Thanksgiving and more...

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity for our family. The weekend before Thanksgiving we decided to take a quick trip to Fredericksburg. Evan's first official vacation with Mom and Dad! We had a great time. We had perfect fall weather to enjoy walking around town. We stayed at a guest house, which was great because Evan had his own room for his crib.

Evan and Patrick hiking at Lady Bird Johnson Park

Enjoying some pastries in Fredericksburg

Our guest house

The Christmas Pyramid in Fredericksburg town square

Now, on to Thanksgiving. We we able to travel to west Texas and see both sides of my family. We had a great visit and Evan did remarkably well given the many hours in the car.

My mom's side of the family

My dad's side of the family

Evan looking at his first Thanksgiving card from grandma

Relaxing with uncle Chris and aunt Robyn

Wedding Fun!

This past weekend Evan attended his first wedding. Patrick's sister Helene was married to Jorge on Saturday. We all had a great time and it was fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up. Evan looked so cute in his "big boy" clothes. He was a big hit at the reception and got to meet a lot of extended family and some of daddy's friends from college. Congratulations aunt Helene and uncle Jorge!

The happy couple

Evan dancing with the bride

Our family (yes, momma has curls!). We almost forgot to take a picture until the night was almost over so Evan was already in his carseat.

Also, check out new video (right-hand column) of Evan trying cereal for the first time.

Evan's Halloween

Evan was asleep (or almost) by the time trick-or-treaters came around, but he dressed up on Wednesday for our church Mom's group Halloween party.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Evan's Travels

Little Evan has been quite the traveler lately. First we went to San Antonio in late September to visit Patrick's family and attend his sister's wedding shower. Then, this past week we traveled to see my family in west Texas. Evan was such a trooper! He handled the 5-6 hour car ride well and even made it to his great-grandmother's house near Lubbock. The highlight of the trip was Evan getting to meet his great-grandparents. It was quite a sight to see each of them hold him for the first time. I feel so blessed that they were able to meet him. My parents were nice enough to let us stay with them while Patrick traveled to the east coast for work. Evan had a great time with his grandparents! Here are a few pictures of all our travels. More pictures to come soon!

Evan meeting his newest cousin, Nathan (he's only six weeks younger than him)

Hanging out with grandpa Pieper

Meeting great-grandma Maeker for the first time

Meeting great-grandma Pieper for the first time

Four generations!

Dancing with grandma

Evan's Baptism

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Evan's baptism with family and friends. He did great during the baptism--only a little fussing despite being tired. All the excitement was a little much for him and he had a little bit of a hard time sleeping Sunday night. He (and mommy) both spent Monday recovering and now we feel better. Thanks to all our family and friends who joined in the celebration!

Look Who's Growing

Evan's new trick is being able to lift up his upper body. He has really good head control now. Here's a few new pictures of him testing out his skills.




Just hanging out with Dad on Labor Day weekend

11 weeks

Evan is growing and changing all the time. He'll be 11 weeks old this Wednesday. At his 2 month check up a few weeks ago he was up to 10 lb 3 oz. He's quite a big boy now. He's recently started cooing a lot more and smiling at us too. Check out the videos on the right-hand column to see him in action. He's becoming a little happier these days and crying less. Napping during the day is still a challenge but it's going better now that we have our wonderful new bouncy chair. Here are a few new pictures, including some in his "big boy" church outfit.

New Pictures

Little Evan will be 8 weeks old this Wed (12th) and seems to be growing well. At last check, he had gained a little over a pound from the last doctor visit. We return to the doctor next week for his 2 month checkup that includes the dreaded first round of immunizations. He's doing well but has a hard time sleeping during the day. We bounce, swing, rock for much of the day to try to get him to sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Any advice from you veteran parents out there? Here are some new pictures taken during the last few weeks. If you haven't gotten to meet Evan yet, let us know...we love visitors.

Evan's Birth Story

Well, it's been a hectic few weeks around the Webb house with the arrival of little Evan. He's turned our world upside down but he's just so darn cute you can't help but want to hug him. I'm still adjusting to motherhood and round the clock feedings but I'm beginning to feel a little more like myself again. Patrick has adjusted to fatherhood like a pro (we all knew he would) and is just about the happiest dad ever. He's been my hero these past few weeks--round the clock diaper duty, cooking, napping with Evan and dealing with an emotional wife.

Before too much time passed and the details got fuzzy I wanted to chronicle the story of Evan's birth. The journey began with our weekly OB appointment on June 16. The prior few weeks my blood pressure had been rising little by little. It wasn't extremely high but it technically met the definition of "pregnancy induced hypertension." On the 16th it was once again high and upon examination the doctor found that I was already 3 cm dilated! I couldn't believe it. I hadn't been experiencing any contractions (or so I thought). The doctor said maybe I just have a "high tolerance for pain." Me, I thought, no way. I think I'm such a wimp when it comes to pain. Anyway, the doctor did another ultrasound and said the baby and amniotic fluid levels looked good. He recommended we go ahead and induce labor since there was no real advantage to waiting any longer and there could be some risk to waiting given the blood pressure issues. I was surprised and a little scared but we trusted our doctor and his explanation of the situation. I wasn't in favor of induction at first but once he explained everything and the fact that I was already 3 cm dilated, I felt good about the decision. After the decision was made to induce, things progressed quickly. The doctor called the hospital to book us to start the induction at 6 am the next morning. As we walked out of the doctor's office, I think Patrick and I both were a little in shock. All of a sudden it hit us that we would be meeting our son the next day!

I was pretty emotional but after a few minutes to gather myself I drove home and Patrick went back to work to finish up some last minute projects. When I got home it was time to prepare--call the family, finish packing my bag and get the house in order. Thank goodness I had done a lot of preparation beforehand. That night, we went out for our last dinner alone and tried not to be too nervous about the next day.

We arrived at the hospital at 6 the next morning. It was funny when we arrived there was a whole group of couples all lined up with us arriving to be induced. We got into our room and they hooked me up to all the IVs. They started the Pitocin around 8 am to get the contractions going. Much of the rest of the day is kind of a blur at this point. I could start to feel the contractions but they really weren't bad for quite awhile. I just tried to relax and even watched a little Brigid Jones on TV. At some point the nurse got the OK from my doctor to break my water. After that the contractions increased quite a bit. I still felt like I could handle them. My doctor came to check me periodically and was surprised I was still smiling when I was about 5 cm dilated. That wasn't to last much longer. By the time I reached about 7 cm I was ready for an epidural. Getting it put in wasn't bad at all and I was feeling relief soon.

After I had the epidural some family came to visit for awhile...that was around 6 pm I think. It was nice to see everyone but I was so tired. Before we knew it, my doctor came in to check me and said he could feel a little of the baby's head--it was time to push! The nurse got me all prepped to push and after a few tries I got the hang of it. Patrick was a great coach (the doctor even commented on his good paced counting skills).

I think I ended up pushing for about 45 minutes-hour and then out came Evan! My first thought when he came out was that he looked enormous! How did that baby fit inside? Of course, he wasn't really that big--8 lb 4 oz is pretty much average. I was able to hold him for several minutes before they cleaned him up. All I could do was stroke his little cheek and try to let it sink in that he was really ours. I thought I'd be a crying mess when he was born but I only cried a little (much more crying came later).

Patrick was beaming as he watched the nurse clean up Evan. To be honest, for me it took awhile for the reality of his birth to really sink in. There are still days that I can't believe he's really our son and not just some baby we're watching for a friend. Reflecting back on everything now, I realize what a beautiful day it was and how blessed we are that everything went smoothly. We are so blessed to have a perfect little boy and wonderful family and friends to support us and share in our joy.

Continue to pray for us! Come visit us anytime...mommy and Evan love visitors (and mommy loves adults to talk to :)

One Month Old

It's hard to believe Evan is already one month old. I recently heard someone say that when it comes to parenting the days are long but the months and years are short. I think that's definitely true. Some days over the last month have seemed really long, but looking back time seems to have flown by. Here are some more pictures from the last month. One of the highlights of the past week has been my parents coming to visit and my mom was able to stay for a week. Wow, what a blessing! She was a great help around here--cooking, rocking Evan, and keeping me company. Thanks to my dad for holding down the fort at home so mom could stay with us. Evan loved seeing his grandparents!

Evan seems to be growing well. He already feels a lot heavier to me. He's also recently begun cooing a little. So cute!


Meeting Mommy for the first time


Our first family photo


With Aunt Robyn at his first restaurant outing


Aunt Helene and soon-to-be Uncle Jorge came to visit too


Hanging out with Daddy


Getting words of advice from Grandpa Pieper


Time with Grandma Pieper


Hanging out in the swing

Evan Webb in his first car ride home from the hospital, he isnt too sure about this heat!

Well, we finally have a breather to put up a few pics, more to come. We have yet to take an official family photo, maybe over the next day or so.

All are doing very well, thank you for your thoughts and prayers! Evan can't wait to meet you!

Amy, Evan and Amy's brother, mom, and dad.

Grandma Webb holding Evan.

The brand new Grandparents: Grandma and Grandpa Pieper!

ETA 1 week and video posts!

Well, we can hardly wait for Itty Bitty. 39 weeks as of yesterday, Amy is starting to get a little uncomfortable.

We have added video posts on youtube, which you can see on the right hand side of the blog.

regards,

Patrick

The Nursery is Finished!

Itty Bitty's room is finally complete! Yesterday Patrick and I (mostly Patrick) finished hanging the last few wall decorations and curtains. We're really pleased with how it turned out. I think it has a very calm feeling about it.

above window

Thanks to our wonderful family and friends, baby Webb already has a very well-stocked library of children's books.

Only about 19 days to do! All the major preparations have been done--car seat installed, nursery complete, clothes washed, hospital bag (mostly) packed. Now it's just a waiting game. We go to the doctor tommorrow so hopefully we'll know more after that. At last check, Itty Bitty was actually head down (unlike the previous visit). Let's hope he's stayed that way.