Welcome Home

When I first got out of college, a friend of mine was married in a large Catholic wedding in Baltimore. This was the first of many weddings I would attend and I ached after an hour and a half of sit, stand, kneel, sit, stand, kneel. Then at my own wedding we remained standing perfectly still during the entire 40 minute sermon while the congregation sat blissfully relaxed behind us. Then there was the wedding in Mexico that lasted nearly 24 hours. Weddings are tiring in themselves but I never even gave much thought to the shadow like photographers running around behind us. Then on Saturday I helped out my friend Steph photograph a wedding and realized that no matter how much standing and dancing I had done at weddings, photographing a wedding and running around with lights, extension cords and camera bags will have me forever appreciate any amount of standing I do at a wedding again. I sat down that night and my legs literally throbbed for three hours. (It was good to see she felt the same way on her fivezees blog :) ) So the lessons I learned on Saturday are twofold. First, wedding photography is very stressful and debilitatingly tiring. Second, as soon as I walk out that front door I might as well be relaxing on a beach as far as Maggie is concerned and when I return, no matter how exhausted and almost before I can put my bag down I'll be greeted with Sydney planted in my arms, a quick peck on the cheek and a gleeful wave goodbye.

As Stephanie is rarely in front of the camera I thought I'd include this picture I liked of her setup while she photographed Sydney. A perfect illustration of why she enjoys this more tranquil setting for her craft.

Week 8 - The Little Things We Notice

Sometimes I think the most interesting part of a photograph or anything creative is hearing each persons unique point of view. If you've been to a place in a picture, all those memories come rushing back. If you've ever had a little one, you would appreciate how worried a photographer could be about the resonating click of a shutter over a sleeping baby. Then there are the small things we each notice like a facial expression, or a pattern or something misplaced. So when I first uploaded this photograph, with a love of sports and a father in law who would shoot baseball every day if he could, all I could see was my little girl dreaming of the sign from the catcher and positioning her hands for a southpaw two seam fastball. And although I snapped a few pictures in time, the shutter was indeed my downfall. I'll leave it to the imagination what a waking baby does when she yawns, opens her eyes, sees no mommy or daddy and only a brightly colored flower four inches away that is bigger than her head.

An Explosive Holiday!

Everyone tells us how young children just want to do the same thing over and over again and we better prepare. Try peek-a-boo once, you better hold on because you're going to have to do it seventy five times. It was yesterday I started wondering if we create these little monsters by getting them used to repetition early. The book says you're supposed to talk to them and say words so they get used to language but I've run out of things to say. I've told her that too, repeating "I have nothing more to say" over and over again trying to make her understand. So then I started pointing out objects in the house...a table, a chair, the lamp. I've pointed out the same placemat about thirty times now. No wonder they want to do things over and over again when they're toddlers. I could stop but it's probably already too late and in a short time I'll be playing "Where's the placemat?" a hundred times over.

Aunt Carrie visited for the big holiday which Sydney marked by moving up a size in diapers to contain her own fireworks!

Week 7 - Three Bears

When I walked by the key board in the front hall a few weeks ago my Dad and I had a good laugh at this picture. It makes me think of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story. I had remembered other people saying this, but Maggie and I were sitting around last night laughing that it's becoming harder to remember what it was like without this little girl around the house. The littelest bear around here has stolen more than just our last spot to put keys :)

Ping Pong

We continue to search for the right balance of sleep and awake time during the day hoping that we can forecast how she'll sleep at night. The mythical "4 hour stretch" is what we're aiming for where she's content enough to sleep an entire four hours in a row. I know...the bar on sleeping has been severely lowered. We had one such night last night thanks to the help of the automatic swing, an incredible device that rocks your baby to sleep for you and the only payment is that it makes a really loud clicking noise that makes it almost as hard to go to sleep. A true case of picking your poison. So we had her nice and snug and rocking and we somehow drifted off with the tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock of the swing motor ratcheting away. And do you know that for eight hours last night (I can't feed her :) ) I dreamed I was playing ping pong...I'm not kidding...all I can remember is playing ping pong in different settings with different people, having conversations while playing ping pong, driving to a ping pong hall, visiting little Natalie Johnston and playing ping pong. We'll give it another night but if I dream about ping pong all night we're going to have to mix things up here and there :)

I had to add a picture here I took of Josh who has joined the Dad's club with his little girl Natalie on Thursday night. He looks as tired, elated and proud as I was a few weeks ago.

Generations

With four generations of Ivey's and three generations of Priddy's I couldn't resist a group shot. OK...really I was trying out the new remote control for my camera (that you can see me pressing if you look closely) which worked perfectly. The snapping camera even inspired some lovable shots of grandpa Tom. With this many grandparents and greatgrandparents around we haven't seen our kid in three days ;)

It's funny what happens when you become a grandparent. You start to act all goofy and do things you never thought you'd do. It's terrific. (Mike Krzyzewski/Coach K)

High Five

Just thought this was a funny picture and something we wanted to remember. Not a one time occurrence, Sydney sleeps like this all the time and looks like she ready to give someone a high five. What's a dad to do but oblige so most times I walk by her I lean down and give her a tiny high five and congratulate her on another satisfying nap.

Seepy Time

That's right, no L. It's become "seepy time" already. Why do we start talking to our baby this way so early? Maybe it's that whole cycle of life thing where we start to regress. Maybe this is where it starts...a college educated adult working toward a Master's degree referring to a nap as "seepy time". It just sounds so cute though.

Week 5 - Simply Great

I think the picture at left sums up what can only be described as the purest joy of a great grandmother holding her great granddaughter for the first time. Not only a moment special in itself, but with one son and two grandsons this was her first time welcoming a Ms. Ivey to the family. (ok, she has two pretty good granddaughter-in-laws as well) While taking this picture I really thought of the incredible nature of what each of these two have and will experience. One grew up in London and experienced air raids nightly during WWII. One will graduate college around the year 2028. One was born around the inception of commercial air flight while the other is born on the verge of commercial space flight. Such a special treat to watch these two great women meet one another.



...and another lucky dad had the pleasure of joining the Father's Day club on Sunday. With Sydney dressed in a very posh "Daddy's Girl" onesie we spent the day staring at each other and going out for a bagel and coffee. She even managed to make a little photo book of our pictures together on Shutterfly. I'm fairly sure Mom helped out but she denies it :) Much like someone calling your new spouse your "wife" for the first time, I couldn't help but laugh and well up with pride when the young girl at the restaurant that night looked at me and said "Happy Father's Day!".

What do I feel like today?

I've realized that bestowed upon parents of a young infant, among many other tasks, is the pleasure of providing them each morning with that days personality. Unable to smile or truly react to us at this age, as parents we use the power of the onesie to describe how the little one feels each day. Just last week she was a "little princess", while yesterday she felt "too cute" for words. Once in a while she lets everyone know that "daddy does my hair" or that she was truly "worth the wait". Then there are those days where she's feeling rebellious and must tell everyone that "chicks rule". But with uncanny regularity and to daddy's surprise each time he unwraps her from her blanket around mid-morning she proclaims that indeed, she is "more like mommy every day".

Week 4 - New Tricks

We think we're still young dogs and we are definitely learning lots of new tricks. Have you ever opened a jar with one hand? It's hard enough with two. Ridden an exercise bike while holding an infant for 30 minutes because she's fussing? I can do that now. Typing with one hand? I'm an expert. The simple act of getting coffee ready in the morning has become a feat I am proud to accomplish. But perhaps all our new skills will be put on hold for a while as Maggie discovered the wonders of an 8 foot long piece of cloth that some moms have branded and sell as a "baby wrap". Ingenious. I am constantly amazed at the marketing (and cost) that accompanies baby items. The wrap is $35 while I'm sure an 8 foot piece of cloth is much less. "Baby bags" for wrapping up that smelly diaper on the road? $3 for one roll. The same bags found on the doggie doo doo aisle? $3 for 10 rolls. Though being the good capitalist MBA student that I am, I have to appreciate the simplicity with which these companies snare new parents walking down that aisle in Target for the first time proclaiming "I must have the Eddie Bauer poop bags!"...nothing but the best for our children.

My Daughter Loves Me This Much

How much does she love me? Enough to know that her original due date, June 6 would end up being the final game of my beloved Stanley Cup Finals. So instead of coming on that date, she figured she would just come a little early, leave enough time to get over the hospital stay and get everyone on a routine. And last night, on her original due date, with my little daughter laying on my stomach we watched the final Stanley Cup game together. Not a close game as it turned out and two teams far removed from the East Coast, but a moment I will remember forever.

Week 3 - Baby Got Back

Syndey enjoyed her three week birthday yesterday by taking a quick trip to the doctor for a weight check which revealed she's regained her full birth weight of 7lbs 12oz. and a second chin (maybe third). One of the few times she won't mind us all cheering that she gained a pound.

Here are some pictures from the week below including Maggie with our new BOB stroller that is all I thought it would be. As we were walking down the street a flashy new BMW passed by and I verbally drooled over it to Maggie, resigning myself to the fact that the costs of a new baby and a new BMW don't mix well. "At least", I proclaimed, "we have the BMW of strollers!" :) Ahh, how things change.

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." Leo J. Burke

Week 2 - Everything

So Sydney arrived early and it will probably not be the last spontaneous thing she does. We had gone in for a routine checkup and a few hours later I was holding her in my arms, overcome. Some time later and with a little reflection on what had happened I ran into my father-in-law in the elevator as they arrived from a long drive to see their new granddaughter. He asked the obvious question, "What are you feeling right now?". I remember thinking I was feeling just about every emotion in the book from pure joy to wonder to fear to exhilaration. The only answer I could come up with to describe it was, "I'm feeling everything". For two weeks now we've been feeling everything. This includes new kinds of joy and also pee. Yes, we've been feeling pee as mom and dad figure out which diapers are the right size and how tight to put them on. Yesterday alone both of us changed clothes at least once. So while I initially thought my answer "feeling everything" would continue to grow day by day with new emotions, it's become clear that "feeling everything" will more likely include various new bodily fluids.

Mom has begun to play dress up as this picture captures :)

Week 36 - Lasts

Three and a half weeks to go. We can't believe it. We're starting to do some of our "lasts" before B-Day or E-Day as Maggie would probably put it (Epidural Day). To be honest she could use an epidural right now as the shots she's taken to the ribs for months now are finally wearing her down. So we're planning a fun last dinner out. We're running around getting last minute things for her. We're realizing our last time to get the car seats checked is running out. We're enjoying our last few weekends of sleeping in. We're celebrating our mom's last Mother's Day before Maggie joins the club and Grandmothers Day takes on new meaning. We're taking our last photos as a couple before we become a threesome. We're enjoying the calm before the storm....and then finally, at last, she will be here.

Week 35 - Future

So while I've generally viewed planning as tomorrow, maybe next week, at most next year...I've found my mind wandering way into the future and it scares me. Maybe all parents go through this sudden fog lifting realization that they are going to need money, and lots of it. Oh yeah, we've got retirement planning going but this is far more involved. We've got dresses up the wazoo, hair care products, dancing lessons, ice skating lessons and I don't even know what else little girls need. Now I'm looking 18 years into the future at some to be named college and how much it will cost. I plug in all my numbers on a spreadsheet and realize that the slightest tweak of an interest rate takes us from well in the black to bleeding red ink all over the place. So many unknowns. I woke up the other night realizing that given the general way girls marry older boys/men, that our son in law (god willing) is probably already out there somewhere crawling around on all fours. He's getting pictures taken that will end up in a slide show with our little girl on their wedding day as Maggie and I remember how it just seemed like yesterday the future was so far away.

Week 34 - Learning

I heard a funny story this week about babies in the womb. Apparently when they are strong enough and beginning to explore the world around them, they figure out that they can grab things with their hands...and what would you grab in a womb but the umbilical cord. So they've been known to grab the cord and squeeze, thereby cutting off the oxygen flow and passing out at which point they release the cord and everything is fine. Then they wake up and do it again. So at 34 weeks, our babies are already doing something they are not supposed to. They have become mischevious and curious about the world around them. I assume she wonders each night who is making noises at her through mom's belly. I tell her not to play with the cord...but she's probably already learning to tune me out.

Week 33 - Worry

In the wake of the VT catastrophe I would have, in the past, probably focused solely on those students who had died that day and the young lives that were cut short. Now, I thought of those innocent children and immediately my thoughts turned to their parents and my heart aches for them. I think I've started the conversion to someone who will now worry for the rest of his life. I'll worry when people hold my little daughter; I'll worry when she steps outside for the first time; I'll worry when she rides her bike down the block and around the corner, out of sight for the first time; I'll worry when she goes out on her first date; and I'll worry when she heads off to school. My prayers go out each night for strength to the parents of those killed...I simply cannot imagine their pain, and I never want to.

Week 32 - New Toys

So we picked up the car seat last night finally and I feel like I had picked up a new toy. I rushed home and took it out of the box to see what it looked like and after twenty minutes of figuring out how to detach it from the car base, I had a baby car seat in hand. Next was figuring out how this thing fit into the shiny stroller base we have in the front hall that I roll around each time I pass by because it has these big wheels and looks fun. So after another twenty minutes and realizing that in fact the baby faces IN and not OUT, things clipped in a lot better. I'm glad we're finally starting to get these new toys in the house because there only so many times I can admire and spin the dial on the new diaper genie.

Week 31 - Outfits

The Week 31 instructions on Baby Center indicate we should be getting a bag together already. Do I start to hyperventilate now or wait a few weeks. This is all happening much faster now. Apparently this bag contains the "going home outfit" that Maggie has taught me about recently. According to some unknown law, this is one of the most critical pieces in the whole birth puzzle. This outfit must be cute. It must be appropriate for the season. It must be girly enough so everyone knows we had a girl and we can avoid those awkward moments when people look at your baby and wonder. It must be the right size and we're not sure if she's going to be very big. It must be cuddly and the perfect outfit as this is the "welcome to the world" outfit. Based on this you'd think we were going to leave the hospital and there would be some float we would jump on to be whisked off into a parade cheering us on culminating in our coronation as new parents. Alas, my thought is that we will leave the hospital quietly, put this baby in the car seat we pray is installed correctly, and drive her home at which point she will spit up and poop on her going home outfit.

Week 30 1/2 - Picture Time

Haven't had any good profile shots in a while so here are a couple from the last week. Note Maggie's very cute prego jean jacket :) In other news, the nursery is complete and we can't help but peek in each time we go upstairs. It's funny to have a nursery in your own house when you've looked at nurseries in other people's houses for so long. Still doesn't seem quite real...yet with each additional shot Maggie takes to her ribs reality sets in a little more each day :)

Week 30 - ...and she's Big!

We went in for our 30 week doctor visit yesterday and we still have a very (almost too) healthy little girl. The doctor said Maggie looks full term already so we're starting to think we might have our little bundle of joy earlier than we thought. She'll come out talking at this point so the doctor has Maggie laying of the carbs (i.e sugar) to slow this thing down. Already an overachiever at 30 weeks of age...I love it! :)

Week 29 - Kumquat in 4D

I still haven't really figured out what the fourth dimension is (color?) but it was still an incredible experience. You could really see her nose and lips and then her cute little feet moving around. That finally clued us in to what's been kicking Maggie's ribs for the past couple weeks and the shots to her midsection are the arms moving around. A couple of times we even saw her open her mouth or stretch out and it was just wonderous to see how fast she's grown into a real looking person. You can also check out a video they made of her stretching out at the link below!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9210686162661959456

Week 28 - The Home Stretch

Today Maggie enters her third trimester! This little girl is kicking like crazy every day and we're having a blast watching her each evening. The nursery is in progress and we've finally got some paint on the walls. Hopefully just another couple days of work to finish that up and we'll be able to get everything set, well ahead of time as all good first time parents do. The opposite would be our friends Marc and Steph who just had their third and I'm pretty sure they were picking up things at Babies r' Us on the way home from the hospital with their new little son.

Week 27

I was at Starbucks this morning and behind me in line was a relatively new dad with his daughter in hand. I probably never would have noticed them before but I just kept looking back and thinking about how proud he must be and how much fun this guy was having with just a little trip to Starbucks to show off his girl. Somewhat like getting your driver's license and going out for that first drive alone, I can't wait to wake up one morning...let Maggie sleep in and go out to Starbucks for a little dad and daughter bonding time.