Owen James Bradley

Here I am, world!

November 17, 2009, 1:24 pm

20 1/4 inches long

7.97 lbs

Holding Daddy's hand

First Family Portrait

Chris and the baby monkey

Aunt Darcy holding Owen

Pat, Amy, and Owen

Coming home!

Napping with Baba

Little Owen Bradley arrived November 17, 2009. The day before started like any other- I got up to go to work. By 8:30 I was feeling pretty steady Braxton-Hicks contractions. They weren't painful but I did start writing down the times down just to keep track of them. I called the doctor at 10. She suggested I go home and lay down for a while. Around 2:30, I started wondering if my water broke. It wasn't a big flood like I was expecting, just a trickle. It progressively got worse so I called the doctor back. She asked me to come in for a check. We went straight to the labor and delivery room and were told that it was time to have a baby. I wasn't in active labor so they gave me a mild dose of pitocin to get things started. By morning, I hadn't made much progress so they bumped it up. I started really moving and was ready to go by 10:30. I started pushing at 12:45 and by 1:24 we had a little baby that looked more like Yoda than a human. Luckily that was only temporary! He is so sweet. We are really enjoying figuring out what all of his coos and cries mean. He is gaining weight and is healthy. Who could ask for anything more?

Big Belly Shots

Profile- 37 weeks

Wiped out Claire and the Belly

Sweet Emma- either trying to give a hug away or steal the camera.

Last weekend was the Chomp and Stomp, one of our favorite festivals in Atlanta. Darcy, Jeremy, and the girls came up from Macon to join in the festivities. Here are few shots of Big Momma and her belly- 3 weeks before the due date.

Showered!

My co-workers threw a baby shower for us last week. It was so sweet of them to think about us! The Universal Joint, one of my favorite hang outs in Oakhurst, was the backdrop to a great evening.

Asheville- October Winter Wonderland?!?

Chris and I headed to Asheville last weekend for a final getaway before "Baby Bradley" gets here. We had a great time exploring Asheville. We stayed at the Haywood Park Hotel, which is smack dab in the center of town. We had lots of memorable meals- 2 standouts for dinner were Table and The Market Place. Both used locally sourced ingredients and had amazingly fresh choices. For breakfast, we hit the Early Girl Cafe and Tupelo Honey Cafe. Both were awesome and just what we were looking for.

On Saturday, Chris and I got up and headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway to check out the leaves and do a couple of (small) hikes. We were in for a big surprise when we got to the top and had a small blizzard on our hands. It was beautiful- but I wish I was better prepared for it. Life above 6000 feet is tough! Asheville was a whole 20 degrees warmer!

We went to the Biltmore on Sunday. It was a beautiful day to explore an amazing house and all the grounds. The whole trip was a great way to spend a weekend.

Just in case you were wondering, we found the Bat Cave.

The Biltmore

One of our hikes

Brrrrrr.

It's hard to capture how hard the wind was blowing. It was bone chilling.

Clearly at a lower elevation! We probably were about 3-4 days early for peak leaf color.

The snow is creeping across the mountain

Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest

I couldn't tie my sweatshirt around my waist!

Chris in front of Mr. Beaver's hut

Fall Fun

Getting bigger!

My class

Tiger!

Chris holding Emma so she could feel the rain

Sisters!

My parents, Aunt Vicki, Uncle Frank and Aunt Cheryl, and Darcy and her family all came into Atlanta a few weeks ago for my baby shower. It was so great seeing everyone and I'm thankful that everyone made the trip to see us! Mom and Dad got to come by the school and see the kids. After that, they headed over to The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club and got to see the top 30 pros swing it out. The course is next to our school so we are very active in "golf week." Our kids take golf as a class so they really enjoy the excitement!

The Virginia's- 2009

The Overlook at Grand View State Park. My parents actually got engaged here!

The Veteran's Memorial in Ansted. Papa worked hard to organize and see the memorial through to completion.

Rafters going down the New River.

Mom, Stacey, Chris, and Baby on a hike.

Kaymoor Mines

Mom and Dad

Cousins! Wish Darcy could have been there!

Kayaking on Jones Creek

Dad taking one of his many breaks... I'm just sayin' !!!!!

The Happy Shack in Nags Head

Dad just got his Seniors National Park Pass. This is the first time he got to use it.

Chris and I drove up to West Virginia for a quick visit with Papa over the 4th weekend. We had a great time, despite Papa's wounded arm. He is the best one-armed tour guide in WV so if you need a tour, let me know. I am sure we can work something out.

Chris had to drive home for work but I jumped into my parent's car and headed to Smithfield. We made one super special stop in Charlottesville to see my cousin Jenny's new house. I was happily surprised to see my cousin Patty and her husband Paul, along with their 4 beautiful kiddos. Maw Maw Sweetie (my aunt Vicki) was also there! It was a lovely visit and I even got a few baby gifts. Yeah!

After dinner and dessert we went on our way to Smithfield. We had a great couple of days kayaking, shopping, and even squeaked in a visit to the Happy Shack in Nags Head, NC. Lots of fun memories!

A weekend of celebrations

The top of our wedding cake, one year later. It was still good!

Birthday cake! A delicious carrot cake from Matty Cakes Bakery.

The birthday boy with his beer and corn dog.

Chris and Stacey (and baby!) enjoying the band Rusted Root.

My niece Emma!

My niece Claire, running around. It was a hot day!

Poor Chris. His birthday (June 22) falls during a busy time of the year. His birthday, Father's Day, and our anniversary (June 28) are all in the same week. He has this fear that his presents will be forgotten on each individual day and he will wind up with one big one. I have to say that the fear is a little justified but for now, I am doing the best I can to make sure it doesn't happen that way! We celebrated his birthday and Father's (to-be!) day with Darcy and her family. They came up for a music festival and spent the night. We had a great time and got celebrate the birthday and Father's Day separately. We celebrated our part of our anniversary the following weekend at a brunch with friends, many of whom where at the wedding. We thawed out the top of the cake and dug in. It wasn't too bad, considering it had been in the freezer for a year!