Happy Halloween

Here's Devin all decked out for his first Halloween. I'm sure he'll look back at these pictures some day and wonder why we put him in a funny sleeper outfit. But it was too cute to pass up (thanks Shannon for the only Halloween costume that fit). The pumpkins are from Cathy's organic farm. Maybe next year we'll have time to carve our pumpkins.

2 Weeks Old

Devin is 2 weeks old today. We had a pediatrician appointment this morning and our boy weighed in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces. He has gained back what he lost since birth and then some. He also grew 1/2 an inch. I never thought him gaining weight would make me feel like such a proud parent. He is also holding his head up pretty well now and loves to look at you for extended periods of time. He hasn't lost any of his hair yet, so he's pretty much the same in that regard. We all knew he would change quickly, and now I believe it. Rich is finally feeling better and I'm pretty much over my cold too. So we are all happy campers in our house now. We look forward to seeing Grandpa Valdez and several other friends this weekend. I can't believe it is Firday already!

12 Days Old

Hard to believe Devin is almost two weeks old already. Here are some pictures of Devin with his daddy. And my brother and sister-in-law were here with James yesterday so we couldn't resist a picture of the cousins in their blue onesies. James looks so big compared to Devin. Hopefully Devin can put on some weight to have a fighting chance with his cousin in the future.

We are doing well and getting adjusted to our new world as parents. Devin is eating like a champ and we like to think that we are getting some sort of sleeping pattern going. Rich has had the flu for the past few days, so we've been living at opposite ends of the house to make sure Devin stays healthy. At least Rich got sick after I started feeling better. And soon, we'll all be healthy together. :-)

9 Days Old

Devin loves to snuggle.
Rich was playing guitar for his son. He loved it.
Devin loves to lounge around.

Hard to believe Devin is already 9 days old, and tomorrow is my actual due date. We are all doing well. Devin is a great sleeper although he doesn't really like to get up in the night for diaper changes and feedings. He'd rather sleep through it all. During the day, we make every effort to get out of the house for a walk or errand. The weather has been fantastic so it has been nice. Most of the time, Devin sleeps the day away. But today he put up a fussy afternoon. Crossing my fingers that is a one-time occurence. :-) My cold is also finally starting to go away after 2 weeks. I am very much looking forward to feeling 100% healthy again soon. Rich has been home this weekend, so it has been great being together as a family. And my Mom has been here which has been a huge help too.

5 Days Old

Here's a few more pictures of our angel. Devin is a sweetheart and has such sweet expressions when he's sleeping. We are all doing great. Devin is eating well and we are getting a fair amount of sleep believe it or not. He slept from midnight to 6:30 a.m. this morning. So, I'm thrilled to say the least.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday and our boy is right on schedule. He weighed in at 6 lbs, 14 ounces. He should be back up to his birth weight at our follow up appt next Friday.

Thanks everyone for the congratulations, flowers, food, and excitement for us. Being new parents is such an incredible experience. We are loving every minute of it.

More Pictures of Baby Devin

We are home from the hospital now and everyone is doing great. Baby Devin is such a sweetheart. And Piper is already a great big sister. We put Devin (in his carseat) on the floor and let Piper check him out when we got home. She really wasn't too interested, but became more aware of him later in the day. It feels great to be home and getting into a new routine. You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger. Enjoy...I'm sure more will follow. We are all very picture happy around here. :-)

Our Baby Boy Has Arrived

With much excitement, we introduce you to Devin Joseph Valdez. He was born 10 days early on October 13, 2006 at 12:41 p.m. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches. He is such a joy. I still can't believe he is ours. I thought right away that he looked like his daddy.

We had a quick delivery and everything went great. I had contractions all night Thursday night, but they weren't bad at all. Then early into the morning, I realized that making it to my last day at work wasn't going to happen. My master plan of finishing up at work, getting over my cold, and resting up before the baby's arrival all got accelerated to say the least. After a sleepless night on Thursday night, we went to the hospital at 9 a.m. Quickly the nurses were all racing around as soon as they realized I was at 9 cm and not far off from delivering. I had no idea I progressed so well through the night at home. The staff took great care of us and we welcomed our son a couple hours later. I was a very lucky first-timer. Next time, they said I need to come to the hospital sooner. :-)

Here's some pictures of baby Devin, including one with his cousin James (the picture is hilarious because I don't think James knew what to think of Devin). Looking forward to you all meeting Devin soon.

It's A Boy!!!!!!!!

7 Pounds 5 Ounces and 21" long at 12:41 PM

Congratulations Jen and Rich! Cathy

A Great View

I never thought I could be so excited about having new bark in the yard, but it looks so nice. Here's the finished product, although the picture hardly does it justice.

I have been sick all week and finally decided to make tomorrow my last day of work. I need to wrap up a few work projects today and tomorrow. And then my plan is to focus on getting some rest before this baby arrives. Part of me wonders if I'm struggling with allergies that turned into a sinus infection. I've been super healthy my whole pregnancy so feeling yucky the past four days has been rough. Looking forward to feeling better soon!

Baby Room

Here's some more pics of the baby's room now that the painting is done. You'll see that the far wall has the "OM" symbol, which is highly cherished by many people. In simple terms, it conveys the meaning of "achieving spiritual perfection." There is one OM that you see when you walk into the room and another that is above the door as you leave. If you look on the internet, you'll see that there is so much special meaning in the OM symbol that we thought it was perfect to surround our child with from the beginning.

38 Weeks

Here I am at 38 weeks and one day. I have been feeling great until I got a head cold two days ago. But I'm hanging in there...and some sleep will help me feel better soon. Rich and I had a doctor appt. this morning and it sounds like this baby could come anytime. I'm dilated 2 cm so it could be tomorrow or two weeks from now. This is such a waiting game. Although, we are both very excited to meet our little one very soon.

Nesting Project Is Complete!

I'm so thrilled that the big project I've been nesting over is officially complete. Rich was awesome tackling 11 yards of bark and 600 pounds of boulders to finish our yard project that has been in process for over six months. Rich hired two local guys, Gerardo and Marcos, to help with the project on Saturday. It was great because we got to practice our Spanish and learn more about life in their home country. They were a big help to us and hopefully us hiring them for the day was a big help to them. Rich and the guys put down weed barrier and fresh bark all over the yard. We also got some new miniature lemon and lime trees in the ground. The house looks awesome! We are all pretty tired, including Piper who was queen supervisor for the weekend. haha.

A few more weeks . . .

Yesterday was pretty exciting all around. Max, our favorite painter, worked his magic on the baby's room. I'll have to take a few pics for the blog. Rich and I love how it turned out.

We also had a dr. appt. and my blood pressure was up so they sent me to the hospital for monitoring and some blood work to rule out preeclampsia. Everything turned out great, so now we are just taking it easy waiting for the day when I go to Labor and Delivery at the hospital for the real deal. One good thing about going yesterday was that I got the rest of my preregistration at the hospital done. And I have a better idea of what to expect. The nurses were great which made the experience a good one. I also got in some good a.m. television time...can't remember the last time I got to watch "The Price Is Right."

Baby's Room

Here's a couple pics of our baby furniture thanks to Fred and Vickie, Rich's parents (Thank You!). The painter will be here on Tuesday, but I was so thrilled to have the room together that I thought I'd post a few pictures now. The walls will be painted a buttery gold color...kind of tough to describe. I'll post more pictures of the finished product later this week.