Introducing Fintan Bear Dahl Mulligan!

After 24 hours of labor, we are absolutely thrilled to introduce our SON! I'll write the complete story later (as I'm tired and want to rest!) but long story short, he's super healthy, the pediatrician is so impressed with how healthy and active his is, and so far he has been absolutely perfect. Really calm, relaxed demeanor, tolerant of all of the poking and prodding.

He came out pink, with the sweetest cry, opened his eyes and looked at me the second he heard my voice. Jeff cut the chord, we cried and stared at each other in awe.

Fintan was born at 3:44am, September 30th, 2010 weighing 8 pounds and 5 ounces, 21 inches long, and has a blond head of hair. Also, Bear and Dahl are his middle names (just a clarification :).

Thank you again to everyone for all of your love and support-especially the love directed toward our son. We couldn't love anything more.

I will definitely keep updating the blog so stayed tuned for his birth story and adventures with Finny Bear!

Jeff changed his his first diaper!

Mom and Son naptime!

First Family Photo!

He really knows his Mom's voice!

Jeff and his baby boy!

8LBs 5OZs!! 21 Inches! So healthy!

He seriously has the most precious cry!

40 Weeks, 40 Shmeeks

We made it! After the preterm labor scare, it's so nice to reach the full 40 weeks! We thought that if our little guy is anything like Jeff he'd be on-time (if not early)...though the day is still relatively young.

Have been feeling pretty well still. Biked 12 miles yesterday, walked an hour this morning, have oatmeal-raisin cookies baking in the oven, and then, after a nap, I may go to yoga tonight while Jeff is at work. I'm still heading to the bathroom every 30-90 minutes at night due to a little mister using my bladder as a pillow. I am moving a bit slower and my back has started getting a little achy (no surprise there-look at the size of my belly!). Had a few mild contractions late this morning but nothing serious.

Still not feeling too impatient...well, Jeff is definitely reaching his limit. Speaking of my lovely husband, he has honestly made this journey so much fun! I am so grateful to have met and married such a supportive, energetic, caring, thoughtful man.

The weather is FINALLY cooling down too. Dare I say that high-70s feels almost chilly? Because it does! I'm getting soft here in the south.

House is clean, car is clean, bags are packed, just waiting, waiting, waiting. I have really been enjoying my afternoon naps though and our leisurely evening walks with the dogs. Little guy will come when he's good and ready.

Also, while I'm thinking of it, thank you to everyone for your continued love and support! It means the world to us.

Dr Appt

Had our weekly appt yesterday and everything is still looking good. Nothing really new to report-healthy! Will be induced around 42 weeks if he doesn't come on his own before then. Also, as heads up, we'll have the computer with us at the hospital (during labor/delivery) so Jeff will be doing some updates from there.

After our appt we went to a restaurant called Scalini's for dinner. The lore is that their eggplant parmigiana induces labor (something about the combination of oregano and basil mimic the hormone prostaglandin). Anyway, we're not putting too much stock in it but the restaurant is right by our doctor's office so we figured it wouldn't hurt and well, we both had really great meals out of it!

Since we're pretty well prepped for the mister to come, this weekend is far less baby oriented--grocery shopping, cleaning, walking/biking/lifting, and of course watching lots of golf. The seeds we planted are already sprouting so planning on thinning them today. Tomorrow our waffle (for Jeff)/omelet(for me) Sunday and golf (it's supposed to rain so it'll be a low-key day).

39 Weeks

Happy 39 weeks to us! Going on lots of walks, biking, and lifting weights. Had an amazingly delicious meal at an Ethiopian restaurant last night with our neighbor Z. We'd been on the hunt for good Ethiopian since leaving NYC and finally, mission accomplished (It's called Enat, on Cheshire Bridge Rd for you locals :).

Jeff planned a tennis/squash duel at work so the next two nights he'll be working late. Tonight, he and a member are taking on another tennis pro and a member in a squash match and then tomorrow night they'll head to the clay tennis courts for a match. He's so good at keeping things interesting for the members and getting them excited about the upcoming squash season!

Finally planting our fall seeds today, going for a long walk, and then I'll head to yoga this eve while Jeff's at work.

Quilts!

I spent the past week and a half working on a few quilts. I really had a great time making them as I didn't use a pattern. It was such a blast to play with fabrics, colors, and figure out the construction. They all are variations on the same theme-can't wait to make one for Jeff and I! As I spent my days crawling around on the floor, pinning the back to the batting to the top, I spent a lot of time giggling at how much my belly was in the way. Also made me wish my Grandma Dahl lived closer! She's such a great help, though I was able to call and tap into her quilting expertise!

The bottom picture is of a quilt I made a few weeks ago-just a little baby blanket for the mister to roll around on.

We had an appointment yesterday and everything is still going well. He's dropped a little so the doc encouraged me to keep walking. Jeff and I took away from the appt that while we are both feeling patient we'd like to avoid an induction. As a result, we'll start looking into old wives tricks next week-haha!

Last night we attended an outdoor concert at Georgia Tech with our neighbors Mike and Elaine and their daughter Tessa--three cellists and one percussionist really rocking out. It was hot but the group (Break of Reality) was so into their performance that the crowd was drawn in and the heat faded into the background (impressive feat for a 90+ degree day). We then had a delicious meal at a local Mexican joint, Taqueria del Sol.

Today we went for a long walk and checked out a local art festival with the doggies in tow. Hoping to get my spinach, beets, and lettuce planted today...we'll see.

Tomorrow we'll do our Sunday morning ritual: smoothie and coffee, read the NY Times, go for a long walk, then waffles and omelets for a late brunch. In the evening we're heading to the neighbors for Tessa's birthday celebration.

Nice and easy weekend. Hope ya'lls is too!

A Day At Lake Lanier

Patiently waiting to go.

Ginormous Belly!

Happy Jeff and Diego.

Trying out the car seat!


Jeff and I packed up the dogs, and a picnic, and headed to one of the four manmade lakes in Georgia, Lake Lanier. I had been hesitant to go before, due to being a bit of a lake snob, but it ended up being a really beautiful day and the lake was waaay warmer than any Minnesota lake I've been in! Diego was in absolute heaven and Fidel had a great time soaking up the sun as well. Only 13 days until the due date, still feeling great.

It's been a great week here. The nights are getting cooler so we've been sleeping with the windows open and it's much more tolerable to be outside...though I'm still spending most my days inside except for the evening walk. I certainly am tired by the end of the day and my feet are a bit swollen in the evening :)

Monday we had our Baby Bump Brunch at the neighbor's house. It was really a great time. Low-key, heard some great baby stories, and everyone was so generous! Our new neighbors, Dr Jay and Dr Rena, brought homemade samosas and chutney (made by Rena's mother-in-law-though Rena couldn't attend herself)...absolute heaven!! Jeff and I talked to their mother-in-law about our Indian culinary adventures and we picked up some great tips for next time! I realized at the shower that Jeff and I hadn't had a picture taken with both of us in it since I've been pregnant, so that's the picture above from Mike and Elaine's dining room. We felt very loved and appreciative of everyone who came and for Z, Barbara, and Elaine for hosting it.

The dogs had a marathon day at the vet on Wednesday getting all caught up on vaccines and physicals. They are both doing amazing! The vet could not believe what good shape Fidel is in...he seriously kept raving about how great he was. Diego has lost 14 POUNDS since we've moved to Atlanta! He had a few tumors aspirated and they all turned out to be just fatty tumors. ALSO, had my first break as a pregnant lady, the vet cut me a huge deal! Woot woot! I included two pics of the pups in their favorite spot-Fidel loves laying in the sun and Diego loves keeping watch over the neighborhood.

Had a dr appt today. Everything is going well. Blood pressure is in check and she was extremely impressed with the shape I'm in-haha. Jeff just laughed and said, well, this is just Ashley, this is what she does. Also, the midwife said they wouldn't let me go past 41 weeks...SOO...that's crazy. I really have made an effort not to focus on when he'll come but it's pretty wild to know that, at most, in 3.5 weeks, he'll be here. Whoa!

The last pic is a proper 37 week picture (pardon the work-out gear, was getting ready to ride the bike). Holy Belly!

Jeff has been busy at work and is running a ping-pong tournament at the club tomorrow. All the local college football teams are away so there should be a good showing. Free beer, watching golf and college football, and playing ping-pong all day...sounds like a good time to me!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Taters!!

We harvested our sweet potatoes today and were pleasantly surprised as to the number we grew! Now they'll go into a dark, warm place for about 2-3 weeks to 'season' (convert starch into sugar) and then they'll be ready to eat! In the last picture is our lovely neighbor, Barbara. We call her our 'Yoda' as she's the home-grown produce guru (literally, she is). You can really tell how huge my belly is now-shelf belly.

We also had our car seat inspected today at our local fire department. Jeff did a rock-star job at securing it and the fireman even praised him for his mad car seat installation skills! Considering approximately 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly, I know why the fireman was stoked.

Feelin' Groovy

The Indian feast went well on Sunday evening. Jeff and I were both exhausted by the end of it though-it was a busy weekend and the meal was pretty labor intensive but very yummy.

We met with our pediatrician on Monday and he was great. Were able to ask lots of questions and he was really receptive to our new-parent eagerness.

I've been experiencing mild contractions for the last two days. At my appointment today, the midwife said my body is getting ready for labor. The midwife also estimated the little mister to be around 6-6.5lbs right now. His heart rate checked out perfect, my belly is measuring on time for 36 weeks, my blood pressure is still great, and everything else checked out well.

Jeff and I plan of taking it easy all weekend. We look forward to having a relaxing time at home organizing, cleaning, and cooking. Then on Monday, our neighbors are having a "Baby Bump Brunch" for us. Should be a nice low-key event with yummy food and our awesome neighbors. Woot woot!