1st Bath

On Saturday, Riley got his first real bath. He did really well when we got him in the sink. He was fine sitting in the warm water. It got more traumatic after that.

1 Week Today

So, Riley was very mellow this afternoon, so I had to take some pictures.

Introducing Riley Ellis

He was determined to enter this world with a bang. Riley was born on February 8, 2009, at 3:34 AM after an emergency C-Section. Everything is fine now, he was trying to come out shoulder first, and the doctor was a little worried about his vitals. He was 8 lbs, 1 oz, and 20 1/2 inches long. I'm fine, just a little sore from the surgery, and Brian is being super dad. All of the nurses at the hospital were amazed at how much he wanted to do/help, and of course, they were all charmed by my little man. Ok, no one wants to watch me ramble, here are some pics.

Almost There!!

So, there is only 1 week until my due date. This last week, I have been working on finishing up any last minute things, making sure kiddo has clean clothes, sheets, that kind of thing. Oh, and I finally packed some things for the hospital. I think I have hit the point where I am ready to not be pregnant anymore.

Today, B is putting up the last door (we painted trim/doors). Its been a while since we had all of the doors attached to the house. Maybe now Pepper will stay out of the closets.

Happy New Year

So, its the new year. I have heard a lot of people saying that they are happy that 2008 is over, and I have to admit. Our 2008 wasn't that bad. We had a great trip in April, we found out about the baby, and otherwise the year has been pretty uneventful (not that I'm complaining). 2009 will be better though.


My vacation is almost over, and that makes me a little sad. I've been on vacation since 12-17, and have been working on going through boxes, making piles - trash, Salvation army, 1/2 price bookstore, just trying to get some of the clutter out of the house. B is going to start getting mad, I keep moving stuff around, I think it must have taken 10 minutes to find the coffee filters. oh well.


Alien baby is doing fine. I'm 35 weeks now, (out of 40), so only a couple of weeks left. B and I took some pictures, Pepper thought she needed to help. On wednesday (the 31st) we took a tour of the maternity wing where I am going to deliver, and filled out a lot of the paperwork to "pre-admit" me.

Merry Christmas

To all who found our little spot on the web from the Christmas card, welcome.

This year has been quite a year. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary in January. We went to Hermann, MO, and stayed in a B&B for the weekend. It was really relaxing, however there was an ice storm a few days earlier, and when we were leaving, the weather was questionable. Thankfully we made it home ok. In April we visited the beautiful country of Ireland. If you scroll down, you will see pictures and be able to read stories. To sum, it was great, and I would recommend it to anyone.

In June, we learned that we were expecting a new little person (still a surprise baby). February 7th is coming faster than I thought it would. Brian and I have been working on the house, trying to get all of the little home improvement projects done. It's getting close, we may just make it. Right now the baby's room looks like a disaster area, with boxes and stuff sitting around. I have time off until the end of the year so, I suppose I will try to get stuff straightened out.

Work for me has been crazy. As I am pregnant, I'm not working in the lab, so I've been writing reports....for the last 6 months. We had a huge project that got finished up the end of September, and then its been smaller projects with tight deadlines. Brian is working on finishing up his Ph.D. (hopefully in May). He finished up all of the course work, but is now working on his dissertation, and teaching a few undergraduate classes.

Brian and I hope that you have a great holiday season, Merry Christmas.

Pepper vs. The Wrapping Paper Tube

So, last year, we noticed that Pepper really enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper tubes, along with pretty much anything you gave her, egg carton, random collapsed boxes, paper towel tubes....