Meeting Andrew

Julia was so excited to meet Andrew!

Here he's meeting his Grammy and Grandpa for the first time:

And here is the new family of four, together for the first time.
 

Introducing Andrew Davis Holman

Born May 19th, 9:37am
8 pounds, 1 ounce
20 and 1/2 inches

Andrew and Mommy are healthy and doing great. More to come soon... 

40 Weeks and 5 Days Pregnant

No picture today, as my belly surely wouldn't fit in the frame it's getting so huge. Yes, I am still pregnant, and just wanted to report that all is well thus far, although I am definitely ready to meet our son. (Still sounds quite strange to say "our son"!) I'm feeling great, and don't tell, but I feel like I could go on for another few weeks if I had to. I am so lucky to have had such a smooth pregnancy. My next doctor's appointment is on Thursday and we'll find out more then, but I have a feeling this little (big?) boy is doing just fine in there. He's certainly continuing to move about a lot. They will probably request that I schedule an induction for next week sometime. Hopefully it won't be necessary! Wish me luck...

Play Date

Another hot afternoon! We had a fun playdate this afternoon with Julia's friends. Here she's in the pool with Gwendolyn and Sawyer.

And here are the mommys, Cristina, Stacey, and Kristen, along with Jackson who was taking a break from the pool, and the two new babies Cooper (Sawyer's brother) and Chloe (Gwendolyn's sister.)

Mother's Day

With Mother's Day falling 3 days past my due date, we hadn't made any big plans, but decided to have everybody over at the last minute for a very casual gathering in the backyard. It was a hot hot hot afternoon, so we got out the wading pool and let the kids strip down, which they loved. I like this picture to capture the essence of Mother's day, because it shows Andrea and I with our big pregnant bellies and our adorable kids having a blast.
 

Watching Daddy's Softball Game

 

Due date today, but no baby yet

The long awaited May 11th is finally here, but there's no sign of baby yet. Fortunately I've been feeling great, so I'm in no hurry. He will come when he is ready. Julia is getting impatient, though, and periodically says/yells "Baby Brother Come OUT!" I think she understands what is about to happen, although I'm sure she has no idea of the extent to which the baby will affect her life. She is absolutely facinated by all the babies we encounter (at the mall, at play dates, in gym class, on the street, etc.) and I have a feeling she will be a very involved and helpful big sister. Anyway, here is a picture of me, practically bursting, as of this morning.

Julia and Nathan in a wagon

Julia and Nathan shared wagon rides at a couples shower for Andrea and Craig's new baby girl, hosted by Andrea's friend Erica at a Los Gatos park. It was a great party and Nathan and Julia had fun playing together. 

Music: Cute Julia anecdotes

Last night Jeff and I were talking about all the cute and amazing things Julia's been doing lately, and wishing we were writing some of them down somewhere so that we wouldn't forget. Hence this entry about music.

Julia loves music, and Jeff and I each have CDs in our car that we play all the time. She loves Baby Beluga and will start yelling "Baby Beluga!" practically from the moment she sees the car. So we start at track #7. (Who knows what's on track #6, we never get back around to it!) When the song ends, she knows what the next song is before it starts, and yells out the name of the song (or her name for it, at least.) She is always surprising me by knowing what the next song is, when I have no idea. She really pays attention! She also makes a lot of associations that surprise us. When a song about lions came on in Jeff's car, she said "Roar" and then said "zoo". When "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" came on in my car the other day, she yelled out "Gym class!" where we sing that song every week. She is so smart! She has also taken to yelling out "louder!" when one of her favorites comes on. (She doesn't seem to know "softer" yet. Loud is so much more fun.)

At night during the bedtime routine, she loves music too and will often ask us to sing "Wheels on the Bus" by saying "round and round" and moving her arms in circles. When we put her in her crib at night, she's lately taken to saying "Ei-ei-o? Ei-ei-o?", a request for Old MacDonald. We think this is a stalling tactic to see if she can delay our departure, and it nearly always works. : )

Backyard snacktime

Friday afternoon was sunny, so we brought our popcorn snack out into the backyard and settled on a beach towel. Julia loves playing in the backyard. We are so pleased with the layout of our new house which makes access to the backyard so easy (vs our last house, where you had to go through the master bedroom!)