Teo's First Month

So I haven't posted in about 14 months. . . because my last post was about being ready to have the baby, and he is now 14 months. I've decided the blog is the best way to keep track of our family's comings and goings, so I'm going to try to catch us up. We'll see.

Matthew Donald Barry, now known by most close to us as Teo, was born at 7:38 am on Monday, July 22, 2013. Prince George also came into the world on that day, which is pretty fun--I was personally competing with Princess Kate, not sure if she was competing with me or not, but I won the race--Teo came before George.

If you don't like labor stories, stop reading. I'm pretty sure I had the easiest labor in the history of humankind. I was induced because Teo was 5 days overdue and our doctor was leaving town in two days. After they started the inducement juice (whatever it's called, I can't remember) I moved along pretty quickly. I got an epidural. My blood pressure got so low they were worried, so they put me on oxygen. After that I sort of drifted in and out of sleep, but I kept progressing. I think I took a nap while in labor. :) Suddenly the baby was ready to go. I pushed three times total. After the first couple of pushes his head was out, and the cord was around it, so the doctor snipped it. One more push and Teo was there in all his glory. I was SO excited to meet him and hold him on my chest.

Here I am in my eighth month.

Welcome to the world!

Proud Daddy

Dancing at Aaron's wedding--Teo was 2 weeks old!

A baby boy--the perfect accessory to any swanky outfit.

Teo at 2 weeks before doctor's appointment.

Daddy reading to our newborn boy.

Peekaboo!

The Barrys came when Teo was 2 days old. Hollie was so ready to be an Auntie!

And these two were okay with being grandparents, I guess. . .

Matthew Bright holding Matthew Barry

Grandpa likes to style hair--did he miss his calling in life?

Three generations

I loved being pregnant at the same time as Rachel. Baby Carson has always given us a fun preview of upcoming developmental milestones and was Teo's first contemporary that he interacted with.

Tummy time: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! 

When we went for Aaron's wedding Teo had to hang out in the same pumpkin his Daddy took a photo in as a month-old preemie: Teo was not a preemie, so he got stuck. 

Uncle Ben. What would twins be like?

Proud new mommies!

Teo's going home from the hospital outfit. Kind of a preview of upcoming obsessions: he adores dogs!

Ready to Go!

We've checked off each and every item on our pre-baby to-do list. Now we're just waiting. Chris is as impatient as a kid who wakes up at 5:30 Christmas morning and is told he can't open his presents yet.

Here is our newly completed nursery! It is my favorite place in the house. I like to just sit in there. It features:

• Paint color chosen by Christopher (and me),
• Valences sewn by Mom,
• A quilt sewn by Aunt DyAnne, Aunt Brenda, and Grandma Carson,
• The chair we used to rock in with Mom and Dad as kids,
• The bookshelf Dad built when I was little,
• Crib courtesy of Mom and Dad,
• Crib bedding that Aunt Susan mailed up from Tucson because I couldn't get it up here,
• Dinosaur pictures and nubby rug from Target.

The closet is full of diapers, all the baby's clothes for the first three months are washed and ready, the car seat base is installed in our car, our hospital bags are packed, there are lasagnas and casseroles in the freezer, and we want our baby NOW!

It's a Boy!!

Well, it looks like we're adding another strapping male to the family. The technician told us she is never wrong, and this baby is all boy. We're excited!

Batman correctly predicted the sex of our baby last night. We told him to bark twice for a boy, once for a girl, then gave the command, "Speak!" Batman clearly barked twice with no hesitation whatsoever.

 

This shot is taken from beneath the baby's bum. You can see the two legs extending outward, and his little baby junk is protruding between them. Notice the arrow.

 This is my favorite of our ultrasound photos. The baby is engaged in a karate kick. HI-YA!

 One of the outfits we bought as celebration.

Cute hats.

The other side of the outfit we bought

And here is the outfit Christopher picked out. :)

 

I am frosting 150 "It's a Boy!" cookies for my students, fellow staff members, and friends. My students and I will eat my army of babies tomorrow in class to celebrate. They think it's kind of creepy. . . As a collective body, my students correctly predicted that I would have a boy with a clear majority voting for that gender.

To hipster or not to hipster...

Comment on my new look. Super hot or super not. Elisa likes it

Ben...

This is Ben as a hipster. Very sexy!

The Manly Dudes

Despite my best efforts to not become one of those pathetic souls who thinks their dog is a person, Batman's privileges have been expanding. He now sits on the couch with us for evening television. He likes to splay himself out over your lap and start snoring. Batman also now sleeps in our room at the foot of the bed.

Sam and I just discussed how nerdy our family is. What he didn't know, is that Mom and I have determined that our next short story contest will require us to incorporate time travel into the storyline. Yep, it's a good thing I married a football watching man instead of an English major.

See above the manly dudes of the house on the couch. (Cousin Brennan is over for laundry.) Ignore the fact that Brennan is wearing tie dye. He is a hipster who just  got back from a surf trip, so it is cool and passably manly.

I don't have time to make this post better because right now Chris and I are having a race to see who can post faster. He is using the iPad and I am using the desktop. It is thrilling.

Peace out.

Edit: Chris says: It was not I who gave into Batman. Elisa got scared that ghost children were going to eat her so she started letting Batman in the bedroom to protect her. In reality, all he does is stare at us without us knowing and steal and eat Elisa's earplugs. On another note, I now own blue and green pants so I am one of those hipsters.

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day . . . with Batman

Batman looking EVIL. Notice his laser eyes and his threatening paw position.

This one is for you, Grandma Carson! My summer life has been so tranquil and uneventful (in a good way) that I had nothing to post. But for the lack of better material, here are all of the things my puppy did yesterday:

-Jumped on my lap (this is a big dog!) while I was trying to post on Goodreads all of the books I'm reading to make Ben see I am the champion. Got me hairy, gave me a new bruise.
-Was placed outside to avoid more jumping.
-Dug 2 holes by the back patio.
-Ignored me when I tried to get him to dig in his custom-made doggy sandbox. I think he enjoyed watching me dig away, though, and probably thought, "What an idiot."
-Watched while I put down chicken wire over the worst dig spots to discourage digging. Sniffed at chicken wire.
-Attempted to break into the garden (our fence held!)
-Made some pretty new pee spots on our brand new back lawn.
-!!!Stole a chocolate chip cookie from the cookie plate and transformed into Turbo-Dog. We saw a spike in activity after the cookie, then a crash some hours later.
-Watched me put away the cookies and call the vet to see what to do. Listened to me freak out after hanging up because I heard he might vomit sometime today.
-Was placed outside in case of vomiting. Took the opportunity to dig some new holes.
-Splashed in a mud puddle on our off-leash time in the woods.
-Shook most of  mud puddle on to me.
-Refused to leave the woods for 10 extra minutes after I was ready to go.
~~~~~~Sugar Crash, Thank Goodness!~~~~~~~~
-Jumped on me before visiting teaching. I was running late.
-I came back from visiting teaching and looked in the mirror to see a faint dirty pawprint squarely on my boob and hair on my shirt. I am now one of THOSE people with pet hair on them. EWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Here's a video so you can see the Mudbeast in action.