Road Trip!

We got to go on our first road trip out of state with Lily! John was invited by his buddy Andy to assist with an adult tennis camp up at Keowah Key in South Carolina. In addition to their own three kids and two dogs, Andy's family very graciously took all of us in for three days! We had a lot of fun getting to know them better and playing with Lily.

And we're off!

Yes, this means I was in the back seat.

He's soooo sweet!

"You don't look like my mom."
Evan holding Lily.

Thomas, Lily and Evan

Monday was spent in Greenville. Lily and I on the suspension bridge. Lily sleeping, of course.

Wingin' It at Clemson. Kristen, Andy, John and I

Yes, that is in fact a cocktail in front of me. Yum!

We had fun, and boy are we pooped!

Happy Valentine's Day

We woke up today to some rain and overcast, so what's best to do inside with a little girl? Playing dress-up, of course! Lily had some Valentine's Day outfits that she needed to wear at least once. Enjoy the pictures!

Naked baby not so sure what mom is up to

Outfit #1

Part of outfit #2

Outfit #2 from cousin Morgan.

Lily doesn't seem so sure about what to think of this very girly number. It's her first dress to have on!

Happy Valentine's Day from the bottom of our hearts!

A Kid and a Keg

John's big birthday present came late last week and since today was his day off, it was a perfect opportunity to put it all together. Robby gave him a keg-erator and a year supply of beer. (Great.) I see it as a good thing.....cheaper than going out to a bar and he'll be at home. Plus, it will be great for all those parties we never have! The downstairs is turning more and more into his dream man cave.

Poor baby girl with baby acne

The little princess

Happy 40th! Thank you, Robby, for the gift that will definitely keep on giving!

The one time John decides to read the directions....when beer is involved.

First pour

Aunt Wendy Visits

What a fabulous end of the week! I think I'm going to tie Wendy down and force her to stay here because I've been able to take naps everyday and get chores done around the house. Needless to say, Lily has been quite happy, as well.....being held and spoiled rotten by her Aunt Winnie. We are definitely going to have to go through an adjustment when she leaves.

Lily seems to have woken up from her baby coma so we get to look at her beautiful blue eyes more often these days. However, I made her very angry last night when I put her to bed a little bit awake. (The doctor made me do it!) I was supposed to give her 30 whole minutes to try to soothe herself, but I only lasted about 20. It seems so cruel to let them "cry it out" this early, but the doctor said it's best to do it now in order to establish good sleep habits. Whatever.

Mama with her two babies

Lily and Wendy

My sweet baby girl

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

John is FORTY today!!! Holy cow! (If you ask me, he's more like 40 going on 17, but that's another story.) I almost started crying last night after hearing some good news from him and reflecting on what a tough time he's had over the past couple of years. John has really found his second niche in sales. (Is there a job where you could sell tennis? He would be perfect!) An opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago and he had an interview at a company he interviewed with last summer. While waiting to hear back from them, he was offered another interview with yet another company in town. Yesterday, on the eve of turning 40, he was offered BOTH jobs!!! We are unbelievably grateful and realize there are a ton of people out there searching for employment, so we are not taking these offers for granted. I think all of this is stressing him out as much as paying the bills! We have a lot to discuss before any definitive decisions are made, but I just thought it was worth mentioning since it's such big news for our family!

I can't believe Lily wasn't the leading headline today....please forgive me, sweetie pie. She had her one month check up today and is doing great! 9.1 pounds, 21.5 inches which places her in the 50-75th percentile. Oh, and her head circumference? Yeah, sorry about that too, Lily....John and I have big heads so we were destined to have a big headed baby.....75th percentile. : )

Aunt Winnie (my super sis, Wendy) is on a plane right now getting ready to land here in Atlanta to meet the little one! Can't wait to see her and for Lily to get to know and love her!

Super Weekend

Cabin fever was the theme of this past weekend. I desperately needed to get out of the house and see other adults. Luckily, my friend Amy came to visit on Friday and then Heather came over on Sunday before we headed out to our ALTA tennis match. Sunday was a gorgeous day and nice and warm in the sun, so Lily and I went to see my mixed team. Since Sunday is John's favorite "holiday," (Super Bowl Sunday) my mom bought Lily a little football outfit to watch the game in with John. (The bow was added to make sure people knew she is in fact a girl.)

I woke up in the middle of the night with yet another fever but the doctor doesn't seem to be too concerned since I just finished a round of antibiotics on Saturday. Quite miserable this morning, but the fever broke and I feel like I'm on the mend....again. Each week the symptoms worsen so I'm not looking forward to next weekend. Please keep your fingers crossed that I can get this breastfeeding thing figured out and avoid a serious infection.

Lily, you're not supposed to be drunk BEFORE the super bowl party.

Pretty in pink

She seems to love her swing. Thank you, Amy and Ella!

How cute is she?!?!?!

Badge of Honor

Week two has been just as wonderful if not better than week one! I have earned the 3 P Badge of Honor this week! Peed on, pooped on AND puked on. All three taken care of so soon....I'm very grateful. We're starting to establish some sort of a routine but nothing set in stone. Feedings are going well, I think, and we seem to be getting plenty of sleep. I was actually able to get a shower in today and start a laundry by 10:30am this morning! Successful day, if you ask me! Weather is warming up today (60s) so maybe I'll introduce Lily to her stroller and go for a walk. This sounds awfully ambitious to me....I'll let you know how it turns out.

Mama and Lily

Kisses and hugs sent via monkey from Texas

Snow babies are SOOO cute!

Snuggle time with daddy

Hat and sweater from Lily's excellent, wonderful, oh...and Great Aunt Jerry. Tons of compliments on the handwork. Thank you!

Meeting Uncle Robby for the first time

First Week at Home

I always swore I wouldn't be one of "those parents" who take a picture for every little thing her newborn does. I'm eating my words and I don't care. She's just too precious not to record each special moment! This first week has gone well. We actually slept VERY well last night.....two four hour spurts! However, I managed to wake up with a fever that still hasn't broken, so I pray I don't get her sick.

First bath

Our little ET
Papa, Lily and Bear

Bear taking in a sniff

Nana and her two latest addictions....Lily & her laptop

p.s.

A quick congratulations to Gabrielle who guessed the correct birthday, and to Aunt Wendy for being the closest to guessing Lily's weight!

Home sweet home

They let us take this perfect, little baby home! We forgot to ask for the instruction manual so we're just kind of winging it right now. It baffles me that a routine will eventually be set but it seems so far out of reach right now. Lily is The Most Perfect Baby (sorry to all the other parents out there, but it's true) and continues to be so despite pulling an all-nighter last night. Sure felt like the old days of working the night shift. However, I'm extremely thankful for my mom who took over at 5:30am and let me sleep until around 8:30am. Plus I got a shower today which makes me feel like a new person each time. Lily has her first doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I'll update her stats then, but I'm a tad bit nervous about getting out in the freezing cold weather with her. Think warms thoughts for us!

Here are some pictures of Lily's first friends and going home....ENJOY!

Who just gave birth? Papa John wishing to be more comfortable to watch the football games but he seems to be missing something.....

Now he's complete.

Lily Grace Thompson Arrives!

I think I can say that labor technically started late Wednesday/early Thursday. I managed to drag myself into work on Thursday for a few hours with contractions coming every 20 minutes or so. I honestly thought I might be back the next morning....like these contractions would go away or something. Not so much. We (and by "we" I mean Lily and I) stayed awake all Thursday night counting the timing of the contractions. Once they got to be about every 5 minutes, I contacted the doctor who said to go on in to the hospital. Here are the main events:
1. Given option to go home to progress or stay and walk around
2. After walking around, go home or stay and get pain meds to sleep/relax and reassess
3. Continued to progress slowly but surely
4. Received epidural at 6pm
5. Water broken around 6:30pm
6. Developed a fever
7. Lily wasn't really tolerating the contractions that well
8. Instilled amnioinfusion to help Lily be a little more cushioned
9. Got another 1/2 dose for my epidural because I was a moron and forgot to use my button for the medicine
10. Could no longer feel my legs or anything else for that matter
11. Medical team was concerned that I was so numb that I wouldn't be able to push Lily out effectively since she was starting to show some signs of distress
12. Pushed her out in only 23 minutes!!!
13. Lily Grace was born on 1/10/09 at 12:44am!

She came out floppy, pale and with a fever, but she has perked right up and doesn't even have the "newborn" cry. It's a real baby cry already. It has been the most incredible experience ever and we thank everyone for their good thoughts and well wishes. Will obviously upload more pictures once we get home, but here are a few to start. (I think she's the MOST beautiful thing in the world!)

Our little pale beauty

First bath. This is the little butt that kept sticking out of my belly!

The new, happy family!

No progress...

I went for my weekly doctor's visit today and found out nothing. Lily will come out when she's ready, I suppose, but I'm not a fan of waiting. No dilation, no rupturing of any membranes and not really any dropping to speak of. Due to an "issue" that occurred this morning, I did get to have an ultrasound to check on the fluid status surrounding Lily. All is well and I got to watch her practice breathing, sucking and what looked like gulping! If she hasn't arrived yet, we'll get to see her again next Tuesday to get an estimated weight. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to try the eggplant parmesan trick sometime this week. Cross your fingers that it really works!

New Year's Day was a blast! We had our dear friends Farrah, Cory, Bird, Erin and Brett over to watch football. All day. Two tv's going. All day. Geesh! Ended the day with a low country boil, thanks to Bird, and a nice fire out back.

Bird, Cory, Johnny, Brett

Old friends for the new year!

Me, Erin, Farrah
Profile of baby Lily

She has the Smith nose, bless her little heart.

39 week belly shot