One Week

Davis is now one week old. I told Maria just a little while ago that that was hard for me to believe, she said that it was not too difficult for her to believe.

The last week has proven to be challenging, rewarding, tiring and fun. Here are a few things that I have learned or discovered during the last seven days:

1) You are never ready for a baby - I am sure everyone would agree with me on this, no one is ever completely ready for a baby when they do come around. Maria and I thought we were pretty well prepared until we remembered that we had not bought any new born sized diapers. The ones supplied at the hospital did not last us very long and we found ourselves asking a brother-in-law pick some up for us.

2) Somewhat related to number one is: Babies poo and pee a lot! - And on everything and everyone. Davis has deadly aim with his little thing and is not afraid to use it!

3) Sleep - Stock up before having a child, you'll miss it.

4) Motherly Instincts - They are real!! Maria seems to be a natural. As I type I hear her in the other room singing to him and it is the most beautiful thing I have seen or heard. Maria is such a good mother and I am so lucky to have her as the mother of my children.

5) Breasts - This word used to be taboo but is now daily conversation in our home and with extended family. We had a friend call to check on Maria's boobs and to see if her milk has "come in" (see number 6).

6) Come In - Where was it? This phrase sounds so funny to me. I am still waiting for a text book I bought online to come in but no one seems to care.

7) Get Rich Fast - Maria and I finally got all our money in from the insurance company for our basement. After a couple minutes of long hard thought I have decided to invest it into a start up company that does not yet exist to see if we can get rich quick and not have to work ever again in our lives. I'm still game if you are Christine...

8) Burp Chair - I already have plans to get rich quick but if you want to do the same I have a great idea. Invent a baby chair that burps the baby. Ingenious, right? That's why they call me the 'Idea Guy'.

9) The House - Keeping on the theme of investments, I am happy with the one we made on our new house. It was so nice to have the extra room to have family over, to escape from visiting family, and to rest when we needed to.

10) 935 - The number of weeks we have until Davis turns 18 and is out of the house!! It is crazy to think that we are completely responsible for him until then.

DCBoyle

Well we are now home and enjoying Davis. He is such a good baby. We are so lucky to have him. He was born (as the earlier post by Kirsten states) on Tuesday October 21 at 10:24 am. Maria did amazing in the hospital and had that little guy out in no time. She was scheduled to be induced that same morning and when we arrived at the hospital she was having contractions. They pumped her full of penicillin and at about 4am they began to inject the pitocin to speed up labor. After only about six hours that boy was ready to come and Maria pushed for about 25 minutes and the nurse told her to stop pushing. The nurse suggested that I get my camera and have it handy that the baby was going to come quick, and it did. I had left the camera in the car. I left to go and get it and when I came back in Maria was in stirrups and pushing. They called the doctor and only five more pushes the baby was here.

I will save some of the cool (or gory as Maria calls them) details for another time. But it was all amazing.

We are having so much fun with him and enjoying all (or most) of the attention.

Finally just want to thank Aunt Ogie for the camera and want to let her know and show her that we did in fact get more than cell phone pictures of all the action.

Baby is here!

Davis Cole Boye was born today October 21, 2008 at 10:24 am. He weighs 7lbs 1 oz and is 20.5 inches long. He is the cutest baby! Here is some pictures of our beautiful little baby. Sorry these pictures are a little hazy. Thats cell phones for ya! But we will have some more pics later!:)

Induction of Maria.

Maria and I went for her weekly check-up with her OGBYN today and together decided to have Maria induced tonight!! Well not exactly tonight as much tomorrow but its basically all the same. Maria and I have an appointment to return to the hospital tonight/tomorrow at 3:00 am so she can be induced.

Maybe the next blog will feature pics of little Davis Cole!

Just like old times sake...

Well unemployment hasn't been all that bad I guess. The time here at home and in the car between job interviews, errands, and job fairs I have gotten back into an old time hobby of mine. . . listening to the radio. I know it sounds like a lame "hobby" but I love it. I would listen to the radio over an iPod any day!!

In a former life I drove a truck for a living and fell in love with Edge 103.9. Chuck Powell, Heather Lewis, Thrill Ride, Colin Boyd, Robin Nash (to only name a few) were my co-workers. Soon, after day in and day out, I learned the line up perfectly. I knew the different segments by day and time. I found myself calling in all the time to win tickets, movies, prizes and more. The crazy thing is I won, a lot (to give you an idea the 57 inch flat screen in my living room is compliments of the Edge)!! To protect myself I think it best if I don't mention my secrets and techniques in a public forum like this, but they existed.

One of the hardest moments in my life came not too long ago. The Morning Ritual and all that I grew to love was dissolved. No more Last Character Standing, no more Billboard Game, and no more Tabloid Fantasy League (note: the only time in my life I was a member of a fantasy league). I felt for a brief moment that life was not worth living (j/k). The worse part was that it was all going to be replaced with the biggest idiot of all Adam Carola!!

Well to wrap this up, after months of not listening to the Edge (religiously) I turned it on streaming through the computer today as I cleaned house. I was scrubbing the toilet when I heard Robin call for the ninth caller to win a four pack of something. I grabbed my phone and called and won!!

Although the Edge 103.9 has been removed from my radio memory buttons I might need to occasionally tune them in and see if we can't make amends (Adam is still an idiot though!)
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Camping, Hotdogs, & Acupressure...The Perfect Night!

While talking to Jake on the phone yesterday he mentioned that he put up the tent in the back yard to "air it out". He then suggested that we stay in the tent and I really didn't like the idea of trying to get up off the ground to go to the bathroom 10 times during the night. However, when I got home...there was an amazing sight! The tent was strung with star and Christmas lights and inside was the futon and frame. As well, the down comforter and all 8 of our pillows graced the futon. On the side of the futon were a table, lamp, and alarm clock. The top of the tent was taken off so we could look at the full moon and the weather was so beautiful. The best part is that our bedroom has a door that I can walk straight to the bathroom from outside.

It gets even better as dinner was also ready when I got home, the perfect camping dinner of hotdogs, Doritos, and macaroni salad. Not to mention a clean house. As well, I was so excited that Kelly and Bailey were able to come over and have dinner on the porch with us. After dinner, Kelly (the best sister in law ever!) rubbed my feet and applied the acupressure points that help to induce labor. At about 2:30am I started having contractions. I guess I should have gotten up and walked to help the contractions progress, but fell back asleep on the comfy futon. It would have been the perfect night for him to come. I just can't believe all the trouble Jake goes through to make my life comfortable and so much fun!

Brown Ford Econoline, Alien Children, Rabid Dog, and a Bruise.

I had the craziest dream the other night.

I was driving our family's old brown Ford Econoline van (we got rid of that thing years ago!) and I was dropping some one off at a store. When they got out they had left the back door open. I sat there and waited for them to return and I noticed two kids sitting in the middle of the parking lot. They looked at me and they had little black eyes, a small mouth and big heads, they looked like aliens. I tried not to stare but could not keep my eyes off of them. After a while the got up and began to walk towards me. I began to get nervous as they approached my door. I yelled at them to go away but they began to go around the van towards the open door. I peeled out and got on the road. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that I was being chased by the kids and also a rabid dog. The dog began getting closer and closer as did the freaky children. The back door was still open and the dog was getting closer. I slammed on the brakes hoping that the doors would shut and that the dog would run into the back of the van, neither went as planned and the dog began to climb into the van. I panicked and punched the dog and then was awakened by Maria who seemed to be upset. She said "you just hit me!"

I asked "I did what?"

"You just punched me in the head!"

After telling her what I was dreaming we both went back to bed.

Almost there...10 day count down

Last Monday Jake and I (probably more me) were completely bummed that I hadn't made any more progress from the 1 centimeter dialated and the 60% effacement from the week before. I have had so much advice from friends and co-workers on what I need to do to naturally induce early. I waddle around my building here at work everyday and while some of it has been fun and great it has done nothing in getting Davis here quicker. Every day I go back to work I hear, "What are you still doing here?" at least 30 times a day. It is getting old.

For the past few weeks I have to go to Labor & Delivery at the hospital twice a week to do testing. This week I have spent between about 3 hours each of those two days doing this after work. Needless to say I am tired and just want my little boy to get here. Jake has been amazing. He has finished Davis' room and I can't tell you how much I love it! He is so creative and I love to just go in there and sit in the room. My favorite is the tin wall with the wooden trim around the window. I’ll have him put some of the new pictures up on the blog, but really anyone who wants to see needs to come by and check it out. The pictures don’t do it justice.

When I get home from work or the hospital Jake has dinner ready for me. He has been cleaning and getting everything ready for the new baby and still finds time to beat the streets in trying to find a new job. One thing I am know for sure is that Jake is not a lazy individual. He has to constantly be doing something or he goes crazy. I am so impressed with his efforts and his support. I love you so much Jake! Thank you for making these last few weeks easier for me.

Keeping myself busy...

Unemployment stinks. I have applied for at least 20 positions and have only heard back from three (all negative!) One perk though is the extra time that I have to finish up some projects here around the house. From hanging curtains to painting our table I have managed to keep myself pretty busy. Here are some picks from Davis' room to show you some of the progress I have made.

Jackpot!

777 is usually a very lucky number, not so much for me. When the stock market plummeted 777 points on Monday of last week it left me with anything but a jackpot.

Tuesday morning I went into work as usual and sat at my desk. I checked email and phone messages as I always do. About ten minutes after I arrived my boss got there. He came in to my office and had a bit of an edge about him. He sat down and said that he had to talk to me and be completely honest with me. He said that the business was struggling and that he was going to have to lay me off.

He assured me that it was not something he wanted to do but had to do. I understood and was grateful for his honesty. I had many thoughts and many emotions but none were negative.

Today, several days later, I am hopeful for the future but still very uncertain about what to do. I have a job interview on Monday and have sent out several applications. I have little doubt about my abilities to find a job I just don't know what avenues to pursue. One side of me wants to find a 9-5 job that intrigues me and allows me to use my talents and abilities. Another side of me wants to find a third shift position that would allow me to be home during the day with Davis and ease childcare burdens, but am afraid the such a position would require me to move backwards in my employment history.