Sweet 06'

When Charles lived in Los Angeles, he drove a white Mazda Miata. Now he drives my maroon Mazda 626 (woh, woh, woh... here comes Debbie Downer!) In tribute to his lazy days, coasting in the California sun with the top down, his friends Matt and Susan made Lucy this uber-adorable onsie. Lucy can't wait until she can drive her own Miata!

(Charles) - Nothing like living vicariously through your seven week old daughter - look at how much fun she is having just wearing the shirt...imagine if she was actually driving one!

busy weekend

baby and mama

Lucy and I were bored this afternoon, so we decided to take some pictures. I still haven't mastered the one-armed shot yet, hence the off-center pictures.

Big Girl

Lucy's weight has not been an issue since about the second week after her birth. She has fattened up quite nicely. Today she weighed 11 lbs 5 oz. That's 3 lbs in one month! I think it went straight to her legs and cheeks. I love chubby babies. Here she is striking a pose in her papasan. She still hasn't decided if she likes it or not.

New Friend

Lucy made a new friend recently. His name is Preston and he was born on Labor Day... about a week younger than Lucy. She likes the younger men : ) Here they are napping in the same pose. Aren't they cute?

Pics

Lucy in her big-girl bibs with Grandma Penn and Peris

Great Grandma Maly and Lucy hanging out

Dad and Lucy... can't you tell how much she loves the bottle?

Grandma Judy came to visit for a few days last week. Lucy loves her grandma!

Lucy and her best friend Mallory a couple of weeks ago

Thanks Gus, Loretta, Brad & Carol

Thanks-you for the great food (hiccup) and wonderful desserts (burp)! While Mom keeps losing weight, somehow Dad is actually finding it - and I don't think he is really looking that hard (or looking past the cake and cookies).
Love, Lucy

Thanks Bruce!

Fellowship + gourmet dinner makes for a great evening. Thank you Bruce.
Love,
Lucy

What a difference a year makes

A year ago...




















Now...

























HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

One Week Old

Miss Lucy enjoying her vibrating Papa San for the first time. Also, in a bunny stare down contest, Lucy has learned early that the bunny always wins...

I can't stop taking pictures of my Girl with her Dad. Aren't they the cutest? By the way, Mount Lucyna was erupting during the taking of this picture, hence her smirk.

Miss Lucy turned one week old today. I can't believe how big she has gotten in that short time span. We were concerned about her weight drop after she left the hospital, so we were taking her to be weighed every other day. I was more than estatic today when we learned that she gained a little over five ounces since Thursday. She's eating much better and, in turn, sleeping much better - Mom and Dad are happy campers. Her personality has already started to show as well. For the most, she is very content and easily pleased. I think that she's going to be a pretty easy going kid (knock on wood).

Her Aunt Vadsana and Aunt Sue stayed over Friday and Saturday night. They were a blessing to Charles and me. We were able to get a consecutive two hours of peaceful, restful sleep. Sleep has never felt sooooo good.

Thank you Grandma Penn, Great-Grandma Maly, Papa, and Grandma Boo Boo for bringing us tons of food this weekend. We love you guys!

Still Alive Though Sleep Deprived

Yesterday I attended my first breastfeeding support group. According to the other women there I was pretty brave for taking Lucy to class at 3 days old. Believe me, I felt I was there out of sheer necessity. Still she's been doing pretty well and starting to understand the whole routine-thing, even if she's not quite ready to follow it yet.

We've been taking it easy since we got home, just reacquainting ourselves with each other. Ted has been better around her than I thought he would be. The last couple of nights Lucy's kept him up, and I swear that at times I can see him rolling his eyes at her. Charles has been amazing. It seems that he knows just what to do to get her settled. I am sad to think of him heading back to work next Tuesday : (

He is already a wonderful father (like I knew he would be), and Lucy is a very lucky girl. Here is my favorite shot of the two of them together so far.

Pics

Well, here are some of the shots that we have from the hospital.

Lucy's extended family.


Aunt Vadsana and Cousin Maly


Aunt Supavan - got there just in time.


Emily - I thought you just had a baby and knew how to comfort them!


Already sucking up to Grandma.


Great-grandma Choummaly - a lot of love and advice for our girl.


Yes Grandpa, I did my homework and brushed my teeth.

Welcome Lucyna (Lucy) Chidsouphin Horton!

(loo-cyn-ia chid-sue-pin)

A whole 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long!

The image captured here is during the 5 minutes that she wasn't screaming during the first 24 hours...but she has gotten a lot better and we are taking it day by day. She loves to have her hands up by her ears - she came into the world with her left hand on her face. She was an easy labor - only 16 hours long ;-)
Both Mom and Baby are doing well. Dad and the dog are having a hard time sleeping...

One Day Left!

Okay, so tomorrow is the "official" due date. We went to the doctor yesterday and I am still 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. The only change is that she has moved further down and is stationed at a +1. Braxton-Hicks contractions come pretty regularly, but as of yet, no baby. Pregnancy has been very good so far and continues to be very enjoyable, thankfully. Here is another side shot, and as you can see Charles and I grow can grow decent-sized little people.

Cocktails and Dreams

Dinner out at Frondizi's, then putzing around the Plaza with friends.

Laura, Nanthida, and Vadsana

Will, Charles, and Adam (aka Frank the Tank) at the casting call for 'Hardbodies 4 - Midwestern Dreams' - they are still waiting for the call back.

Wanna-be Martha Stewarts

Charles and I spent Monday and Tuesday repainting the guest bedroom and hallway bathroom. We thought they turned out pretty nice, so decided to make a headboard for our bed. We already had two extra doors in the basement, so all we needed to do was purchase the batting and fabric. Sunday we put it all together. It was super fun and cost us less than $65!

By the way - we still have seven doors in the basement in case anybody is feeling creative...

A cry in the wilderness

OK - so I am going to start blogging. A lot of times, the husband is a little overlooked in the whole baby process - so I have decided to be the voice of the people - the men of the world.

First of all - we can all agree that when mama is happy, everybody's happy. Given that, here are a few responses to avoid as a man responding to a pregnant wife:

Q. Does this dress make me look fat?
A. No - your butt does.
Correct answer: No, the BABY does.....make you look beautiful.

Wife: My feet (back, arm, eyelash, fingernail) hurts.
Husband: Sucks to be you.
Correct answer: There is none...unless you want to spend the next hour rubbing it.

Wife: Plug your nose, the baby has gas.
Husband: What crawled up your butt and died?
Correct answer: How can something so wrong...smell so right. I love you and can't wait to have that baby.

I hope you have all benefited from all that I have learned in the last nine months. More to come...Charles

btw - don't say anything about this to my wife.

It is "Worlds of Fun"!

A couple of months ago Charles' company sponsored family day at Worlds of Fun. Even though I was restricted to the ferris wheel (I'm afraid of heights) and the train (snooze) we still went because of the food. Charles even managed to get in a few rollercoasters. Of course, this was before the catered lunch and extra greasy funnel cake (yummy!). Here we are at the park with our friends Will and Laura.

She's a Very Active Girl!

Our little girl has incredibly acute hearing, and as you'll see, becomes very active when she hears the chime on the front door. I still can't discern one body part from another, especially as she moves them all at the same time. I like to think of myself as Sigourney Weaver and of her as my little alien baby!

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Belly Picture

We haven't been very good about taking the month-to-month belly shots, but we finally have one to document my gi-normous, swollen belly that appears to look more like an appendage! This was taken at 37 weeks, so according to my math skills, that's about a pound a week... very interesting.