Welcome Cousin Jack!!

We're officially Aunt and Uncle now :-) Jack Michael McCoy was born 3/20/08 at 10:35pm. He weighed 7lbs 15 oz and was 22" long. Here's a picture of him... We can't wait to meet him!!!

It's all about Emma

Emma 3.5 months old already!

at 2.5 months...


So, now that our life solely consists of meeting Emma's every need...it's a lot of fun!! She's starting to smile and coo and definitely recognizes us - so awesome! I still don't know how people have more than 1 child, but maybe we'll get there eventually. I'm back to work 3 days a week, and working from home so that is just so amazingly helpful. I love my job and it just makes the 'separation' so much easier. Looking forward to warmer weather coming our days - it's been a rainy few days, but maybe that will help the flowers grow!!

Happy Valentines Day - 2/14/08

Emma's Nursery

Before...

After...

Thought I'd share Emma's nursery photos - finally! It was quite a bit of work - but so worth it... even if she may never remember it!

The room was our office..so first we had to clean it out and prime the walls.

Next, Mike painted the "sky" and "grass"


Then he used his projector to trace the images onto the wall..


This took a while


Then, we started to add colors


The Sneetches


Horton


Sam I Am


Yertle the Turtle


The Lorax


Done!


The Closet


Bookcase

Meet Emma Joelle!!

It's been a few weeks since posting - and the baby shower came just in time! Wed (11/28) I went to my Dr for my weekly visit and my BP was up again so my Dr sent me to the hospital for some monitoring (I had done this the month before so didn't think too much of it.) Well, they had some question about some lab results and sent me home to do a 24 hr urine collection - lovely! Then I was to go back for another non-stress test on Thursday night. Mike had grad school on Thurs so Mom brought me in to the hospital and after they began the NST, the nurse came in and told me to get in a gown - I was like uh oh! But, Mom thought maybe this round of nurses just did things a little differently...wrong! Next thing I know the nurse comes back and says you've developed pre-elampsia and your Dr is on her way over and I think they're going to induce you. WHAT??? I was not at all expecting that! I was pretty much thinking I had another 5 weeks to get ready - baby room, house cleaning, baby clothes washing, etc. But there was nothing I could do and just layed in the hospital bed while they hooked up the IVs, BP cuff, baby monitor, etc.. I was pretty tethered down - so much for the array of birthing positions we learned in our 2 lamaze classes (didn't even get to finish our classes...). The Dr said I was a walking example of how fast one can get sick during pregancy - and here I thought since the pregancy was so icky it would be easy at the end - ha! Mom called Mike at school and had him come right away...neither one was telling me what my BP was...later I learned it peaked at 199/155 - I didn't know it could go that high! So it was a fun night of sucking ice chips (did I mention I had a terrible cold and sore throat - good times!), having the BP cuff go off every 15 minutes and throwing up (the magnesium sulfate really makes you feel crappy). In the morning (Friday) they started pitocin and after my Dr insisted I get an epidural (best decision ever) around 10am - the day progressed a bit better than the night b/c my back finally stopped hurting. And then it was all worth it when little Emma Joelle was born, 5 weeks early, at 8pm Friday night - 5 lbs 10 oz and 18" long - a perfect premie! So thankful she didn't need any help breathing or anything! B/c of my condition I stayed in Labor and Delivery until Saturday night - constantly monitored, but able to have a few visitors. Of course Mom, Dad, Heidi, Brad and Clarissa all came right away. Katie, Bronson and Dave, Sandy & Sawyer came by on Saturday to help us pass the time :) The nurses were super nice and let Mike stay all 3 nights I was there. Emma and I were both discharged on Sunday and we got home around 8pm. Today she's two weeks old - has her days and nights a bit mixed up - but I'm happy to hold her through the night...she won't be this little for long! Never knew quite how much someone so tiny could change everything - but she's done a pretty good job. Mike just loves her and can't wait to get home from work each day to hold her - he's also pretty good at changing diapers and singing her back to sleep :) Anyways, this is quite long enough - I'll add some pictures here but you can see more at my webshots page (community.webshots.com/user/mjmccoy)

Bye for now!

Hour or two after birth, up in the nursery

Ready to go home on Sunday - bitter cold!

Looking at Daddy

First sponge bath

Little cutie pie

Watching Momma

The new family with Grandparents

A Baby Shower!

Clarissa put on a beautiful Dr Seuss themed Shower for us! We had lots of great food, some very interesting games (like me having to hold a baby doll, talk to Mike on the phone and hang wet towels... I think I did pretty good :)), and lots of beautiful gifts! Babies sure need a lot of stuff - but with about a month to go we're getting down to the final preparations - so much fun!!

A month of Birthdays

Wow so October has come and gone very quickly. The dark mornings were starting to get very icky so it was nice this morning that 5:45 wasn't pitch black :)
In baby news - we have a little less than 2 months to go!! Besides feeling like I can hardly move or breath things are good :) Have had some high BP though and my Dr decided it would be best for me to be home resting, not at work, so as of today I'm out of work until well after the baby's born. Wasn't quite expecting this, but my boss has been fantastic and I'm so relieved to not have that extra stress right now - can rest up and hopefully even get the house in working order...maybe :) We've (meaning Mike) started working on the nursery - I'll post pics soon.

We have a lot of October Birthdays in our family...first it was Clarissa's 24th.


Then Bronson's 30th



On the 29th, Heidi turned 15!!

Alpine Slides

Howdy! Well we had another gorgeous weekend~ almost a bit too warm, but can't complain! Several of us went over to Jiminy Peak where we had a fun day on the mountain. I got to ride to the summit on the comfy chairlift, but the rest of the rides were pretty much off limits for a pregnant lady :) It was fun watching everyone else though.


Almost Everyone


Mountain Coaster




Mike and Brad on the Chairlift


Looking down from the Summit


Bopping time :)

I'll post the rest of the pictures on my webshots page - community.webshots.com/user/mjmccoy (or the link is on the right side of the page). Toodles!

Labor Day Weekend

Mike and His Folks at the Norman Rockwell Museum


Little town of Stockbridge, MA

What absolutely gorgeous weather we had this weekend! Couldn't have asked for a better "end" to summer. Mike's folks were out and we went over to Stockbridge and Lee, MA to the Norman Rockwell Museum and outlets :) Had Sunday Dinner at Mom and Dad's with the family as well as Tina and Justin & kids (Clarissa's sister and family) and Simon S. We went for a nice walk down by the Mohawk River later in the day. Today Mike has continued to work on our kitchen - we're remodeling a bit - now just to wait for the new counter-tops and sink - then we'll be cookin' :) He starts back to school tomorrow although his student's don't come until Thursday. Back to early mornings! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!


Sunday Dinner

Quick Trip to Maine

We went to Maine for a long weekend and had a wonderful time!! Lots of good seafood, warm weather, cool ocean breezes, walk on the Marginal Way, Trolley Rides, Lobster boat and of course the trek to LL Bean :) Also got to meet the nice folks in the meeting in Gray, ME. It was a bit unseasonably warm - but no rain and mostly sunny skies.


Lobster Boat Tour


Waiting for a table at Billy's Chowder House


It was worth the wait - yep I ate both :) One for me, one for baby :)


Mike ready for a feast!


Perkins Cove at Dusk

Unfortunately, this weekend a very special worker died - so we'll be at the services at the convention grounds for that today. "And we have their simple message, though they've entered into rest - God's own patient, loyal bearers of the cross..."