Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I know we did. It was a fairly meager Christmas, but we feel so blessed to share it with our sweet new angel! Here are some pictures from our attempted holiday photo shoot...enjoy!

She wasn't a huge fan of this pose : )

2 weeks

I can't believe Kerrigan has already been here for 2 weeks! We have been loving parenthood. She is such a little sweetheart. She has already changed so much. Right now we are working on trying to get her to sleep during the night...but what can I say, my pretty girl loves to be awake at 3 in the morning! Also, nursing has been more of a challenge that I anticipated, because of her tiny size it is really hard.
I love EVERYTHING about this little girl. I love how she is drowning in newborn clothes. I love how she snores when she sleeps. I love her fingers and toes and the screeching eagle sound she makes when she cries. Bottom line...I LOVE MY SWEET GIRL!!!!!
Here are a few pictures from our first 2 weeks home.

Check out this hair:

The Details

I haven't posted for awhile for a few reasons... I couldn't find my camera cord (and I think it is frowned upon to post about a new baby without pictures) and I have been a little busy with my new job as full time mommy.

I have had a few requests for the details of the delivery...so if you don't enjoy reading words like mucus plug and epidural, feel free to skip ahead to the pictures.

So it all started when I hit 38 weeks and I was tired of being pregnant and ready for Kerrigan to be here. I started eating spicy foods (spicy Doritos were my spice of choice), pineapple and taking LONG walks. Thursday (12/4) I walked (or waddled) to Jared's work, 2.6 miles away, and he drove me home. That night I started having mild contractions (so mild I didn't ever really wake up, I just remember being vaguely aware of them as I slept).

When I got up at 10:30, I discovered I had lost my mucus plug so called my doctor (after a panicked call to Brooke where she explained what it was), and he had me come in for some monitoring. We left a little disappointed because while my contractions continued to get worse, I was only dilated at a 1.

By 2 my contractions were about 15 minutes apart, and starting to hurt. I called Jared around 4:30 and asked him to come home, and by 5:25 my contractions were between 2-5 minutes apart and lasting for 30 seconds-1 minute. We got to the hospital at 5:45- I was dilated to a 3 or 4, and by 6:45 I had my epidural.

After that it was all happened very quickly. By 8 my water had broken and I was dilated to a 6. Kerrigan's heart rate dropped once, so I had to have an oxygen mask for the rest of the time. At 8:30 the doctor came in and told me he had to go somewhere for a few minutes, but he would be right back. I told him I was feeling some pressure, so he decided to check me before he left- good thing since I was fully dilated!

After 15 minutes of pushing, the doctor got ready to give me an episiotomy. He had the needle ready to numb me, when his eyes got really big. He threw down the needle and I swear caught my baby mid-air. I guess when she decided it was time to come out, it was time to come out. I am still amazed at how easy the whole thing was, I had really braced myself for a horrible experience. And look what I got out of all of it- definitely worth every contraction!
While we were there, 2 other women from our ward had their babies as well. Here is a picture of all 3 babies (Kerrigan is the teeny one on the left- the other 2 were8 and 9 lbs). Also, one of my dear friends had her baby 20 minutes before me in Washington...Dec. 5th is a hot day to have a baby!

We also had tons of friends come to visit us in the hospital. We really appreciated the love and support- it made it so much easier to do this so far away from family. Thank you everyone for coming to see us...and thank you readers for understanding why my face is so fat and swollen!

Kerrigan Rose Stokes

At 8:46pm last night, December 5th, Kerrigan Rose Stokes was born and her parents couldn't be happier. Everything went well and all are in good health (except Dad is a little out of shape). She weighed in at 5 lb-10 oz, and was 18.25 inches long. Please come and see our new baby!

I'm even getting my hands a little dirty!

Worldless Wednesday

10 Days to Go!!!!

Have you ever seen the Friends episode where Rachel goes into labor? I watched it last night, and have never related to a television show character as much as I did to Rachel.

There is a point at the beginning where she is so tired of being pregnant she looks down out her belly and yells, "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!!!!!!" All I could say to that was AMEN!!!

I am ready for her to be here already. Apparently, my uterus is her happy place, and she is perfectly content to stay there.

My suspicions of this were confirmed this morning at my doctors appointment. I almost cried when the doctor checked me and said there is absolutely nothing going on down there. We were kind of hoping she would come this week, since she is due 4 days after Jared starts his new job...not the best timing in the world.

The only good news we got is she isn't huge like I was fearing...and that my belly is really smooth. That is right, the doctor must have seen the devastation on my face and thought complimenting my stretch mark-less belly would help...I guess I will take what I can get.

Here is my huge belly at 38 weeks 3 days:




Where is my baby???? Any suggestions on how to get her here would be great!!!

Monday's Memory

Today's memory was brought on by reading my friend Katy's Thanksgiving blog.

My first year of school, we spent alot of time with my roommate Rachel's (who is Katy's cousin) extended family who lived a few blocks away from us.

They were so good to me- feeding me, letting me do laundry at their house, etc. Basically, they became my family away from home.

For some reason I didn't go home for Thanksgiving that year, and so Rachel and I had dinner at her grandparents house with the whole family. Thinking there was no way we could mess it up, we were assigned mashed potatoes. Little did they know I have an uncanny ability to mess up even the easiest cuisine.

We came to the conclusion that we should buy a pound of potato per person, and since there were (according to our calculations) going to be 50 people...you do the math.

That is right, we bought 50 lbs of potatoes. We decided since there were so many we should probably start them the night before. It took 4 huge pots and 5 hours of peeling/chopping to prepare them. We were actually pretty proud of ourselves for our culinary masterpiece.

Unfortunately, they were AWFUL!!!! They were a strange shade of yellow (due to the length of time they spent soaking in water) and WAY too salty. Bless the family's heart, they managed to choke down some of the potatoes...but at the end we were left 3 1/2 pots of mashed potatoes. For the next semester, we created inventive ways to consume mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To this day I still think of the Great Potato Fiasco of 2002 every time I eat mashed potatoes.

Thanksgiving disaster

MISSING!!!!

Since we moved here, we have had the pleasure getting to know a pair of wild turkeys that reside near our house... as well as you can get to know a wild turkey while driving past it in your car.

They remind me of the 2 old men in Grumpy Old Men. We have spotted them stopping all 4 lanes of traffic as they meander across the street. Once Jared saw them attack a police car as the officer was writing a ticket to a speeder. On more than one occasion, they have been standing to close to the street as I make a right turn, which results in them pecking at my car as I try to avoid hitting them.

They really are quite the feisty pair. A year and a half of seeing them almost daily, and it still makes me giggle to see these birds who own Boston Post Road from Bertucci's to Friendly's. As goofy as they are, it is kind of touching that they are ALWAYS together. I have never seen them apart...

Until Monday. I was on an attempted labor inducing walk, when I saw the hunched figure and nasty, crinkly face that has become so familiar to me...but to my shock it was a lone figure! I looked all around the parking lot, and even bent over, or at least tried to bend over, to see if one was under a car somewhere (funny image to passing by cars- no doubt). His companion was no where to be seen.

I never realized how attached I have become to these birds until that very moment. I have been very distraught all week, and asked Jared to keep an eye out for them since he drives by their domain everyday.

However, today, my fears have been confirmed as I saw Pablo, the lone turkey, crossing the street alone. What happened to his buddy????

Jared claims coyotes are probably responsible for his disappearance. But if you look at the facts, I am sure you will agree with my theory.

The turkey disappeared a mere 4 days before Thanksgiving Day, aka Turkey Day. Coincidence??? Clearly NOT!!!! Poor Pablo!

Monday's Memory

When Brooke was in 3rd grade, she told my mom she couldn't see very well. However, a trip to the eye doctor proved that she in fact had perfect eyesight.

Those who know my sister know how persistent she can be (a talent she has had since a remarkably young age), and it took two more trips to the optometrist before my mom realized Brooke just wanted glasses. I think even today Brooke has better than 20/20 eyesight.

Fast forward 2 years, when the poor neglected middle child (me) began talking of blurry vision at the exact same age Brooke had become obsessed with glasses- ok, not really neglected, I just have a serious case of middle child syndrome.

But mom had been through this before, and she would not be tricked again. She knew it was a ploy, that glasses were considered stylish, and she was NOT about to spend the money to go through the same thing again.

Unfortunately for me, mom didn't realize how completely unaware I was of the fact that eye glasses were "in", or any fashion for that matter. I really could not see ANYTHING!!! I found ways to cope...for example: if I squinted my left eye just small enough and crossed my right eye just far enough I could kind of make out what was being written on the chalkboard.

One day, Mrs Kirsten (the SCARIEST 3rd grade teacher the world has ever seen) got tired of me asking to sit closer to the board and yelled, "IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE BOARD, GO TO THE EYE DOCTOR!!!!"

Through my tears, I told her (in no doubt the most pitiful voice imaginable), "My mom won't take me."

I don't remember what happened next, I think she sent me to the nurse to check my eyes, and a note got sent home that basically said your kid can't see, get her some glasses.

The day I got my glasses was a day I will NEVER forget. They were HUGE and PINK and I LOVED THEM!!!!! As memorable as huge, pink glasses are, the unforgettable part was the drive home.

I sat in the passenger seat with my face pressed against the window. The ride home was filled with my exclamations of joy, "I CAN SEE LEAVES ON THE TREES, NOT JUST THE COLOR GREEN" and "I CAN READ THE BILLBOARD, IT SAYS..." I also recall being amazed by individual blades of grass, and the array of colors that made up the tiles of the school hallway- which I previously thought were just brown.

Bless mom's heart, she felt pretty bad when the doctor told her I had the worst eyesight of anyone who didn't already have glasses he had ever seen. Blind as a bat took on new meaning that day! She can't be blamed though, which you understand if you have ever come into contact with the persistence of Brookey Babe! (Don't worry Brooke, it is usually a good thing to have persistence...unless it is combined with your ability to act blind and a younger sis who actually IS blind : } )

Despite how it sounds, I am actually really grateful for this memory. Not only is it something I like to tease mom about, I consider myself lucky to have been old enough to remember the first time I really saw the world around me...how many people can say that???

I didn't have a picture of my actual glasses, so I drew some on so you could have a small taste of the beauty the world beheld for the first time that glorious day in 1993.

Grateful Sunday

In an effort to save up $ for our upcoming (expensive) bundle of joy, we have declared our home heater free for the next 19 days. Let's be honest- it is getting COLD here in Connecticut!!!!! So today as I sit in our igloo of an apartment, I am especially grateful for my 2 favorite means of warming up...my Uggs and hot chocolate.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday's Memory

So I don't know if you noticed, but we are getting ready to have a baby : ) One thing I really want to avoid is making this blog all about the baby. I understand she will be the majority of my life, especially at the beginning, but I really want make sure that there are other things in my blog.

In an effort to keep this goal, I thought maybe if I had certain days that I do a certain post I can retain some variety. I will continue to do Grateful Sundays, and I would like to add Monday's Memory and Wordless Wednesday (where I post just a picture that makes me happy without having to explain it). I know I won't do it every week, but I hope it helps.

Today's memory- Lindsey the Medicine Man:

I like to think I have always possessed amazing powers of persuasion, and I feel like this story proves that I have since a very young age.

My mom taught piano lessons when we were younger, and I believe this event occurred when I was 4 or 5. She taught my friend Adam and one of his siblings (I can't remember if it was a brother or sister). Anyways, while she taught the other kid, Adam and I would play.

We were out in the front yard, and I caught a glimpse of our cactus on our porch...and my evil plan was set into motion. I told Adam if he touched the cactus he would NEVER get sick again.

I must have delivered quite the moving performance, because the poor dummy went up and hit the cactus with an open palm. His hand looked like a porcupine with all the needles that got stuck in it...he cried...I got in trouble...his mom was really mad at me...they spent his entire piano lesson pulling them out with tweezers.

You would think the story would end there. However, due to the amazingly convincing nature of my medical discovery, there is more. After they painstakingly pulled all the needles out of his hand, Adam went back and whacked the cactus again.

So it was that I regained my good name...I think my mom figured if he was gullible enough to do it twice he kinda had it coming.

P.S. I found this picture online...I wonder if it is the same kid?!?

Another post about poop!

Alot of people chose store brand diapers, so I added a poll to see which store brand is best. If you chose store brand (or there is a store brand you like) please vote for the store brand you prefer.

On a related topic....diaper rashes...what kind of bum cream do you like? I didn't do a poll for this because I have no idea what the different options are. Just leave a comment if you have good feelings about something for diaper rashes.

26 Days to Go!

I am getting really big. That is all I have to say about that. At the bottom (if it works, I have never tried to upload my own video) I have a video of my daughter trying to escape from my belly. The first 30 seconds nothing really happens so feel free to skip that...after that she goes NUTS!!!

OK, I guess not...does anyone know how to load a video? It is in AVI format, which blogger says it takes, but it tried to upload it for the past 10 minutes and it never happened. Sad day!

Grateful Sunday

Today I am especially grateful for these lovely ladies. Melinda and Ami were 2 of my first friends I made out here in CT and they are the best! Yesterday they threw me a baby shower and I just want them to know how much it meant to me. It is so nice to know that even though we live so far away from family, there are people out here who love us and are there when we need them. I LOVE YOU LADIES!!!!

I also want to thank everyone who attended the baby shower. I couldn't believe how many women showed up to give their support...thank you SO much to everyone!!! I had a blast!

I am also grateful for this stinker who has been preparing us for parenthood for the past 2 years...She has been helping us test our new baby products (we will be using the rocking chair glamour shot in my next audition for America's Next Top Model)...

She has also been helping us test our patience. Once we tell her no, she wants what she can't have even more.

Here is a picture of the condition we found her treat bag in last night. We have been trying to reinforce her good behavior by giving her treats, and accidentally left them where she could reach them. She knows what she has to do to get a treat, so I am sure was in heaven when she saw she could get her treats for "free". I wish I could have seen her do it, considering she is declawed I am sure it was quite a show!

She is so good at pushing us to the edge of sanity, and then in the nick of time doing something that is so sweet we can't help but love her- which I can imagine happens alot in parenthood. Today, she was driving me nuts when I was trying to take a nap...don't mess with pregnant Lindsey's sleep! I am glad I didn't flush her down the toilet like I wanted, because a couple hours later, this is what I found on the couch....is she smooth or what?!?!?!

Vivid Dreams

So I may be really strange, but I am just going to throw this out there: Have you ever had a dream that was SO realistic that you have a hard time accepting reality even when you have proof? Example: I swear I did a blog post about something...I remember what I wrote, things that I thought were witty, and comments I received from the post. However, Jared says I never published a post about the event...and looking back on past posts he is right! Even though I have the proof right in front of me that I really actually never blogged about this event, I am struggling accepting the fact. The only logical explanation, in my mind, is that I had an extremely realistic dream about blogging it.

So, since it is actually a blogworthy thing, here is what happened (PLEASE if it sounds familiar, let me know so I don't continue to question my sanity).

In high school, our athletically inclined friend Matt played rugby...fast forward years later to now when someone decided to make a movie about Matt's rugby team, called Forever Strong. A couple of months ago the movie premiered down in the city, and the Cole's asked if we wanted to go to it with them.

At the time, we didn't really understand what we were going to, we just thought it was going to be the opening night for the movie at some nice location. Imagine our surprise when we pull up to this really nice place, where we were on the list to get in (how cool is that, we were totally on the list- haven't you ALWAYS wanted to say that!)

As if that wasn't cool enough, some of the actors from the move show up. Among the people who came was Gary Cole from Office Space (and lots of other stuff, but I think that is the most known role he played)

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl (he was in the movie, and she was being a supportive girlfriend)

And Jeremy Earl (who acted in a few things, but I didn't know who he was. However, we had a nice little chat with him in the elevator and he was in a movie, so I think he is noteworthy : )

So we are standing in the lobby, waiting to be seated in the theater, when Sean Faris walks in. If his name doesn't sound familiar, he is the "young Tom Cruise". His acting career is really taking off, he looks like Tom Cruise and I was STAR STRUCK. We didn't have our camera, and Jared was trying to take pictures with his phone, much to my embarrassment. However, when Sean walked in I immediately jumped on the "who cares what these famous people think, we have got to document this night" bandwagon and began nagging Jared to get a picture of him.

Once we got in the theater, star struck Lindsey noticed Sean would be sitting right behind us...YAY!!! I was worried I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the movie (I am so cool, huh?), but as soon as the movie started it was not an issue. The movie was AWESOME and if you haven't seen it, I recommend you do so IMMEDIATELY!!!

After the movie, we went to the after party in the penthouse of some huge hotel. We got this picture of us (thanks Ashley) and if you look hard you can see the NYC skyline... the view from the deck was amazing.

Right before we left, Sean Faris walked right by us, so Jared congratulated him on the movie and I jumped on the opportunity to get a picture with him (I have no shame). Jared wanted me to note how much more I am snuggling up to Sean than the picture with Jared...oops! He also decided that since I got to take a picture with Sean, he should get to take a picture with Sean's scandalously dressed date...but there was no follow through.

Sean Faris was really sweet, and asked questions about the baby and even rubbed my belly. Then a couple of the other rugby players from the movie came up, and got all excited about my big belly and started rubbing it too. It made me laugh, apparently pregnant-hood is not all that common in that social ring.

All in all, my little stroll in the world of Hollywood was a really fun adventure. However, I was exhausted by the end of the night and it made me really grateful for the simplicity of my life. I guess not everyone is cut out for the life of a star: )