New Adventures.

"Baby's dream must be the sweetest," thought Pooh.

Oliver-

You are growing up quickly. We spent our first Father's Day with Daddy cuddling up to him in the morning since you are still too little to go out and be around a lot of people. For dinner, we went out to eat with Daddy, Papa, and Tanessa at Cheesecake Factory where you slept through the entire dinner! Mommy and you tried to do an arts-and-crafts for Daddy, but you would not open your little hand long enough (it was a baseball with your handprint .. which we are still working on). This past week has been a lot of firsts and new things for you -- 

• Your umbilical cord fell off on June 22nd! What a big boy now!
• You had your first booger! 
• First "real" bath.
• First photo shoot .. which you were so cute! You were fussy though which is not like you, but after you ate, you did such a great job and we were able to get a lot of adorable photos of you.
• First restaurant -- Cheesecake Factory for Daddy's first Father's Day!
• First softball game and even though we lost Daddy played very well. You slept the entire time!
• You looked at Mommy and gave such a big genuine smile! It made Mommy's day!

I love watching you sleep. You always smile in your sleep. I cannot get enough of your smiles .. I even found that if I tickle your chin, you will smile or smirk every time. :) Mommy and Daddy love you so very much! Please stop growing up so quickly! ;)

Here you are at Daddy's softball game. GO DADDY! 

Here are three photos from your first photo shoot! You are such a little cutie.

Boy, oh boy!

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." - Leo J. Burke

My heart is so full right now. I cannot even begin to put into words what is swirling around in this head of mine, but I will try.

Tomorrow Oliver will be one week old! :) It has been the greatest, yet scariest week of our lives. When they told us Oliver would be coming early, they always mentioned he could be a "whimpy, little white boy" -- which meant being pre-term, he would probably struggle with breathing especially since I had gestational diabetes and he was a white American boy. After being put on bed rest and my blood pressure not staying in a normal range, my nerves were all over the place. Who wants to be the reason their baby has to go to the NICU? What if Oliver cannot ever breathe on his own or will always have respiratory problems? These were the thoughts that plagued me up until I heard his lungs where able to breathe on their own at 10 am on Saturday morning. Once we heard those news, we continued to receive great news .. Oliver was wanting more food, had great oxygen satration, and no jaundice. Oliver is our little trooper!  

But enough with the sad part of the week, after Sunday morning Oliver came into our hospital and has not left our sight since. We have loved spending all our time with Oliver! Watching his MANY facial expressions, learning how to change a baby boy's diaper and dodging pee, and having him grab for our fingers have been some of the greatest moments in our lives. WE LOVE BEING PARENTS ! All of the corny things people say about having children, we have found to be very accurate. For example, what did we ever do to fill our time before him? Watching and playing with him have become our two favorite pasttimes. We also went on our first walk tonight! He slept and cooed the entire time, while Daddy and Norie walked by our side. We are enjoying our time as a family of four. :)

Oliver.. a few things about you so far.

• You love mimicking sticking your tongue out with Mommy and Daddy.
• You have gained 3 oz. since you left the hospital and now weigh a total of 5 lbs. 4 oz.!
• Your arms are very active and you hate keeping them in your swaddle, clothes, or anything else holding them down. They are always kept very close to your face (mostly posing in some kind of thinking manner, behind your head, or holding Mommy or Daddy's finger).
• You have Daddy's big feet and big fingers! You will learn to grab things with your toes just like Daddy and your Great-Uncle Walter.
• You love to make faces just like Mommy.
• You have won over the hearts of all your nurses, family, and friends.
• Every now and then while sleeping, you give just a little smile and something that sounds like a laugh.
• You sleep most of the day, but we enjoy you most when you are awake and look at us while speaking to you!
• You love listening to Frank Sinatra!
• We read to you every night, and no matter how tired you are you watch us read and look at the picture until the very end where you fall asleep.
• You are very curious about the world around you .. always looking around.
• You aren't too sure about your "big sister" Norie yet. You allow her to sniff you for a second, then move your head away and swat her away with whatever arm you have managed to pull out of your clothing or swaddle.
• You have a head full of hair .. which causes Mommy lots of heartburn! However, I wouldn't have given that up because you are so handsome with your hair.
• We are still waiting to see whose eyes you are going to have. My hope is Daddy's blue, blue eyes.
• None of your clothes fit! You are so tiny! :) They said your head was going to be big like Daddy's, but I think it is very proportional to your body! I wouldn't change anything about you! You are the cutest little fellow in the world!
• We are now on a schedule: sleep for 2.5 hours, then eat, Mommy pumps while Daddy feeds you, then the schedule starts all over! Mommy, Daddy, and "big sister" are all very exhausted, but wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world.

Daddy and you as soon as you left the nursery and were able to come into the room!

Here you are on your way home from the hospital! You wore a preemie blue and white Navy outfit Daddy had bought you while in the hospital from the gift shop! Thanks Daddy! ;)

"Hello "big sister" Norie!" .. You are enjoying time with Norie and trying to understand why she sniffs you so much!

On your way to your first doctor visit! You pooped and peed ALL over the scale while they were checking your temperature. It was very nasty.

Smiling in your sleep with your hands by your face.

One of your many faces you make that we love!

In the hospital saying "Oh mom!". It had been the first time I had seen you since the OR and I started to cry. Guess I was embrassing you already.  :)

...and so it begins!

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." - Anais Nin

Our family story starts in November 2005 at a Glencliff High School play where I met Stephen for the first time. After the play, we went out with friends to eat at IHOP. Stephen was with his friend Gabe and cousin Mary (who had been my friend since Kindergarten!) and I was with my friends Heather and Amanda. Let's just say, though, that we didn't truly start there. Stephen tried to invite me to a Predators game with everyone, but I decided to go see Harry Potter instead. Oops! Then, he called me on New Year's Eve to go out with him and some of his friends, but I already plans. Oops again! Stephen had lost hope that we would ever have a chance. However, God had a plan for us and we met randomly again at Steak-N-Shake one night. And so our love story begins from that day in January.

We were married on November 29, 2008 at Scaritt Bennett in Nashville, TN with all of our closest friends and family in attendance. Over the past 3.5 years, I had wondered what it would like to be a Mommy, but the timing wasn't perfect to bring a baby into the world. I was still in college finishing my teaching degree (Undergrad and Masters) and Stephen began his career at SCRI.

In September 2011, we decided to have a baby, and found out we were expecting in early October! We were ecstatic and overwhelmed with happiness -- and nervousness! :) The first trimester was full of exhaustion, weight loss, and morning sickness. However, we loved telling our family and friends about our great news! The second trimester was the best because we felt Oliver for the first time, really got to see him (he looked just like Stephen in his 3D ultrasound), and found out he was a boy! Oliver loved to kick Mommy late at night, especially when it was bedtime. He even began to develop his personality and we absolutely fell in love with our little guy. My favorite memory during the second trimester was when we went to an ultrasound one morning earlier than usual and Oliver was not a happy camper. The tech had to keep trying to get him to move to do all of the measurements, which forced him to wake up. He yawned really big and then turned his head to face the monitor and stuck his tongue out at his parents! :) He was already silly. The third trimester was definitely the toughest for me. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was on a strict diet -- I could eat any pizza, bread, or cheese -- all of my favorites! Then, at 34 weeks, I began to have high blood pressure and was hospitalized twice to monitor Oliver and me. The following week I was placed on bed rest to try to keep my blood pressure down so Oliver could stay in the womb for a few more weeks to finish developing. However, my body began to work against me and I could no longer keep my blood pressure down at a normal rate, so I was hospitalized to be induced the following morning. I struggled with this because I did not want Oliver to have any respiratory problems or other issues.

We started medicine to thin out my cervix at 9 pm on Thursday, June 7 and the following morning, at 5 am, we started on Pitocin. From 9 pm on Thursday to Friday at 10:30 am, I did not dilate at all -- so the doctor decided I either wait a little longer and be placed on a higher dose of Pitocin or go ahead with a C-section -- I chose the C-section. At 11 am we went back for the C-section, and Oliver was born at 11:25 am :). The first day was the toughest for baby Oliver. He had to be put on oxygen and monitored the whole day. The next day we were able to visit Oliver in the nursery, and even read him a bedtime story! Oliver came home on June 11, 2012 and our family of three, plus Norie, started! :)

Oliver Henry Gannon

Born June 8, 2012 at 11:25 am

5 lbs. 7 oz.

18.5 inches

Daddy dressed for the OR in his Aloha shirt. You will come to find out he has a crazy style! ;)

Getting cleaned up to come see Mommy.



Look how precious you are! You held onto Daddy's finger most of the time! As soon as you were delivered, you cried and cried until you were placed into Daddy's arms! :)



You came from heaven, oh, so sweet
A precious bundle of joy
And here on earth we finally meet
Our beautiful baby boy!
Some people say you look like your dad
Some think you look like me
But either way is OK
You’re all that we hoped you would be.
Now every night before we sleep
We thank our Father above
For sending us a special gift
That fills our home with love. ~ Unknown