Happy Halloween!

Henry was going to be a crying baby for Halloween, but then he did well for the photo shoot! Happy Halloween!

Oma and Opa's Visit

Last week, Henry got to meet his maternal grandparents, Oma and Opa, for the first time. He loved their visit and was glad that Oma could stay extra long to help take care of him. His mom was glad she stayed too! Henry got to hear lots of stories and had to endure hours of bad football on Saturday (both Purdue and MSU lost). While Oma was here, Henry even took his first bottle - hooray!

Henry also went to the doctor on Monday and got a clean bill of health. He is growing, having returned to his birth weight and added a 1/2 inch to his length. And he survived get his first shot, he barely cried. He even wowed the nurses by throwing up on the exam table and peeing on the scale....thank goodness he is so cute!

And for all who have wondered how Dasher is taking all of this....so far so good. He was perplexed by the crying at first, but now doesn't seem to mind. He has given up sleeping in his crate in our room, since he learned his sleep is interrupted. He is definitely intrigued by Henry's smells, too.

On the next post, we'll share pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Franke's visit.

Freaked out new parents head out into the wild for the first time...

The president of the local chapter of the Overprotective Parent Brigade heads out on patrol this afternoon with Deputy Dog Dasher and our very own Bubble Boy, safely ensconced beneath mosquito netting. -MF

Henry at home and Baby Pool update

It's crazy to think that only 5 days have passed since Henry was born. We came home on Sunday morning and we all have started to adjust to our new surroundings and schedules. Henry is probably adjusting the easiest...all he needs to do is sleep, eat, breathe, etc. Mark and I, on the other hand, knew there would be sleep loss, but didn't quite know to what extent. Man, it is brutal! Things are getting smoother and we look forward to the Bayes parents visit this Friday and the Franke parents visit starting on the next Saturday.

Also, there is a winner in the Baby Franke Family Baby Pool. This summer 35 family members guessed the sex, birthdate and weight of baby to be. Guesses were evenly split between girls and boys and birthdays ranged from 10/3 to 10/25. I don't know if it was/is a new found mother's intuition, but I won the pool by guessing his sex, date, and weight exactly right. So, we'll have to keep the generous cash prize. :-)

Welcome to the world, Henry Martin

What a day! Henry Martin joined our family at 10:20 am weighing 7 lbs, 14 ozs, 21 inches long. The whole experience has gone very smoothly; we are truly blessed! And the best part is that Henry is a sweetie....he naps like his dad already!

Last Day as an only "child"

Today was a big day for our dog Dasher, unbeknownst to him. For the last 22 months, he has been our only "child" and as most of you know, has required the investment equal to a child too. So, today was the last day he got our undivided attention...which amounted to a long run last night with Mark, a long walk this morning with me and many treats. Here is ready to go to J Canine, one of his favorite dog hangouts when we are away. We plan to introduce him to his "sibling" early next week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Nursery Pictures

Thank goodness I turned on the camera today to capture a few pictures of the nursery since I found the battery to be dead. Yikes...I can't imagine discovering that at the hospital!

The nursery is still a work in progress.....going gender neutral allows you to do some decorating, but a lot of the wall art will be completed once we know if this one is a miss or a mister. I also tried to go out on a limb and get drapes made, but I wasn't successful in my efforts, so a valence that goes with the bedding set is on order. Hopefully you can get a sense of what it looks like.

First Entry

Wow, my own blog. Never thought I would be starting this venture, but it makes sense for easy updates for family and friends. We are t-26 hours until we go to the hospital to be induced, unless something happens beforehand, which I doubt at this point. Crazy to think in two days time., we'll be meeting our first born child! I am ready to get this show on the road. Hopefully more to come in a few days.