Keith and Stephanie

Olivia turned 6 months old yesterday! How did that happen so fast?

As you probably heard, we had a kid! Olivia Lee Rose Adams was born February 22 at 5:56 AM. She was 9 pounds 3 ounces and 20 1/4 inches. At her two week appointment she had already gained 12 ounces from her birth weight. Stephanie and I had some leave from work to get into the swing of being parents. Olivia has made good progress in training us to do her bidding and Stephanie and I are both back to work now. In the past few weeks Olivia has become increasingly awake, alert, and interactive. When she smiles it isn’t always gas anymore. We’ve taken lots of photos and a few videos and continue to add more every day.

We plan to teach Olivia sign language to enable her to communicate before she begins talking. We’re starting out with a few basic words like milk, more, change, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, and Uncle.

The due date is Saturday, contractions have become more frequent (although still really far apart and likely braxton hicks), and the ultrasound tech says there’s a nine pounder in there…

Today is five days from Uppin’s due date. Only five days left until she is supposed to arrive. We are in the final countdown… or are we? Here’s an update. On January 23, 2011 we noticed that Uppin was riding a little lower in her current abode. A visit to the OB confirmed that she had dropped and we were so excited to think that she might show up early. However, in true Adams form, she was only kidding and picked herself up. Our next OB visit revealed that out little “angel” had actually taken a step backwards in birth preparedness.

The news that we would be waiting until closer to the due date was somewhat of a relief, as Keith’s sister had recently suffered a stroke.  Although she was doing ok, we were glad to not have to worry about splitting our families up between two different hospitals. Uppin has apparently decided to wait until her Auntie Jen got over to the rehab hospital and could be driven up to Paradise to make her grand entrance. Jen is making huge progress and we are so proud of the hard work she is doing. Nothing about this is easy, for any of us, but Jen’s startlingly positive attitude and her daily progress is keeping us all going.

As Keith and I count down the last five days until my due date we are quite aware that she may arrive late. I hope she doesn’t, but she might. If she is late I hope everyone will pardon me if I am a little cranky and perhaps a little whiny. I will do my best to be nice.

The due date is less than 30 days away. We have been scrambling to get everything done for the arrival of our little girl. Keith’s sister, her wife and Keith’s mother threw a baby shower for me. It was fun! Jen even put food coloring in the cupcakes so they would be green, my favorite color. Karen (Jen’s wife) remembered that my favorite Disney Princess is Sleeping Beauty (Aurora/Briar Rose) and placed her on top of the cupcake tower. We played a game where people guess how big I am around my waist by cutting a length of yarn. This game is not for those ladies with weak self-esteem. Somebody guessed 74 inches. Just incase you need help with the math that is 6 feet, 2 inches around! I am big, but not quite that big!

Our friend Storey took some maternity photos for us. It was so fun to work with her that way. She is a wonderful photographer and so comfortable to work with. We took some photos in her studio and some in Lower Bidwell Park. Keith and I are so thrilled with the photos way they turned out! You can see more photos from the shoot on Keith’s flickr page.

We also wanted some pictures of the babe for our memory book and for fun. They can do 3d ultrasounds now. We have see her in 3d a few times throughout the pregnancy but since she is so close to being fully developed they look better now than they did at 16 weeks. We discovered that she smiles, pouts and has a great grumpy face. She also loves to put her foot in her face. This habit is both amusing and disturbing.

We have been going to the OB in Paradise every two weeks lately but that is about to change. We will be going weekly from now until the babe shows up. Good thing I like the drive to Paradise.

We have been going to the birthing class. It has been helpful and very informative. It has also been the most terrifying educational experience I have ever had. I am glad we have been going, but I also have to wonder if birthing ignorance is bliss.

We survived the holidays and managed to not get into any more car crashes.  We kept things fairly mellow this year, not traveling further than Yuba City.  We kicked off the holidays with a bowling extravaganza with Stephanie’s extended family.  Justin and Cassy didn’t make it to the bowling alley and Grandma wasn’t having her best game so I was able to get the highest score despite choking on the last two frames, but the real fun was watching Tyler and Emma bowl, and helping Emma throw a strike.

After bowling, dinner, and Christmas gift exchange there was a “surprise” mini-baby-shower for Uppin.  We got lots of adorable gifts and realized the color pink will inevitably be a big part of our lives from now on.

We spent Christmas in Durham hanging out with immediate family.  Thankfully our parents only live a few miles apart so we were able to see everyone and still have time to catch True Grit.

New Years was also mellow, hanging out with some friends in Chico to welcome the arrival of 2011.  This will be a year of big changes for Stephanie and I with the arrival of our little girl next month!