Christmas 2008 Thomas' first!

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Thomas! He could have been less clueless of course since he was only 3.5 months old, but he was so sweet. We stayed home since it was both our first Christmas with Thomas and the first in our house. Dave, Brian, and Melis stayed at our house during the holidays which was really nice. We did our usual rounds at my family's Christmases too. We are truly blessed!!



The Loot:



Look at this cool thingy on my arm not to mention my awesome shades and sweet ride!!



The Reindeer butt as we called it:



Tacky Christmas party at our place:



Christmas will wear a fella out!!

Slacker Doesn't Even Begin to Cover It

Admittedly I have not been very good at keeping up with this blog. So in the next couple of days my goal is to update in a brief yet somewhat fulfilling manor what we have been up to for the last year. I then have a mission to KEEP it updated!! We'll see how it goes!! I'm sure few people are even still following, but those who have stuck with me will be justly rewarded with pictures of the most adorable and sweet child in the WHOLE WORLD!!

Thomas' Baptism

On November 23rd, 2008, Thomas was baptized at Grace Episcopal Church. Most of our family and a few of our close friends were there. One of my best friends from high school Allison Hanson excepted the honor of being Thomas' God Mother and Chris's brother Brian did the same as God Father. Afterward, we had a nice reception to thank everyone for attending and excepting the charge to help us raise him in a christian environment.

Getting ready:


God Parents:


Us and our big man:


The Service:






The cake at the reception:

Halloween!!

Halloween!! I'm not really all that into Halloween, but I am into free candy!! Thomas really only went to my parents house where my grandparents and brothers were all meeting. Can't beat one stop shopping!! He looked so cute dressed up in his little dinosaur outfit! We did also go to Chris's work party, so Thomas did wear his outfit twice!!

Spikes out with Mommy and Daddy helping him ROAR!!



I loved his little feet...and can we say that Lucy is the best dog EVER. She patiently sat while I took pictures; Thomas did not.



Will(Woody) and Jackson(pumpkin baby) did great, Thomas (spunkin monster) not so much!

Pumpkin Patch

Thomas' first Holiday was Halloween. So in the spirit of fall, we went to the pumpkin patch along with Chris's Dad, my brother, his wife and their two boys. Thomas could have cared less that he was there since he was only about a month old, but we had a good time and got some great pictures!




In some countries this probably qualifies as child abuse...

Adventures with the Billiblanket

Due to Thomas's jaundice he had to stay wrapped in the billi blanket all day and all night. We were only allowed to take him out for 30 minutes every 3 hours to feed him. It was awful!! He was tethered to the wall since he had to stay plugged in. The plastic made him sweat awful keeping him damp all the time. AND his umbilical cord came off after not even a week due to the edge of the blanket rubbing it! We ended up getting coordinated enough to feed and change him without taking him out of it which reduced his chances of having to be put back in the hospital. He stayed wrapped up in it for nearly a week!


Chris and Thomas hanging out with the blanket
Mommy and Thomas in the floor next to the bed because the plug wouldn't reach any further!
We called him the bionic baby since the blanket gave off a blueish glow. Not to mention the magical sleeping power it seemed to have over Chris and I since all the pictures are of us holding him asleep!

Going Home

Getting ready to take little man home! I loved his going home outfit, which evidently is a southern thing. None of my northern friends knew what the point of a going home outfit was. You just have to put a cute keepsake outfit on! ( yes I do realize its crazy cause he is just going to the house) My Grandmother crocheted the blanket!
Though we got to take him home after the typical time frame, he was already very jaundice. We had to wait forever to get discharged, because they were trying to make sure a billiblanket could be delivered to the house that afternoon. Hours past before we got to actually leave!!

First Family Photo

Just a few minutes after Thomas as born.

Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

Saturday August 30th, I go into work at the Rec Center in Spring Hill at about 7:30am. I take my usual Saturday morning yoga class as my lunch break at about 9:45. I spend the rest of the day working and head to Sara and Sean's for a cookout afterward. Around 9:00pm things are winding down and my back is hurting and I'm not feeling all that hot, but I chalk it up to being 38 weeks pregnant, having worked all day, and eaten too much. I put the seat back and tried to sleep on the way home, still thinking it's just been a long day. As always, I go to bed trying to get comfortable, and, as always, I can't. At 3 am I wake up and I am VERY uncomfortable. (I'm still thinking it's just how much I ate at Sara's and that I'm so big). Around 6am I'm up walking the floor because I just can't lay in the bed anymore. Chris is up by this point too. We walked around the block a few times while timing my now obvious contractions. They become about 5 mins apart so I take a shower and we head to the hospital. By this time they are about 2 mins apart and I'm uncomfortable, but it's not too bad. They are all back contractions so I just feel like I've been on my feet all day when they hit.

Me at Sara and Sean's that night:



We get to the hospital just before noon(after stopping by Sonic cause I knew they wouldn't let me eat once I was admitted) and they send me to the ob floor but DO NOT ADMIT me. I was only dilated to 3 and they didn't admit patients until they were at least 4. The doctor wanted to send me home but my contractions were already 1.5 mins apart. I'm thinking how will i know when I'm dilated to 4 at home? But my sweet labor and delivery nurse assured me SHE was not going to send me home. I was already in MY birthing suite and she would just keep checking me until I was dilated enough to be admitted, and I was VERY thankful!!

Writing thank you notes between Contractions:



My thoughtful husband taking pictures during contractions:


I progressed very slowly, only about a centimeter every 2 hours or so. So we will fast forward through the 14 hours that passed as I SLOWLY dialated fully. .... at about 5 centimeters I got an epidural so I could try to nap (i hadn't slept for almost a day and a half at that point... At about 2:15am on Sept 1st the nurse checked me and said I was only 8 centimeters, given my track record we were expecting a baby around 4am ish. However, at about 2:30 I told Chris I really felt like I needed to push. He preceded to tell me that she had just checked me and I had 2 more centimeters to go. I agreed for about 1 contraction and then I told him to go get the nurse because I couldn't stop my body from pushing any more. She came in, checked me, and said "DO NOT PUSH! I will be RIGHT back", and went running out of the room. About 15 seconds later she came running back into the room with 3 other people. She told me I could push until I felt relief and believe you me I did!! When the doctor finally showed up I had already began pushing for real. She didn't even have time to put the plastic coat on before Thomas was born!
His heart rate had dropped and had been down for about 5 mins so they had to use the forceps to get him out. I like to refer to them as people pliers!! But at 2:42am on September first there he was Thomas Christopher Meinhart 7lbs 8oz!! That's right from 8 centimeters to him on the table in about 15 mins!!
He was in a little bit of distress at first so they didn't put him on my chest. They took him over to the warmers and rubbed him all over. It was amazing to watch him turn from purply blue to pink as they rubbed. After a couple minutes they brought him over and he was SO PRECIOUS! He looked just like Chris! Our baby boy was finally here and was doing fine.

Thomas Christopher Meinhart:



First Picture with Mommy:

First picture with Daddy:

The end of my pregnancy went just as wonderfully as the beginning. I had little to no swelling or sickness. I was able to keep working and remain active. I worked out almost daily and had actually been to a yoga class earlier on the day I went into labor. I LOVED being pregnant!! I loved the way I looked, the way I felt, the life that was about to come into existance, ALL OF IT. Chris was wonderful through out the pregnancy. He was in Little Rock through most of it, but he came home almost every single weekend. Since we had just moved into the house, he was having to do a lot of the odd jobs himself since I couldn't do any painting or heavy lifting. I am independent and Chris is too so this may have caused a few rifts on occation, but we got it all done!
Here are a few pics of me and Chris towards the end...



Testing out baby equipment on poor Lucy



About 2 weeks before Thomas came


Belly pic at 37 weeks (1 week before Thomas's arrival)



Daddy giving him a kiss!! So sweet



Not may pics of Chris so this is a nice one taken about 2 weeks before Thomas was born. I would also like to mention that Chris LOST 10 pounds while I was pregnant...so much for the sympathy weight. I was on my own!

Keena's Family Shower

This was the first shower that the name was revealed, and that was only a couple of days before hand. (Chris wanted to keep the name secret till he was born, but caved in the end) So we got a personalized cake!! Both sides of my family came together in a joint effort. It was held at my parents house and it was so wonderful to get to see those family members that I don't get to see very often.
I got a lot of amazing gifts, but the one that meant the most was the hand crocheted blanket that my Grandmother made. I had hounded her to please make me one, but she had insisted that she did not remember how. Even gone so far as to tell me she had tried, but couldn't get it to do right. My Grandfather passed away the morning of the shower my friends had for me, so the blanket meant even more. To know that she and Granddaddy had sat and talked during his final days as she crocheted it brought me to tears in front of a lot of people. For those of you that know me well, you know this is a VERY rare for me.


The spread


The blanket Grandmama made! (notice it is white so I can use it with the next baby!)

My Bestiest Throw a Shower!!

My best friends from High School threw me a shower in Lewisburg. As always, Alli, Meli, and Sara went above and beyond when it comes to being great friends. There was a ton of food! All of the guys came and socialized in the backyard while the hens stayed in the hen house for the shower. The best part of this shower was the suprise of Meg being there!!!
For those of you who don't know, Meg was one of my best friends when Chris and I were stationed in Columbus. She moved to Breckinridge, CO shortly after Chris and I left, so for her to be there meant A LOT!
After the shower we had a cookout, and as always Sean grilled some great food!!
The girls responsible for the shower! (Meli, Meg, Alli, and Sara)

Merritt Shower at the Lake

The next shower was at Smith Mountain Lake with the Merritts. A good time was had by all and it was great getting to catch up with all of Chris's aunts, uncles, and cousins on his mom's side. As showers go, we got lots of good stuff! It was so nice of them to throw us the little get together. Everyone came over to our cabin for the shower, then we went to I believe Susan and Ren's cabin for a good board game. (I think it was Trivial Pursuit, but it's been so long now I forget!)


Chris Lucy and I just before or after opening gifts.

Long Over Due

Since it has been a very very long time since my last post. I am going to try to update as much as possible this next week. For those of you that have been checking in I am sorry it has been over 6 months since I updated it. It just seems to be easier to post pics on myspace and be done with it. Anyway, I will try to recapture each moment since we left the Vineyard!! :)