2 Weeks and 2 days

Big news...The belly button stump fell off yesterday morning! It must have been exhausting sluffing it off because Oliver spent most of his day sleeping. We had our second dr. appointment Thursday. It went well. Oliver is up to 8 lbs. and 8 oz. He gained back what he'd lost since leaving the hospital and then some. We weren't surprised since he LOVES to eat! I think mom caught a bug while at the germy pediatrician's...trusting it's not of the "swine" variety. Here's some silly video of him and daddy hanging on the couch. I feel like he looks like such a big boy here! Last weekend Dad brought Aunt Bonnie and Grandma over to visit and Shaun, Tonya, and Addy came too. Addy thinks Oli is pretty cool.

Hmm...what else have we been up to? Oliver seems to LOVE his stroller and we've taken several trips to both the middle and high schools to meet some people and get "ooh-ed" and "aah-ed" over. Very fun. We're headed over to the baseball game in a little bit to watch Uncle Nigs coach and support the Truckers. Can't wait for the weather to get a little warmer so stroll-ing can be one of our daily events.

One week old!

It's been quite a week. We're having lots of fun getting to know our new little guy. Daddy's back at work and mommy and Oli are doing well on their own. Here's what we know so far...

Oliver's likes: being held, meeting new people, hanging out with Auntie Linda, eating, burp time with Grandpa Steve, eating, car rides, eating, fleece-y things, and napping with daddy.

Oliver's dislikes: bath time, diaper changes, outfit changes(even though mommy likes playing with all the new clothes we have for him!)

Oliver's adventures so far: First trip to meet his pediatrician (nice guy, said he sees lots of newborns and Oliver's "a cutie" so we really like him :), first trip to eat out at Popp's, first pee on the floor, first bath, and first time meeting all kinds of new friends and family.

All in all, things have been going well.

We've had lots of questions about where Oliver's name came from. Being teachers, we had a hard time coming up with names we liked that we hadn't heard a million times before. I also had the requirement that it be more than one syllable to go with our last name. We got many suggestions (mostly from our students and my dad). Oliver was my Grandpa Boutwell's name. I've always liked it and Grandpa was a pretty swell guy. Beckett is a name that Shawn picked out. I'm not sure where he originally got it from but it was one of the first names we both agreed we liked early on.

Oliver Beckett Howe

Born April 16th at 7:40 p.m.

7 lbs. 15 oz.

21 1/4 inches long

HUGE thanks to everyone for all the well-wishes, gifts, visits, e-mails, texts, and happy thoughts. We are so blessed!

Wow!

So much has happened! Here's a recap...

Wednesday--Went for my scheduled dr. appointment. He told me no news, come back in a week. Did a little shopping, came home, hung out with Shawn, dad called to see how dr. went, told him it was going to be a while before baby, went to bed around 10:30. Woke up at 11:30 and surprise! My water had broken and we were off to the hospital!

Thursday--I have nothing but good things to say about the staff at AMC. We were taken such good care of during our stay there! They told us to hope for a dinner time baby and it was pretty close; baby Oliver was born at 7:40 pm. Shawn was an excellent coach/cheerleader and everything went well. Right away, baby got to meet his Grandpa Stanley and Great-Grandma Daisy, Grandpa Doug and Grandma Judy, Uncle Bug, Auntie Tonya, Auntie Tiffany, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jen, just whole BUNCHES of people. Unfortunately, Oliver had a pretty high temp so they let us hang out for a while but then whisked him a way to do some tests. We didn't get to find out how much he weighed until morning! His official stats were 21 1/4 inches long and 7 lbs. 15 oz.

Friday--Because of the tests, they told us they'd have to keep him at least until Sunday. We hung out in the hospital and had LOTS more visitors...

Grandpa Doug and baby Oliver

Uncle Shaunie and Oli

Great Grandma Daisy loves him bunches!

Saturday--Still hanging out at the hospital. The i.v. he's hooked up to became increasingly annoying as we tried to snuggle but we adjusted. More visiting from Tiff, Casey and Evan, Cousin Leah, Kelly and Emma.

Sunday--Baby is great and we are finally able to to home! After a quick stop at the house, we headed over to Bug and Tonya's for Kaylie's First Communion party. As you can see, she's going to make an amazing babysitter someday...

After the party the grandparents hung out with Oli at home. Grandpa Stanley offered dinner and Auntie Linda offered to baby-sit so everyone went out to the Triple O.

Grandpa Stanley is telling stories. Monday (Today!)--So far, so good. Can you believe it's been SNOWING here all morning?!? The night went well, nursing is coming along, Grandma Debbie and Auntie Linda are super-helpful and we are so lucky to have time to hang out with this sweet little boy!

Daddy and Oli...daddy's pretty good at stories too.

Spring Break!

I felt like my belly was big in the last pic I got with my brother from Christmas but I guess it's a little bigger in this one from Easter yesterday.

Today is the due date the dr. gave us the second time around but no baby just yet...My next appointment is on Wednesday so maybe more info if Peanut holds off that long. We'll try to post more frequently to keep you updated.

Shawn and I have just finished a fantastic spring break...maybe not quite as exciting as some we've had in the past but we got LOTS done. We saw family and friends, relaxed, and did general baby-prep. At the beginning of the week I told him I felt 72% ready for baby and by yesterday I had upped my readiness to 98%. You can never really be 100% ready, right?

The nursery is totally complete and waiting...some updated pics below...

Everything feels pretty organized and now we're playing the waiting game.

Above is a close up of our "Family Tree", anticipating the new Peanut information to make it complete...I stole the idea from Etsy and made it from scrapbooking paper in an attempt at nesting-craftiness :)His little clothes look so cute all hung up and waiting...I got the sweet matching wood hangers for super-cheap when Steve and Barry's went out of business and I love 'em!

Over Break I also got a chance to attend my cousin Leah's baby shower. I hadn't been to the Scandinavia Town Hall with her since our days in 4-H! Hopefully Peanut and Baby Nate will have as much fun playing together as Leah and I did...

then... now...

Easter was busy with lots of food and family...Lunch at Shaunie and Tonya's and then dinner with the Branstrom's. Delish!

Seems like the Easter Bunny always brought bubbles to the Burg for Shaunie and I...Glad to see the tradition continues for Addy.