Hangin' with Cousin Mariah!

On Tuesday, August 25th, Mariah came over to hang out with Zac and I for the day. He decided to really start interacting with his mobile fish friends right as she got there. He was smiling and talking and laughing at the little things as they spun around above his head on the swing! These are the first smiles I've FINALLY caught on the camera!

After some playing, Zac got hungry...so I had Mariah give him his bottle...and I discovered this was her first time feeding a kid! She did an awesome job...but didn't want to burp him because he always throws such a FIT when you interrupt his dinnertime. He's going to be like his mom and not answer the phone during dinner when he gets older...HA HA.



After he ate, we went to Cancun for some yummy Mexican for lunch (and Zac slept), then we went to the movie theater to see Julie and Julia (and he slept, then ate)....then we headed to TJ Maxx to get me some non-pregnant jeans! Yay. One size bigger than normal....but that isn't too shabby. Hopefully I'll be back into my pre-pregnant jeans by Thanksgiving! (Then I have the bigger ones to wear on Thanksgiving day for all the yummy food!)

Julie and Julia inspired me to take up a food baking project for the last month of my time off from work and home with Zac. I am going to try to embark on a bread making mission. My goal is to make REAL french bread like we bought on the streets of Paris. I have yet to find anywhere here that makes a baguette like those!!

Zac takes Sanders to a Sheep Herding Lesson!

On Wednesday, August 26th, Zac wanted to take Sanders up to Muncie to visit Ferreh's farm and let him herd some sheep. He'd heard a lot about it from me......so when he asked to take the pup up there, how could I refuse? So, we decked Zac out in his Osh Kosh overalls and headed out to the farm!

When we got there, Sanders was excited as always! He was sooo glad to be back. We had a really good couple of lessons and Sanders seemed a lot more interested in the sheep and wanting to work with me during the lesson while Zac sat on the sidelines as a spectator being quiet and just taking in the good country air!

After the lesson, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Thackery's house and ended up getting to play with a teddy bear while I got to can Tomato Juice for my first time. :)

Zac's first Colts game!

On August 20th, we took Zac to see his first Colts' game! We donned Zac in his Colts outfit from Aunt Lela and headed out! We went to the Colts vs. Eagles pre-season game (no Michael Vick at this game, thank goodness!). Can you believe you have to have a ticket to take a child of ANY age to the game? That's right...a full price ticket. Fortunately, it was a preseason game and our friend Cindy had 2 tickets for sale for really cheap!

Zac did really well with the lights and the noise for most of the time. There were a couple times when the crowd got LOUD and he freaked a bit...but I was able to console him pretty quickly by walking out into the concourse where it was a bit quieter. I forgot how loud Colts games are!!

We also ended up finding out Tony's cousin Ronnie was at the game...so we got to sit and hang with him!

Crabby Zac!

Well, he hasn't been THAT crabby....except for around 8/9ish every night. But I think that is because he starts to get sleepy from the long days we have.

We snapped this picture on Monday at Grandma and Grandpa Thackery's house. I think it is just adorable!

The first 3 weeks with Zac!

It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have already passed since the birth of Zac and we haven't officially updated the blog...so here goes the 3 week catch up!

Seeing as how our son was LOVING his home in what was a very comfy uterus, the doctor mad the decision to induce labor on Tuesday, July 14th. At 9:45AM, they broke my water, and at 10:30AM, pitocin was started to begin labor. After a relatively short labor, Isaac Anthony Halsey was born at 6:40PM at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis. He weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches long with a 14.5" circumference for his head. Below is a picture of us with the doctor about 20-30 minutes after he was born! We were so lucky to have our entire family there to meet the little guy after he was born. I think in total, we counted 16 family members! We even had a cheering section that came in immediately after the epidural was administered and I was at about 5cm dilated!! I love my nieces and nephew! They definitely made the labor process entertaining (which would not have been possible without the epidural!)

Zac came out with a TON of hair...which is always the first comment we get when someone meets the little guy! The other thing he came out with was a touch of jaundice...enough that we had to put him on this device known as a Biliblanket which delivers UV light to break down the bilirubin which builds up and causes the jaundice. Unfortunately, as cute as he was as a glow worm.....it was NOT fun to have to carry him around for 3 days wrapped up in a cocoon with the glow worm light. It made for some challenging feeding sessions and sleep sessions...but we endured through it all. Then we found out the little man was tongue tied which was making feeding a very challenging/sore event. So, we took him to an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist and had his frenulum clipped to fix the tongue tie (lift up your tongue and look at that little flimsy flap of skin that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth...that is a frenulum) and hopefully help with the feeding (as well as possible speech problems in the future). We are continuing to work through this and the guy gets 'physical therapy' now from us, as we try to strengthen his tongue and make it stick out farther than his bottom gum line.

We've also been so lucky to have so many friends/family helping us out by watching the little guy and fixing us food, and bringing us goodies for the kiddo and ourselves. This entire event has really showed us how much love people have in their hearts and we really feel blessed to have everyone in our lives.

Here are some pictures from our first 3 weeks!
A family photo at the hospital
4 Generations of Halseys!
Our little man giving the 'Pickup Truck' wave!
A snooze with Daddy!
In the hospital, the kiddo didn't want to miss a thing! Always bright eyed and looking around!
1.5 weeks old at home with Mom!

Zac rolls over at 13 days old?!?

No, this wasn't a fluke! His umbilical cord stump fell off yesterday (on Day 12), so today was our first day to have some tummy time! I thought perhaps he just did it once as a fluke...but no, he did it over and over, and both to the right and to the left! Do kids do this this early?! AMAZING!

After some chaotic 'nesting', everything is ready! T minus 5 days!

I can't believe it is July already. YIKES! 5 days until the due date...and we are so excited. Tony asks almost every night "I wonder what he'll look like?" We got a little bit of a glimpse at the ultrasound at week 36 (seems like that was FOREVER ago!). Looks like he is going to have a head of hair and chubby cheeks!!It has certainly been anything but a boring final few weeks leading up to now....it all began the day before the hail storm when our AC wasn't cooling....and we had to put 2 lbs of freon in the unit. The service guy recommended we consider replacing the AC and the furnace. The AC is 14 years old, and the furnace is almost 20. Looks like that is on our 'to do list'...but probably not until a little later...especially after we received the quote from the salesman!! The house is staying cool for now.

Then the hailstorm onset...that left us with needing new garage doors and siding, and possibly a couple of slopes of our roof....thanks to our awesome friend Aaron, he and his brother were able to get out within two weeks of the incident and get us all taken care of. I was worried people would be banging around on the house with a new infant around....which would be even more sleep deprivation for this mom-to-be who needs her 8 hours a night. [Yes, I know, this will be changing dramtically anytime now!!]

While getting the repairs done on the house, we realized just how rotten several of the trim boards on our house were...so we hired our friend Chris to come out and paint all the trim and replace any rotten boards. There must have been at least 20 rotten pieces....it was so worth hiring out!

Then the day after the siding was replaced, I was trying to put some of the finishing touches on the organization of the nursery......and as I was getting ready to put shelving in the closet, I smelled a mildew like smell as my foot touched a 'cold' piece of carpet. That 'cold' was actually damp...no wait, make that WET. The carpet was soaked in the closet. GUH! I then discovered that the water heater was leaking (and likely had been for a while) and had soaked the carpet/carpet pad. Needless to say, we ripped up the carpet and had to buy a new water heater. Thanks to Tony's FABULOUS cousin, we got some fancy new carpet in the nursery. It totally makes me want to refloor the entire house...but that project will have to wait, along with the heater/AC.

After the house decided to stop breaking on us (was there anything left to go wrong?), we finally got the finishing touches put on the room. Tony finished the crib...which is AMAZING!!!!! Doesn't it look awesome with the new carpet and the fabulous rocker? The room is so comfortable. I love sitting in there and just relaxing now. :) Of course, that quiet time is about to be eliminated.....but I'm sure I'll still love sitting in this room!

So, Tony has officially declared me the most expensive 'nester' that the pregnant world has ever seen! I've definitely had my share of 'preparing'....unfortunately, it hasn't been in a super productive cleaning way..the house is still dusty, the floors are dirty...and my office is.......HOPELESS!

As I was getting ready to take my 39 week photo, Sanders decided to strike a pose for Tony. Looking at this picture, I realize how much Sanders really doesn't look like a dog! What is this creature? It looks like a character from a Cartoon! HA!
And, here I am.....getting huger by the day (at least I feel like it!). This is at 39 weeks and 1 day...but who's counting?