A Few More Pictures

Week 4 and 5

Juliana sure is growing fast! She had her one month checkup last Monday and she weighs 8 lbs 15 oz now! She is 21.6" long too! Going back to work this week was more tiring than I could have imagined! The new school opened this week and it was absolutely fantastic!! You couldn't ask for a better group of kids! It sure reinvigorated my love of teaching! I wanted to update everyone with a few pictures from this week! Enjoy!

Mike and Mike and the baby of course!
Juliana's First Baseball Game!
That's the life!

Meeting her cousins!!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Juliana's 1 month birthday! Tina started working half time at the STEM high school and I get to bottle feed Juliana once a day while she's gone. This afternoon a little frustrating, going to a thesis defense of someone who came in the same year as me. Hopefully I can work out enough experiments to be done this may. Not sure though since things seem to be running in to trouble as usual for research. I should probably write my second paper, that would help things along.

More later, and some before, during, after pictures of our new bathroom!

Monday - Errands

Today both Mike and I went to work. I took Juliana to a meeting at NCHS and she slept right through it! The new STEM school is opening and it is so exciting!

We then picked up Juliana's birth certificate, stopped by Hopkins and drove down to Glen Burnie. We ate at Qdoba Mexican Grill. We had Mexican Gumbo which was really good! It was the first time we had eaten at this restaurant. It is similar to Chipotle, but with a greater variety I think. Then we headed to Best Buy to look at LCD TV's. Mike wanted to show his dad the finer points of all of the LCD specs since they are looking to purchase one soon! Finally, we got some ice cream! Mom G and I had been craving it so it was pretty delicious =)

Juliana had been sleeping most of the day and suprisingly she still slept most of the night. However, when she woke up for her usual 4:30 - 5:30 feeding instead of going back to sleep she decided she should be up for the day! After awhile she got back to sleep though and so did Mike and I...for a little while longer!

Sunday - Delaware

We went out to Delaware today to watch Mike's paintball team practice for the tournament. Mom and Dad G got to see Mike play for the first time. Mom G and I went over to the mall in Delaware for a little while too, but we didn't do much shopping. We stopped at Arby's on the way home and then had a relaxing night.

Well until Juliana decided to spit up all over in the middle of the night =) Babies will be babies!

Saturday - Coming and Going 3

We took Juliana up to Robinhood Paintball Field today! She didn't seem to mind the paintball fire at all! It was nice to visit with everyone in the Paintball family too! When we arrived home, Mom and Dad G were back for another great visit! They were just arriving, but Steve was headed out to sea for his research trip. Everyone got to see each other for a bit and have a nice dinner out!
'

Friday - Juliana's First Movie

Juliana went to see her first movie today! Star Wars Clone Wars came out and Mike and I headed over to Arundel Mills to watch it! It was really a good movie I thought. Juliana slept the whole time even through the loud battle scenes! I suppose it resembles night in the theater doesn't it!

A Few Week 3 Pictures

Sweet Dreams...



















Found my fingers...See how big I'm getting...















Watch me move! I'm Finding My Voice Too!

A Few Week 2 Pictures

Wide Awake...














Grandma and Grandpa H...Grandma G and three generations...

A Few Week 1 Pictures

We have had lots of requests for more pictures so I am going to do a few posts of just pictures for all of you fans out there!

In the hospital...
Arriving at home...Meeting Kelvin...Lots of rest...Pretty baby...

Tuesday - Mall & Movies

This morning I got to take a nice long shower while Juliana took a morning nap. The simple things in life sure are enjoyable! We hung around in the morning while Mike went to work for a bit. Then when he arrived home, we went out to the mall!

I love Arundel Mills. It is all on one level and the stroller goes like a dream on the wood floors. We walked the whole circle, ate some lunch (crab pretzels!) and did a little shopping. Mike had a gift card to Best Buy so we picked up a few things! Mike got Zelda for wii (our borrowed one) and the video cables to make it connect in HD to our TV! He also got an SD card to save the information on for when we get a wii of our own, I mean a wii for the baby =) Wii has been really great for stress relief (especially for Mike) and for us to have fun together at home! Thanks to Mom and Dad H for letting us borrow it for awhile!

We also got an upconverting 1080 DVD Player. Obviously Blue Ray is best, but at $400 a pop, I don't think that was in the cards. For about $75 you can get a DVD player that converts regular DVD's to close to HD quality (it's really really good) and you don't have to buy a whole new DVD collection or an expensive player. Mike pointed out that really you should just buy a PS3 if you are getting a Blue Ray player...because it plays blue ray discs and you can use it for other things too! We are pretty happy with the one we picked as we watched the movie 10,000 BC on it last night and it turned out really nice quality.

We got milkshakes at Cold Stone before we watched the movie and then went to bed right after! We even got a pretty good night's sleep = )

The camera loves me....

Monday - Chicken and Crying

First day back to work in a while! Well, except i only stayed for a few hours. Started some cell experiments and planned out work for the next few weeks. Hoping to ramp up the work and get really moving!

Then I came home and worked on my manuscript for Invitrogen.

Tina Edit: Mike C made us an awesome dinner today! It was called Smoky Mountain Chicken and it had chicken, ham, cheese, bbq sauce and more. It was really delicious. He sure is a great best friend! He looks so cute holding Juliana and she looks so cute in his hat =)

Sunday - Church & Paintball

Let's see, need to make up a post.

Sunday I drove up to paintball for the first time in like a month and a half. Didn't play at all but got my tanks filled so i can tech my guns this week so they work for next week. Meanwhile, Tina, Mike and Juliana went to church. Oh we also went to a concert in the park with Mike! that was fun!

Tina Edit:
It was great to see everyone at church on Sunday. The concert in the park was nice too. It was at Columbia Lakefront. I didn't know they had so many things to do there! Juliana slept through most of it and then through most of the night too. She must have been tired. I think she must be the most well-traveled two-week old I know.

Here's some pictures from Church! Holly and Olivia got to hold baby Juliana! They were great!

Saturday - Coming and Going Again! =)

Saturday was a good day! We spent some time at home in the morning and then went out to lunch at Acqua, a restaurant in the Hilton nearby. Being so close to Northrop Gruman and the airport, there are a plethura of options for hotels within a few miles. I had been there before with my mom for lunch and it is a very nice place! Catherine, Steve, Mom G, Mike and I sat outside with Juliana and she was very well behaved! The food was pretty good...Mike's crabcake was better than my steak sandwhich though. After lunch we came home and relaxed a bit before we had to take Mom G to the airport. She was sad, but they are coming back on Saturday! Grandpa G was grumpy last week because he hadn't gotten to visit yet, but he gets to come Saturday too!

Mike Takes over:
My mom went out to the airport and then mike came in! We had like 1-2 hours alone hehe.

Here's a picture of the icky cord that fell off finally on the 5th.

Here's a picture of her nice clean beautiful belly button!

Friday - A Fussy Day

Baby was really fussy today which has been rare for her! Perhaps it was the very spicy soup I had for dinner last night! In any case, she was hard to comfort! She slept a little on and off and finally calmed down around 9PM. We did get a good night's sleep (only wake 1 or 2 times for her to eat) which has been a blessing! She's very quiet when she wakes up too, definately not one of those that screams to wake you up at night. That's nice for our guests!

Everyone has their good days and bad days! Juliana is two weeks old today! It's hard to believe she has been in our lives for only two weeks...it seems as if she was meant to be here always!

Mike Edit:
Look how strong her head was on 8/1, imagine how she squirms now a week later!

Thursday - A Day of Rest mostly

Today we spend most of the day at home resting! We also went to the eye doctor where I found out one of my eyes got a little bit better, not that they were very bad to begin with! I also got a new pair of glasses finally (since I lost my other pair almost 2 years ago now). They look really nice, but I only have to wear them for far away! Then we went out to eat at Olive Garden! The baby slept through dinner for the most part, but I was pretty tired so we headed out without dessert!

Mike Edit:
Our Friend Karen from Tina's work came to visit on 8/1

Wednesday - Happy Anniversary!

It's been three years since Mike and I said "I do" and I have loved every single day! Tuesday, Mom G and I went shopping to give Mike a quiet house to study in and I picked him up a new briefcase for his present =) Three years is the leather anniversary. Mike and I like to get gifts that match up with the traditional presents for each year! It has been quite fun so far! We celebrated at Outback Steakhouse (one of my favorites)! The have the best strawberry smoothies and we always get a bloomin onion! Even though Juliana ended the meal a bit hungry and fussy, we had a great time spending some time with each other!

Mike Edit:
Okay I'm running out of "new" pictures so i'll just throw up some old ones on these last 3 posts then start taking new pictures!

Taken on 8/1 Superwoman!

Well Wishes!

I can't count the number of well-wishes we've gotten since the baby arrived! Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, we've heard from them all and love the cards and comments! Thanks everyone for the thoughtful words and we hope to have some more visits from you all soon!

Mike Edit:
Not sure what to post here, so i'll throw up some family pictures from graduation day!

Monday - Coming and Going!

On Monday, Grandma G flew in to meet Juliana for the first time! We met her inside the airport with a Welcome Grandma sign and it was a good time! She loved pushing the stroller and talked about the types of paraphernalia they had when Mike was born! The technological advances in baby products are pretty amazing! Everyone always has these stories about in-laws and then there's all the jokes, but we are really pretty lucky! Our parents (both mine and mike's) don't feel like in-laws to either of us! We are just all family! It's such a wonderful thing!

My sister had to catch a flight out Monday morning to get back to work and my mom and dad had to leave for home on Monday too which was so sad! I miss them bunches already and I know they miss us too!! It was absolutely a godsend to have them here after the baby was born. There are no words to thank my mom for all she said and did without even any asking! Dad's have the best perspective on things and there are things only a dad can say and do that make the world seem like its all okay! I sure am grateful that I have the mom and dad I do!

We gave my sister a pretty pinky ring with Juliana's birthstone in a heart shape so she can always be close to her! This way she has the ring from my wedding and the Juliana ring too and she can still wear her engagement and future wedding rings of course! Sisters are a blessing!

Mike Edit:
Mom (G'ma) G finds out how nice our stroller is when she arrives at the airport! hehe

Sunday - Graduation

On Sunday August 3, 2008 I finally graduated with my masters!! Like Mike said the ceremony was short, but I am so thankful to be finished especially with the push at the end to get everything done before Juliana arrived! A thesis, an internship, a 15 page case study, an e-portfolio with 40+ standards to meet...it sure was an adventure!

Even if I didn't win an award I am still pretty proud of my thesis. It was about the relationship between mathematics achievement on standardized exams and pull-out instrumental music instruction programs in elementary school! Believe it or not the students who received instrumental music instruction scored higher in the overall scores and all sub categories (though there were a few that didn't have statistical significance). Mike really helped me figure out all the statistics and of course he was so supportive!!!

It was so nice to have everyone at graduation (Mom, Dad, Becky, Juliana, Mike, Steve and Catherine)! They were so great to come and support me and I know everyone is proud of me too! After graduation we went to Bonefish Grill to celebrate! The food and service were really good! I would definitely recommend it! It's a step above a Ruby Tuesday or a TGI Friday, but a step below some of the fancier places. We had the baby there and she was great! She sure has been a lot of places for being less than 2 weeks old!

Mike edit:
Man it was hard taking pictures in that place. Here's a few, But no idea how they'll look!
I really wish the last one was in focus because I got them in the process of hooding Tina!

Saturday - Picnics at home!

Saturday we got a chance to spend the day at home! We took a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some supplies! We made some delicious food and had a picnic here! Hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch and steak =) for dinner! Maryland corn on the cob, macaroni salad and baked potatoes oh my! Doesn't that make you want to come visit us! We also worked on Becky's save the date cards! They are so pretty! I am finally getting a chance to send out announcements/thank you notes for Juliana's birth! So don't forget to turn your announcement over when you get it to see the nice notes I wrote on the back!

Speaking of thanks, everyone has been really great since the baby has been born! We had some special visitors in the hospital, at our house and delicious dinners brought to us a few nights! We couldn't ask for better friends! Thanks Ben & Corie, Sarah & Andy, Diane, Alma & Rob for your love and support!!

Everyone from work has been great too! They call to see how I am and Karen even stopped by to see Juliana on Friday! I know it must be a lot to take on everything while I am away too and I really appreciate the time I have to spend with the new baby! I sure do have some really super colleagues!

Speaking of friends, I miss Michelle already! Best friends are hard to come by! She was so awesome while she was here. She kept me company and was there when we went to the hospital! Even though she must have been tired herself, she stayed with us the whole time!

It's been a great week and a day so far! New babies really are a miracle!

Mike Edit:
Hmm no picnic pictures, but here's one of Aunt Becky!

Posts We Missed!

Even though Mike wanted to post everyday, I am going to update you on the days we missed! He has been so crazy busy getting ready for his exam!

Mike's going to add pictures as he can! I'm just putting together some words!

Here's a Random baby picture taken on 8/2

Oops

Okay, sorry! So I missed a few posts. There was good reason which I can't update at the moment because It's still partially a surprise.

Let's see I'm studying my butt off and we did a parent swap. Tina's mom and dad went home to Syracuse and my mom flew down for the week from Buffalo. Her and tina and Juliana are going to the mall today so I can study hard.

Oh yeah and tina finally graduated with her masters degree in education with school improvement leadership concentration. It was a nice and short ceremony except that the department screwed up and should have given tina an action research award there's no way the 2 people who got the award could have done better than hers! Oh well.

I'll try to rustle up some pictures later today!

Edit: Okay here's the flowers I got tina:

1 Week!

Today is Juliana's 1 week birthday! We went to the pediatrician today for her first appointment. We really like the doctor. She said we didn't have to wake her up to feed anymore because she is up beyond her birth weight! She's at 7lb 14 oz! We'll try to get a full night sleep tonight since it kind of seems like she'd sleep that long.

The doctor also told us to make sure when she's awake to do lots of tummy time so she isn't fussy about it in the future!

Here's a picture Tina tried to set up and a movie of something or other she forced me to post: