Mommy and Tommy!

Yes, I finally got a picture to post!! My friend Jenny took this while we were visiting. It looks like he's smiling! It's probably just gas... Oh, and he is NOT wearing a skirt as my dad and Rich both thought...he had on corduroy pant overalls...they were just unsnapped in this picture after a quick diaper change.

Anyway, enjoy the picture...there will be lots posted tomorrow evening because tomorrow is the day my high-speed internet gets installed! WOOHOO!! Yes, we are finally entering the 21st century in the Novak household.

Two Weeks Old!

For you Tommy:

Yesterday you reached your two week old birthday. I was going to post this last night, but you were having an absolute screaming fit, and once you fell asleep, I scooped you up and we were both off to bed.

This was another big week for you. To begin with, your head is healing very nicely. You had lots of scabs on your head from the doctor having to do a vacuum assisted birth. Your head looked pretty painful for the first week and it's getting better. Over the weekend, two big scabs came off. Your perfect, little head is looking much better! Just two smaller scabs to go.

You have started to grab at things...my hair is being pulled more frequently and you were also pulling on Auntie Tara's necklace while she was in visiting you. (I don't think you realize you're doing this...but it's something new). Physically, I can see that you have grown. Your head looks bigger and face is fuller. You still fit into newborn size clothes and probably will for a little bit longer. I think you're probably about 8 pounds by now.

You met my sister, your Auntie Tara, (or Yaya as Willby calls her), over the weekend. She was shocked at how tiny you are, and just couldn't get over how cute and precious you are. It was instant love. She will be having your very first cousin in just about 5 more months...so I think she was excited to see you and think ahead to her own baby! While Tara was in town, we also celebrated her birthday, your Grandpa's birthday and grandparent's anniversary with a big family dinner at Teibel's. You behaved perfectly.

Friday night you attended Julie's wedding. You had on a beautiful sweater set with matching overalls and looked devastatingly handsome. You were the hit of the wedding(besides the beautiful bride of course!) During the mother/son dance the DJ invited all of the mothers and sons at the reception to join them on the dance floor, so I took you up and danced with you. There was hardly a dry eye in the place. It was very sweet and touching and one of mommy's proudest moments. I couldn't believe I was holding my son. You're a great dancer by the way...

You also took a trip to downtown Chicago to pick up some information with Auntie Tara and then stopped by Jenny and Andrew's condo for a visit. Jenny got to give you your bottle of mommy milk and also helped me change you! She loved holding you!

Kristina and Eric came over Thursday night with a delicious homemade dinner of manicotti and visited with you and mommy and daddy. We enjoyed a nice evening at home with them and you loved visiting with them! Kristina held you a lot and you were just the perfectly behaved baby again! Earlier that day, we had eaten lunch at TGI Friday's with Gammie's "lunch bunch" and all of Gammie's closest friends got to meet you. They showered you with even more gifts and just melted over cute, sweet, little Tommy.

You are lying in your moses basket next to me right now and just let out the cutest little fart...here I thought you were sound asleep.

Other than that, you made your first trip to the grocery store, and have done nothing but fill our lives with more and more joy everyday! The weather and seasons are beginning to change. The air is cooler but our hearts are warmer thanks to you being in our lives.

What's in a Name?

We have received many compliments on the name Thomas Edward and many people just melt over his moniker "Tommy." We've been asked repeatedly how we came up with that name, so here it goes:

Thomas is my dad and my dad's father's name. So, Thomas is named after his maternal grandfather and great-grandfather.

Edward is Rich's maternal grandfather's name, making him named after his great-grandfather on Rich's side as well. Rich's middle name is also Edward, so this means that Tommy and Daddy get to share a middle name.

Overall, I think it's the perfect name for this little guy. He wears it well and his grandpa and great-grandpa just think it's wonderful and are so proud that he has such a solid, family name.

I personally like how his initials make up the word "TEN." As in, "Tommy is a perfect 10." What was even more appropriate was when I was being wheeled into Labor and Delivery the nurse told the nursing station, "This is Erin Novak," and the other nurse replied, "Take her into room 10." I knew at that moment our surpirse would be a boy! I think Tommy has many angels looking down at him and that was just a sign that everything was turning out like it was meant to be.

Life doesn't get much sweeter than this!

So much for due dates...

Today was Tommy's due date. However, I think we can all agree that we're happier he's outside of mommy's tummy and doing great.

Newborns do the cutest thing when they are startled. This is when you can see the moro reflex take place and I just think it's heartwarming. Tommy shakes his hands and they fly up in the air...it's just so darn cute. It's one of those things I take a guilty pleasure in...I know this reflex means he's been startled or scared, but it's so precious.

The other thing I love about him is when he's crying he actually snorts...it sounds like a cartoon character crying. Again, so precious.

And, the other thing that Tommy's mommy completely loves about him are the piggy snorts he makes when he's being burped. Good lord! I never knew a baby could burp and fart so loudly! How fun it is being a mommy!

One Week Old!

This is for you Tommy:

Today, you are one week old. It breaks mommy's heart already to know that her little boy is already growing up right before her eyes.

These first days have been so precious. I feel like I'm really getting to know who you are, and am loving every second of it.

You love to eat, love to sleep, love to poop, and when you're in our arms, you open your eyes and make all kinds of cute faces. Your eyes try so hard to focus and you end up going cross-eyed, but we just smile and talk about how adorable you are.

You've had quite a week! You had many visitors at the hospital...all of your grandparents came, your Grand-god-mommy, Stephanie and Muk came, Auntie Jenny, Tootie, and Mary all drove a long way to come see you. Your Aunt Jamie and Uncle Brian came and brought us goodies, and Auntie Julie and Erica also came to see you and had a good giggle with moomy about the diaper SHE had to wear after having you. Kristen and her mommy also came to see you. Everyone agrees: you're the sweetest little boy around!

While we were in the hospital we spent lots of time snuggling and eating. Mommy had the biggest chocolate milkshake from DQ right after she had you...it was soooo good and quite a treat after working so hard to bring you into the world. You were born on a Monday, but we came to the hospital on Sunday night at 9:30. So, we spent 3 nights at the hopital. Your Gammie stayed with mommy to help me since I couldnt move and needed lots of extra help getting around. We sent daddy home to get some rest, but he was back bright and early every morning eager to see his Tommy.

We had an 8 ft. stork put up in the front yard announcing your arrival (pictures coming soon) and brought you home Wednesday afternoon. Ever since Wednesday we've been relaxing and recovering, getting into the groove of being at home, and making our rounds.

You met your Great Grandma Krull this week and had a nice visit with her. She said she loved you and enjoyed holding you. You also visited many of the ladies at Hohman Floral and showed them how precious you are! We've taken four walks with Winnie (one with Auntie Julie) and you love your stroller. You fall asleep everytime in it. This afternoon, Gammie and I took you to JC Penney to have your portraits taken. You did great!

You tend to get very fussy around 7:00-9:00 at night. Daddy can't believe how loud a little guy like you can cry! Silly Daddy. Overall, you're a very good baby and are just so peaceful and wonderful to be around. Winnie has gotten used to you. The first day she barked at any sound you made, but now she is glued to our side and follows Mommy and Tommy everywhere. I think the two of you will be best friends.

You have all kinds of new sounds. Tonight you're making sounds like a kitten. You lost your "girly" cry and have replaced it with an outright scream. Definitely more boyish.

Mommy's favorites are the way you love to suck on your hands. You find your hands and suck on them until you'd think they'd fall off. You found your thumb yesterday and had a lot of fun with that. You were sucking on your hands so hard two nights ago, it woke me up. Your hands are also constantly next to your face. You were even like this in my tummy. Every ultrasound showed your hands by your face. Not much has changed!

I think that's everything from Week 1. You are the most precious baby, and mommy and daddy love holding you and are just totally enamored by the fact that you are really our baby, and our dream has come true!

A Quick Update!

I'm sorry...still no pictures yet, I SWEAR they will be posted shortly. It's just rare that I get a few spare minutes to run (ok, turtle crawl/limp) upstairs and update.

This is Tommy's 5 day birthday! I can't believe it's already been almost a week. A week ago today I had two foot reflexology massages, ate spicy wings from Hooters, and drank the castor oil to get things started. Now, he's here and already 5 days old!

He's so precious. We've been getting along very nicely and everything is working out just as I had been dreaming about all these years. Physically, I am doing much better. I'm still VERY sore, and can not sit down/get up really fast, and a 90 year old person could probably walk faster than me right now, but I'm feeling much better.

I must say I really miss being pregnant. It was so wonderful, and I miss that big, round belly. Now it's just deflated and mushy. But, I'm anxious to get back to how I looked pre-Tommy. I'm not in a rush, but I either want that big, round, baby belly back, or a flat tummy. I don't think I'll have the big, round baby belly for a while again, so I'll settle for the flat tummy!

I her Tommy crying and Gammie is changing him...better go help! Mommy is coming Tommy....

IT'S A BOY!

Wonderful News!

Thomas Edward Novak arrived September 29, 2008 at 11:23 a.m.
He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 in. long.
Mom's epidural wore off the last hour and a half of labor, so she delivered him naturally with NO pain medicine and has about 30 stitches to show for it! Needless to say, little Tommy and Mommy are needing lots of recovery and rest. Daddy may need to see a therapist after witnessing the birth of his first son. but, he's already a natural daddy and loves his Tommy so much!

Mom, Daddy, and Tommy arrived home this afternoon with the sun shining and a cool 65 degree breeze blowing. There is an 8 foot stork in our yard announcing his arrival.

We feel so blessed to have him, and we enjoy just staring at him in awe of how truly magical he really is.

There is so much more I can write, but we need our rest, and just wanted to spread our happy news. Please stay tuned for pictures...they'll be arriving in a few days when I can move without wincing.

He's worth everything we had to endure. He's absolutely perfect.