A 2007 Retrospective

What a year this has been. On January 1, 2007, Karl and I lived by ourselves in row home in downtown Philadelphia. I was employed as a public school music teacher while writing my master's thesis. Karl was a full-time graduate student. Karl was planning on applying for jobs in several cities, but we had no idea where we might be living once the school year was over. We were hoping for a child, but would not discover that I was pregnant until the following day.

On January 2, I watched with delight as the line on my pregnancy test turned pink.

In February, we trekked down to DC for Karl's first job interviews.

Karl accepted a job offer in March. We began researching the real estate market in DC and talking to folks from our church who were interested in buying our Philadelphia home.

I spent most of April trying to complete my master's thesis. I don't remember many details about my topic anymore, but I do remember multiple technology failures, such as crazy margins in MS Word, countless printer failures, and flashdrive chaos. I didn't ask Karl about his memories from this month. I'm not sure if I want to make him relive the stress of being married to an irritable, fatigued, pregnant student.

In May, I marched in Temple's commencement ceremonies, finally completing the master's degree that I began working on in 2001.

June is sort of a blur. From what we can recall, we decided to forgo selling the house in Philadelphia in order to rent to our friends. We selected our home in DC and began the sometimes humorous, sometimes nauseating process of closing on that home. (The process included no less than 4 home appraisals, 3 mortgage companies, 2 mortgage brokers, 2 insurance policies, 2 price adjustments, and, as we like to say, "a partridge in a pear tree.")

We finally closed on the home in July. We moved in the same night and were delighted as friends from our new church helped us to settle in.

I spent most of August unpacking boxes and painting the nursery, while Karl studied the finer details of the federal tax code at his new job.

The Lord gave us Adam in September.

I don't need to recount the rest of the year to you, blog readers, since it is already recorded here.

So, as you can see, 2007 was a banner year. It reminds us very much of 2004, which is the year that we got engaged, got married, and bought our first home. The two intervening years have been wonderful, but relatively uneventful. Kind of like treading water.

It makes us wonder what 2010 will be like. We have been joking that perhaps we will buy a third home and have another child in that year? We certainly wouldn't mind two years of relatively uneventful living until then.

Happy 1 Month, Adam!

Thursday marked Adam's 1-month birthday. To celebrate, Adam got to meet some of the MacDonald branch of his family, who were passing through the area on their way to North Carolina for the weekend. Adam met "Gramps," "LiLi," Mrs. LaBold, Aunt Stephanie, Aunt Lauren "LuLu," and Aunt Brooke (who wants to join in to the nicknames and be called "LaLa"...the jury is still out on whether that will stick.) After a brief time at our home, we were treated to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Yum! When I get the pictures emailed to me, I'll post them on the blog.

One month. It is hard to believe how time is flying. Tonight we put our favorite little newborn sleeper on him but found that he has already outgrown it. We couldn't fasten all of the snaps. Karl and I were both a little sad about that. Adam is growing up too fast! Despite the open snaps, we left him dressed in it for the night because it was just too cute.

This sleeper is very special to Karl and I, being the first baby item that we ever bought for ourselves. We purchased it over a year and a half ago while shopping for gifts for the expected Erwin baby. We were hoping for a baby, but not expecting yet. The little enclosed feet and froggie design were so sweet that we couldn't resist buying it for ourselves. We hung it in our guest room closet in the hopes that we would be able to use it someday. During my pregnancy, we would look at it from time to time with excitement. Once we found out we were having a boy, we started to imagine little feet filling out the outfit. This was the first outfit of our own we dressed him in at the hospital. He was even cuter than we imagined him to be!

After tonight, it will be packed away in the hopes of future Russo boys wearing it again.

One-day-old Adam , wearing his sleeper for the first time.

Introducing Adam James Russo

Born September 11, 2007

10:19pm
7 lbs., 4 oz.
20.4 inches

We love our baby boy very much! I have to say that the labor was harder than I expected, even with the help of my epidural. But he is worth every bit of morning sickness, each stretch mark, contraction, and soreness that it took to bring him into the world.

He has a very pleasant personality and has not fussed very much at all, except when hungry. (He's good at eating, too!) He loves to be held. He has a thick head of blond (or maybe strawberry-blond) hair.

We should be discharged from the hospital tomorrow (Thursday). We're very glad that the hospital has a wireless network connection so we can use our laptop to keep in touch with you all.

I'll post photos here as I take them.

He likes to sleep!

Adam likes to be held by his daddy.

Here's an artsy black and white photo.

Here I am after 20 hours of labor.

Due Today

Yes, I'm still pregnant!

No signs of labor as of yet...

I'm trying to take advantage of the time I have now. This morning I went shopping at Wal-Mart. I got some groceries as well as some other things I've been meaning to get for a while.

I'm going to nap if I can after lunch, then spend some time doing some deep cleaning around the house. I'm having trouble sleep at night sometimes. I don't want to start out labor already tired, so the naps are for a good reason. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

No Labor on Labor Day

I did my very best to explain to our baby that it was Labor Day yesterday. Either he didn't understand or already is not listening to his Mama!

We spent yesterday at a church picnic in Arlington. It was a potluck with hot dogs and spicy bratwurst provided. There was so much delicious food! We were stuffed by the end.

Also at the picnic were two other ladies whose due dates are soon after mine. We were hoping that at least one of us would go into labor. As far as I know, we're all still pregnant.

"Mommy, look at that big girl!"

That's what I heard as I walked into a local mall last week.

I looked around for the source of the exclamation and for whoever the voice was referring to. My eyes came to rest on a six-year-old girl, mouth hanging open, hand outstretched, and finger pointing.... to me.

I'm not sure who was more embarrassed, me or her mother. I suppose I should have said something nice to make her feel better, but I just couldn't. Not out of malice, but because I was still in shock. My belly is nice and round now, but I don't really think of myself as a "big girl." Now I think the whole scene was hilarious. I'll have to post an updated pic of my big belly. I'll get Karl to take a picture of me tonight if I can remember.

I am 38 weeks pregnant today. I saw the doctor on Friday and her comment was "You could have the baby tomorrow, or we could be sitting here in 3 weeks talking about induction possibilities." Well he's still in there.

A lot of people ask me how I'm feeling. The answer is that I'm feeling good! I have a decent amount of energy, considering that it's difficult to sleep through the night due to lack of comfortable positions available. I'm not experiencing any of the common late-pregnancy ills such as heartburn or high blood pressure, which is a blessing. I do have occasional sciatic nerve pain. Apparently it is caused by the baby pressing against a nerve in my spine. I'll be walking normally, and out of nowhere I feel a lightning bolt of pain down my leg! It lasts only a moment and comes infrequently, but it is annoying for sure! But really I can't complain.

So if baby does want to stay in another week or two (or three) that's fine with me. But I am anxious to meet him and would be very excited if I went into labor as soon as I finish typing this post.

Speaking of which, Karl and I plan to bring my camera and laptop to the hospital with us for the birth. The hospital has a free wireless connection, so we could theoretically post pictures of the baby here within hours of birth. (There will be no "birth" pictures either taken or shared!) You can hedge your bets now regarding whether 1) We will actually remember to grab the computer, camera, cord, and batteries when it's time or; 2) if we have any energy or concern to follow through with all that after the birth.

For your viewing pleasure

Not for the feint of heart!

Here is my profile as of Monday, at 33 weeks pregnant. Only about 7 more weeks to go! 38 weeks is considered "full-term," so we might be seeing baby in as little as 5 weeks. Yikes!