The Morning After...

Wow...baby's first Christmas has been a whirlwind. We have spent the past two days at our families' houses (I am quite sure its supposed to be family's.....but there were multiple families and multiple houses....so I gave "families' " a shot) and have learned many new things about having a baby. Christmas Eve was the first time we have taken our son out for the day...and had no idea how long it takes to get ready. We were supposed to be at Meme's between 11 and 12, and given that it takes about 10-15 min to get there....I thought we could leave by 11:30 and be in good shape. So around 10 AM we began the process of leaving for the day. By 12:30 we were actually out the door and headed toward my grandmom's. Did you know that you must multiply the normal getting-ready time by 5 the first time you take the baby out? I did not know this. I multiplied by 3 (giving us 1.5 hrs to be ready to leave) and fell way short. Did you know that if you pick out the perfect little Santa outfit for your two-week old boy that he will pee all over himself as soon as he is dressed (even though he just had his diaper changed)? I did not know this either...but it is true.

Well, we spent a few hours with my extended family that afternoon and things went very smoothly....with the small exception of Orantes getting kneed in the head for the first time (I am sure to be just one of hundreds) by one of his cousins. The good news is that he must have a hard head as he didn't even react to it. Just shrugged it off and went about his day. Yeah, baby....I got a tough one. Next, we went to Lilburn Alliance with Erin's family for the candlelight service and everything went very well. O-daddy stayed in the little carrier thing on my chest the entire time and didn't hardly stir at all. Good stuff. Following the service we continued the Christmas Eve tradition of eating at On the Border (very good tradition) and O-daddy was great there too. When dinner was over, we headed back to the Lightfoot house for big Christmas there. Everyone took turns with the boy and we finally crawled back into the car around 12:30 AM. It was only 12 hours away from the house...and everything went as smoothly as one can imagine....and yet I still felt like I had run into a brick wall by 11:15 PM or so. But we got to do it all over again the next day....so it was great.

Christmas day began around 9:30 with getting ready to go to Mom and Dad's for our side's big Christmas thing. We actually left by 11:15 this time as I decided to organize leaving a little differently. Brunch was great and once again we had a great time with all the family...and AJ did great. 3 for 3....we'll call this a success without question. Around 4 we headed up to Blairsville to Dranny's for the last stop. Dranny is Rock's mom and had not even see Little O yet...so this was the big finale....just ripe for disaster....but there was none to be found. Things went as well as you could hope for a perfect 4 for 4 Christmas Eve and Day.

There was, of course, one problem. You see, this was our boy's first Christmas and should certainly be recorded on film (digitally, of course)...but the moron that is the father (although I did remember to bring the camera to each location) forgot to take any pictures at all of the outfits, the families, the events, etc until we got to Dranny's house. Even then, I managed to take all of 6 pictures. That's right....SIX. Are you kidding me? Its our son's first Christmas and we have 6 pictures to remember it by. And by last count....none of them are of him alone. What a moron. I have included one for your enjoyment at the top of the post. Sorry, but its the best I can do. Please forgive me. I hope Erin does as well.

You Make the Call

I have been hearing for a while now (and I must admit that I agree) that O-daddy doesn't look like his dad....but more like his mom. Obviously this is not a bad thing in any way, shape or form (surely you have seen my wife....WOW), but every dad wants to have his son favor him. I have been told forever that I look like my dad and that has always been a source of pride for me....even though as I grow older I have started to favor my mom's side more and more. Regardless, I was a very ugly baby.....and I have therefor not been disappointed that Little O has not looked like me to this point. However, out of curiosity, I decided to put one of my baby pics (one of the more favorable ones....the only one that I have ever seen that is favorable, as a matter of fact) next to his and see what I thought. The picture of O-daddy is one that is the closest to the same pose as mine....although the double chin on him is deceiving (pic is from below) while mine was completely legit. I'll let you decide if you think he favors me or not....although certain aspects are undeniable (the mouth and lips and the lines under the eyes to name two). I do not have a baby pic of Erin to scan for you to see....so this is not truly a fair comparison....but I thought it'd be fun anyway. Let us know what you think.

Night on the Town

Erin and I decided to go out last night and take O-daddy with us. Erin had been in the house for about 4 days straight and I felt like she needed it....even though the weather wasn't great. After getting O-dawg all bundled up (see pic to come later), we headed over to Babies 'R' Us first (the one off Steve Reynolds Blvd) to get a car seat that Erin had scoped out to be the best around. There was a SuperTarget next door....so we decided to go in there for a few minutes also. I had Little O in a Baby Bjorn (a little carrier that goes on the front of me) which was very fun. He slept the whole time pretty comfortably (I'm assuming) even though I am not real sure how he was able to breathe. We decided to steal an idea from Will and Cat and do separate shopping for Christmas gifts for each other....$15 limit. Once that was over we ran across the street to Circuit City to pick up a couple of movies for my nephews (David's two oldest) and some headphones for my Zune. Erin decided to keep O in the car with her and by the time I got back, she was feeing him....which meant that we weren't going anywhere fast. After a while we drove over to On the Border (courtesy of the Boyd Smith Family...thanks) and placed an order to go. While we were waiting we ran in Barnes and Noble for about 10 min as well. All in all it was a fun night out, even though we didn't get home and actually eat until almost 10 o'clock.

A couple of highlights from the night:
1) While talking about where one of Becca's teammates is from (and why she was being picked up at the Atlanta Airport)...Erin told me that she was from somewhere in North Carolina....you know, where they have the Daytona 500.
2) While in line at Target, a sweet Asian lady asked me if the Christmas card she had picked out was a "good" Christmas card. Upon looking at the card, I realized she had gotten a "Thank You" card that said those words on the front....and the words "....very much" on the inside. Needless to say she couldn't read English....so I took her back over to the card section and showed her where the Christmas cards were. She was thankful. She could have given me the original card...but she didn't.
3) While waiting for Erin to finish at Target...one of the workers noticed that I had a baby on my chest and asked how old he was. Upon hearing that he was 2 weeks old she commented (with a straight face), "Oh, they are so cute before they can talk."

Yes. It was a good night.

Back by Popular Demand (or The Resurfacing of the Hanging Chads)

I have been getting complaints and requests regarding the poll that existed for a short while on this blog that was supposed to help convince my wife how cool the name "Orantes" is. The complaints stem from the fact that the poll was open only a short time (around 24 hours). Many friends and family members have also complained because they were unable to cast a vote or cast an "incorrect" vote due to the complications that existed with the system. It was apparently very confusing....so much so that many were in tears when they realized what they had done (not really). The requests revolve around reopening the poll in some way to let there be a recount. Just so that all are aware....this recount will not have any real impact on the name....as my wife's choice has become official. However, it will go a long way to show her how much support (or lack thereof) is actually out there for such a cool name. If you need a reminder of why I even wanted such a name...please read the story to the right. You can only vote once....so no ballot stuffing will occur. You can change your vote....but be careful when doing so as the internet could shut down and prevent you from changing it back. The last count was something like 24 for AJ....and only 9 for Orantes. Let's do this thing and see how it all shapes up in round 2. We'll keep it open for a week this time...to give everyone a chance to vote that wants one. Hopefully we'll see some new results this go-round.

No News is Good News!!!!

Things are rolling right along here on Catherine Drive. Today is O-dawg's 2 week birthday and he is doing really well. He hardly fusses at all unless he is hungry...and even then it is extremely minimal. As a matter of fact....I don't know that I have heard him cry good in about 2 days. I have been gone for a few hours each of the past two days....so maybe he got some good crying in then...but I am not sure. I'll have to ask Erin about that one. I am glad that he is not crying all the time or anything....but surely he needs to get some good work in for his lungs and vocal chords. I don't think I cried a whole lot though....and my vocals work just fine...as any of my ballplayers can attest.

Erin is doing great as a mother. She does such a good job of talking to him and keeping him warm and stimulated and everything. I just help him relax (so he can pee on me some more...way beyond double digits at this point). Erin is allowed to drive today for the first time (Dr's orders) so I am trying to talk her into leaving the house for an hour or so to go get some Starbuck's or go by Target or something. We are going to try to go out tonight for a little bit as well. Maybe run by Circuit City, Target again, or something. The picture is from the other day when Erin and her mom went to walk around "The Avenue" shopping center. Hopefully the weather will cooperate today like the other day....although the rain is certainly a blessing for us around here these days.

Well, I wish we had some more exciting things to share with you at this point....but like I said earlier..."no news is good news."

Flying Solo

O-daddy chilin' with Big Daddy......

Last night was our first night alone as Nina has left for Las Vegas with Rock. The boy slept pretty well through the night but wanted to eat around 3....and even though I told Erin that I would do it...she woke up and sat with him for about an hour. We got out of bed this morning and tried to breast feed for the first time in a while....and Erin did great. After a few minutes of fussiness...Little O latched on pretty well and fed for about 15 minutes total. Obviously we fed him some other milk we had refrigerated to top him off...but he stayed up for several hours and then fed again for Erin while I was at school. Two other times since then he has fed really well for about 10 minutes on each side. We are really excited. Brian is over here for the first time and Cayce and the kids are here too. Just wanted to share with all of you who might still be reading as you are probably the ones who are still praying for us on a regular basis. Thanks so much for all of your love and prayers and food and everything else that all of you have done to support us. Keep on praying and we'll hopefully see many of you soon.

First Bath

O-daddy's umbilical cord fell off today....which meant it was OK to give him his first bath. If you know my wife at all....you know that would mean it had to happen today (she is quite the clean freak). It was amazing that she was able to wait until tonight to do it....but we hoped it would relax him and get him ready for bed. Turns out that was a good decision....as he loved the bath. He didn't seem really happy at first...probably just confused....but once he got in the water he was like a pig in slop.

We did have a follow-up visit to the doctor today and he weighed 7 lbs 12 oz...which is above his birth weight. Obviously that is a good thing. Dr. Jan was pleased enough with how well he is doing that she said she doesn't need to see him again until he is 2 months old. Baseball season will already be cranking by that time....and I bet it will be here quickly.

Uncle Brian and Grandma (great-grandma) Wolfgram visited today which was great. Mrs. Wolfgram's friend Mrs. Libby came too....as she is a good comforter for Mrs. Wolfgram right now. It was really good that Brian finally got to come....as he has always loved on the girls so much and is such a great uncle....he just lives on the other side of Atlanta and takes care of his mom most of the time....which has made it hard to get over here up to this point. Hopefully he (O-daddy) will get to spend a little more time with the rest of the family over Christmas.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.