All Hands - Mara Pooped

After coming home from the hospital a couple of hours ago, it was time for the first DIY diaper change. We knew this could get ugly, as she had been gassy all morning, and unfortunately, our beds at home don't have a little orange button that calls a nurse to do the dirty work. I decided to play the role of father on the bed, playing the "Mara is pooping and peeing" song with my guitar; this is an ad hock song with lyrics that progressed with Mara. Because she had clean diapers all morning, Kylie decided to change her diaper as a defensive move to make sure she had not "missed anything" earlier. Little did she realize, the show was just starting. As the diaper was coming off, first came the floods, which were quickly contained by the diaper dam. However, as the cold air hit the tush, Mara paused, then hunkered down to give us the source of her gas. By this point, the song had stopped, and Kylie and my four hands were holding, wiping, cleaning, and containing Mara who had just won round 1.

Lessons of Parenthood #1: The best defense is a good offense.

Cute little Mara

I just posted some new pics and movies. Use the links on the side bar to see all of them.

More Pictures and Videos

Here is a better picture of our precious little girl. With this teaser shot, I am sure you will now feel compelled to view even more pictures posted under the our pictures link (or click here). In addition, we added a videos link with a small, but growing sampling (or click here).

Mara, the Movie, Part I

Mara Hall

Mara Kathryn Hall - 8lbs

Mara Kathryn Hall
8lbs
20.5 inches
Born at 9:30am March 28

The real deal

We are in the hospital now. Kylie is 5-6 cm dialated and doing great!

False alarm

Baby pic

On the brink of a life change

We are on the edge of a huge life change. No, we are not joining the circus or voting for Hillary, but we are having our first daughter within the next week or two. Both Kylie and I think that we would rather it come sooner than later. Not only do I get a week of paternity leave (crack that one up to equal rights) and Kylie gets to walk without a backache, but we are ready to be a daddy and mommy. Now, that said, we have received all sorts of advice in this area, as people feel the need to express their wisdom as experienced parents; in addition, they have no inhibitions to talk about the most personal parts of their bodies and fluids. I have heard to keep them on a schedule from the moment they see the light of day. Formula makes them sleep longer. The poop doesn't really stink until they eat solid food. Labor is not that bad. Epidurals are God's gift to women. The list can go on...

My take on it can be summarized by our first day at birthing class. The teacher separated us into a guys and girls to tackle to talk about our expectations in the birthing experience. While this exercise is only performed in the state of California, the responses from the guys started to grow legs and run to the absurd. The first guy just wanted to support his wife. The next person then had to add that he wanted to support his wife and hold her hand during labor. This continued to escalate until the guy before me said that he wanted to support his wife, hold her hand while look into her eyes, catch the baby, cut the umbilical, give the bath, perform the circumcision, and be out of the hospital the next day. I think it is fair to say that none of us know exactly what to expect and I plan to try and go with the flow.

I will keep this blog updated with the latest pictures, thoughts, and stories, so please feel free to stop by.