When I'm bored, I dress up my baby...

I think it's clear from these pictures that Nolan loves to be put in outfits, propped up on pillows on our bed, and have a camera flashing in his face. Doesn't everyone? Don't worry, I don't do this to him every day or anything (though I kind of think I should), I just saw that this little uniform wasn't going to fit for too much longer, and since Jeremy and Julianne gave us a little baseball glove and ball when they came to visit, I thought it was necessary to make Nolan strike a pose. For the record though, I did not raise his arm in that first picture, he has decided on his own to be a right-handed pitcher. Jesse is not upset about this.

We've gotten a lot of really cute, super tiny outfits as gifts, so be looking for more photos of me driving my baby nuts with little photo shoots...he's taking a nap right now, but he has no idea what's coming to him when he wakes up!

~Laura

Deacon's Kid

This is the video I was trying to post last night. Thankfully it worked this time. Laura and I were sure that our child would never fit into an outfit this small, but we were wrong. We figured we'd better put him in it soon after birth though.

I took Mary and Janet to the airport today, so its just the three of us. However, Justin and Holly brought us dinner tonight, so Laura and I have continued our streak of not cooking dinner since Nolan was born. We're going to try to make it back to New Jersey before cooking another dinner. That would be impressive.

Speaking of dinner, I fed Nolan with a bottle tonight. It was the first time he ate out of a bottle and he gulped it right down, maybe a little too fast - there were some repercussions. Apparently if you don't feed a baby out of a bottle within the first 2 weeks there is a chance that he'll refuse to eat out of one ever. That would not be good as it would completely tie Laura down for the next few months. It was fun to feed him too.

Alright, time to go watch "the Office," Its a good one.

Picture that were supposed to be attached last night!

Ok, here are the pics from Nolan's first visit with his "ants." One by blood, one honorary.

A Quick Substitute

I was trying to upload a video of Nolan doing something, but the internet connection is too slow and its too late to keep trying. I'll try to get it up tomorrow or sometime soon. In the meantime, these pictures make more sense anyway. Mary and Janet have been here for the past few days and they have really been a huge help. They have made dinner, done the laundry, cleaned the floors, gone shopping - pretty much everything that needed to be done, they did. And all with smiles on their faces. They even got to take Nolan for his first stroller ride in the outside world. Unfortunately they have to leave tomorrow, so we will be one step closer to doing this baby thing alone. (Again not really because we have such good friends down here). Anyway, Laura and I really appreciated their help, and I know Nolan enjoyed having his first 2 "ants" visit him. It won't be long until he sees them again!

Ok, I don't know if I'm too tired to type straight or what, but I can't get the pictures to upload either. I promise I will post them asap. Sorry!

It is impossible to get work done.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Nolan is absolutely hilarious. The problem with that is personified by this picture. We're having a great time together, which is wonderful, but its about 10:30 am on a Wednesday when this particular picture was taken. I really should be at school at 10:30 am on Wednesday! However, accomplishing less this week was totally worth it. Its just too bad that I will have to go back to some sort of reality pretty soon. On the other hand it will be nice to have Laura and Nolan hanging out at home when I get finished with school stuff for the day.

Turning to another subject, our parents left to go home this morning. They were a huge help and its too bad they had to leave so soon. I guess we have to learn how to juggle everything sooner or later though. However, Laura and I don't have to figure out how to do everything by ourselves just yet, because Mary and Janet are coming on Monday. We're looking forward to putting them to work! Get ready ladies, we'll have a running list for you. hahaha - I'm not kidding.

There's a First Time for Everything

This is a happy bunch of grandparents, all first-timers and loving every second of it. After I talked to them on Friday night they jumped in the car and made their way down to W-S. In record time I might add.

This picture was taken in the hospital on Saturday afternoon, just before 5:30 pm, according to the clock in the background. They really like Nolan and I think he likes them too. I know they won't be able to wait to see us in May.

They have been helping Laura and I big time over the past few days and thankfully they'll be here until the end of the week. Then we're on our own... Not really, we have alot of good friends who can't wait to help out.

Rollin' with Nolan

(Imagine the voice of an NBA announcer) AT 1 FOOT NINE INCHES, 7 LBS. 10 OZ. A SHOOTING GUARD FROM WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA: NOLAAAAAAANNNNNN JOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!

Whatever. We're just so excited that he's finally here. Laura had a pretty good delivery, SHE SAID that it couldn't have been easier. (I emphasize the fact that she said it, because every time I tell someone that they look at me with disgust and say "that's easy for you to say.") Anyway, Nolan and Laura are doing great, they came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Nolan really likes to be held, so much so that he generally lasts about 10 minutes alone before he starts screaming. He looks really funny to me when he screams, but he is pretty loud, so we try to keep him quiet. We had a succes this evening though: he slept for almost 2 hours by himself in his crib. That is the kind of progress we're looking for. Be on the lookout for more pictures and posts in the very near future!

Nolan's Baby Suite

Here's a short video for you to see where the baby will stay. It is a very spacious room with a private balcony attached. He'll love it.

37 Weeks

Picture of Laura enjoying the first few days of maternity leave and using her stomach as a fruit platter...

Quick baby update:

Wednesday (3/12) we had another doctor's appointment. We met another doctor who could possibly be the one to deliver the baby, and she was great! (The practice I go to has 4 different doctors who deliver babies and they have you meet them all so that you'll know them if they are working at the time.) Each of the doctors has been awesome and I'd be happy to see any of them on the big day! The doctor said the baby had dropped and that everything was looking good! Since I'm past the 37 week mark it's perfectly safe for me to go into labor at anytime. His heartbeat was very strong and I even managed to drop two pounds somehow!

36 Weeks

So, we had another doctor's appointment yesterday (our first weekly) and everything was great! Laura gained another 3 pounds (yes, in one week) and the baby was moving all around when the nurse was trying to find his heart beat. We think he was trying to outsmart her, that little punk.

Here's a random picture of Jesse throwing a football at youth group on Sunday. We help out with the sophomore/junior guys (Jesse) and the junior/senior girls (Laura) and the guys play a lot of football before our small groups get started. I thought it would be nice to show Jesse's pretty face since Laura's gut has been getting all the attention lately. : )

We love you, whoever is reading this!

~Laura and Jesse