Visit from the Reid Ladies

Our friends Erica and Tricia Reid came up from Vicksburg for the afternoon on Thursday! Erica lives in Chicago and I know she is enjoying the warm weather here. We had coffee and visited while Delia slept, and Delia woke up right before they left for a little awake time.

I took Delia with me to the office for a few hours on Friday, just to see how she would do and to make sure that I can figure out the car seat by myself (and because I needed to get OUT of the house). She fussed at first, then slept for the rest of the 15-minute ride. I brought her car seat inside and she slept in that for an hour or two while I met my new student intern (who has been working for 2 weeks now) and went over some logo designs. Delia got fussy as it got closer to feeding time, so we wrapped it up and went home before too long. She is still sleeping for 3-4 hours at a time, so we are feeling pretty lucky. Especially after talking with my friend Amy Aarhus, whose baby Jack is 7 weeks old and is sleeping an average of 2 hours at a time. Yikes!

Visit from Great-Grandma

Grandma Nolan and Aunt Nanette came up from Yazoo City for a quick visit today. Since it was 70 degrees (severe weather on the way tomorrow), we were able to sit outside for a while - a brand new experience for Delia. I think it has been dreary and rainy every day since she was born!

Gotcha!

Delia's hands and arms flail around all the time. She throws her hands in the air when she is done eating and constantly moves them all around her face. She has been trying to catch her thumb whenever it passes by, but hasn't had much luck. Now that she has caught it, we may need to get some kind of baby face guard to keep her from poking her eye out.

2 Weeks Old

Waking up is hard to do

Swaddled up

Delia had her 2-week check up yesterday and now weighs 8 lbs, 4 oz. The doctor said her weight gain was phenomenal, and whatever we are doing, keep it up! She is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. She is also letting us sleep a good bit. Last night we got 8 hours - not all at once - but still 8 hours! She has had a stuffy nose the last few days and that has made sleeping and eating (her full-time job) pretty difficult. She slept in her bouncy seat last night and being elevated helped her breathe much better and get some good sleep.

Grady and I are now on our own with Delia. My parents were here the first week cooking 3 meals a day and helping clean. Then Grady's mom came to visit for 4 days, which was a huge help because Grady got some kind of flu-like virus and could not even go near the baby for a few days. I am doing a tiny bit of work from home, but mostly just trying to keep Delia fed, diapered, and in outfits that don't have too much spit up on them.

Last weekend, Wes, Jennifer, and Cousin Wesley came to visit. Jennifer and I hung out with the babies while the Daddies went to the MSU-Ole Miss basketball game. Baby Wesley is 4 weeks old in these pictures.

Baby swap!

You look like trouble...

Cuties!

And last, but not least, Miller and Buddy!

More pictures of Delia

Smoochie, smoochie

Who needs a crib?

Mommy's swaddling skills are getting better, but I can still wiggle free.

Here is a picture for those of you that check this page just for updates on Buddy...or Curtis.

First days at home

"First a bath, followed by lotion? Don't they know it is FREEZING in here?"

Recovering nicely from bath time.

"Miller told me that this is the person to see about cookies and toys."

"Just hangin' out in the crib, or bassinet, or whatever this thing is called. Think y'all could find any more pink stuff?"

Miller and Buddy are learning to keep each other warm. They look only slightly bitter about this new arrangement.

Delia braves the cold...

We got to go home today around 1pm. It was pretty cold outside, so we bundled her up as you can see above.

Then, we realized that she would barely fit in her car seat with all of her clothes...of course, we are not very good at operating any of this stuff yet. Despite how the outfit makes it look, I am pretty sure that her limbs are not even outside of the seat belts. We will post some more pictures as soon as she does something cute. We want to keep you wanting more.

Delia Claire Dixon

Delia was born at 8:30pm on Thursday, January 17. She weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz and was 20" long. Everyone is doing fine.

D-Day

Here we are. January 15. Should be Delivery Day, but looks more like Sit Around Having Contractions Day. I've been having them since Friday night. At one point Saturday night, they were 6 minutes apart for about 45 minutes. Then I got up to do something and they went away. At my doctor's appointment Monday morning, he said I am 70% effaced (which means things are thinning out, for all you people who are not pregnant), but less than 1 cm dilated. He said he will schedule me for another check up in a week, but I don't think there's any way I will last another week. The contractions woke me up about every 30 minutes last night - not fun. So I am laying low at home today, checking on work stuff on my laptop.

Advice I have taken:
"Eat some spicy food!"
Went out for Mexican food Friday night (ate too much) and felt awful afterward. Daddy said it was just "the Mexican Bloat."

"Have a glass of wine!"
Had some Saturday night. Sooooo good, but still no baby.

"Take a walk!"
This weekend we took the dogs for a walk Saturday and Sunday. I haven't been walking in at least 2 months because it just plain hurts, but I did it anyway. Buddy is a good walking partner for me because his short legs make him pretty slow. I have to pay attention to him though, because he likes to walk right underfoot and I can't see him due to my huge belly. It felt good to get out and about, but still no baby.

We will keep you posted....

4 Days Left

When Grady told Mark Stevens that the baby was never going to get here, Mark said that maybe she would just graduate in there, and he sent this picture: Melissa in 18 years.

7 Days Left

Thank you to Grady for the big belly progression. Apparently he was so excited about classes starting back today that he couldn't sleep last night.

On Monday, my doctor asked if I was still working and I told him "Yes, but I try to sit at my desk and put my feet up all day." He said "Where can I get a job like that?? Do you need help?"