Plans and Babies Don't Mix

WELL, a lot has happened since my last post.  Let's back up a few weeks.

We hired a photographer and met with her on Oct. 22nd to take some maternity photos.  She was great!  Here are a few of our favorites.  (Please note that all these photos are copyright Stephanie Shirley Photography - please do not copy.)

Many thanks to Stephanie!

After the pictures, we continued to get things ready for the baby's arrival.  My due date was Nov. 23rd, but I was convinced that we wouldn't have a baby until after Thanksgiving.  Lesson #1 of Parenthood: things don't always work out the way you plan. :)

We had a regularly scheduled weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday, Nov. 8th (37 weeks, 5 days), and during the ultrasound the doctor discovered that the amniotic fluid was low.  She recommended that we induce that very day.  Needless to say, we were a little unprepared for that news!  She told us to go home and get our hospital bag (not yet packed!), eat lunch, and check into the hospital.

Dan and I were both a little shocked.  We each called work to let them know that we would not be back for a while! :)

We were all checked in and settled in our room by 1:30 pm that afternoon.  Things progressed very slowly until about 5 am the next morning when the baby decided he was ready to be born!  The doctor just barely made it in time to deliver at 7:03 AM on Wednesday, November 9th (exactly 2 weeks early).

We are happy introduce Harper Tritz Hollingsworth!  He weighed 6 lbs 2oz and was 18 3/4" long.

The following 3 photos are again copyright Stephanie Shirley Photography.

The next couple of days were a whirlwind.  We checked out of the hospital on Friday afternoon.  Harper and I were both healthy and happy to go home!  We've spent the last week enjoying our new little family member.  Here are some highlights from Harper's first week of life.

Sleeping at the hospital.

getting ready to go home...

all set in the car seat.  I think he looks like he's ready for a roller coaster ride.

Hanging out with Dad at home.

After his first sponge bath.  He didn't really love it. :)

Monday (5 days old) - first doctor's appointment.  He was a champ and already regained his birth weight!

These last two are my favorites.  He loves to make little faces!  I could watch him all day long.

We'd like to thank all of our friends and family who have sent us messages of congratulations, flowers, gifts and meals this past week.  We absolutely love our little Harper!

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that we have less than 6 weeks left until this little one joins our family.  We are both getting excited!  The nursery is starting to get full.  And messy.  

And it seems strange to see one of THESE in our car!!

 I'm still feeling pretty good.  Starting to get tired by the end of the day, but other than that, I can't really complain.  This pregnancy has really been a blessing.  Here I am at 34 weeks.

(Almost) 30 Weeks

I can't believe that Wednesday will mark 30 weeks pregnant!  It is suddenly going waaaaayy too quickly!  :)

The little one is kicking up a storm these days.  I'm finally starting to look and feel pregnant. HA!

Here is a photo taken at 28 weeks.

It's starting to feel real!

So many requests for photos lately..... where to start?

Nursery furniture!  It arrived today, and even the room is still empty of decoration, it sure is strange to see this kind of stuff in our house!  :)

(puppy not included)

crib

dresser/changing table

end table

And why not?  a baby bump picture.  This was taken last week in San Diego (22 weeks along).

for Jenna

I did a photo shoot for two great families in our ward a few weeks ago.  I've been promising a sneak peak for too long.  Here are two of my favorites.

More to come, I promise!!

Photoshoot - Family {D}

I had so much fun with this little family a couple of weeks ago!  Here are a few of my favorites!
(click to enlarge)

Week 16

Week 16 update:  my pants don't fit! :)  I've started getting fat... or, as Dan so nicely points out, the baby is growing!  I guess this is a good thing.  I'm definitely starting to feel better - still tired, but mornings are much more pleasant these days.  Next appointment is July 5th - for the anatomy ultrasound.  I'm actually starting to get excited.

In other baby news, after some prodding from our parents, we have registered.  Registering for baby stuff is a lot more stressful than I had thought it would be.  Most of the problem is that we don't know what we will need/use.  Thanks to a few friends on Facebook (thanks, Katy & Meg!), and the Baby Bargains book, I think we have it figured out.  At least for the moment. :)  In case you care, we're registered at Amazon.com,  Baby's R Us and Walmart.  AND we ordered nursery furniture!  You'll have to wait 6-8 weeks to see what it looks like, though.

What else is happening?  Well, we went to our first Astros game (with the Youth Group).  It was a lot of fun, and we stayed for the fireworks afterword, which were awesome!  Way better than a lot of small town firework shows I have seen on the 4th of July.

AND Dan pointed out my first gray hair.  AHH!  I wasn't too pleased about that one.

And what's a post without a puppy picture?