He's a Real Boy Now.

Since I am out of work on Maternity Leave, since Cullen's job isn't fun to blog about... I guess for a while, blogs will be all about the little tot. (let's be real...that is all that is super important right now anyway.)

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day weekend allows for out of state guests to come into town. The Parker Family flew in from Georgia, Florida and Kansas for a family reunion, and got to meet our little Buggie over at CoCo and Bedo's house. **THANK YOU PARKER FAMILY. I loved seeing you guys.**

Guess what happened when we left CoCo and Bedo's house?? We came home, changed Buggie's diaper and his umbilical cord fell off. He looks like a real little boy now!!

That has been our exciting Memorial Day weekend... hope yours is just as fun.

IS Cullen the Daddy??

As Maury Povich says it:

"In the case of 2 week old, baby Noah, Cullen..... You are.............NOT the father."

While we were in the hospital, we had Noah's baby pictures taken by the hospital people. A few of these pictures are posted on the KDH Online Nursery. Here is the link: KDH Online Nursery. Go check it out; the pictures are adorable. While you are there, go check out the listed parent names.

oopsies. I guess I have something to tell Cullen. :)

Noah in Pictures

My great friend Jessica came over to the house to meet Noah last Friday. She just sent me the pictures.... how incredible is he?? It doesn't hurt that she is an outstanding photographer!

Happy One Week Birthday Noah Thomas!

My baby is one-week old today. That makes me want to cry. Already one week old. While this little Miracle of mine will be with me for a lifetime, I feel like this was the FASTEST week of my whole life. I must wonder, do all mothers wake up one day and their child is 25?? I know Noah is super easy right now; he is the new, fun toy, but, I feel like he will be driving next week already!

This week has been so incredible. I sit and just stare at him. I sit and just hold him. I love to watch his faces. I love to watch him do nothing at all. I LOVE watching Cullen interact with him. Cullen is the perfect Daddy for Noah. I couldn't have asked for a better partner for having and raising a baby. He loves his son so much and I see it everyday in his eyes. His eyes light up when he walks in the door. All he wants to do is hold and kiss his baby boy.

I take pictures of him CONSTANTLY. I honestly do not know how more children are not blinded by lights from the flashes of their mommy's camera. I know little Noah doesn't stand a chance.

Here is what I know so far about being a mommy. 1. GOD IS GOOD. I have the most perfect son who completes my family. 2. Dogs take a while to adjust to new babies. But, with constant love and attention, they come around. 3. Baby hiccups are the most precious thing ever. One of my favorite things is to stare at him and watch his little body twitch with hiccups. 4. Your heart has never known just how much you can truly love something until you are a parent. My heart is overwhelmingly full of LOVE.

That is it for now. Gotta get back to my little Buggie. More to come. Pictures to come. I have to figure out how to get them off my camera...yes, I am still learning little things like "how to get pictures off a camera"!

Decisions, Decisions -

I started this blog strictly to follow along with my pregnancy... GROWING a peanut. Well, guess what. I GREW a peanut. My little peanut is, right now, laying on my chest sleeping like the perfect little angel he is.

Several people have asked me lately if I am going to keep up with the baby blog. After attempting to sit down and blog MANY times since Buggie was born, I decided the answer is: No. I will not keep this blog going. I am going to return to: http://www.erinandcullen.blogspot.com/; All the family blogging will be there. Our little peanut is a part of us now, so, he does not need his own little blog.

I will leave you with this cute picture, and say Adios Blog Readers. Check the family blog from now on.

My Favorite Pictures right now.

I have a four day old baby. I love him with my entire heart. Here are my two most favorite pictures so far:

Meet Peanut -

I posted a blog, titled Meet Peanut on October 2nd. This blog posted the first picture of what would be Mr. Noah Mills.

Today, I spent my day holding our 24 hour old baby. He is a perfect little, Godly created miracle. He has ten (long) beautiful fingers, and ten (LONG) beautiful toes (that can really pinch you). He has a perfect button nose (that flares). He makes the cutest, most adorable, perfect little baby I could have ever asked for.

Here is a picture from his first hours. I will regularly post pictures (duh.)
Next up, the delivery story. What a delight (and I am not being facetious).

Update (8:10am)

Epidural is in, can't feel my feet, starving. Life is good. (This is Cullen typing by the way). It's going much better than I thought it would. Then again, we haven't started pushing. Stay tuned........

In Labor..

For updates, go to the baby blog. www.growingapeanut.blogspot.com!

I'm Having A Baby!

As promised... I will keep it as updated as possible.


My water broke. I am in the hospital. I am having a baby!!!!!! Cullen and I are here, at Kings Daughter's hospital. Room 320 has become my resting place for the next several days. Hooray. I am so excited.

I will keep this as up-to-date as possible!!!

Stats at "38" Weeks

Hello All. Wow, this blog entry is a little bittersweet to write. It is my last stats blog entry. It is one of the final blog posts with out a baby. This time next week, God (and King's Daughters Hospital) permitting, I will have a baby boy resting on my chest!!

Here are the stats from this week's appointment:
Fetal Age: 37 Weeks, 5 Days.
Total Weight Gained: 24.5 Pounds. Yes you read that right. I have LOST 1.5 pounds. If you are wondering, NO, I have not stopped eating. No I have not changed my eating habits. Still eating as though I was an professional Offensive Lineman (ala Michael Oher).
What's the tummy measuring: Unsure. She measured, but didn't share her results with me.
Dilation: 3.5 cm. (okay.... at least we aren't working backwards anymore.)
Effacing: Somewhere between 80 - 90% She (the Doctor) says this is going to make L&D super easy. JACKPOT.

Update on Inducing: It's official. I will be induced at 5:00 a.m. next Tuesday morning. We will go in and start pitocen EARLY, break my water at 8:00 a.m. and HOPE to have the baby here by lunch time (doctor's time frame....). Doctor says, worst case scenario - baby will be here by 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. Easy, easy... right?

I promise, for those who are following, to update the blog or facebook throughout the day. Many of you have asked me to do so. I promise I will.

Here is to a happy last child-free weekend.

Let's end with a prayer:
Dear Lord: Thank you for this wonderful miracle. Thank you for the easy pregnancy. I am putting all my faith in you to be with me through this last week. Grace me with a relatively easy delivery. Be with Noah as he enters this world. I ask all of this in your name. Amen.

The Princess and the Phone

Once upon a time, in a not so far away land, Princess Karen* found out she was going to have a baby with her handsome prince; Prince Mullen*. Princess Karen was so happy to learn of her exciting news. Finally, her childhood "bucket list" is complete: She is married, has a wonderful husband, two perfect little royal boston terriers, and his now growing her own prince to make their little family complete (for now.)

Princess Karen soared through her first trimester, and did the same through her second. Princess Karen constantly thought about how happy she was to have such a blessed pregnancy. "Gee, I could have 4 or 5 babies if it is this easy," Princess Karen thought. (Little did she know, Prince Mullen overheard his wonderful Princess say she wanted many children, and he had to go have a few royal beverages with his Prince friends before he could return to the kindgom.)

Princess Karen entered into the third trimester, and things were still so easy and wonderful. She had only gained minor amounts of weight. She was told regularly by people all over the land, "it is just baby weight." Princess Karen counted all of her blessings.

As Princess Karen's pregnancy drew to an end, things began to change. Some were dark looming clouds (ugh, stretch marks and a constant itch tummy), and some were so blissful. Princess Karen noticed that every time she called someone - no matter the time or day, her calls were answered. Albiet they were answered with the phrase, "How are you feeling?" "Are you in Labor?" or something of the sort, every call was answered. Princess Karen felt so lucky - until she realized this was not just a coincidence...It was solely because she was near the end.

Princess Karen is so sad to see this pregnancy end. While she will soon get to hold her little Prince in her arms, and watch Prince Mullen turn to mush as he looks adoringly into his new son's eyes, she is the most sad about the thought that all the people in the all the land, will go back to frequently not answering calls....back to text messaging.


The end.


**Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Stats at "37" Weeks

Here are this weeks numbers: Some I am quite pleased with...Others could be different, and I would be very happy.

Fetal Age: 36 weeks, 4 days. (I lied last week.... I somehow misplaced a week of pregnancy. I was only 35weeks and 4 days. That was a bummer to realize!)
Total Weight Gained: 26 pounds. Yes, baby had a growth spurt, and I somehow managed to gain three pounds. (Last night for dinner we had turkey burgers, broccoli and rice with pine nuts...here is to NOT gaining anymore weight. Thank you Carol, for dinner!)
What's the tummy measuring: 37.5 cm. Notice the change from last week?? HUGE.
Dilation: I am a 3 now...not 4 cm. That is okay. It happens. It is very common.
Station: Somewhere just under a -2. Last week when she checked me, she said "I can feel the baby's head, no problems. But, the baby is still able to squirm around, and he moved up when I press on him." This week was a different story. She was still able to touch him with no problems; however, he wasn't able to move back up at all. He stayed in position. Which means what?? He is in position - ready to meet Mommy and Daddy.
Effacing: STILL 50%. No biggie. This will come with time.

GREAT NEWS: We set an induction date. If Little Boy doesn't make his own grand entrance, we will have him here May 18th. At my next appointment on May 11th, we will decide if I am going to go in on Monday, May 17th evening or early on Tuesday, May 18th Morning. Yea for the little boy getting ready to be here.

I got very nervous at this appointment. Cullen got very excited... what a role reversal!