Penelope Ruth is here!

Our little bundle of joy arrived on March 28, 2011 at 11:13 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20.75 inches long. Here are some pictures of her. Of course, they are completely out of order--I wanted the pictures to be reversed. Stupid blogger! During Penelope's stay in the hospital. Dave became a master of the diaper change, and he continues to be. I couldn't do this without him!!

My mom was able to come into town for Penelope's birth. She drove from Lincoln to Champaign on Monday, and made it by about 3:30. She was a big help during labor--I never thought I would want my mom in the delivery room, but it was a blessing to have her there. Labor was not the funnest experience, and her experience helped Dave and I both deal with things better. She is in love with little Penelope, but seriously, who wouldn't be?

I think Penelope looks like Logan here. Or maybe she's just pulling a Logan face, in that she's kind of leering at us. :) We still don't know what color her eyes are. Some days they look blue, some days they look brown. We do think her hair is lightening, and it looks a little bit reddish in some lights.

First family portrait right after labor. Labor took so long that I developed a fever and they were worried about infection for Penelope, so she spent the first night in the NICU. That's why you'll see an IV on her hand in some of the pictures during our stay at the hospital.

Here is baby Penelope right after she was born. She is completely healthy, and she hasn't really cried like this since she was born. She is a totally mellow baby. She does have a few freak out moments when she's breast feeding, but other than that she's pretty calm. Dave and I love her to death and are excited to have an expanding family!

I had a birthday, shout hooray!

It's true. I had a birthday. Dave has always done a great job of helping me celebrate. This year he woke up before me (didn't even know he got up early) and made me breakfast in bed. He knows how I love a warm breakfast and he really pulled through with his scrambled eggs, bacon and toast w/ jam. It was a great start to the day.

He took me to dinner that night (OK, we did use our free coupon from our birthing classes, but let's be honest...he's got Valentine's Day and my Bday in the same week. I didn't care.) and to the local cupcake shop for a birthday cupcake. Dave got a red velvet cupcake and I tried a pistachio cupcake with a passionfruit buttercream frosting.

My birthday was on a Thursday, so Friday night we got together with some friends at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner. I got to wear the birthday sombrero and have the employees smash my face into my bowl of fried ice cream w/ whipped cream. So fun! The whole gang: Back: Tiffany, Holli, Giles. Front: Jenika, Danny, me and Dave.

For my birthday I also had a surprise pregnancy photo shoot. Jenika, my dear friend and lovely duplex-neighbor, and I took advantage of a 70 degree February day and did a photo shoot at the great park across from our neighborhood.

Check out the photos here: http://jenikaslens.com/?p=4349

Jogging Stroller

I'm starting to debate purchasing a jogging stroller. Admittedly, I'm not a crazy runner. I don't think I'll ever do much more than a 5K, maybe a 10K and I won't do a half marathon for a while. I have jogged in the past, and the most I really enjoy running is about 6 miles. I have the feet of an 85 year old woman, so jogging isn't the best for me. My podiatrist suggests that I swim and bike (which I do). However, I would like to go running for a few miles every now and then. My big debate right now is how do I do all this potential exercising with a new baby in tow?

My solution is a jogging stroller. I could go walking with her at first and work up to jogging again. (If you've forgotten I broke my foot on my honeymoon...one more injury added to the many surgeries I've already had.) My feet just don't like jogging like they used to (If they ever did), but I still would like to do a little bit because it slims me down much more quickly than swimming or biking.

Now the real question...which kind of jogging stroller do I get?? I don't feel like enough of a crazy jogger to get a $400-500 stroller. But, I don't want a crappy one, either. I also want to start running fairly soon after she's born. That requires a car seat adaptor for the stroller. That's another expense! Some of the strollers say you shouldn't jog until they're 8 mos old, walking is OK at 8 weeks. I don't want to wait that long! Ideas, help, suggestions?

Sheesh...baby exercise stuff is getting expensive! I also want to get a thing for my bike (you know, those little carts/carriers) that you drag behind.

Dave and I want to be nice and active with the baby...we like to go on summer bike rides, so we've got to find a way to bring the baby along. Swimming will probably require a babysitter.

Pregnant Pics

Ashley asked me for pics of me pregnant, so here you go. I'm hoping to get around to Vienna pics fairly soon. That one is going to take a lot of work, so I'm holding off. These are from my camera phone, so they're a little blurry. I think you get the idea. Pardon the unhappy-looking face. I had to stand there for a while until Dave took the pic, so the cute smile had dissipated.

? GIRL

Yes, that's what the ultrasound says. "? GIRL" However, the doctor seems to be sure that it is a girl...apparently the science is based on whether or not they can see "boy parts." In the absence of boy parts the baby is deemed a "? GIRL"...they also said something about 3 bones the ultrasound tech pointed to as being signs it's a girl. Frankly, all the pictures were blobby and my baby looks like a skeleton. Dave says it's a squirrel. I hope so. Then we can give the Chipmunks a run for their money and start our own squirrel band/singing group. Good idea, right?

Vienna, here I come!

I've been racking my brain in the last little while trying to come up with something to write about. Sure, I could tell you that my first trimester of pregnancy was somewhat unpleasant. Every smell made me nauseous, as well as the mere thought of food. My already sensitive gag reflex is even worse, and I am now prone to gagging fits, which often leads to that pleasant experience we all call vomiting. But, I didn't want to write about any of that. I feel like all of the experiences I've had during the last 16 weeks can be described as "guess what, I'm pregnant." So, I'm trying to think of something else to share with you.

Probably the most exciting thing lately is that I head to Vienna next week. I am going to present a paper at a Fulbright Conference on study abroad. It is always fun to go to Europe on someone else's dime, but I am even more excited because I love the topic of the conference. I can't want to hear the various perspectives about study abroad from all over the world.

Of course, the fact that the conference falls on the Thursday and Friday (Nov 18-19) before our full week of Thanksgiving Break at the U of Illinois isn't all that bad, either. Fall break begins Friday the 19th, so, as a final vacation and hoorah before we can't travel as easily with a baby, Dave is coming to Vienna to spend the week. We'll spend the 20th-27th together in Vienna. Dave has never been to Western Europe, so it will be fun to show him what I know and prove to him that I really understand and can speak German!

More to come when I've got pictures and stories to share!

Baby Kay