Catching Up

John and I have been very busy the last few weeks--with work, Joe's baptism, family visits and vacations, and, of course, Joe!--so I'll spend the next few posts trying to catch you all up on our happenings of late.

1. Joe gets baptized!
A few weekends ago, we had family in town from across the country (literally) for Joe's baptism. His godparents were Megan, my sister (who flew in from Vermont) and Patrick, John's cousin (who flew in from Washington state). Of course, my parents and siblings and John's parents and siblings were there, too. And some very good friends who went out of their way to support us and Joe!

As for how the baptism went...as I've said before, it went as well as any event featuring four infants can go! Though the spectators have sworn otherwise, I swear Joe was the loudest baby there. He screamed and fussed and did not want to be in his oh-so-dapper outfit. I felt like I'd been run over by a truck by the end of it! But he was quiet at the key times, so I guess that's all that matters.


Afterward, we all headed out to my parents' house in Keller for some pool and grill time. Joe loved the pool, and loved hanging out with his fam!






2. We visit Galveston!
This weekend, we loaded up the car with baby gear (it's crazy how much stuff a baby requires for a two night trip!) and headed down to Galveston for a Moore mini-family reunion. I must admit was I was dreading the car ride down, but in the end Joe was pretty good. Better than the baptism, at least....

When we finally arrived, Joe got to meet tons of family that he'd never met before, including his great-grandmother and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. On Saturday, he had a great time watching the World Cup with the boys then hanging out with the family at the Simmons' beach house.







And he got to make his first trip to the beach with mom and dad!



























3. Joe eats real food!
So, for the last few weeks, Joe has been getting visibly excited by real grown up food. Whenever anyone eats real food in his presence, he gasps and coos, gets very wiggly and, as John's grandmother put it, "stares daggers" at anyone the eater for daring to refuse him a bite. This weekend in Galveston he was especially interested, so we decided to try giving him some real baby solids (he hated the rice cereal) last night. He loved it and gobbled it right up (big shocker there!).



Of course, the obligatory baby-covered-in-food pictures.


4. Oh, and he can sit up on his own, too!

I sure did LOVE being pregnant!

Okay, any of you were within complaining distance of me during my pregnancy knows that, despite the title of this post, I really did not like being pregnant. But today, in light of some recent conversations with friends and family, I started feeling a little nostalgic for my lovely pregnancy days (ha, ha)...and since the only computer that works to post videos is currently out of commission, I figured I'd use this post to do a quick summary of my pregnancy!!


MONTH 1 (April)
During the first month of my pregnancy, I was finishing up law school -- going to law prom, taking finals...not a good time to be the most tired I've ever been in my entire life!!




MONTH 2 (May)
Still exhausted, and still taking finals. But I did graduate from law school, which meant I got to wear this lovely Chef Boyardee outfit (highly appropriate, since I was putting on more and more yummy fat every day...!):





MONTH 3 (June)
Serious bar studying begins! I had some pretty terrible morning sickness by this point, which was NOT enhanced by the hotness of summer. Getting into that burning hot car every morning to go sit in a barbeque restaurant to learn about wills, trusts, oil and gas, tax, so on and so on? Not so good for a mama-to-be. Also not good when the bathroom doesn't have doors, so everyone can hear you...being pregnant in the bathroom. Sorry fellow bar studiers!!







MONTH 4 (July)
Month four = a serious blur. Bar studying was in full-on crazy mode. Not a time I care to look back on! But this was the month we found out officially that Joe was a boy. I say "officially" because I took some silly pee test for the baby's gender, and it said boy. No pictures of me at this time...they wouldn't have been pretty, as the three-week period before the bar is one of the darkest times of a lawyer's life! But at least I was feeling better. Joe let me focus on the bar rather than my topsy-turvy stomach!



MONTH 5 (August)
BAR TAKEN! John and I (and Joe, of course!) took a vacation to Costa Rica with some good friends from law school. I was glad Joe got to take his first international trip so soon! And today, he LOVES to chew on his little "I <3 Costa Rica" stuffed turtle that we bought him so that he'd "remember" his trip. By this point I was feeling great -- no fat belly yet, no more morning sickness (at least for awhile), and NO MORE BAR!








MONTH 6 (September)
Easiest pregnancy month of all. I still wasn't really "showing" at this point...not until about the end of the seventh month could anyone really notice I was pregnant. But I remember feeling Joe move for the first time during the sixth month; just a little flutter at first, but pretty soon he was doing cartwheels and somersaults all day long!


MONTH 7 (October)
Another low key month. But I did take advantage of my pregnancy in my Halloween costume. Can you tell who I am? Probably not, but would it help if I told you I stuffed by butt with cotton filling? I was Kourtney Kardashian (who was also very pregnant at the time)! Oh so classy, right? But this is the first picture of a really visible baby bump! Oh, the good old days.









MONTH 8 (November)
Starting to get pretty big! The biggest thing about November -- we got our results, and John and I both PASSED the Bar!! After all the anticipation leading up to taking the test and then waiting for results, I can safely tell you I've never had a more relieving day in my life (even the day I gave birth!). We also went to a friend's wedding this month, so Joe made his first trip to San Antonio. And my wonderfully understanding husband got me these awesome boots, since I was so sad that they don't make any cute preggers clothes!









MONTH 9 (December)
Counting down the days! I spent most of this month concerned that I was going into labor, since the doctor told me around December 9 that I was getting close! Just ask my mom and Katie Rubick, who fielded all my freaked-out phone calls. Joe was also getting so big that he was causing me a few problems...like getting stuck sitting on the bathroom tub because he was resting on a nerve! Thank you, dear husband, for forever memorializing this oh-so-flattering moment (you might notice that he took a photo before he helped me up!):










MONTH 10 (January)
For these last few weeks, it felt like Joe was a full-grown person inside of me. Every movement was...an experience, and things started to go all National Geographic all over the place. Oh, and very importantly, Texas lost the National Championship game. But I did manage to make it all the way through that incredibly stressful game without sending myself into labor!







JANUARY 17, 2010 (Sunday)
Joe is born! My water broke on Saturday at about noon...while I was on the elliptical at the gym! Fortunately there was no one there but John and me. Crazily, I had actually forced John to get up and go with me that morning. I hassled him all day that I didn't want to be at the gym alone in case my water broke -- even though my due date wasn't for another week. How funny that it did break that day!

So I showered, ate lunch, got the house organized, and finally got to the hospital at about 2:00pm. My mom was in the process of jumping on the first plane she could -- which didn't leave until very early Sunday morning! But that turned out to be great timing. I hung out at the hospital all day on Saturday without feeling a single contraction...until about 1:00am. When I finally did feel my first contraction, it was definitely zero to sixty! The contractions started at full-on pain level, and after about thirty minutes of that loveliness, I got my epidural. After that, I dozed on and off for the rest of the evening, until the doctor came in at about 8:00am and said it was finally time to push. I pushed for about an hour and a half (probably the fastest hour and a half of my life!), and finally out came my wonderful little son! Born 8oz even at 9:15am on January 17. Alas, the day the Cowboys lost to the ViQueens in the playoffs. You're bad Cowboys AND Longhorns luck, Joe! ;)







By the way, notice how I have my son cradled lovingly in one arm, but my water cup is proudly and possessively grasped in the other?? They wouldn't let me drink any water while I was pushing, and I have never been so thirsty in my life. I wasn't putting that water glass down for ANYTHING.


So there it is! My pregnancy in a nutshell. More pictures and videos of Joe to come soon.

Is there a Lane Bryant for babies?

I'm leading with an adorable video to get you hooked: NOM NOM NOM!



Now, down to business. There's something you have to understand about Baby Joe that you may not be able to get from these pictures and videos...he's massive. I don't know how much he weighs, but he fits comfortably into nine month baby clothes and has pretty much grown out of the size two diapers (which go up to 18 pounds). He's a BIG boy! But his ginormous size has resulted in a few consequences over the last few months--including lots of baby clothes with the tags on that he'll never fit into, and a mom (and nanny!) with ever-expanding biceps.

Here's a nice representative photo...yes, this is a full-sized chair. And yes, he is only three and a half months old. And yes, those ARE full-sized man boobs (and all natural, despite his Dallas roots!).


I explain this because today John and I had a moment where we realized how extremely huge Joe actually is. For those of you who aren't baby-mamas (or baby-aunts, or baby-friends), there's this baby product called a Bumbo; it's kind of like an arm chair for little babies. The idea is that it provides enough back support for them that they can sit without grown-up help before they otherwise would be able to hold themselves on their own. But before he could use the Bumbo, Joe had to get just enough back strength that he wouldn't flop himself over face-first--which happened last week. But today, Joe's relationship with the Bumbo came to a crashing halt--when his thunder thighs were TOO BIG to fit into it! Aside from being unfortunate for Joe, who loved the freedom of sitting alone, this development has made me realize that my son is a giant! What kind of a baby grows out of a product at three and a half months that is supposed to be started for babies around four months??

So I have to take as many pictures with him as I can while we both fit in one photo frame. Exhibit A!













And finally, to show how much he grows up even in a week: a playtime video. He's grabbing at stuff and playing like a big boy!

Big Week for a Little Guy

**UPDATE** Another cute video!



So, he laughed! It's been a long time coming! Earlier this week, Joe was watching a DVD with some puppet pigs splashing around in the mud, and he just thought it was too funny to stay quiet. Yay! He's not exactly a pro laugher quite yet (read: he never laughs. Ever. Despite mine and Lydia's repeated replays of the same DVD at the splashing pigs part!). But that makes it all the more special when he does let out a little chuckle. Of course, I spent all week trying to catch a laugh on camera; no luck. But here's a video that makes me laugh whenever I watch it! Joe is just talking away about goodness knows what. And you can't really tell, but he's sitting up basically all by himself! He's gonna have the ab muscles of a personal trainer soon (despite the neck rolls, belly cellulite, and man boobs).




Joe also got his first haircut this week! He was in dire need. And even though he definitely looks better, I don't think I missed my calling as a hairstylist. Before...









...and after! He looks much sharper, right??

















And finally, another reminder that Joe's getting old too fast...he's holding up the bottle by himself!











That's all for now! Come back next week for more pictures and videos!

Baby Joe is 3 months old!

Tomorrow is Joe's 3 month birthday--how time flies! He's more interactive and responsive every day, and he's going to laugh any minute now (I've been saying that for weeks, but really, he's close!). He's a big boy...John likes to say he has more rolls than Luby's. In fact, when we haven't seen Charlie in a while, we just pull up a few of Joe's neck rolls to see if he's hiding in there. Some pics:



He's just started cooing, and he loves to talk to the little animals in his jungle gym. Here he is smiling at his friends!







Born with lots of hair, and it just keeps growing.







Startled by his dad! He always gets surprised by the "bzzzz" sound. But look at those baby blues...









Joe's a big drooler, and of course we caught this one midstream. Oh, the joys of parenthood.










Easter! How cute is that preppy little outfit!








Almost big enough for the jumper! His feet don't exactly touch the ground yet, but he still loves it.







Tummy time!












Cute face!!









More pictures and videos to come! Thanks to Lydia, Joe's amazingly awesome nanny, for a few of these pics!