Our first family photoshoot...

And for those of you who have experienced Ashton's fits,
you'll appreciate this shot...(kind of sad actually)

All Smiles and Laughs

Yep, it has happened. We had our very first total blow-out. We are a little surprised, however, that it hasn't happened until now. You know, it's pretty hard to remove soiled clothing without getting the babe completely covered and need another bath...of course this incident may only happen once a bath is complete.
As you can see, Ashton is pretty impressed with himself; and parents forgive many things easily once one of these is flashed...

Great Grandparents sure are GREAT!

We had to catch a picture of Great Grandma Jones and her little buddy while at lunch with his other grandma, aunts, mom and cousins! Too cute!

At only 6 days old Ashton got the "great" opportunity to have Great Grandma Alexander hold him on our first outing on Christmas Eve.

Ashton has had some special visitors this last month. Great Grandma Karen came to play while mom and dad went to lunch.

Great Grandpa Larry came to steal another squeeze from Ashton before leaving town and got to feed him his bottle. How many of you were ever fed a bottle by your great grandpa?

Lucky for Great Grandpa and Grandma Lodder, they got to see Ashton twice in the last 2 weeks. Ashton loves Great Grandma to bite his toes!

One Year Older and Wiser Too...

Well, the "Older" part is definitely true, but I don't know about the wiser! Having a baby instantly ages you and in most cases can make you wiser. I can't believe how much older I do feel. The last 7 years of being married and kid-free I didn't ever feel like I'd aged a day until all of the sudden this last December came and my life as I knew it had passed me by. On the 28th I was asked, "So, do you feel any older?", and I'm sure you could guess my answer. People who know me live the month of January as Alicia's "Birthday Month" and much to my surprise I had to be reminded what month it was this year!!!

I did not turn 5 years old this year, that's just the only 5 candles that they were able to locate in the cupboard!

One Month Already?

Caution: Continue reading at your own discretion. This blog contains material updated by sleep-deprived parents...

Yes, it's true. One whole month has passed by and we still haven't gotten the rest that we've been "dreaming" of. We understand that this may not ever happen for us, but we haven't given up hope.
Today marks one month since our little angel arrived. He has had a bit of a go with his first weeks of life with reflux, breast milk intolerance and everyone's favorite...constipation. We know that we are complete rookies at this newborn stuff, but we are getting along- I wouldn't say fabulously, but we're getting along.
Here is Ashton on this one-month landmark. Mom decided to introduce him to his playmat and found out that he LOVES it! He'd take it over his automatic swing any day!
Just a note: Since birth Ashton has been very alert (when awake) and intently observes anything he can focus on...

Now, this snap shot takes talent, mid-sneeze can not be posed...

Over the course of the last month we have learned some of Ashton's likes and dislikes. Struggle as he may there are just some that are inescapable...however, he is now getting better about the whole naked/bath thing and does like getting his hair washed.

Ashton is Born!

Santa Claus came early to our house this year and it seems like he has recruited some new help. Instead of having the usual Elves help with our presents, he hired a stork to oversee the production that was destined for our home. And to top it all off, there is even a little stocking stuffer for Bryan from Uncle Sam!

Monday, December 19, 2005 started just like any other normal winter day around our house. Bryan woke up around 6 am to clear the driveway of the 2 inches of snow that accumulated throughout the night. With the driveway free of snow, we were ready to take on the "hectic" week before Christmas.

We rushed out the door to make it to our 8:30 am appointment at the antenatal office at Cottonwood Hospital for another non-stress test. This test determines how much amniotic fluid is present around the baby as well as monitors the baby's heart rate and any uterine contractions. Our fluid level was measured at a 5.5 when typically they would want to see a 10. The nurse contacted Dr. Ronald Larkin to find out what he wanted us to do given our current situation. He decided he'd like to measure the fluids for himself. Around 9:30am we made our way across the hospital to find ourselves in his office doing the same test. He obtained the same results and gave us 2 options. Option #1 was to have Alicia go on bed rest for a week and increase her fluid level. This is what she did 2 weeks before and the result was an incresed fluid level. Option #2 was to induce labor on on Wednesday (Dec 21st). Alicia and I looked at each other and decided we wanted to just get things rolling. With a rush of adrenaline, we said that we would like to be induced. He left the room to go make a phone call to set things up with Labor and Delivery. When he came back into the room he said, "I am glad you are both sitting down for this. In fact, I may need to go get some smelling salts. How would you feel if we induce right now?"

We looked at each other and that rush of adrenaline quickly turned to hyperventalation! Alicia asked if we could drive home so she could take a shower and pick up our bags that we had previously packed. He said, "No!" He wanted to get things started right away with the anticipation that it would take at least 12 hours.

So, around 10:15am we made it back across the hospital to Labor and Delivery in the Women's Center. By 10:30am, Alicia and I were in room 109 making "the phone calls."

With the IV, epidural, and petocin dripping - we were out of the starting gates. Initially, it was slow going at first. At 10:30am when Alicia started to be induced, she was dialated to a 1 and at 2:30pm she was still only dialated to a 3.

Throughout the labor, the anticipation was growing as we watched the monitors to see the frequency and intensity of Alicia's contractions. The wonderful effects of the epidural required me to actually have to look at a monitor to see the contractions as opposed to the alternative without the epidural. Thank goodness for modern medicine! Also, it was exciting to see Ashton's heart rate accelerate through the contractions. Heart rate acceleration is a sign of a healthy baby during contractions.

Around 3 pm, there was a nursing change and about an hour later the new nurse came into the room and checked on us. At that point, Alicia was dialated to a 10 and was ready to go. It didn't seem like she had to push for very long. I am sure she would agree with me when I say time flies when you are having fun. Dr. Larkin was called back into the room and exactly 5 o'clock (and 52 seconds), our little miracle took his first breaths in this world as his cry was heard throughout the room.

Special Delivery:

7 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long

Delivery Day:

Just a few happy people:

Going Home:

For those of you wondering how Chico is responding to the new addition, this pretty much sums it up:

Our hidden spy camera caught the entire delivery on tape!
Thank you very much Santa.

Happy Holidays!

We're Ready...We think!

This week we have tried to hurry and finish up Ashton's room and we're pretty much there, all except the leg kit to the night stand which is currently in-transit to Babinski's.

We just went to yet another doctor's appointment this last Friday and Alicia was put on a temporary bed rest due to low amniotic fluid. She was ordered to rest completely for 3 days and to drink 2 quarts of water each day (which she should have been doing otherwise).

We went back again on Monday for a repeat Non-Stress-Test and found out that her amniotic fluid is back up to a safer level and our Ashton is still doing fabulous. In fact, normally during a contraction a baby's heart rate will decrease, but not our little guy- his actually goes up!

So, because of that brief moment of worry--we thought we could have been induced this week and therefore felt the urge to get things all tied off in the baby preparation department. The last minute preps were obviously left to Bryan, but was very well supervised (of course) by Alicia. Who knows, the baby still might appear on his own when we least expect it and our mad rush wasn't totally unnecessary.

"My name is Chico, I live in Mexico..."

The title of this post will only make sense if you know the "Mexico" song. As far as the latest dog news - Chico recently turned five years old! Here he is in his Birthday Suit...

Chico is such a warm weather dog. Now that winter is setting in, it is that much more obvious. He just wants to sit next to the heat vent, lay under a blanket, or curl up in someones lap (again, while under a blanket). In fact, the other day I noticed he was wearing sunglasses while browsing the internet for cruises in the Mexican Riviera. Well, not really - but if he could surf the web that is what he would be checking out.
We are trying to make him a part of preparing for Ashton to arrive. In fact, our strollers and car seat that we have are named after him. They are Chicco brand!

Getting Ready for Baby!

We've had a lot of fun preparing for the baby...there is so much to do with what seems like plenty of time! Setting up Ashton's room has been a blast--as well as all those baby shower's! Some have been more "entertaining" than others...