New Year; Good Times

Well Team, I would like to apologize for the long delay since my last blog entry. Things have been quite hectic since then; with Holidays abound, not to mention renovation on the house, Mom going back to work, and much more.
We celebrated our first Christmas together, which was fantastically splendid. We were able to balance time between both grandparents and most of my extended family, including Aunts and Uncles, cousins, Great Grandparents, 2nd and 3rd cousins, and others. Mom dressed me up in a pretty fancy outfit on Christmas, which was a gift from our friends Greg and Amy Hocevar. Not to brag, but I looked amazing. I got to meet Santa, as he made a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Parr’s house. I did not get what I asked for, however, which was for people to stop mentioning my cheeks and how cute they are. Don't you think I know I'm adorable? Actually, keep the compliments coming....thanks!
After the excitement of Christmas, Dad went into a food coma for about a week and recovered just in time for New Year’s Eve. Mom and Dad had some friends over, Joe Meinking and his girlfriend Christina as well as the Longcamps, Amy and Kyle. Amy and Kyle brought their son Henry, who is a little bit older than me, to the suare. Henry tried to throw some game at me, but Mom has taught me to be a lady and thus, his charm was rejected. He sure is cute though! The adults all went to Tinks for dinner while Henry and I spent two hours or so at Grandma and Grandpa Burckle’s. Dad saw some famous guy at dinner, who he described as a chauncebucket, who apparently was in the band 98 Degrees. For the record, Dad has already banned all boy band music in the house for as long as I live under his roof. I like Reggae and Bluegrass anyway; my favorite CD is Ziggy Marley, Family Time. The night ended back at home with the adults drinking from green bottles and a cork almost breaking a window. Good times were held by all, including Kenai who got a little bit of the bubbly.
After the holidays, my parents were busy doing a lot of stuff with me. Dad got a new car since he felt the Range Rover wasn’t safe enough for me. He kept the old Rover though and said it will be for hunting and fishing trips, whatever those are. Mom continues to take me on adventures to places like Jungle Jims, Babies r Us, Petsmart, out to lunch with her friends, and all kinds of other strange places. I saw the doctor for my two month check up and got four shots which hurt like heck and made me sick for about two days. The doctor said I was uber-healthy and will likely end up as a diplomat or a professional soccer player; both of which are acceptable careers per my Dad. I am now on a pretty regular eating schedule, and am sleeping through the night…I know mom and dad are happy about that!!
And This Just In:
I started daycare this week. I am going to see a really nice lady named Judy in Norwood. She takes care of two other kids in her house, Oliver and Marilyn, who are cousins. As it turns out, Oscar’s Mom and Dad went to high school with my Dad, so I feel good being in an environment with people that we know. Judy has two dogs, which are nice, but not nearly as cool as my dogs Kenai and Alyeska. Mom and dad were really sad the first day they dropped me off…I could tell because mom had tears in her eyes. But I had so much fun with the other kids and was smiling and laughing all day, so I know they feel better. On Fridays I will go to Grandma and Grandpa Burckle’s to hang out. Did I mention I will be spoiled!!

After awhile Crocodiles!

Camilla

My First Three Weeks

Today I turned three weeks old. Needless to say it has been eventful. A combination of seismic events in my mommy’s tummy coupled with gravity and an inviting white light brought me into the world as I now know it. I suppose it is better on the outside. Actually, that’s TBD.

Overall, I have enjoyed my first three weeks. I was excited to learn that I have two siblings who are furry and have pointy ears. They walk on all fours like I do and have the same blue eyes as me, so I am sure we are related. They even cry when I cry, something Mom describes as “howling”, which she frowns upon (I think it is funny though). Kenai and Alyeska seem to be really interested in me joining their pack and have taken a shine to my presence. Daddy thinks my first word will be “no” since I hear it all the time around my furry kin.

What else, hmmm? My house is pretty cool. Grandpa Burckle described the woodwork in my room as something out of Hogwarts, which is somewhat true in that my room is amazing. I mostly enjoy the rocking chair and the large owl next to my crib. However, I don’t much care for my crib as I would rather be held by my mom or dad.

FYI, I eat a lot. My mom seems to have me on a schedule, which I lose track of since I also sleep a lot. Dad gives me a bottle now and again, but he is not very good at it. I like to spit up on him as it is the only way I can show him how much I appreciate his efforts. Sometimes when he holds me against his shoulder I touch his face with my hand, which I think is a form of endearment, but am not sure yet. As for smiling, smiling is my favorite, though Dad told Grandpa Parr that I look like a whale shark when I do it.

Whatever.

I have been on some adventures too. Dad took me to a place filled with babies who had more teeth than their parents and that place was called Bass Pro S hop. He bought me a camouflage bib for fun and I think it is really neat, though wearing it outside might make me disappear in the woods, so I have to be careful. I have also been to Target, Babies r’ Us and the Kenwood Towne Center. Both sets of Grandparents seem to like when I visit and make me feel right at home. At Grandma and Grandpa Burckles this weekend I hung out with my cousins Matt and Connor and my Great Grandma Verna. I then saw my Grandma and Grandpa Parr the next day and my Aunt Laura refused to share me with others, which was okay with me since she smelled so nice.

In closing, life is good. I look great, have awesome things, and really enjoy hanging out with my mom all day. I had to give up on cloth diapers because I kept getting a rash, but cloth diapers are for hippies anyway, and my dad has already taught me never to trust a hippy. Needless to say I don’t want to be one, though my tie-dyed onesie is pretty epic!

Okay, time to open an E-trade account, Shankopotamuses.

Camilla

A Child is Born

The wait is over. For many of you, this is common knowledge. For those living in Fraggle Rock, which is known for poor Wi-Fi, Julie and I had our baby last night. Camilla Ainsley Parr was born at 8:59pm (the witching hour) on November 23rd at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, OH. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 15.5 oz and measured in at 20 1/8 inches long. The hospital is about 6 blocks from our house in the Clifton Gaslight and is the same hospital where Julie and her brother were born. Camilla has a full head of dark hair and is absolutely adorable. Ask anyone; they’ll tell you.

To backtrack, Julie and I went to Good Sam on Sunday, 11/22 (original due date) at 4:00pm to begin the induction process. Fortunately, this overlapped with the Bengals game, so we didn’t have to watch them choke against the Raiders (which would have upset the baby). Julie was given a drug in preparation for the induction drug the following morning. I stayed the night with her and we both slept poorly-Julie worse than me:(

The next morning Julie was given the induction drug at about 7:30 am. Contractions weren’t cooking with fire until around noon and at that time; Julie opted to have an epidural. I am grateful she chose to get the epidural and would recommend all of my male counterparts promote its usage. About 6:30 pm, Julie’s nurse told her to start pushing. I was then told to grab a leg, which was not something that I expected. Julie had originally told me that I I would be able to stand next to her for support (mutual) and that we would not have a mirror to see what was going on south of the border. Well, that notion went to hell in a hand basket fast!!!! So, Julie started the birthing process with me in tow and then the nurse stopped suddenly as the doctor, who was elsewhere, had to go into surgery with another patient. Julie was told to wait patiently. Seriously? Yes, seriously! “Stop having a baby, Julie”.

An hour later, the doctor was back on standby and the pushing resumed. Accordingly, I assumed my position of holding Julie’s right leg as Camilla made way. Please note that Julie played soccer in college and has the strongest legs of all time. Thus, my pecs and shoulders are bruised today from bracing against her foot. Anyway, at this point, the nurses switched shifts, and we got a new nurse named Precious!

For those of you who know me, you’ll immediately recognize that all I wanted to do was make Silence of the Lambs jokes as Buffalo Bill’s dog in that movie is named “Precious”. After telling Julie to “put the lotion on its skin”, I decided to shut up and be serious. As a sidebar, I didn’t want to make a Lord of the Rings reference, as I thought that it might jinx things and make the baby look like Gollum. Anyway, all seriousness and maturity ended when I told the nurse the name of my daughter would be FawnDawnTawny, which as I told her, "was a combination of my 3 favorite stripper names". She laughed so hard she left the room. Precious to me: “You crazy”.

During labor, the only times I misbehaved were when I told Julie all of the things my good friend Joe Meinking used to say to me in college when we were lifting weights, such as: “get some” and “you’re Wesley Snipes”, or “Juice, juice, juice”. I also reminded her of The Office episode where Michael Scott holds up Jan’s baby like in the Lion King. Despite my boyish antics, I was surprisingly calm, steady, and prepared for anything during the birth of the Heiress to my throne.

Shortly thereafter, things really got underway and the doctor was called in. After about two hours, the baby was born and my Mother and Mother in law cheered and cried, while I stared in disbelief that I had created a human being with someone. I cut the cord and we all teared up and began hugging. Texts began to fly and Facebook lit up like a Bar Harbor 4th of July with the news. I would’ve sent out a passenger pigeon, but sadly, they’re extinct.

As I write this post, which you can expect much more from both Julie and me, it is important to note that Julie is spending her last night in the hospital. Our room during the deliver was like the rooms seen in the show House, whereas the recovery rooms are more like an epiode of MASH. Julie is doing great and is in perfect shape, as is Camilla. I am so proud of Julie for being so brave throughout the last 9 months and especially last night. I have never met a more stoic person and am very fortunate to have her in my life. Watching her hold and love that baby is pure magic and gives me great hope for our future!

High-Fives all around,

-Will

Nursery Town

The House is Ready; Baby Coming Soon!

After months of frantic renovation by me and rampant shopping/designing by Julie, the nursery and house are prepared for our soon to be born daughter. We decided to start from scratch with the nursery to maximize its cleanliness and aesthetics. We began by removing the old, drop ceiling, which was a bit of an embarrassment due to its age. With the help of my good friend Joe Meinking, I added a new drywall ceiling, which took about 12 coats of mud to get the seams perfect. It was my first drywall project and subsequently my last. After that, we added new Pella windows, had a carpet bound to soften and pad the room without damaging the hardwood floors, added a crown molding/re-stained all of the woodwork/new windows, and got the closet painted and ready for baby stuff. It should be noted that we have a sink in the nursery closet, which we think is pretty cool. Some also think it makes for a second-floor wet bar.

Julie chose and excellent color palette of soft green along with dark wood and pink accents throughout the room. At a risk of sounding snobby, the money spent at Pottery Barn really paid off in making the room look beautiful and we are excited for the many years to come with all of this new furniture, renovations, and more. My favorite part of the nursery are the Owl decals on the wall.

As we get ready to have the baby this weekend, (or sooner), we would like to thank everyone for their love and support throughout the last 9 months (40 weeks in prego lingo). The gifts, support, showers, not making me go to showers, advice, and overall interest has made us feel extremely fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives. We look forward to adding to this blog as our daughter and family grow and hope that you enjoy the entries and photos to come.

Our next post will have photos of our baby, including her name, and more. Cheers to us all!