Shot of The Day-Memorial Day Dinner

We had a great Memorial Day dinner out at Blue Ridge Grill in Brambleton. We had lovely seats on the patio and Palmer slept the whole time. And Connor watched a show on his iPod the whole time. Daddy and I had some adult conversation. Wow.

Shot Of The Day-Milky Way

This is what every breastfeeding mother loves to see! This morning, at 11:30am after a night of snacking, we actually dug in for a nice 30 minute breakfast. My cups runneth over--literally.

Shot Of The Day-Lips

The sweetest thing. And check out that creased little breastfeeding chin!

Shot Of The Day-First Red Sox Game

Okay. So its on TV--not actually going TO a game. But nevertheless, this is Palmer's first viewing of a Red Sox game with Daddy and the kiss-a-holic Connor.

Hello World!

Coming Home

Here we are during our last few minutes at the Birthing Inn. What a great job they did of taking care of all of us.


And here's Palmer coming into the house with Daddy and big brother for the very first time.

Connor made Palmer a Welcome Home banner. How cute!

Here's hoping we have a fantastic Baby-moon over the next few weeks!

Shot Of The Day-Brotherly Love

Happy BIRTH day Palmer Ellis Tate

This is the way your BIRTH day went (according to your Mother!).

Nana and Aunt Dee arrived yesterday and came to help Daddy take care of Connor while you are born and we are in the hospital. You were scheduled to be born via caesarean section at 9:30am at the Loudoun Hospital Center Birthing Inn, but they called us at 7am and told us to come an hour later because they had an emergency. That was nice because it let us have a little bit of a slower morning and it let us take your brother to the bus stop together. Everyone at the bus stop knew that you would be coming today, so we got lots of well-wishes for your arrival. This is how we looked when we headed to the bus stop.

After we dropped Connor off we came home, got our stuff, and headed to the hospital where we waited in a room for the OR to get ready for us.

We got two great people to take care of us...Shanny (on the left) who gave us our anesthesia and Lisa (in pink), our OR nurse who was with us for the whole thing. She held me up when they put the needle in my back and she held my hand when I needed her. Shanny also took very good care of Mommy's neck during the surgery and made sure that I was comfortable so that I could see you when you came out. The OR is really COLD, so they kept me wrapped up in warm blankets, too.

As soon as I was numb and all set up, they let Daddy come into the OR. And then they got started right away. It seemed like in just minutes, you were out. They let Daddy take some pictures of the actual surgery. They were a bit worried that Daddy might get queezy or faint but he was not bothered at all. Here's the first one of you. Its a little bloody, but I love it because you make that motion all the time--two hands out in a kind of modified "hook em horns" position:

I am amazed every time I look at this picture. Amazed at you. Amazed at modern medicine and how EASY this seemed. Amazed at the length of your umbilical cord!! They showed you to me very quickly. Daddy cried. Alot. He was very happy and very emotional. His glasses got fogged up and at one point the doctor said "Oh, God, Bob. You'd better sit down!". Too sweet.

After that, they took you to the baby warmer to do your check up. You weighed 8 pounds, 10.6 ounces. You were 21 inches long. We have lots of pictures of this and your brother particularly likes looking at the one where they are taking your temperature in your butt. This shocks him and when we tell him they did the same thing to him when he came out he CANNOT believe it.

While they checked you out, the doctor finished my surgery up and then she went to check on you. Here is a great picture of you, and the beautiful Dr. Thompson (who also delivered your brother the same way).

Then, I went to the recovery area while Daddy went with you to have your first bath.

I was in recovery for what seemed like a really long time. My blood pressure cuff wasn't working correctly and they couldn't "release" me to my room until they could get a final recovery blood pressure measurement. So, someone had to run around for awhile to find another cuff. One funny thing that happened is that Dr. Thompson came back to see me and said "I'm not here to check on you. I'm just here to report that Bob has finally stopped crying!" All the ladies in the hospital LOVED your Dad for being so emotional and excited to meet his son.

After that, they took me to our room where you were waiting peacefully with Daddy. And, at last, I really got to hold you. Here we are, back together again!

We rested for a little while, but after dinner, you got to meet your brother, Connor, who absolutely could not wait to see you. When he walked in the room, he barely even looked at me and just wanted to get right over to you in your bassinet. Here's how he looked right when he walked in the door. He was a man on a mission.

He couldn't wait to see you and to hold you. He's in love with you just like Mommy and Daddy are.

And here's our first picture as a family.

Welcome to the world, little man. We're so glad that you're here. We'll do our best and love you no matter what, no matter where. Thanks for making our family even better.

Peer Review

So, remember I mentioned that the last day of Star Student week, Connor's classmates would put together a book about him? It came home today and its hysterical. Here are the best three contributions:

I think Sara is asking him out on a date in that picture. Nice! I approve of Sara--she's sweet and tall, just like his mother.

Speaking of tall. That's all poor Mia could muster. Note that the word "friend" has been erased. Lovely blue flower, though.

And this one is as close as you can come to a campaign poster in the first grade. Note the patriotic star design and definitive statement.

The overall theme, however, was indicated by the repeated adjective "funny". I already knew that my boy was an attention hound, jokester, and overall clown. This just confirms it. And I think he's pretty cool, too.

Thanks. I Think.

"Mommy--you know, even if I was only 2 or 3 years old and I saw you I'd know you weren't really fat but just preg-nit."

New iPod Docking Station

Connor got $45 worth of iTunes gift cards for his birthday and he used some of it yesterday to buy some TV shows and rent 2 movies. He watched "Lego-Clutch Powers", I don't know, 85 times yesterday? After a busy afternoon of baseball and playing in the hood, I found him settled down here in the Love Sac at around 8pm. He'd been quiet, so I knew he was watching something. But what I loved was the creative docking station. Now that's a good kitty!

Pop!

We've taken no pictures of my belly at all. Until now. Last Thursday they estimated his weight at 8 lbs 7 oz. Seems like a rational estimate to me. Despite the fact that this is scary to see, I really feel pretty darn good. Lots of energy, though I do need to sit down and rest every few hours. And I managed a full Costco run yesterday with no help and the hindrance of Connor needing to be "in the cart" so that he could watch a movie he rented on his iPod. So, add 65 lbs to the cart that needed to be pushed and I think my endurance is pretty unquestionable. Its good to be sturdy.

T-5 Days

Baby's room is ready! Diaper bag is ready! Car seat is installed! Stroller is assembled!

Our surroundings are prepared--even if we're not.

And you have to at least give me credit for TRYING to make polka dots work in a boy baby's room. I know its a stretch...but they are boy colors!!

Halation

I have been using Metafilter and PopURLs lately to surf the web for weird and wonderful things. Meta gave me this today and I find it fascinating. Never heard of Halation before, but now I'm an expert. I love color so this is like candy.

Star Student

Connor is number 23 in his class out of 24 kids when you take them in alphabetical order. So, this late in the school year it is finally his week to be the class' "Star Student". He brought home the materials on Friday and literally could not rip his backpack off fast enough to get started on his poster. It includes fun facts about him and some vital statistics. He loved coloring it and finishing it up on Sunday night.

On Tuesday he got to share a favorite book and he chose "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything"

Yesterday, we got to send in a letter or poem about him to be read to the class and I chose the poem I wrote for him on his 6th birthday. He said that his teacher loved it and thought it was very special, but that Adam laughed at it. I asked him why Adam laughed and he said "Oh, Mom. That's just Adam. He's mean about everything and everyone hates him for it." YIKES.

Today he brings in his "Sharing Sack" of items that are special to him and not surprisingly he's chosing things from his "travel" shelf in his room. He's taking:

1. His Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow, NY where we went for Halloween two years ago

2. His chunk of Chicago sidewalk

3. His Boston Red Sox #1 Foam Finger from Fenway

4. His real alligator head from Florida

5. His carved turtle from Hawaii

Tomorrow, the class makes a book about him. Can't wait to see that.

Nesting

Before we had Connor, we had what we called the "Pre Peanut Project List". That thing lived forever and evolved week after week. Now, TaterTot 2 is almost here and we've got the same thing going on. A list is constantly revised and sits on the kitchen island and we heartily cross of items as they are completed. I used to go back and look at the list we had going for Connor and laugh about it. But our PC crashed and its gone. So I'm saving the new ones here. Its a glimpse into psychosis. This is last Sunday's list. And yes, #25 is a joke. In the midst of it all, we did manage to do it, though. So, we figured we might as well give ourselves credit for it.

I Think Mother's Day is Stupid

Same with Father's Day, and Valentine's Day, and Granparents Day. Manufactured holidays designed to make folks spend money to demonstrate their love of people they should show their love to every day.

But.....this was really nice to see on Friday when Connor got off the bus. Even if it was folded into a paper airplane! And only two words spelled incorrectly. Whoo hooo!

The Box Is Still Enough

Remember when they were little and we all joked at how much they loved the boxes more than the toys? It continues.

Tonight, Connor and Danny found a pile of empty boxes and played around with them for awhile, throwing balls into them, etc . Then, one of them put one on his head. And just like that, imagination struck like lightning, they asked for eye-holes to be cut and we had an instant ROBO BATTLE in the driveway. For an hour. At one point I heard Danny say...THIS IS SO COOL. As they bashed the dickens out of each other's heads--laughing all the while.




After awhile, it looked like so much fun, that Bob just had to join in. Boys will be boys.

And finally, the Mr. Universe pose for the Robo Warriors.

And don't you love Connor's stylin pants leg? That's duct tape holding the right leg up because he was riding his bike earlier and we've lost the chain guard. Very hip.

Star Complex

D: Connor! Take those toys off your plate.

C: But mom, aren't we going to have a dance show out here on the deck tonite?

D: Yes. After dinner you can give Daddy and me a show.

C: WELL.......right now, these guys are my audience and they have a back-stage pass to watch me eat.


I promise you that I did not make this up.

My Kind of Seed