Angel face

What a week!!

This week has been crazy busy to say the least!  It started with the Rite of Enrollment ceremony at our church in which Alessa was blessed in preparation for her upcoming baptism and formally presented to the church community.  We were SO nervous to bring her to church for the first time, but she did such a great job - slept through the entire thing! 

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snug as a bug in her carseat at church waiting for the ceremony to begin

Alessa had another weight check on Tuesday at the doctor's office and we are happy to report she weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz.!  Almost a full pound more than her birth weight - we were so happy!  We also had another playdate with Parker (and his mom Susie) and I have to admit, I was a bit jealous at how quiet Parker was the entire 3 hours we were over at their house!  Alessa, on the other hand, was being quite the diva!  And then to round out the week, Alessa got to meet Uncle Aaron (or Uncle A as we call him) who was in town from New Orleans.  He was quite the natural holding her and she loved him!!

For as busy as we were this week, we have an even bigger week ahead.  Auntie Lori (Auntie L) comes in from New Orleans on Tuesday and then Alessa gets to meet the rest of her aunts and uncles, her nonno Gino, and her godparents, Sarah and Ryan this upcoming weekend at her Christening.  We couldn't be more excited for all of them to come into town! 

Alessa's first visitors

Even though we are far away from our family and many of our close friends, Alessa has been blessed with many special visitors in her first month....and she sure has gotten spoiled with lots of fun gifts!



MN Grandmum, Karen




Susie





Seth & Darcy



Grandma Deb

Joe & Kyle

Gloria & Jake

Nikki & Auden

Auden loves baby :)

Susie Bronk

Julie

Christen

Mattea

Kevin & Aleesha

Brent

Happy One Month Birthday!

We can't believe our baby girl turned one month old this week!  The time has gone by so quickly and we can see so many changes in her in just the last few weeks.  I tell Alessa every day that mommy and daddy don't want her to grow up too quickly!  For as fast as it's gone, we already can't remember what life was like before her.

After the baby was born, my mom spent the first two weeks with us...and to say she was a savior is an understatement.  I totally underestimated how crappy I would feel after the delivery, so it was great to have my mom around to help me recover, do cooking and cleaning...and of course, help take care of the baby.  Even though I've had a ton of experience with kids before, it's amazing how it's totally different when it's your own kid.  We didn't know what the heck we were doing or what is/isn't normal, so it was so nice to have Nana AnnaMaria around.  Sean's mom also came to visit the first weekend, so Alessa got lots of love from her gandmas!!  We've also experienced lots of firsts in the last month - first book, first bath at home, first little smile at mama, first play date (with my friend Susie's son, Parker), first Valentine's Day and first trip to Nordstroms (a woman after my own heart!) to name a few! :)  Alessa has been adjusting well to her new surroundings...and Sean and I are adjusting better and better every day.  The lack of sleep definitely starts catching up to you, but we are now used to walking around in a complete daze.

She's still tiny - weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. so our focus this week has been to try and get her weight up a bit.  Poor baby has had some reflux, so we're hoping that getting that under control will help.  People still say she looks a lot like mommy, but we think she is starting to look more and more like daddy every day.   She is definitely getting longer by the day, too - she has the longest legs and torso!  In fact, at her two week doctor's appointment, they shared that she's in the 25th percentile of weight and the 90th percentile of height.  Definitely takes after daddy!

Alessa's first "manicure" by MN Grandma Karen

Lots of love from Grandma & Nana!!



First bath



  

 



Shopping!! Girls afternoon with mom & nana



Playdate with Parker Bronk

Alessa's first story

Stretching out on the changing table

Daddy's new Valentine

Precious baby girl - 2.15.11

1 month birthday - 2.13.11

Professional Newborn Pics

When Alessa was 10 days old, we had professional pictures taken of her at our condo.  The photos were taken by Erika McCauley, the photographer who shot our wedding.  She does amazing work and we are so happy she was able to capture Alessa during her first week at home.  We weren't able to catch the baby awake, but we were happy she behaved pretty well as we josteled her around in her sleep.  Included below are a couple of shots from the photo session.  To check out all of the pictures, go to http://www.mccauleyphotoimages.com/pickpic/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=147.  The password is: gabbard (all lowercase).

 





 

 

It's a Girl!

Our precious little baby girl, Alessandra, arrived on Thursday, January 13th.  We couldn't believe that little Alessa (our nickname for her) made her appearance on her official due date following in her mommy's footsteps! So crazy that that family tradition of due date babies has continued.  But my, was she stubborn in making it out!  Aside from the two weeks of constant contractions, the actual active labor went pretty quickly, although she had me pushing for over an hour and half.  She was just too comfy!  I had been at my weekly doctor's appointment the afternoon before and there hadn't been much progress.  The doctor told me to make an appointment for the following week and if I didn't go by then, they would induce me.  So, needless to say, I wasn't very hopeful that I would go into active labor on my own.  But low and behold, I started feeling painful contractions that night.  And by the next morning, I decided to play it safe and work from home instead of going into the office.  Luckily, I did!  I called the doctor's office at around 10:30am, we arrived at the hospital around noon and I was admitted to the labor and delivery unit by 1:00pm.  And from there, things actually progressed really quickly. One of the most common questions I've gotten since then has been "how was labor?" to which I respond "I am in love with epidurals."  It's honestly the best way to sum up the experience! :)

Alessa arrived at 7:31pm that evening.  She weighed in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20.5 inches long.  Right before I started pushing, Sean took out the video camera to record our final predictions for baby Gabbard.  While Sean had a last minute change and said boy, I stuck with my prediction of a girl and guess 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 21 inches long.  Not bad for a guess!!  While it certainly was a 50/50 chance, we both had a hunch for most of the pregnancy that we would be having a little girl! We couldn't have been happier!!  She looked alot like me as a baby, just with lighter features.  But there is no denying she has mommy's lips and daddy's dimples! And from the moment she joined us, she was sticking out her cute little tongue - getting the nickname of "Lessa the Lizard" quickly.  Here are a couple of pictures from the night Alessa was born.



check out that conehead! :)