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November 26 - December 31, 2008 -- Special VisitorsCorey's first visitors were Grandma Bea and Grandpa Orlin, who visited Corey in the hospital on his very first day! Linda, Terri and Terry visited the newest member of the Laird family at home on Friday evening, Nov. 28th. (No pictures were taken at that time, however.) Uncle Ryan drove from Grand Junction to see Corey in mid-December. (Ryan had requested vacation time around Corey's due date of December 16th.) Great-Grandma Edna, Great-Uncle Steve, and Great-Aunt Linell came from Minnesota to see Corey at New Year's. We got to take a four-generation picture (left). It was great to see everyone and to show-off our beautiful baby! The photo on the bottom right with the Christmas tree was taken at our house during Ryan's visit the week before Christmas. We were so tired and overwhelmed during the first few months, not to mention taken a little off guard because we lost three weeks of preparation time, so we didn't exchange gifts or do anything formal to mark Christmas except eat a lovely dinner at my parents' house, and just enjoy our little one. |
 
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November 26, 2008 -- Homecoming Corey and I were discharged from the hospital at last, and it sure felt good to be home! My mom came over and made us a nice dinner and ran some errands for us. My Dad came over in the evening and brought Casey (whom they had been dog-sitting for us). Casey was very curious about the new baby in his house! Baby Corey mostly just sleeps and eats, and enjoys looking into our eyes when we hold him and talk to him. See more pictures of our first day home here. |
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| November 23, 2008 -- Baby Laird Is Here! Corey Gene Laird gave us a pleasant surprise by arriving three weeks early! (His due date was December 16th.) My water broke at 3:00 a.m., and Corey came into the world at 10:19 a.m. Despite the 3-month Bradley Method natural childbirth classes we had been attending, he was born by C-section because he was in breech position. He weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and we are thankful that he is completely healthy despite his small size and early arrival. If he had been even one day earlier, he would have been considered pre-term. I admit I am biased, but I have to say he is extremely cute and adorable! Pete and I chose the name Corey because we both liked it, and we chose Gene as his middle name because it enabled us to honor two very influential men in our lives: it is Pete's grandfather's name, and my dad's middle name. Going forward, I'm sure this blog is going to be very baby-centric! On the other hand, with a newborn in the house, I may not have time to update this blog at all! You can see more photos of our hospital stay here. |  |
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November 20, 2008 -- Dream Dinners Pete and I spent an evening at Dream Dinners, assembling six meals that we could store in the freezer and have ready to go after the baby arrives and we are too sleep-deprived to cook. It was really great! We signed-up in advance for which of their recipes we wanted to make, and they had all the ingredients ready. All we had to do was show up, follow the directions for each recipe, measure the correct amounts of each ingredient, mix the ingredients, and put things in packages. In addition to providing pre-chopped ingredients, they cleaned our measuring cups/spoons/counters/mixing bowls for us, and provided plastic bags and disposable pans for all the casseroles and sauces, plus peel-and-stick labels for each dish explaining what temperature to set the oven and how long to bake. UPDATE: It turned out that this was one of the best things we did in getting ready for the baby. The meals were delicious, and we could have company over for dinner and not have to cook. I would very much recommend this to expectant parents! Or to anyone, really! |
| November 18, 2008 -- Car Seat Inspection The fire department provides a free service -- inspecting infant car seats to make sure they are installed safely, and if they're not, educating parents how to install them correctly. We had been given a used car seat by a friend and installed it in our car. Although it was installed well, it turns out that because it was over six years old, it is considered unsafe. Not only has the plastic become too brittle to withstand a high-impact crash, more modern car seats have a five-point safety restraint (seat belt), whereas ours only had a three-point restraint. It was kind of a shock to find out that an item we thought was taken care of had to be put on our to do list. We took a few days to research the prices and features of new car seats, and ended up purchasing an Evenflo Discovery 5 model at Target. We practiced getting an infant in and out of the straps with our son's Curious George doll -- he was about the right size, but a little squishier than a real baby. |
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November 15, 2008 -- The Nursery The nursery is well underway! The hardest part of the project was clearing-out all the stuff we used to keep in this room (formerly our guest room and store-all room.). We packed-up lots of clothes and coats for Goodwill (tax deduction!), moved the dresser and desk to the basement for our son to use when he's older, and found other homes for the sewing machine, guitar, gift-wrap supplies, etc. Pete and my dad installed a ceiling fan with an overhead light fixture, painted the walls blue, and put up a wallpaper border. We have the crib and changing table in place, with sheets and a dust ruffle that match the wallpaper. We also bought blue curtains made of black-out fabric, that should not only keep out the bright sun, but also help insulate the room. I love how it turned-out! |
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November 6, 2008 -- Baby Shower #3 Although I am just a "temp," I am so honored, they had a baby shower for me at SecurCare, too. The conference room was decorated with a safari theme (to go with our nursery decor), and people brought in soup, sandwiches and cake. Baby-to-be received even more cute outfits, blankets, toys, books, and other goodies. For more photos, click here. The photo on the right is of the three "preggos" at the office. Of the thirteen people with offices/cubicles on the second floor, 23% of us were pregnant! Or, of the seven women, 43% of us were pregnant! (And all with our first.) |
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 Hostesses Terri and Linda |
 A Diaper Cake! |
October 26, 2008 -- Baby Shower #2 I am such a lucky girl -- Terri and Linda hosted a wonderful baby shower for me. Eighteen people (not including myself) attended. Terri and Linda provided delicious food (look at that spread!), flowers for decoration, baby trivia games, and they had guests decorate onesies for the baby with fabric markers. I received so many amazing gifts! Our baby will definitely be well-dressed, have lots of toys to play with, and will sleep warmly. For more photos, click here. |