Seeing the Grandparents

Last week, I took a few days off to take Piglet down to Jacksonville and see some folks. My Grandparents (Mom's side) and other Grandfather (Dad's side) got to see her for the first time. On with the pictures.

Daddy doesn't get to dress her very often, but when he does, he really takes advantage of it.

Another Daddy outfit at her Nana Baxley's

Hanging out with Papa Baxley

The Next Day, she got to see her Papa J.O.

Isn't this a pretty dress?

Sleeping with Papa. You should have heard them both snoring

My Little Love Bug

Nana Mac knows how to soothe me

Happy Girl at Papa's House

Piglet went to her first baseball game. The Suns vs the Chattanoooga Lookouts. You'll never believe who was playing first base for the double-A Suns; Mark Belhorn. A few years ago, he was on the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. It was kind of sad.

Uncle Eric and Aunt Nannette went to the game with us

2 Good Lookin Fellas

Watching Baseball with Daddy

It was a Tiring Weekend

Piglet is a Great Car Rider

Playtime with Piglet

Kaitlin woke up in a good mood this morning so I decided to get out the activity mat that her Aunt Alisa and Uncle Jason gave her. She's played on it before but only for a few minutes at a time. Today she played on it for at least 30 minutes, I played with her some and she played by herself some. Kaitlin had a great time, she smiled and cooed and kicked. Maggie wanted to play also and tried to lick her every time she made a sound.


Here is a picture from yesterday when she played in her crib. She loved her Florida gator and her bulldog (not the Georgia kind) stuffed animals.

Last Weekend

Last weekend we were very busy. It started Friday morning with Kaitlin's 2 week well check. The doctor said that she's doing great and that Kaitlin is average in height, weight, and head size. She weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. ( On a side note today I had her weighed and she is 9 lbs 2 oz, is it normal to gain that much in a week? ) After that we went on a nice quiet ride to Oxford for the weekend. We went to see Meme and Pappy and cousin Chase was in town visiting as well. Here's Pappy with Kaitlin. Saturday we went to the Pruitt Family Reunion at Noccalula Falls, a must see if you are ever driving through Gadsden. They have a 100 ft. waterfall, train, walking trails that go under the falls, a petting zoo, and more. Kaitlin went on her first train ride while we were there, she loved it. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of the falls, maybe next year.
And here Kaitlin is with Mom. We are still not sure what we are going to call her, Nana She She, Garndma, or Red ( just kidding ).

Even though it was a fun weekend and I really miss everyone I am glad that we are home now.

Father's Day 08

Papa Rick, Piglet had something she wanted to tell you:

We had a happy day today.
It was also pretty tiring.
I love my family.

First Bath

Piglet had her first bath last week. She screamed the entire time. I felt so sorry for her. You can check out the video here. But I warn you, lots of little baby nudity, and lots of screaming. I'll have to get some video of her later, with her in a little better mood.

Good Morning Piglet

Its not all crying and poop. This is what I get to look at every morning before I go to work. Its so sweet when she's just sleeping there, with her arms in the touchdown position. We've been going for walks too. Just me and Piglet. She usually goes to sleep on me just as soon as I put her in the stroller.

I Did It

I did it, and I never want to do it again. Though I'm sure I will.

I changed my first poopy last night. It was the most disgusting thing ever. I got some on her foot and on the changing table. She cried. I cried. Now I've got to go the store and buy some clothes pins for my nose.

And by the way, whoever told me that it doesn't smell bad when its your own child needs to go read Revelation 21:8 and see what it says about liars.

Kaitlin's First Well Check

Last Friday, before the infection, Kaitlin had her first doctor's visit. It went well. She cried a lot when they undressed her, just like me she does not like being cold. She gained an ounce and weighed 7.1 and she grew a 1/2 inch. With her being under the weather right now we've had to hold her a lot more than before. The negative is that it is hard to get anything done when you have a baby in your arms and she will only sleep while you are holding her. Every now and then we can get her to sleep for about 30 minutes in her bed or bouncy seat. Thankfully, Mom is here helping out so I can get some sleep, she's even going to stay extra until the infection clears up. Mom has made everything so much better, she's great. The positive of Kaitlin needing to be held all the time is that you get to see all of her cute facial expressions like her pouty face, her smile that shows off her 2 cute little dimples, and another face were she presses her lips together real hard and makes an O just like her cousin Owen. I have no clue when most babies do this but she can roll over now. I've only seen her do a 1/2 roll to her side but last night she rolled all the way over on her face for Chad.

Here We Go

It didn't take long for Piglet to get sick for the first time. She has an infection, as does her momma. She has been much more unsettled, crying more and wanting to be held all of the time. Its pretty wearing on Chrissy. We've also been instructed not to use a pacifier. That is rough. Despite the problems, there have been moments of bliss. There is nothing better than having that sweet thing in your lap looking up at you. Or watching Josh Beckett and the Sox.

I hear her crying again. I think I'll go see what's going on.

About Kaitlin

We don't have a real good feel for her personality yet, but we do know some things about her already. She has great lungs.

When she gets really ticked off, she snorts in between cries. I'll have to get that on video. Its pretty funny. I've started calling her piglet since her snorts sound like a little pig. She has been sleeping a lot. She is getting cuter every day.

She likes to sleep with her arms up. Its like she's saying "Touchdown Patriots/Jaguars/Gators/Tigers" already.

Sheila (Chrissy's Mom) is still staying with us, which has been a great help. Especially for me. My Dad came up last night for another visit. Its nice to have family around.

When I was in Walmart a couple days ago, my mind drifted back to when my nephew Noah was about one year old. I remember watching his Dad Jason wipe a booger off of his lip and wipe it on his pants leg. I told him that was disgusting. His reply; "When your a Dad, you have no shame". I remember thinking that I'd never do stuff like that. The reason that memory came up in Walmart was because I had just asked the lady in the clothing section where the nursing bras were. Yep, when you're a Dad, you have no more shame.

On to the pictures!!!

Touchdown Kaitlin!

Me and My Girls

Cousin Zoey hanging out in the nursery

Shee Shee

Cute When She's Asleep

Cute When She's Awake

Her First Birthday Cake

Sucking My Thumb

Sleeping to the Gator Fight Song

My Dad Thought it would be funny to take this picture. Can you see me under the brown side walking down the road? The day after she was born, we went looking for a photo center to make some pictures he could carry home to Florida. We were on the interstate when he decided to tell me we were running low on gas. About 5 seconds later, the car shut off. So I had to walk 2 miles in the heat of the day to buy a gas can and fill it up with gas. Yeah, he got a lot of laughs out of taking this picture. He also told me not to tell anybody. Whoops.

More from Kaitlin's first days

I'm at work right now, so I don't have time to write much, but I wanted to let everyone know that Chrissy and Kaitlin are doing fine. Chrissy's mom is staying with us for a few days/weeks to help with the um... transition. I did find a couple more pictures I wanted to share. Maybe Chrissy will write some day and talk about her experience.

She's Here!!!!

Monday, May 26, 2008 at 3:19 PM, Kaitlin Jane McLeod graced us with her presence. She weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz. She is 19.5 inches long. She is what the nurses call a "good crier". They also said thats a good thing though I'm not so sure. She has reddish-blond hair. And she looks like her daddy. Now enough of me writing. On with the important stuff. The pictures!!!

Not Yet

3 Centimeters. Not many contractions. No baby yet. Some discomfort. The Doctor said she could come any day now. She also said it could be another couple of weeks. I'll let you all know as soon as anything happens.

Any Day Now

The baby could come any day now. Chrissy and I both guess it will be May 26. The due date is the 24th. Chrissy just wants it to be in May. She is doing surprisingly well. We went to the hospital Monday night thinking it was time. Too bad it was false labor. Her contractions were 3 minutes apart for over 8 hours. Matilda was just teasing us.

Chrissy's mom came to visit us for a few days. She brought their new dog Zoey. Zoey is a boxer puppy. She plays hard, and she sleeps hard.
Chrissy didn't feel like getting her picture taken today, but Zoey did.

A Gift from Aunt Jeannette

My Aunt Jeannette blessed us with a quilt she made. It is so beautiful. How lucky we are to have family like her. Take a look.

Look at the inscription on the back. I know Matilda will not be her real name (much to my dismay), but at least it will be a nickname.

Thank you Aunt Jeannette.

As you can see, the baby should be here any day now!!!

Fort Knox Continued

The next day at Knox, we got to have a little fun. This is a simulator for a Stryker vehicle.This is the interior. If you think about top gun where they had flight simulators, its kind of the same thing except its for ground vehicles. I went through a couple of the scenarios, and not to sound too high on myself, but they say I was a natural. Maybe if this engineering thing doesn't work out, I've got a future in Stryker driving.


Some of the things they do looks like big video games. The reason the army is going digital in training is because its so expensive to fire the real thing. This is a 50 caliber semi-automatic like the ones used on top of a hummer. I didn't get to fire one of these. Maybe next time.
We watched these M-l Abrams firing from about 100 yards. I didn't know it was coming so I almost jumped out of my skin. It got a good chuckle out of the rest of the group watching.

I got to sit in one of them as well. Took a little drive in a Bradley as well.