California Trip June 2009

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Technological Geniuses

We finally figured out how to view & upload video from our camera. We've only had it 4 years. Enjoy!

Now that we're having some warmer weather, we can dress Kerri's in her cute little sundress. Look at how big her cheeks are getting!

Daddy likes to show her off.

We took a walk at Washington Park in Denver on Memorial day weekend. Kerri slept for most of it, but when she woke up, she wasn't super happy.

We moved last weekend. This is the first picture taken in our new house. We'll post more pictures of the outside soon. We just haven't gotten around to it with moving and everything.

7 - 8 Weeks

Here's Daddy with his two babies, Hugo & Kerri after work one day.

Daddy likes to check Kerrigan for "mucka mooka" in her neck folds, a term he learned from his Grandpa Smith. Somehow she gets quite filthy between weekly baths.

Our friend, Jennifer came to visit last weekend to see Kerri for the first time.

We also visited Grandma & Grandpa Smith last weekend.

Grandma rocked Kerri to sleep.

Keith & Kerri slept on the couch together.

Grandpa playing with Hugo was quite entertaining to Kerri.

On Sunday afternoon of last weekend, our friends John & Samantha came over to see Kerri for the first time.

The dichotomy of someone John's size and someone Kerri's size was quite amusing.

Last Sunday night, we went out to dinner with our friends, Dan & Erin. Kerri was a little fussy so everyone got a try to calm her down around the table.

Kerri's been smiling a lot more. Especially in the early morning when she's well rested. Her she is on her beloved bouncy chair.

About to take a stroll with Grandma Laura & Mom on Thursday.

Hugo met a friend on our walk--a dog smaller than him. He loved it!

Catching up

I realized there were some pictures from the last few weeks that I should probably post with some description. They aren't in chronological order or anything, because I'm not quite sure of the dates, but here they are...


I was thinking there weren't many pics of me and Kerrigan, so I had my mom take this one. I don't know why I thought it was a great idea to take pics before I had gotten ready for the day.

We've visited Grandma & Grandpa Poirot's several times since Kerri was born. Grandpa always picks her up first, it seems, since he doesn't get as much face time as Grandma does during the week.

We visited Great Grandma Smith and her husband Ken at there house now that they are back in town. It was the first time she had met Kerrigan. They enjoyed each other quite a bit.

We've started a nightly ritual of Daddy rocking Kerrigan to sleep. It works most of the time.

It worked!!!

Waking up from a long night of interrupted sleep, I decided I need more mommy & baby pictures.

5 Weeks

Sadly, I have no pictures this week. The camera ran out of juice and the batteries are still charging, so I'll do my best to paint vivid "word pictures" for you...just kidding. I think that would take longer than you want to spend reading this.



This week Kerrigan turned 1 month old (on Tuesday). What a big girl! Her cheeks are getting chubby and she is lifting her head more and more. She's also making more sounds -- cooing and grunting and such. She has been sleeping at night in 4 hour blocks, so we've been able to get some good quality sleep. Also, we think we've caught her smiling here and there.


On Wednesday, Grandma and I went out and about. We visited a store in old town Littleton called Sweet Beginnings and got a Moby Wrap (extremely long piece of stretchy fabric used to hold the baby against your body for hands free convenience while maintaining a close bond with your child) and some trays to freeze mama's milk for when I go back to work. Great store -- I highly recommend it to any CO moms.


We also went to Babies R Us and picked up a mirror for the car so we can see her while we're driving. Haven't installed it yet, hope it works better than the last one we got at Target which we couldn't figure out how to attach to the seat.


We were able to return the Target mirror that day also, and with our store credit we got a Britta refrigerator jug since the water in Englewood is HORRIBLE!! Didn't want to continue to buy bottled water. Yes, the Britta marketing campaign is aimed straight at my liberal guilt.


After Target, little Kerri was getting pretty fussy and the cold bottle we had with us wasn't cutting it, so we raced home so she could nurse.


She had a pediatrician appointment on Thursday where they weighed her and measured her again. She is now 9 lbs, 1 oz and 20 inches long. The doc said she is right on track with her growth and everything was normal.


Before the pediatrician, we tried to go to Swedish Hospital for a hearing screening, but after Grandma dropped us off in the front of the hospital and left to park the car, I ended up finding out that the person who does the hearing screens is only there on Wednesday, so we weren't able to do it.



On the way back down the elevator to the lobby, I lost a grip on the papers I was holding and they slid right down the tiny slot on the floor of the elevator door and into the elevator shaft. Luckily, they weren't irreplaceable documents--just directions to the hearing screen room and an article on vaccinations. I couldn't have done it again if I tried, I'm sure.


Grandma had to go back & get the car and we waited for her to pick us up again. Then, we had some time to kill before the pediatrician appointment so we decided to drive down Broadway to find a place to have a snack. As we were trying to find a place, the car started puttering and Gma realized we were out of gas. We rolled into a Burger King parking lot and Gma got out and headed for the 7-11 down the road to get a gas receptacle and fill it up. Unfortunately, the 7-11 had no such receptacle for loan or for purchase. Luckily, she spotted a few tow trucks with guys hanging around them in the Burger King parking lot and she asked one of them if they had a gas can she could borrow. They did, and she made her way back to the 7-11 to fill it up. Kerri and I waited in the car while Gma traipsed up and down the block trying to solve the problem. Poor woman.


We finally got back on the road and we didn't think we had much time left before the next appt, so we just headed there, but when we got there, we still had about 20 min, so we left and found a Good Times and got some burgers. When we arrived back at the pediatrician's parking lot, we scarfed down our burgers in the car. What a mess.



After we got home from the pediatrician, we were exhausted. Gma hung out with us a little while to recuperate before she had to make the hour-long drive back to Longmont.


On Friday, Kerri and I finally got our act together (teeth brushed, fed, showered, dressed, car loaded with all possible baby gear) about 2 o'clock. We went to Broadway to find a shop for birthday gifts for Denise and Ryder. I tried out the Moby wrap (worked pretty well and Kerrigan didn't fuss about it, but I found out later I was doing it wrong). We found a gift for Denise, but I decided we needed to go to a mall for Ryder's gift.


We got back in the car and drove to Cherry Creek Mall, but on the way, I took Speer Blvd, and they had closed one of the lanes and traffic was backed up for way longer than usual. Kerri was getting hungry and was therefore screaming in the backseat, but I couldn't pull over because there was no where to go. After about 20 min of sitting on Speer, listening to my poor baby's hunger cries, we finally got to the mall parking lot, where I parked immediately and got in the backseat to nurse her.

After that tradgedy was over, I drove in closer to the doors of the mall and proceeded to get the stroller out to complete the assembly (see "2 1/2 weeks" post) and loaded little Kerrigan in the stroller. She didn't mind it at all and didn't cry at all as we looked for a present for Ryder.

When I got home, I unloaded everything from the car and rested until Keith got home.

Bath Time & Weekend relaxing

On Saturday 3/21/09, we finally got the packages that were building up for us in the leasing office of our apt complex, and one of them was the stroller that we toiled over and over trying to weigh functionality with price. Keith put it together and then we tried to load it in the car, but we realized that it doesn't fit in the trunk when it is fully assembled and collapsed. So we determined that we have to take off the carriage and put it in the backseat and then put the chassis in the trunk--we are gradually running out of room in the VW Jetta--mom thinks it's time for a Touareg! I won't get my hopes up, though.


Grandma came over on Wednesday around 11 am and helped mom with baby and housework. She stayed over on Wednesday night and by Thursday it had started to snow--a lot. We decided it was best for her to stay another night because of the treacherous road conditions. Blind Dog Ranch (aka Hank & Laura's) got about 2 feet of snow.

Today Kerri had her 3rd bath of her life. She is getting more used to it, but isn't a big fan. Hope that doesn't last for the rest of her life.



After bathtime, daddy dressed her in her new outfit from Tom Rohrer & Barbara Petersen.

We decided to put on her furry mocasins from Grandma & Grandpa Poirot so she could look like a real Coloradoan (spring dress & snow boots)--while she got her hair brushed.

2 1/2 weeks old

This was the first week daddy had to go back to work. He was so happy to see Kerrigan when he got home each day and just wanted to hold her all night.

Grandma Laura came and stayed over on Tuesday night and stayed most of Wednesday to help mom. Tuesday was a big day for Kerrigan. I took her to her first pediatrician appointment which was much farther away than I realized. After a few wrong turns, we finally got there.

The doctor said that Kerrigan was in perfect health. We still have to get a hearing screen at the hospital near home. I'm a little worried about the outcome of the hearing screen because later on Tuesday, our apartment complex was testing the fire alarm and Kerrigan didn't wake up from her nap at all when the alarm sounded. Maybe she's just a heavy sleeper like her mom.

Kerrigan has a skin tag on her right ear for removal of which we were referred to a pediatric dermatologist, but I don't want to make the appointment until we get Kerri's social security number in the mail so we can enroll her on my insurance benefits so that the appointment will be covered. Insurance is such a pain. Hope Barack's plan works better than the way we have to deal with healthcare now.

Also on Tuesday, Grandma and I took Kerrigan to downtown Denver to visit Amanda, a girl that Grandma worked with at the Body Shop, at her volunteer job. Amanda was very interested in seeing the new baby and we showed her off all around her office.

After our visit with Amanda, we parked closer to 16th Street Mall, got some refreshments at Starbucks, and then made our way to Daddy's office to parade our little one around there. Everyone was exicted to see her, although she slept the whole time in mom's sling, so no one really got to see much of her in action.

I was feeling a little overwhelmed with lack of sleep this week. Thursday was rough since everytime I decided to lay down for some quick z's either the phone would ring, or Kerri would wake up from her snooze. I got about 15 min of sleep during the day on Thursday. Kerrigan wore her ladybug onsie decorated at the Texas baby shower by Melissa and wore her mary jane socks to match. Awfully cute outfit, but Kerri's disposition didn't match her outfit at all. She was pretty angry at me all day as evidenced by the picture above.

Today seems promising in the "feeling rested" department. I was able to get 3 hour blocks of sleep last night with 1/2 hour breaks to feed & change Kerrigan. This morning has been quiet as Kerrigan has been sleeping (pictured above) since her last feeding and diaper change and I've just been trying to nail down the status of the insurance coverage and drinking my morning coffee.

Premier post

Grandma Joan gazing at Kerrigan at 1 day old












Grandpa Rob holding Kerri for the first time

Still a little smush face at 1 day old

Grandma Laura holding Kerrigan at the birth center

Proud Papa Keith

Welcome to the first blog about our little girl, Kerrigan. Please visit often for pictures, updates on daily life, and the many adventures I'm sure we'll delve into along the way.

So far, Kerrigan is a very sweet munchkin. She eats, gets her diaper changed, sleeps, and then the process starts all over again. She does open her eyes and looks around between eating and diaper changes. She usually only cries when she needs to be burped or when she is hungry and we're not quick enough with the food. In the first week, she really didn't like getting her diaper changed, but she is now getting used to it and doesn't cry during the process anymore.

Kerrigan's eyes are still dark blue, but we think they will change since neither of her parents have blue eyes. She has dark brown hair that covers her head, but we think she is slowly losing it. Her fingers are very long and her hands are large. Her thumb seems especially large for the rest of her fingers. We're thinking piano lessons, definitely.

She makes all kinds of contortions with her face. She'll purse her lips into a small circle, then she'll scrunch up her whole face, then she'll look like she is smiling, then a smirk, then she'll relax all of her face muscles, and close her eyes.

Kerrigan has been out and about several times: Target, Babies R Us, Grocery Store, Southwest Plaza Mall, Mountain Midwifery for her 1-week appointment, Flatirons Crossing Mall, Bloom restaurant, Yard House restaurant, Grandma & Grandpa Smith's house, and on a walk with Mom & Dad. She sleeps almost the whole time we've been places with her. She was very well behaved in restaurants and didn't disturb the other diners at all.

Kerrigan will be two weeks old tomorrow, but we can hardly remember what life was like without her. We are very excited to be her parents.