Connor's Baptism

On Sunday, we had a great crowd gather together for Connor's baptism. From my family, there were Mom and Dad, Kevin, Jessica, Matt, and Megan. From Becca's family, we had Lane, Sarah, Will, and Henry. Connor's godparents Matthew and Dana joined us, as well as Becca's friends from college who were visiting: Heidi, Laura, and Katie.

We all met for brunch at Matthew and Dana's restaurant - Salt International Bistro. We had a great meal together, and Connor got to meet his godfather's family. Matthew's sister is expecting her first child, and she was very happy to hold baby Connor.

After brunch, we headed to our church (St. John the Baptist Catholic Church) for the baptism. Connor got to join three baby girls who were being baptized on the same day.

We thought Connor was going to change into his white clothing after being baptized, so he had on a special outfit that his mommy had picked out for him.

Here is Connor, changed into his christening clothes, with his parents and his godparents.

Connor was very good during the ceremony, and the priest kept talking about how he was being a man by not crying, since all the little girls were crying. But then, at the very end, when we placed Connor on the altar for a blessing, he did start crying. I think it was because he wasn't used to feeling so holy yet.

It was a great joy to welcome Connor into the church with the blessing of the Holy Spirit. We, as Connor's family and friends, made our promises to help his faith develop and grow.

Three generations, along with the godparents and Father Phil O'Kennedy. This is the baptismal font where Connor was baptized. Also, the statue of the risen Lord in front of the stained glass, which always makes me think of Superman. I hope that's not a bad thing to think.

Also, Connor met his Aunt Jessica for the first time on this day!

And his Uncle Matt too!

Connor, we promise to raise you to know and love God; to keep his commandments not out of fear, but out of love; and to love your fellow humans and the world God made for us. We love you very much, son!

Two Firsts at Three Weeks

Note up front: We didn't get any pictures today of what I'm writing about, so I will use old stuff that I deem relevant (old can mean as new as yesterday if I want it to).

Today Connor is three weeks old! Happy three weeks, little guy!

I had a great day at work today. I don't know whether I'm a good coder or not, but I am certainly not a very experienced one. But today I got some real results for the first time on something I've been working on for weeks, and it feels great!

Here's a picture of me next to an actual, real-life coder!

Today after I got home, Becca and I took Connor along on our first family trip out to dinner! We went to Edo for sushi, which Becca couldn't eat while Connor was on board. Connor was nice and quiet through the whole meal, and on our way out, the two hostesses kept saying, "Oh, cute! Cute baby boy!"

Cute baby boy

A little after we got home, we got ready for Connor to have his first bath in the bathtub. All his baths before today have been sponge baths because we had to keep his umbilical cord dry until it fell off (which it did pretty recently!) Connor seemed confused and nervous about the sensation of the warm bath water around him, but he soon came around to the joy of bathing!

This is where Connor had his first (sponge) bath ever! Also... his first hour outside the womb!

Routine

It's still a little bit early to really have one, but since Patrick has been back to work for a few days and we're having our first real weekend together, a sort-of routine is being established.  There's still a lot to get used to and I haven't ventured out on my own yet, but I think it's a little early to do that anyhow, especially since I have such a wonderful husband to help me and have had such great help over the past two weeks, starting with my Mom's visit the weekend we came home, Sarah's two visits last weekend and on Wednesday, and our friends who have some over to see Connor and bring us food.

Wednesday when Sarah was here, Patrick and I took our first trip out without the baby.  He was really good and slept the entire time we were gone.  The timing was really wonderful.  We went to go see a movie for our anniversary and then stopped by Walgreens and got dinner for all of us at Chik-fil-a.  We both missed Connor, but it was so good to know that he was with Sarah and it was a good thing to realize we could leave him and not combust.

It is hard to capture Connor's real hair color in a picture, but we tried the other day.  It's definitely got a lot of red in it.

 

I love this little guy so much!

Visits with Friends

Connor has gotten several visits from our friends over the past two weeks of his life.   The first was from Jason and Robin in the hospital, when I was still kind of drugged up.

When we got home from the hospital, we got more visits, first from Andy and Roswell.

And then a visit from Connor's godparents, Dana and Matthew.

Then last night, our other friends with children, Britni and Jerod came over with their son Parker to meet Connor.  They are going to have another little boy in September, so our little boys will all be friends.

The temperature took a nose dive this weekend so Connor has gone from wearing just a onesie to wearing pants, socks, and a little hoodie sweater.  So precious!

Connor's Job

Sleeping babies are the best! I'm typing this with one hand because my sweet little boy is curled up in the other arm.  This is our last day with Daddy home, and it has been very quiet.  Connor slept really well last night because I decided to hold him the whole night.  I have him in between his SnuggleNest and my body, on top of a pillow, with my arm under him.  We both feel secure and he sleeps much, much more soundly.  The flip side of that is that he's much more alert when he wakes up to eat and takes a while to settle down.  But since I've gotten a longer period of restful sleep, I don't mind soothing him to sleep.  When he sleeps on his SnuggleNest, he flails and grunts the whole night and it is much more difficult for him to get really restful sleep.

I've been telling Connor that Daddy has to go back to his job and that he and I have to make sure and continue to do our jobs well.  Connor's job is to eat and sleep, and Mommy's job is to feed both him and Daddy.

First Trip Out to the Doctor!

Yesterday we took our first trip out since coming home from the hospital.  Patrick and I did our best to be completely prepared for Connor's first doctor's appointment, but of course we forgot a few things.  The biggest was Patrick forgetting his wallet.  It made me laugh and the other people in the waiting room thought it was pretty funny too.  The nurse was understanding and everything was totally fine.

Our doctor is a family doctor and Patrick and I are already his patients.  I really love that about my doctor, because we can all be treated together.  We had opted out of getting the Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) vaccine in the hospital because my arms were really sore from labor (I even broke blood vessels) but because it's a family practice, both of us were able to get it when Connor had his appointment.

Since this was the first appointment, the only thing we really needed for him was a weigh in.  First the nurse weighed him and then the doctor came in and weighed him.  And weighed him again.  And took him to another scale and weighed him again.  The first scale said he weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces, which is crazy, since left the hospital 5 days before at 7 pounds 3 ounces.  The second scale said only 8 pounds 6 ounces, which is still amazing weight gain and made this mamma feel like she was doing something right.  Breastfeeding is intimidating, but having a great confirmation like his weight gain is really wonderful.

 On our way to the doctor's office

 Connor and Daddy snuggle time

 Burping

Last year we noticed that we had two rabbits that lived in our yard.  This year,  there are three!  One is noticeably smaller, so I assume it's very young.  Today, after hearing a bump, I looked over at our patio doors to see the small rabbit looking a little stunned right next to the door.  Sweet little thing ran into the door!  Here are some pictures from when all three were chasing each other around the yard yesterday.

Visit from the Jemisons

A few hours after the three of us got home on Saturday, my family drove down to visit. Mom, Dad, Kevin, and Megan were here. Jessica and Matt tried to drive in from Arkansas, but they had to turn back due to the heavy flooding of the Mississippi River. Connor will have to wait a little longer to see them! Jenny wasn't here for this trip, but she will be seeing her nephew next month!

Dad told us all that he is "Happah" because he is a "happy papa"! Connor is his first grandchild! Congratulations on becoming a grandfather, Dad! I know you were tired of waiting for it!

Connor and his Happah

Megan liked Connor so much that she kept saying that she hoped she can have a baby one day. We hope so, too, Megan! More cousins for Connor!

Connor and his Aunt Meggerz

Kevin was the trusty photographer for the trip, but I made sure to get a picture of him with his nephew also. Kevin kept saying how happy he was to be an uncle! We're wondering if Connor might end up with red hair like Kevin has.

Connor and his Uncle Kevin

Mom and Dad sat together on the couch with Connor. Dad says that they are the proudest grandparents in the world. Mom says she can't wait to see Connor again!

Connor and his grandparents

My favorite thing about the trip was seeing Mom with Connor. I was nervous about how she would feel or react to being around a baby, and I was even scared she might accidentally hurt him (for any who are reading this that don't know, my mom has some pretty severe dementia).

It warmed my heart to see her with him. She loved on him the whole time she held him, and she didn't have any trouble holding him. As Kevin put it, she will fall in love with him again every time she sees him.

Connor with his grandmother

Thank you for coming to meet your new grandson/nephew, family! I look forward to bringing him to visit you soon, and I look forward to introducing him to his Aunts Jenny and Jessica and his Uncle Matt!

Home Again!

Hospitals are tiring places. Becca, Connor, and I were all very well taken care of by the nurses at Crestwood Medical Center, but it was not easy to get much rest with the frequent checkups from the nurses while Becca was still recovering from the labor and delivery. Add to that the new practice of waking up in the middle of the night to feed Connor, and it makes sense why we felt tired all the time.

As Becca got better and better, we also got more and more eager to head home. On Saturday (Becca's birthday... happy birthday again honey!) it was finally time to leave Crestwood.

Connor in his "going home" outfit

We had to wait awhile for the doctor to show up to sign our release. Becca's OB was out because his daughter was getting married, so he had another doctor filling in Saturday. I had plenty of time to pack up our stuff and bring Connor's car seat up to the room.

"Take me home!"

The new family on the way out

We were blessed this weekend to have Becca's mom ("Sani" to Connor) here taking care of us. She cooked for us and did laundry for us and helped us take care of the little one. Thank you Sani!

It was so nice to have him home!

We think Connor likes his new home. It's so comfy here, and the two people he needs most are available 24 hours a day (at least, until I have to go back to work)!

Have a nice nap Connor! We love you!

Hello World!

Becca and I are so happy to introduce to you our son and the first addition to the Jemison House, Connor Brandon Jemison! He was born at 9:14 yesterday morning, and we already love him like he was always a part of us.

We got this card in Japan, can you tell?

I know many of you have been waiting what seems like so long to get some pictures of our baby boy. We have been very busy and very tired, but I finally have some time to officially deliver our news here while Becca rests!

Here he is, wide-eyed and ready to meet you!

Connor is a very calm and quiet baby, and he has shown every sign of good health in all of his tests. He has been feeding well and he knows his parents! Whenever he cries out, he calms down almost immediately when we hold him.

We think Connor has his mom's nose and ears, and he has his dad's mouth and fingers and toes. We aren't sure about his eyes yet; maybe he's somewhere in between. We actually haven't got a picture of it yet, but he has a full head of soft brown hair with some hints of red.

Connor with Mommy - such an amazing woman

It was a crazy time leading up to Connor's birth. We had tornadoes come through Alabama in some of the strongest storms in history. We were very blessed in that the storms did not damage our home, but it did knock our power out for about five days. We went to stay with our families up on Signal Mountain, where we had some anxiety about when Connor would come, but we did have the comfort that family brings!

We made it back to Huntsville on Monday in time for Becca's appointment with Dr. Speed. It looked like Connor was not going to be coming on his own any time soon, so the doctor recommended that we head to the hospital only a few hours later to induce! We got to Crestwood Medical Center, and began Becca's long labor. After 38 hours, Connor had to be delivered via Cesarean Section because he was not aligned properly for delivery.

Wednesday morning, we had a healthy baby and a very very tired Mommy!

Connor with Dad - whose love is overflowing

I am so grateful to God for this child, for his mother who worked so hard to bring him here, and for all the doctors and nurses here at Crestwood who have cared for the three of us. I have felt more love in the past few days than I ever have before. I do not know if I will ever in my life perform an act as amazing as Becca's labor, and I will never forget it.

She is recovering still, and she cannot wait to be up out of bed where she can have a more active role in taking care of her son. Please pray that the remainder of her recovery goes well and swiftly!

Until next time!