Christmas 2008!

Adyson, now 5 months old and counting, celebrated her first Christmas in style. That meant lots of presents, lots of wrapping paper and lots of new things to put in her mouth! What good is a Christmas present if you can't taste it, right?

We started Ady's Xmas Tour de Force in Rockwall on the 25th. She couldn't stay up on Christmas Eve, so we waited the next day. She probably didn't know why she was opening presents, but Ady definitely was able to grab on to some paper and help rip them open. The best were the bags that had thin white paper as stuffing. She couldn't wait to see what that stuff tasted like!

As you might expect, Ady hauled it in. And why shouldn't she? She was a very good girl in the less-than-half year she's been alive. Adyson now has some great new clothes thanks to her grandmother, Lynn. She also got some great learning toys that we'll be using throughout the new year.

Ady's great-grandparents, the Rupes, got her a beautiful stool with her name carved out in block letters. It's just fabulous. Auntie Cat also got Ady her first Bible, a New Testament version and a illustrated version for children.

Of course, mom and dad came through, too. We got Ady a Leapfrog learning table and a giant A-B-C wheel that teaches you about animals. Based on all the clothes she got, Ady shouldn't need anymore clothes for now -- at least until she grows out of the 6-9 month sizes.

Overall, Adyson had a great first Christmas. Hopefully these pictures above show her at her best. We can't wait for next year when she'll know more about Christmas and Santa and the whole bit.

Holidays Are Here!

December 13
Adyson Meets Santa Claus
The entire Davis family took a trip out to Rockwall where Adyson got to enjoy a major first – a visit with Santa Claus. Deb and Brian didn’t really know how Ady she would handle it. You’ve all seen young children sitting on Santa’s lap at the mall just crying their eyes out. For some reason, we thought Adyson would be cool with ol’ St. Nick. And sure enough, she was. The Santa store was set up inside the shopping center at the Harbor in Rockwall just off Lake Ray Hubbard. Brian put her in Santa’s arms, and Ady just had this curious look on her face. She didn’t really smile when the camera man got going, but she didn’t cry, either. She was fantastic. Now that being said, we didn’t really get any cute pictures. She didn’t smile so much as she had this look on her face like, “What the heck is this?” Twenty years from now, this picture of her not smiling will be priceless.

November 23-28
Thanksgiving and Christmas in Kentucky
Following the volleyball tournament, Adyson, mom and me headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and an early Christmas. We arrived at 11:30 p.m. to a very well lit house as my youngest sisters, Beth (17) and Monica (14), were up and waiting Ady’s arrival. A few minutes later, my dad was up and loving on his granddaughter until 2 a.m. Needless to say, we slept in the following morning or we at least tried to. Michelle, my sister, was at the house at 7 a.m. to see her niece. After the big “welcome home” claimed down, it was easier to get her in somewhat of a routine of eating and sleeping. I was able to get her to sleep without being swaddle, which was a goal for the trip, and our other goal, once we returned to Dallas, was to move her into her bassnet to her crib.



The night before Thanksgiving we decided to have Adyson’s Christmas since we wouldn’t be home for the holidays. She had a fabulous time with everyone and loved opening her presents. Check out some of the Christmas videos posted.



Thanksgiving Day we were all getting ready to make the traditional journey to Grandma’s house until we got a call at 11 a.m. from a family member saying she had had a heart attack and was being sent to the Cookeville Hospital (hour-an-a-half away). So, we gathered everything up and spent the day, and night, in the emergency room. After having surgery to open her values, she’s doing fine and was able to return home six days later. I’m happy to report she’ recovering well at home (as of Dec. 14).

November 20-23
Adyson Visits Graceland
Adyson enjoyed her first trip to Memphis. She got to go to Graceland with Grandma and Aunt Teresa, who came down to watch her while I worked the volleyball tournament. I ran down the list of Adyson’s do’s and don’ts and likes and dislikes so they would be prepared, but both ignored some of my advice and fell victim to Adyson’s spit-up after meals. Mom and Teresa both ended up changing clothes more than once during the week. But by the end of the tournament, they had a bib on her (as suggested by me days earlier). They ran around the first two days and picked up some volleyball knowledge the last two days. Adyson was frighten by the crowd noise the first day but during the championship match she sleep through the first four sets but caught the fifth and deciding set, which was exciting.

November 19
Adyson's First Flight
Six days after getting her second round of shots, Adyson took her first flight. She joined me at the C-USA Volleyball Championship in Memphis, Tenn. I have to say Adyson was perfect on the flight from Dallas. She knew something was going on; on the way up, she kept staring at me and she slept on the way down. I got extremely lucky, this time. Very few people were on the plane, too.

Coming back was a totally different story, as it was in the afternoon - her least favorite time of the day. We pre-boarded and it was total chaos.

First, my overhead bag wouldn’t fit, so I had to remove items and stuff them into an already overflowing diaper bag. Second, she determined it was time to get out of the front carrier, followed by deciding it was time to eat and wanted to let the completely full plane know all about it. However, once her tummy was full she fell asleep for most of the flight. As you can probably guess, she woke up right when we started to descend – she was not a fan of that. We survived and boy was I happy to see Brian on the other side of the baggage claim doors.



November 13
Adyson's Four Month Check-up
She was 13 pounds and eight ounces as well as 23 inches long. As the pediatrician said, "She’s growing beautifully." We saw Dr. Schleier since Dr. Tomecko was on maternity leave.

Brian joined us and was victim of Adyson's spit up just moments before the doctor walked in the room. Needless to say, Brian wasn't very happy with Adyson, or me for not having a burp cloth on hand so he returned to work with a war stain down his shirt (I thought it was funny). Ady got five shots and handled them like a champ. I truly believe it hurts the parents more than the child.

Brian’s note: I knew she spit up. But when I felt something warm on my hip, I knew it was a bad one.

She continues to grow and change every day!

Happy 4 month Birthday Adyson!

Happy Halloween!!

Watch out for Ms. Ladybug!!

Here is Adyson in her first Halloween costume. Debbie created the backdrop in our kitchen and made it very festive.

Adyson's first Halloween

Friday was a big day. It was Adyson's first Halloween! She was a ladybug, which I'm sure will make an excellent trivia question someday. Here's the first of two videos Brian shot outside Primrose.



And part 2...

Ady's personality is shining through

Ady has some new friends

As it turns out, we know a lot of people who are having babies. Must be this time of year. Either that, or people were getting busy about 10 months ago.

Debbie's best friend, Renee Williams, had a baby girl at her new home in New Jersey. Peyton Mackenzie was born on Oct. 22. Both mother and McK were doing fine. But you should see all the hair this child had when it arrived. Vidal Sassoon should sign that kid to some product endorsements.

John Grubbs, Brian's friend since kindergarten, and his wife Kelly had a baby girl. Allie Grubbs was born on Oct. 24 in Dallas. Brian immediately e-mailed John and let him know about "Da Allie G Show," a reference to a English comedian. Grubbs was all over that.

Over at the Conference USA office, Callie Hubbell had a baby boy. William Creighton was born on July 8, three days before Ady. (We probably should have mentioned this sooner.) Anyway, both Will and Ady enjoyed their first C-USA staff outing at a bowling alley of all places. Steeerike! No smoking was allowed.

Brian's favorite Ady photo so far

Need I say more?

More pictures!

You ask for it, and you got it. Here are some great shots that we took of her on the couch and outside. She's really turned into a model of sorts. Brian swears that she knows when the cameras are around.

We're using bigger bottles

First off, a very heartfelt apology is in order. We wanted to keep this blog updated with all of the latest comings and goings with Adyson, but as you can imagine, time gets away from you.

She's growing like a weed and starting to show faint signs of a personality. She knows when mommy and daddy have arrived to pick her up from day care, and she knows that come 8 p.m., it's bed time. Hopefully that's a habit she will continue.

We haven't been to the doctor lately. The last time we went was to get the required shots. I thought by now she would have come down with Gang Green, lymphoma, toe fungus or something nasty from day care. But she hasn't. The weather has just turned cold here (in the low 40s at night) so well see how long that lasts. Brian is trying to shake the flu, and he's trying to do a good job of not spreading it around.

We've started using the eight-ounce bottles. Not that we're filling them up, mind you. But we can't go with the four-ounce bottles anymore. She sucks that stuff down like it's going out of style. Debbie thinks we can possibly introduce rice or something like that pretty soon. I"m sure she'll be eating T-bone steaks before too long.

Break out the needle! Time for shots

Today was a big one for Ady. She had her 8-week checkup and received multiple shots.

The big news was that she checked in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces. While this is great news, she's still not big enough to sleep through the night yet. She also measured 23 1/2 inches. That's almost 2 feet! Just based on her size alone, Ady is growing just like normal.

Adyson had to get multiple shots on her upper thighs. Debbie can better explain, but Ady needed two shots on both thighs. Deb had to pin Ady's shoulders to the mat, which wasn't very fun for her at all. Ady let out some painful tears. But we can't let her get polio, right?

Ady is Growing Before Our Eyes!

First Day Apart!

Brian was right. Monday was a HUGE day for me. It was my first day back at work and my first day away from Adyson.

Even though I knew she would be safe and happy with Angela (Brian's first cousin), I still missed her greatly and teared up occasionally as I watched videos of her during the day.

I was looking forward to picking Ady up but Brian was already headed to Angela’s by the time I left the office. So, I had to wait 45 more minutes before holding and kissing my little angel. Once they arrived home, Ady didn't leave my arms as we fell asleep on the couch together.

It was hard for this first time mommy! However, I know it's nothing compared to what I will feel on her first day at day care. That's why Brian will be dropping her off for the first couple of weeks.

A quick shout out to Julie Bennett, a dear friend of mine, for some fabulous monogram burp cloths. We go through burp cloths almost as quickly as we do diapers and good ones are gold. Thank you.

Tipping the scales

Debbie took Adyson to the doctor's office this morning just to see if our little one was gaining weight. And the current weight is...

9 POUNDS, 6 OUNCES!!

You could hear Debbie's sigh of relief all over Valley Ranch.

I don't care if she weighs 900 pounds at this point. All I want is for her to start sleeping through the night. We've had a few five-hour sleep stretches, but not many. People keep telling us that Ady will sleep through the night soon enough. Man, I'd be very grateful if it happened by yesterday.

Debbie goes back to work (sort of)

Monday was a huge day at El Rancho Davis. Well, if you asked Deb, it was a sad day. It was the first day Debbie went back to work part time since Ady was born.

We knew this day would come soon enough, though. We've been dreading full-time day care; that will definitely be a tough day. Fortunately, Deb can work on a part-time schedule for a few more weeks. Brian has been working away ever since training camp started in late July, though. What to do?

The first day Debbie and Brian both had to work, Brian's cousin Angela stepped up and watched Ady on Monday. She's got her own daughter, 4-year-old Ashtyn. Brian was thinking, "Angela should be able to handle this with no sweat." Sure enough, Angela did just that. Brian picked Ady up around 6 p.m., and Angela had a wet spot on her shoulder. Yep, Ady is a non-bias spitter.

Full-time day care doesn't start until mid-September, so Debbie still has some time to adjust to the notion that total strangers will be in charge of Ady's care. But then again, people have been leaving their kid in day care for decades. I don't think our kid will be any different.

Baby Boot Camp Survivor

The last two weeks Adyson and I were given the opportunity to have some incredible bonding time while Brian was out in Oxnard, Calif., working the Cowboys Training Camp and the first two preseason games.

I was excited and honestly looking forward to this time alone with her. However, the past two weeks turned out to be the hardest I’ve ever experienced both emotionally and physically. It wasn’t Ady; she’s a fabulous baby girl. It was simply the monotony of doing the same things over and over again, not to mention her sudden desire to eat every two hours. In addition, I had to find time to walk Roxy, our dog, twice a day, which I actually didn't mind because it got me out of the house.

After a few days of doing it “Ady’s Way,” I knew I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t adjust a couple of things. So strategizing how I would eat, sleep, shower and stay one step ahead of Ady were my goals. I did have a couple of friends (Jen Wills and Catrina Gibson) and my mother-in-law (Lynn Davis) to bring me some much needed food to keep me going.

In order for me to get through the days ahead I had to get up before she did – and I’m not a morning person. So, I flew through a shower, inhaled a small breakfast, washed her bottles from the previous night and prepared new ones for the upcoming feedings. I also allow myself to nap every once in awhile when she did.

Even with these adjustments, I still found myself chasing my 6-week old daughter and exhausted at the end of the day – but to me I really never had days because they all flowed together.

All-in-all I would not trade those early morning feedings, cuddling in the bed, watching her, oh so cute, facial expressions while drifting off to sleep, and bath time for all the sleep possible. I love my little girl and feel even closer to her than two weeks ago.

No Getting By Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam wasted no time in making Adyson a legal U.S. citizen as she received her Social Security card just three weeks after arriving home. Now Brian and I have a bet going on to see how long it will take for Ady to receive her first credit card application.
However, I’m still trying to track down her birth certificate – I have to pay $23 for each copy.

It’s The Small Things

The highlight of Baby Boot Camp (July 23-August 17) was seeing Adyson smile for the first time during the last week.

She also hates having her diaper, and clothes changed, but she's a very happy baby when all fresh and clean.

Ady has increased her feedings from 2 ounces to nearly five. She averages 3.5 ounces per feeding and actually took 6 within an hour tonight (Aug. 18).

Her second bath was much better than the first. Apparently she’s shy and doesn’t like to be 100% naked. So I covered her up and only exposed the areas I needed to clean at that time. Things went much, much better.

Adyson Week 2

I wish I could say week two was different than week one, but outside of a few milestones it was pretty much identical - feed, sleep, change diaper every three hours. Wash, rinse, repeat.

WEEK TWO-MILESTONES:

At Ady's 2-week check-up, she had surpassed her birth weight and now weighs 7.0 lbs., and is 21 inches long (+1 1/4" since birth). If you thought her wingspan was big before, now she looks NBA ready.

She developed a clogged tear duct Wednesday, which kind of freaked me out but after calling my sister, who is a nurse, I stayed calm. Thank goodness it went away in two days. We successfully passed our first medical issue.

Also during week two, Ady lost her umbilical cord. She's going to have an "innie" instead of an "outie". However, we are still very nervous about giving her the first bath. That's on this week's agenda.

Adyson also got a chance to visit Valley Ranch on Saturday. We put her in the carrier and took her out for a walk. Nothing like some fresh air...cough, cough...to clean out the nasal cavity.

She still sleeps quite a bit but is very alert when she is awake. Her daily routine is to eat every three hours and sleep about two hours afterward.

Ady's face, arms and legs are definitely filling out and she's now fitting into her newborn clothes. Her facial expressions awake and asleep, are a personal high for me as I wonder what she's thinking as she smiles, frowns and stretches.

Our first family photo

Ady's 1 week birthday in pictures

She's growin' like a weed!

Ady's 1 week birthday!

Ady with Debbie's family

Deb's family made the trip from Kentucky and Tennessee this week to see little Adyson. Some of the kids were a little scared to hold her. Not Deb's dad. He was primed and ready to hold his new grandbaby.

Ady with Deb's family

It's been 1 week and we haven't dropped her!

At least not yet anyway...

Yes, Adyson has been in our world for nine days (as of this writing) and she's getting better and better every day. Well, she's getting better every day. Mom and Dad are taking a beating!

We've already had her first doctor appointment, where all went well. Ady was 6 pounds, 11 3/4 ounces at birth. But she dropped to 6-5 a few days later after all the fluid was out of her system. She's really taken to her new home well. She is eating good, and her lower plumbing works almost too good.

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Hey, Adyson, those diapers cost 20 cents each! You've been wearing that diaper for only three minutes. How can it be dirty already?" Well, I have now. Huggies will make a killin' off the Davis family.

When you watch the video, you'll see that she's big on putting her fingers in her mouth. Not her thumb, mind you. But it's the first two fingers usually. We've figured out the difference between her signs for being hungry and her doing that just because she wants to.

We've gotten a ton of e-mails and calls, and we want to thank everybody who took time to do so. We are all three truly blessed to have so many people in our lives who care for our family.

A bunch of new photos!

Adyson's birth

Adyson was ready to come home Sunday, July 13. We took a bunch of photos of her in the hospital and when we finally got home. El Rancho Davis is now officially the home of Adyson Renee. Click on the photo to see a bunch more.

Here she is!!

Why Adyson Renee Davis?

Choosing the name of your first born child is an incredibly daunting task. You have to pick something that’s cool, yet something that means something important and something that won’t get him or her beaten up in middle school. Yes, this is extremely important.

Adyson was always a frontrunner in the search for a first name. This was a name we thought was strong, one that would hold up over time and didn’t seem too trendy. And frankly, it was one of the few names that we both agreed on. I mean, Debbie has always liked the character Dr. Addison Shepherd (Kate Walsh) on Grey’s Anatomy, because she was a strong, confident and sexy woman.

OK, so do we spell it Addison or Adison? One day Brian just threw out the spelling “Adyson” on a text message while driving down to Waco. Deb really liked it, and we pretty much settled on Adyson on the spot.

Now, the middle name. This was a real sticky wicket. We were torn in many directions. Do we go with a family name? Do we go with a name we like? Do we just make something up? Ultimately, we settled on a name that means something incredibly important to both of us.

Renee Mitchell-Williams and Debbie lived together for five years while the two worked at the University of Oklahoma. They became best friends and ended up being each other’s maid of honor. Renee saw Debbie through some very difficult times, and the two shared some special memories together. Renee was our biggest supporter as we each tried to sabotage our relationship early on. She kept us together and without her there would be no Adyson.

Thanks Na.

At least we can remember her birthdate...

Can any doctors tell us what this chart means?

We're on our way now

Water was broken at 8:20 a.m.

Arrived at the hospital

Well, the big day finally arrived. We checked into Las Colinas Medical Center at 8 p.m. Thursday (July 10) and was immediately given the VIP treatment. Considering we were one of only about a half-dozen "customers" at the time, that shouldn't have been a surprise. We've got a great room where Deb will deliver the baby, sort of like a hotel room with an IV drip. J.W. Marriott should be taking notes.

Did you know when you come in to have a baby, you've got to sign your life away? I think there was one form that insists we use Judge Judy if we indeed decide to take on this place in the legal realm. Whatever. We'll always get our say with Wapner.

Anyway, the most difficult part of Thursday night was the IV. Deb isn't a big fan of needles; who is for that matter? The initial IV in her right hand didn't go so well, so the nurse switched to the left. She drew about four vials of blood and we thought that was it. But a lab technician came back about two hours later and said the blood was bad. He had to take four new vials; Deb was THRILLED! (re: sarcasm)

Trying to sleep in this place is interesting. Deb's got a nice, versatile bed. Brian had a weird sleeper/sofa combination. Just imagine your average love seat and half of it pulls out. If you were 5-2, it'd be a little slice of heaven. When you're 6-2, not so much.

We're expecting Dr. Staud to come by any moment this morning as we get the baby process going full steam ahead.

How you practice for a baby

Some people are going to think this is crazy. But after we put the car seat bases into our vehicles, we had to practice carrying the thing around. We didn't have a baby yet (obviously) so all we had was this Dr. Seuss doll. The doll came with a book called Hop on Pop. So we simplified it. Meet Hip Hop.

It's unclear whether Hip Hop will give up his seat in the carrier for Ady.

Will Ady's first word be @$*&!!

Good Lord I hope not.

Building the nursery

All new babies need some place to call their own. It was finally time to build a nursery.

Baby Nursery

Baby Davis Update (June 4)

The last doctor appointment went great. We got to see her, again, and she’s growing so, so much right now. We actually got a photo of her looking at us with her eyes open and smiling. It was quite awesome (& a bit emotional, too)!!  Babycenter.com compares her to a cantaloupe and says she’s about 18 inches long. 

She weighed 4 pounds and 2 ounces last Tuesday so she may be up to 5 pounds now. I feel like she is. I’ve started noticing the Braxton Hicks contractions more and more. For my girlfriends that don’t know what those are, they are false contractions allowing my body to practice for the real ones. :-) They come are such random times and can be pretty intense. The first one scared the crap out of me because Brian was out of town.

June 17^th (Week 36) starts our weekly doctor’s appointment. I can’t believe we are to that point already. I have a co-worker that’s due the same time and we are both amazed at how quickly time has passed.  

Her nursery is 85-90% competed and we’re pretty happy with it. We are going to put her name on the wall where the changing table is. We also still have to get a mattress and put together the glider/rocker. That will go where the basinet is and the basinet will be moved into our room. 

There are a few more odds and ends we have to wrap up but if she was to arrive today we would be very comfortable bring her home. 

I got home yesterday and Brian had already put together the travel system (stroller/car seat) and was installing the new light we got for her room last weekend. 

We had such a fabulous time at each Baby Shower! We are so very blessed to have received a ton of much needed items for our little girl. We are truly blessed with caring and thoughtful family members and friends. 

With six weeks to go, I’m pretty much just hanging out around the house, playing in my flower beds or trying to plan/organize everything (which I know you can’t do) before she gets here. 

Brian has his hands full with the NCAA baseball championship. His biggest fear is that I go into labor while he’s out of town (that’s actually mine too).  

We look forward to sharing at least a couple more e-mail updates before her arrival NEXT MONTH. WOW!!!

Shush! Time to sleep, at least that's what she was doing on this doctor's visit on May 27.

Baby Davis Update (May 1)

Hello Everyone,

We are checking-in to update you on our progress as we head into the home stretch. We are now in the third trimester and ONLY 11 weeks away from her due date (July 17).

Our little girl still has a strong heart beat, is a whopping 3 pounds and looks to be a future track star as she's sporting a pair of long legs (shocker). She remains very active and tickles her daddy when he gets to feel her move around or when she has a case of hiccups.

We started our every-other-week visits to the doctor last week, which should make time go by quicker. I feel like I've been stuck with a needle more the last two weeks than I have in my lifetime... from getting blood drawn for the glucose screening and glucose tolerance tests, to getting a shot in the rear for being RH-negative. No worries, everything is fine and we are both healthy as can be.

We got to see her last week. She's MUCH, MUCH bigger than she was in March and harder to distinguish her features because she putting on fat now and starting to "blend-in" with the rest of the gray on screen.

But, she's still beautiful.

Brian and I are doing good. I take my last airplane trip this weekend, heading to Kentucky to see my folks before the big day gets here. Brian is covering baseball as well as numerous other assignments for the DMN that keeps him quite busy.

We miss and love everyone.

Baby Davis Update (March 17)

Hello Everyone, 

Just wanted to give you a quick update on our baby girl. 

We went to the doctor this morning to check out her heart and all her other “major” organs to make sure they are growing at the rate they need too. And, she passed with flying colors. She’s doing fabulous and does not have to go back to Dr. Peters (genetics specialist) any more, just my regular OB (Dr. Staud) from here on out. 

She weights 1 pound and 2 ounces and has a strong heart beat! She remains a very active baby and when she does start to fill up the space inside me, she’ll be wearing me out with all her kicks and punches she’s throwing around right now. 

Brian and I are doing good, up to our noses with basketball tournaments but that will all be over within three-four weeks. Then we’ll be able to focus on getting ready for her arrival in July. I’m 23 weeks tomorrow …  17 to go!!! 

We pray all is well with everyone.

This ultrasound photo was taken on March 17. She's pretty happy at the moment.

This ultrasound photo screams one thing -- Feed me!

Baby Davis Update (Jan. 30)

Good morning Everyone!

Just wanted to take a second to update you guys on Baby Davis. 

We went to the doctor yesterday for our 16 week checkup and thought we would find out the sex but the little one decided it wasn’t quite time for us to know. He/she wouldn’t uncross their legs for us to see ANYTHING. So, we still don’t know (but I think it’s a GIRL) and now must wait until February to find out for sure. 

We are doing great and the baby is growing like crazy but I’m not really showing. My clothes are getting tight(er) -- so maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll have a little bump. :-) 

We’re both super excited that the checkup went well and I’m still doing good, health & weight wise. Brian is still working a ton but he’s been at all my baby appointments with us. He has been fabulous!

Four down, Five to go! :-) 

Love each of you.

Trick or treat! Oh, here’s a surprise

There’s no doubt we were ready to start a family. But trying to get pregnant, actually getting pregnant and then learning you are indeed pregnant is a serious roller-coaster.

We had been trying for months with no luck. Debbie was ovulating around Halloween last year (Oct. 2007). For BD, he knew what that meant. On the morning of Nov. 8, Debbie felt compelled to try a home pregnancy test just to see if anything was cookin’. About 15 minutes later, Debbie had gone into the kitchen to start cleaning out the sink when Brian walked in and saw the pregnancy test just laying on the counter.

“Are you or aren’t you?,” BD said. “What do you think?”

Deb has a sly sense of humor, but considering this was our future and all, she wasn’t real hip to all the guessing games. One laugh and a few expletives later, she got the news she’d been waiting for. The digital (read: more expensive) test had the magic word: Pregnant.

Ady won’t want to hear this, but we traced it back to Oct. 28 or Oct. 30 as the two occasions where she might have been conceived. BD knew that the disco mirror ball and trapeze we installed would come in handy at some point. And sure enough it did. 

Never one to doubt the expert medical opinions you can find only on the shelf at Walgreen’s, we met with Dr. Jennifer Staud (a hero if there ever was one) on Nov. 27 and she confirmed the pregnancy with some simple blood tests. Life as we knew it was about to change forever. 

Hint to all couples trying to get pregnant: Stop trying so hard, and it will happen

Here's how she looked on the first sonogram taken Nov. 27.