Nursery

To welcome Micah home, we wanted to have a special space just for him. Daddy worked really hard making all of Mommy's ideas come to life. He painted and added chair rail, put up floating shelves, and curtain rods. Dad put together furniture and hung pictures and filled it up with airplanes. We think it is perfect for the little guy!

One day old!

Day one of life! Micah got to know lots of new faces today as we were showered with love and visits from our friends and family. Everything is still going well and we are all figuring it out together. We had a pretty quiet morning and got to spend some good family time together. I think we are already head first into parenthood because we can't stop taking pictures of the little guy!

After our morning he had to go to the doctor to get some not so pleasant stuff done. When he came back he was pretty sleepy and conked out for awhile. We had many great friends that came to visit us in the afternoon. Of course he had to get dressed up by Mommy for his debut so we put on one of our newborn outfits. It was HUGE on him!!! We put this special outfit on though because most of our visitors were guys that Brad flys with. Brad's super cool fighter pilot call sign is "Dirt" so when we saw this outfit of course we had to have it. All of Brad's co-workers LOVED it! We tried to space out our visitors but it seemed like everyone got there pretty much at the same time. We had his first little party in our hospital room, haha! Thanks to everyone for being so thoughtful and bringing us food, magazines, balloons, flowers, and gifts! We feel SO blessed to have such wonderful friends here.

Then for some Daddy time! Micah already loves his daddy SOOOO much!

I had to get a picture of my hospital band collection. I mean really!! The second one closest to my hand is an anti-baby theft system. When ever I get close to my baby it plays a tune. If I get near another baby or some other mommy gets near mine it sets off alarms and locks down the floor. Also if the baby is taken out of the approved area the band will also cause a baby lock down. Then they have to go to all of the rooms and do a baby count.

Then after all the excitement if the day already, the grandparents arrived! Here's Micah and Grandma getting to know each other.

Hello World!

Micah has been great! He has cried very little so far and just been either sleeping or completely fascinated with the world around him. The last photos I posted were taken about 5 min after birth. These are all after he got a little better adjusted to the world.

Bath Time!

And Then There Were Three...

And our family of two is now our family of three. Welcome to our adventure!

Micah Evan Matherne

Feb 26, 2010

11:29 AM

6 lbs 8 oz

19.5 in long

We left for the hospital about 1:45 AM and he finally arrived at 11:29. Micah, Mom and Dad are all doing wonderfully! He has dark blue eyes and not much hair but it ranges from lighter brown on top to darker brown around the edges. We think he is pretty awesome! Here are some of his first pics. I am going to attempt to upload more pics and maybe even a video from our new video camara following this post so stay tuned!

And the marathon begins...

My water broke around 1:30 am. We are at the hospital now. After lots of very painful contractions and not much progression we got the epidural, hence the blogging. I feel great now! Check back for updates!

The Update Is...

No news yet! Thanks for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Update from the Doc

I had my appointment this morning and I am now 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The Doctor said she felt pretty confident I would naturally progress into labor this week. Let the count down begin!

Hello, 40 Weeks!

Here I am... 40 weeks. Nothing to report. The little man is still just enjoying hanging out in there. I feel a little like a time bomb, only I can't see the countdown timer. We will update with news when we have some! Could be a day or a week!

Nesting, projects, and a night out!

Well here I am a day short of 40 weeks and I think I am starting a little nesting. I feel like the last couple of days have transformed my normal eyes into telescopic eyes that hunt out and zoom in on dirt. I have not ever really noticed how dusty my baseboards are becoming... But I am starting to get it all done. I have cleaned the guest bathroom, the stairwell, and dining room. The kitchen is looking pretty good. I am mostly caught up on laundry (the washing, not the hanging). There is always more to do with this crazy new vision I seem to have obtained but I am balancing the cleaning with the taking it easy.

Yesterday I also attempted a project that I have been wanting to do for a friend for a while. I had the idea to make my friend Kendall some really cute burp cloths as part of her baby gift. I have had a few sewing lessons from my Mom, but never attempted to sew by myself. I feel like my days are numbered and I really wanted to be able to give this gift to Kendall since I picked out all of the fabric specifically for her and her little one. So I got out the sewing machine (and the instruction manual) and gave it a whirl. Now I have to say the pics below are a little deceiving. The burp cloths turned out pretty good, if you look at them from a distance. I did pretty well until attaching the ribbon at the end. Since I was trying to sew the front and the back at the same time it went well in some spots and not so well in others. I learned along the way, but am still by no means an expert or even remotely good at this harder task. When you look up close they are a little more obviously a beginner's project. Oh well! Hope she likes them anyway!

Since I made it to Saturday night we got to go to the farewell dinner for LTC Ekman, Brad's squadron commander. It was held at a really nice restaurant called the Mill Pond. We had a great time getting to have a last night out but I was a little nervous since this place was about 45 min from the hospital. I made Brad put the bags in the car just in case. Obviously I made it through the night and there is still no sign of little boy M. Below are some pics... Just short of 40 weeks!

Adventures at 39.5 weeks!

Week 39 has been a busy week in the Matherne Household! Besides both of us still getting in a full day of work each day we have had a lot going on. Tuesday I had a doctors appointment in the morning and had my first official "check". Things are starting to progress a bit as I am now 1 cm dilated and starting to thin. The doctor seemed to think that I would make it to my appointment next week so even though we are getting closer nothing too exciting is happening. Tuesday night the wives had a going away dinner for Brad's Squadron Commander's Wife. They will be moving on to their next assignment going to school in Washington DC so we all got together to say a special goodbye from the wives.

Wednesday brought more goodbyes as we attended "Clutch's", one of the guys who flys with Brad, Fini Flight. The fini flight is the last flight a guy has with the squadron before he leaves off to his next assignment. As he climbs out of the jet the guys all tackle them, tie them up and douse them in water, champagne, and any other nonsense they can find. The Yarboroughs have been great friends here at Shaw and we will miss them! Wednesday night I volunteered to host Book Club for the ladies. Book club is something that I have been wanting to participate in but haven't been able to attend very often with my work travel schedule. Now that I am home I am so excited to get to be involved in this. The girls had a great time Wed night planning out our next few months of Book Club and even though Brad got home pretty late from work he swiped some food and tried to avoid getting too close to all the estrogen! The biggest news on Wednesday was that we got to welcome Baby Hafez into the world! Congratulations to Adam and Micheale as they gave birth Shaun Adam Hafez.

Shaun Adam Hafez

February 17, 2010

5:55 PM

6 lbs 13 oz, 21 in

Thursday was another busy day! Again a full day of work and then Brad rushed home so that we would have time to visit Micheale and Baby Shaun before our Baby Basics class at the hospital. We just made it in time to get to see Micheale and Shaun for about 20 min before class started. Both Mama and baby were looking great! I have to say the baby next door to baby Shaun was not quite as happy as he was. Micheale and I have gotten to be friends just since being pregnant together and we have both enjoyed having another working friend to go through the experience with. Micheale was convinced that I was going to go into labor before her even though she was due 7 days before me. Luckily for both of us I didn't! Shaun is tiny and precious! We are so excited for him to get to grow up with Baby Matherne (at least until we both go to new assignments!).

Brad, Me, Mommy Micheale, and Baby Shaun, (Daddy had just left to go feed the cat!)

Baby basics class was next. We ran back downstairs and were only a couple of minutes late to class. We got to see a really great movie about shaken baby syndrome and learn a few things about the basics of newborn care. Apparently every parent has to watch this movie before they are released from the hospital and since we did it in class we won't have to do it again after the baby is born. As exciting as it was, we are glad! The other highlight of the class was learning to swaddle. We all got dolls and got to practice this ever important skill. Hopefully Daddy was paying attention! Of all the classes we took at the hospital this one was probably the least informative, but we got our check marks for the video so all was not lost. We have enjoyed getting to attend classes with Kendall and Howie. They are friends from our squadron that I have mentioned before. We almost never get to have pictures with all of us in them so we took this rare opportunity to commemorate the moment before I POP!

Howie, Kendall (37 wks), Me (39.5 wks), Brad

As for Friday, no big big plans for tonight. Tomorrow we have the formal Farewell for Brad's Squadron Commander so if I am still doing well we will head to Boykin SC to the Mill Pond ( a local restaurant that is supposed to be very good and very nice!) and have one more last night out before the baby comes.

Sunny with a chance of Baby

My friend Debra told me that one of the things that was always weird to her was when you went to the grocery store and you were due before the expiration date on the milk. I watch the weather and check the 10 day forecast almost everyday. I thought it was crazy when my due date popped up in the forecast! Well hopefully it is Sunny with a chance of Baby!

Snow Day and Valentine's Day

We finally got our turn in South Carolina to have a little snow this weekend. On Friday around 4:00 the flurries started and it continued to snow most of the night! I am not a fan of snow, but even I had to admit that it was beautiful! If you are going to have snow this is the way to do it... Have a few inches in the evening get everything nice and covered and then have a beautiful sunny day the next day to clear the roads and all the snow melts before it gets dirty.

This was shortly after the snow began at about 5:30. It was already starting to stick!

You can tell the depth of the snow on our patio furniture!

And this was the Winter Wonderland in the morning! The night before EVERYTHING was convered!

We had a pretty low key Valentine's day this year. We just really enjoyed being together. Brad was such a wonderful husband and brought me not one, not two, but three bouquets of roses! One red, one white and one pink! Then he even put them up in vases for me to enjoy! I woke up early on Valentine's Day and made him breakfast in bed. We had heart shaped mini-blueberry muffins, fruit, and eggs. I even handmade a Valentine for him. The rest of the day we did a few errands, and cleaned the house. Just making sure everything gets done before we have another little valentine arrive.

Breakfast in Bed for My Valentine!

My beautiful Valentine's Day present!

Congratulations Natalie and Rob!

My great friend Natalie from growing up in Texas had her baby this week! I have been wanting to post about it since she had Caleb on Wednesday but I have been waiting for a good picture! We have really enjoyed sharing our pregnancy experience together and I can't believe hers is now over! We are so excited to meet Baby Caleb and get to let him and Baby Matherne play together someday!

Caleb Robert Hosner

2/10/2010

10:30 AM

8.34lbs – 20 inches

The Latest Purchase

So you know your life is changing when the highlight of your day is a new stroller! I have been researching strollers for the majority of the pregnancy and found there is quite a selection out there. Thanks to recommendations from a few good friends (Thanks Abbey and Debra!) we finally settled on the Phil & Teds Sport. And let me tell you... this is no ordinary stroller. It is like the transformers of strollers! This is the exact one we got:

It is the color, configuration, etc. that arrived on our doorstep. Now you might be thinking "this looks like a double stroller and I am pretty sure she isn't having twins!" No, no twins! This is one of my favorite features of this stroller. It moves from a single to a double stroller seamlessly as your family grows. All you do is just snap on or off the doubles seat in the back.

Another feature I love is that it is an "inline" stroller with wheels that are much like a bicycle. This means that you can use it everyday but it is also great for jogging! Not that I actually jog, but Brad does! Good quality father-son bonding time. And who knows what lengths I will go to lose the baby weight, maybe I will be a jogger too someday!






This picture shows what the stroller looks like as a single. So this is the configuration I will be using it in for a nice long while. Since I have been around SOOOO much boy stuff lately I couldn't resist posting the picture in pink. They actually have all sorts of fun colors but we went with black/charcoal.

Here is where it gets interesting! The stroller can convert to all of your needs as you have one newborn all the way to two toddlers! The pic on the top right shows the configuration for one newborn. You can lay the seat in the stroller completely flat so they can just camp out and sleep in there. Then you move to the top left where you have one toddler. Next you get to put the doubles attachment back on. The pic on the bottom left shows a newborn and a toddler. Then finally the bottom right shows two toddlers. I love how nice and compact this stroller is and how you can grow to two kiddos without having a HUGE mama double stroller. It is still nice and manageable!

The last thing we got was an extra attachment so that we could use the stroller with our car seat. That way we can plop our carrier right on top without having to wake the baby up and move him to the stroller when we get in and out of the car. The pic above is another fun color... they call this one apple!

Our newest purchase arrived in the mail yesterday and Brad already got it put together and taught me all about how to use it. Like I said, it is a bit of a sanity check but I am very, very excited about this latest purchase and hope it is able to be a part of our family for a LONG time!

More Maternity Pics!

Here are some more proofs from our maternity photo session with Raleigh. Some are new and some are just favorites from the post on her website. I am so excited about how they came out. The hardest part is figuring out what to order!!

To see more of Raleigh's great photography click on this link: http://raleighannphotography.blogspot.com/ . She has a way like no other of catching the twinkle in a baby's eye!