone’s Favorite this Christmas! 

Aunt Leah and Aunt Becky even made t-shirts.  Look at Natalie’s funny facial expression!

Grandma Julie and Grandpa Dave were pretty smitten too – my Dad is holding Natalie’s foot like a trophy!

We had a wonderful visit – and everyone was so helpful…. Dad, Becky and Rob packed up our completely dead Christmas tree; Mom, Becky and Leah each woke up early one morning to hold Natalie so that we could sleep longer; they stocked our fridge; Mom did laundry, etc!  God bless family.  They came just in time.  Without their help, we would have eatend canned soup for Christmas dinner, had many more t-shirts with burp stains and would have been a lot more exhausted.  Who knew that taking care of a little one would be a 2+ person task?!?!

Merry Christmas to all my new friends!

Love,
Natalie

First, THANK YOU everyone for the wonderfully thoughtful emails and text messages.  Our little Natalie is surely a very loved little girl! 🙂 

Second, we’ve successfully made it through our first 24-hour period at home!  Its early afternoon, and both Jordan and I are showered, and Natalie has eaten a couple times.  I’m actually thankful we have a smallish condo, as its a lot easier to get around these 1,000 sq ft than it would be a 2-story home with stairs!  We tried to move the crib into our bedroom, only to find that its about a centimeter too wide, so we’re still trying to figure out the best option for sleeping by Natalie.

Finally, the photographer at the hospital snapped a few shots right before we left yesterday – see Natalie at about 50 hours old!  http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=0a8650d3-0de2-4fbf-af87-06ef7177732f  I hope this links works – if not, please post and let me know.  Grandparents, don’t buy any of the pics!  We’ll have the complete CD with many more pics by the end of next week.

The first official day of parenthood has gone pretty well for everyone.  Hopefully, Natalie would agree.  I will spare everyone the full labor story (ask Erin if you’d like the play-by-play) but the summary: we went in at 11:15pm on Dec 18th and Natalie was born at 11:40am on the morning of Dec 19th.

Erin baking her way through contractions

Overall, the nurses and staff at Evanston Hospital have been fantastic.  Special shout outs to Dana and Vicky for all their help.  Below are a few pics from yesterday right after the birth.

First Family Portrait

Natalie less than one minute old

Who stayed up all night? We did!

Last night, Grandpa Julie and Grandpa Dave came down from Green Bay to visit.  Natalie was very happy to see them, as indicated by her lack of fussing and funny noises.  As if all the cutesy pink outfits, baby booties, and other baby schwag doesn’t show the spoiling she will get, Natalie is also the first grandchild on both sides.  Yikes.

Grandma Julie and Grandpa Dave

Grandma and Grandpa came this morning as well to spend some time with her before heading back up north.  Over the next month, Natalie is very much looking forward to meeting Nana and Pop as well as all of her aunts and uncles.  Hopefully, she likes being passed around!

We will be in the hospital until tomorrow morning.  Everything has been going very well, from Natalie’s health to her ability to nurse to her parent’s energy level.  It will be a pretty incredible two weeks ahead with all the visitors and Christmas coming together at once.  Throw in the football bowl games (including an inevitable Irish win), and I’m not sure Natalie will even be able to handle all the excitement!  Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, prayers, and support.

Cheesy Hoosierhead!

Mommy and Me - don't we both look great after all that?

"These cheeks are like soft pillows. Thanks Dad!"