Ellen in the pumpkin patch

Ellen on her tricycle

Fun with her new chair

Ellen Walking

Putting shoes on her slowed her down for a bit, but then she figured it out.

Ellen's baptism

On Sunday we had the joy of baptizing Ellen. Well, not us exactly...we left it to the professionals, Rev. Erika and Father Jim at our church. :-) For all of you who were with us in spirit, and especially Ellen's special godparents, Katie and Adam, we're thankful we have such wonderful family and friends! Sean said this was his best birthday yet, and was more than happy to celebrate all the occasions: his birthday, Ellen's baptism, and Valentine's Day! Here's the edited version of Ellen's baptism. For those who are REALLY interested, we hear the church is going to give us a DVD of the whole service. I also plan to post photos to my Facebook account, so keep an eye out there, too!

Almost 6 months

Six months. Half a year. And so hard to believe. Ellen turns six months next week, and I remember her being six WEEKS like it was yesterday.
I got mixed reviews on my last post...some people liked it, some people thought it was overload on the sap and under-delivery on the photos/videos/general Ellen-ness. So, we'll switch gears back to updates, photos, and videos (which I'll upload separately from this entry).
Although it was only a couple of months ago, it seems like so much has happened since Christmas! We had a wonderful extended visit with Jim, Robin and Grandma Joy and couldn't have asked for a better first Christmas for Ellen. Activities included an evening luminaria tour through the Desert Botanical Garden, meals at some favorite restaurants and the luxury of having Ellen at home for a week with her grandparents instead of having to do the daycare drop-off routine. Pictures are posted on my Facebook account for those of you who are my "friends" on there.
January seems to have completely flown by, as it's now basically mid-February! It would truly be a shame for too much time to pass between visitors for Ellen, so we are very excited to welcome Katie and Adam this coming weekend as we celebrate Ellen being baptized and Sean's birthday--both on Valentine's Day! We asked Katie and Adam to be godparents way back in November, so we're thankful they cleared their calendars when a baptism date was finally (and quickly!) set. Although we won't have a ton of family down, we know you'll all be with us in spirit.
Every day I'm so happy and feel so fortunate that Ellen is so healthy. She's changing all the time and is such a happy baby. Over the holidays she mastered rolling from her back to her stomach (although has yet to demonstrate the stomach-to-back roll). Her neck is still really strong and she's always so curious about what's going on around her, always craning her neck to take in the view. She has also started to grow back more hair and, interestingly, when in direct sunlight, it shows hints of red.
We've also started taking more "family outings" on the weekends lately. Robin and Jim got us a membership to the Phoenix Zoo for Christmas, so we've made a few trips with Ellen. We think she likes the monkey village the most, as you can go directly in the enclosure with the squirrel monkeys and watch them leap around. Recently, we've also taken Ellen to a couple ASU sporting events--basketball and baseball. And of course, it wouldn't be the weekend without a trip to Costco. Now she's big enough and strong enough to sit in the little seat at the front of the cart, with a much better view for her curiosity.
I'll leave you with a photo of Ellen at the ASU baseball game. I just got her sunglasses last week in anticipation of future baseball outings. So far, she tolerates them. I think it's only a matter of time before she discovers she can pull them off and shove them into her mouth.

Gravity

I remember one day, riding in the car with my brother Joel, a long time ago...I think it was during the summer...and a song came on the radio that made him smile. He looked over at me and said, "isn't it funny how songs can just transport you back in time? You can recall the exact period in your life that the song reminds you of." And then he went on to tell me about how this particular song reminded him of junior high and why it did. I kind of shrugged it off, agreeing that I suppose he was right, but not really thinking much of it. Then, some time in high school, I had The Moment. The Moment where I heard a song on the radio and time instantly rewound 10 years. The first house I lived in had a beautiful oak tree at the end of the driveway. It was perfect for climbing up into and just sitting. When I was little I would sneak my one of my brothers' Madonna tapes and take my little cassette player and listen to Madonna in the oak tree. Away from the house, away from anyone's watchful eye, I was free to be a "big girl," singing along to my Madonna tape, daydreaming about the future. When I had The Moment, I remember silently thanking Joel for bringing this to my attention and smiling, thinking of my six year-old self.
Since I had my first Moment, I've had many similar moments, always smiling and thinking back to that time in my life. Sleepovers, summer camp, high school dances. And you can never predict when a Moment will happen. They have a way of sneaking up on you.
Such a Moment happened this week. I listen to Pandora, an internet radio application that chooses songs for you based on artists you've told it you like. I was just sitting at my desk at work, and "Defying Gravity," sung by cast members of the TV show "Glee" came on. Before I knew it, it was October and I was home on maternity leave with Ellen. I was holding her, walking around the house because she loved motion and hated being put down. I was doing laps around the family room trying to catch bits of the show each time I passed the TV. But I stopped and watched as the characters Kurt and Rachel sang "Defying Gravity" to see who would earn the solo.And then Kurt purposely flubbed the high notes so he wouldn't get the solo--a solo meant for a female--to avoid embarrassing his dad, with whom he was struggling to connect. Kurt was trying so hard to defy gravity by auditioning for a part he loved SO much, but bowed out because he loved his dad even more. And it wasn't until "Defying Gravity" played yesterday on Pandora that I truly thought about the gravity of "Defying Gravity."
Maybe it's because I'm now a mother, but as "Defying Gravity" played, my heart ached for Kurt. And my heart ached for Ellen. I found myself wanting to give the TV show character a hug, reassuring him that his dad loves him no matter what, and to always go after your dreams. Words my parents always told me growing up. I thought back to my days sitting in the oak tree, listening to my little cassette player, daydreaming about all the possibilities of my life ahead. I wanted to hold Ellen and tell her all those things.
Ellen isn't even six months old yet, but I have so many hopes for her. I hope she has her own Moments to reflect on, and her own dreams to aspire to. I hope she knows, above all, that Sean and I love her no matter what. I hope she tries to defy gravity.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Being from the Midwest, I often lament the lack of snow in Phoenix in the winter. But as the years have progressed, I realize I don't really miss the snow as much as I miss what I associate with the snow: Christmas, time with family, memories of sledding with friends, watching Brinkley romp through the snow on walks in Lawrence. This year we're staying in Phoenix for Christmas. My first Christmas outside of the Midwest. No snow (or threats of snow), no Christmas Eve service in a familiar church, no roaring fireplace. And at first, I was completely bummed out about it all. Christmas is all about traditions, right? Where are my traditions this year? They're all imbedded in the Midwest Christmas I've grown up in. But then I realized, as I thought about Ellen's first Christmas, that this is our opportunity to start our own traditions with our new little family. Much like I grew up expecting and looking forward to certain things at Christmas with my family, Ellen will do the same. This year we're easing into it a bit, still incorporating familiar traditions like Robin's Christmas Eve gumbo and the Cox family tradition of meatballs and lil smokies in the Crock Pot on Christmas Day (I promise we also have traditions that don't revolve around food...but not many). Christmas tradition is what you make of it, and I'm happy Sean and I have so many years to draw inspiration from to establish our own traditions. We're very much looking forward to an extended visit from Robin, Jim and Grandma Joy, and excited to celebrate our first Christmas with Ellen. While we'll miss spending time with the rest of our family and friends, we know you'll be taking part in your own Christmas traditions, whether new or old. Merry Christmas!

A little photo to brighten your day: Ellen doing her best "senior photo" pose:

Ellen laughing

She had tired a bit by the time we got the camera out, but she was still having a good time.

Ellen chatting

Here's video of Ellen "chatting," as we call it in our house. As you can see, we have a very loose definition of the word. I tried to include this video in the last post, but it didn't work. Here you go!

The new routine

Before we had Ellen, Sean and I had a fairly regular routine during the week: go to work, cook dinner together, walk Brinkley, watch some TV, hit the hay and then get up and repeat the process again the next morning. The weekends might include a movie or a dinner out, but mostly just time to relax after a week at work. Although this routine was pretty nice, I like our new routine even more. While much less predictable, it's so much more fulfilling now that we have Ellen to share it with. Before, the end of the work day was just that...the end of a day of work. Now the end of the work day means we get to pick up Ellen from daycare and spend a couple hours with her in our new nightly routine: get home from daycare, feed Ellen, spend time with her doing tummy time or playing on her play mat or bouncy chair, maybe a short nap, sometimes a bath, another feeding and down for the night. Weekends are eagerly anticipated even more so than before, because weekends mean two whole days to spend with our little lady. She's a good sport, tagging along for grocery shopping, hikes up A Mountain, walks around the neighborhood with Brinkley, church and visits to friends' houses. One of her favorite activities to date is watching football with her dad on Saturdays. We've heard all too many times that we need to enjoy this time while we have it--it's fleeting and we'll never get it back. I can honestly say that we're savoring every moment of our new life--spit up, poopy diapers, crying, you name it-- while looking to the future with excitement. Life with Ellen is so amazing now, it's hard to think it can get any better, but I know it will! My next post may very well be a 180 of this gush-fest, at my wit's end because my baby won't sleep or I can't figure out why she won't stop crying. But for now, I have to say life is good, we are so blessed with the family and friends we have, and all I can ask is, what the heck did we do to deserve all this???
Below you'll find some videos of Ellen. The first one is of Ellen staring at her hand for literally almost two minutes. But if you love babies and you love Ellen, those two minutes will just whiz by! The second video is of Ellen batting at the toys on her bouncy chair...one of her newer skills. Enjoy!

Watching the fan

Ellen is transfixed by the fan. Sometimes she'll track the fan's movement with her feet. We understand that's not the most interesting viewing, so I've thrown in a couple of sneezes and her show of surprise following Brinkley's bark.

Robin's Kvellin' Over Ellen

This video is kind of long and mainly features backs of heads. But you do get to see Gangy go nuts over Ellen.

More videos

Here's a video of Grandma and Grandpa Cox (that's Ellen and Bob to us grownups) meeting Ellen for the first time. In this clip, they're talking about baby Ellen's unfortunate growing resemblance to me.


Minutes later, (baby) Ellen gets fussy. Probably because Brinkley was trying to steal the attention.


And here's Ellen being a bit of a restless sleeper a week later. Check out the cute blue cloth diaper (and the cute dress from Gangy O'Hara). But if you're inclined to complain about how boring it is to watch a baby sleep, go ahead and skip this one.


At this point, I think we've cataloged just about everything she can do at the moment--save for nursing and messing up diapers, neither of which is really suitable for this venue.

Ellen's birth story

Apologies for taking so long to get this up, but we've been blessed with a baby who constantly wants to be held. So as much fun as it would have been to type this one-handed, I thought I'd wait until Ellen gave me a reprieve. For those who are interested, here's a (hopefully) not-too-detailed-yet-informative account of Ellen's entrance into the world.
After a couple visits to the doctor and being informed Ellen was already well-developed size-wise at over 8 pounds, we scheduled an induction for Monday, August 17. Being "scheduled" is basically like being on call where the hospital will call YOU when they're ready for you. Women who go into labor naturally and scheduled inductions with special medical needs (e.g. high blood pressure) are first on the priority list. If, after those women, the hospital has the room and staffing for you, they give you a call. Sean and I planned to have a fairly leisurely Monday, thinking surely the hospital would be busy and wouldn't give us a call until Monday night. Instead, we got the call at 1:45 a.m. We grabbed the hospital bag, said goodbye to Brinkley, and headed out.
After being admitted I was given Pitocin to start contractions and labored pretty easily from about 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. But then the contractions started getting a lot more intense and painful, so when we were moved to our delivery room I was very thankful to get the epidural. From 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. I continued to progress in labor (pain-free!) while Sean basically twiddled this thumbs and kept me company. We watched DVDs, he showed me funny headlines on theonion.com, and we got regular updates from our nurse on how things were going. At about 3 p.m. our doctor called to see how I was doing and told our nurse that if things hadn't progressed to the pushing stage by the time she arrived at 3:30 that she thought a c-section would be necessary. They didn't want to continue pumping me with drugs only to have to possibly end up in the operating room anyway. So, even though I knew going into this that a c-section could be a possibility, I really only had about a half hour to prepare mentally for the fact that I was most likely going to get one. Not that pushing was going to be a walk in the park, but major abdominal surgery was just as nerves-inducing.
When my doctor arrived she checked me out and announced that yes, we were going to do the c-section. Sean was outfitted in scrubs, we were both given a rundown of what the procedure would be like, and before I knew it I was being wheeled off to the operating room. I'm not sure if it was nerves, the extremely frigid temperature of the room, or both, but I had a terrible case of the chills/shakes the whole time. Sean was by my side throughout the procedure and was able to get the first look at Ellen as our doctor delivered her. I was so relieved to hear those first cries and hear Sean tell me that she looked great, and just like that, she was bundled up and Sean held her next to me so I could see her.
Ellen Ann O'Hara was born at 3:57 p.m. weighing 8 pounds 12.9 ounces, measuring 21 inches long (although Sean thinks her "cone head" from making her way down the birth canal gave her a bit of an advantage in the length department). By 5 p.m. we were calling our parents and family to announce the good news and by 6 p.m. the three of us were in our recovery room, where I'd be for the next three days.
Thankfully, I've had a very speedy recovery from surgery, and 10 days into motherhood I think I've got the basics down...although figuring a LOT out along the way.
It's hard not to sound gushy when talking about these things, so I guess I won't even try to avoid it. Sean, Ellen and I are so blessed to have each other, such loving, supporting family, and such wonderful friends. We are so excited to share our new family life with you all as Ellen grows!

FIrst videos

Videos are big files and may be slow to load, but enjoy these clips of one-day old Ellen.
Camera Shy:

Big Sneeze:

Big Yawn:

Countdown continues

Another month has flown by and I find myself a little nervous at the prospect of telling people the baby’s due date is NEXT MONTH! Granted, we’re at the beginning of July and her due date is August 22nd, so we still have about two months of time, but it’s getting closer and closer!

June was a pretty productive month for us as far as preparation for the baby’s arrival. We had our last (of three) birthing classes last week, for which Sean is truly thankful…but isn’t that part of the territory? The wife gives birth, but the husband has to sit through birthing classes and watch gory (albeit real life) videos of others going through the childbirth process? I think that’s plenty fair. :-) We have also toured the hospital, pre-registered and selected a pediatrician for the baby. In fact, on Father’s Day we got a glimpse of what the real thing might be like, as we made an unplanned trip to the hospital…but more on that later.

As I said, June was a pretty productive and busy month, but it started out on a sad note for my family. My Grandma Cox passed away and we all gathered in Minnesota for her funeral. We’re all going to miss her dearly, but at the same time we’re comforted in knowing that she’s no longer in pain, with which she’d been battling for many years. She was my last living grandparent, and I’m saddened that little Ellen will never know her great-grandparents on my side of the family. However, as my brother Joel pointed out in the beautiful eulogy he gave at her funeral, some of the best memories of my Grandma Cox will be passed on for years, including her amazing cooking, love for family gatherings and the beautiful quilts she was so talented at creating. Little Ellen already has two quilts made by her Great Grandma Cox in her room right now. While the passing of a loved one is never a fun occasion for which to gather, the bright side was that I was able to see my whole family one last time before Ellen arrives. Thanks to a generous bereavement leave through work, I was able to spend almost an entire week in Minnesota with my family, catching up and being together.

After returning from Minnesota, I started thinking about what I could do for Sean for Father’s Day. Although he wasn’t technically a dad yet, he’s definitely a dad-to-be, and for that he deserves a little something, no? His surprise flower delivery to my office for Mother’s Day was pretty sweet, considering Sean is typically very anti-flowers, yet knows I love receiving them. Some of you may already know this, but Sean loves Las Vegas. He always has a fun time there, even if he doesn’t win. So I started planning in my head how I might be able to arrange such a weekend for him. Although I wouldn’t be able to go on the floors much because of the smoke, surely we could lay a few bets down in the sports book, eat some nice dinners and maybe see a show. To my pleasant surprise, an offer for three free nights at Treasure Island was waiting for me when I got home. So we got busy planning our trip! We arrived on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend doing a little gambling, watching the College World Series (unfortunately ASU was knocked out on Friday night), eating at some great restaurants (Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill and Mario Batali’s Carnevino) and indulging in some spa services. All in all, a great weekend away!

On Father’s Day we ate at one of Sean’s favorite Vegas spots, the Mandalay Bay buffet, where he could indulge in all the seafood and brunch items his heart desired. We hit the road back to Phoenix and talked about what a nice Father’s Day it turned out to be, making sure we spoke to both of our dads to wish them a nice day. After getting back, unpacking and eating dinner, we took Brinkley for a walk, per our usual after-dinner routine. A couple blocks from our house I stumbled on some uneven pavement, and before I knew it, I was on the ground. Thankfully, my hands, knees and face took most of the fall, but I was still very aware that I’d fallen face-first and my stomach had hit the ground. We quickly got home, called my doctor, and headed up to the hospital to get checked out. I’m happy to report, after 24 hours of observation and monitoring in the hospital, everything checked out just fine. Little Ellen’s heart beat was strong and consistent throughout the night and I was just fine, save for some pretty ugly scratches on my knees and lip. Not exactly the kind of Father’s Day we planned, but it was good practice for getting to the hospital for the real thing later on! Sean was incredibly calm and supportive, yet appropriately hurried and urgent in getting to the hospital and doing everything he could to help. I can’t say I was anywhere near that…more like terrified and thinking the worst. I wonder if this is a sign of our parenting styles for the future…

To finish off the month of June, two of my girlfriends down here in Phoenix threw me a lovely baby shower. Many of the guests were people I don’t see on a regular basis, so it was nice to catch up with everyone. Everyone was so generous and now little Ellen has even more cute clothes, books, bath time items and bedding! Her room is really coming together and we can’t wait to show it to her. Sean did a practice-run with our video camera, filming the room, so take a look!

3 months to go

While I thought April and May 2008 were busy, 2009 has proven no different. Each weekend Sean and I have tried to get a “baby thing” done, whether it’s ordering a crib, narrowing down lists for child care providers or discussing the pros and cons of cloth diapering (I know, we lead exciting lives, don’t we?). All visits to the doctor have been pretty uneventful, which is nice. Just a check up on the baby’s heart beat, time for questions and I’m out the door. I’m near the end of the second trimester, which they call the “golden trimester,” and I have to say it has lived up to its name. I’ve been feeling pretty good and can’t really complain about much other than finding it a little more challenging to roll over in bed at night.
Probably the most exciting news for this update is that we’ve chosen a name for Baby Girl O’Hara: Ellen Ann! First name is after her grandma Ellen and middle name is for her other grandma’s middle name, Robin Ann. It’s fun to be able to talk about little Ellen, although the term “the baby” is still pretty standard.
Little Ellen’s room is filling up quickly! Sean has already lamented the fact that the women in his family have way more clothes than he does, and Ellen is still many years away from shopping at the mall…I think he’s secretly afraid her first words will be, “Coach purse.” Like mother like daughter, right?
We’ve been so fortunate with so many generous friends and family members, that we’ve hardly had to purchase anything ourselves. A couple of friends had hand-me-down baby girl clothes to give me, which resulted in a gigantic collection of onesies, pajamas and other staples; some still in the packaging! Add in the generous amount of gifts we received at our recent shower in Kansas City, and little Ellen will not only be much more fashionable than her parents, but won’t need or want for anything for quite a while!
Last weekend Sean and I made the trip to Kansas City to see family and friends, as well as for the baby shower hosted by Lisa, Robin and Katie. Christian and Anna flew up from Florida, my parents drove down from Minnesota, and the two Bottger families made the trips from Omaha and Lake of the Ozarks. Plus, my dear college friend Jess flew in from Cleveland on Sunday morning after being a bridesmaid in a wedding the night before! It was so great to see so many people and catch up with everyone. The weekend totally flew by! We arrived Friday night, spent most of Saturday at Katie and Adam’s house (they hosted all of us for a delicious cookout lunch), had dinner with the Coxes on Saturday, had the shower on Sunday, then had a wonderful dinner with all the family members at Jim and Robin’s on Sunday night. Next thing we knew, we were flying back to Phoenix on Monday afternoon. A big thanks to everyone who made the trip to KC to see us, as well as for all the wonderful well wishes and generous baby gifts. We are always reminded of just how fortunate and blessed we are to have the family and friends we do.
Although we might be slowly slipping into the black hole of all things baby, we have managed to continue to lead fairly normal lives. As season ticket holders for ASU baseball, we’ve enjoyed attending games and watching the Sun Devils during this great winning season. We’ve even wrangled Brinkley into fandom, torturing him to pose for a photo with a mini ASU baseball helmet on. What’s cuter than a cute dog wearing a cute hat, right? We also had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see President Obama speak at ASU commencement. While my little point and shoot didn’t quite do it justice, I did take a few photos of the President on the big screen. After dreading what could have been a two hour security line, we were pleasantly surprised to find it only took a few minutes to get into Sun Devil Stadium. What wasn’t quite as pleasant was waiting for three hours for the speech (or the 90 minute wait at the concession stand to get some dinner). But it was all worth it. His comments were inspiring, funny, and touching. Also, although I'm more a mom-to-be than mother right now, Sean sent me a beautiful flower arrangement for Mother's Day. What a guy!
The next few months bring a lot of preparation, but we’re excited! In the meantime, we’ll be cheering on the Sun Devils as they try to make their way to Omaha; the first regional game is tomorrow here in Tempe!
Enjoy the photos below (including a shot of my favorite outfit from the shower)...lots of stuff in the baby room and we haven't even put the crib in yet!

The best excuse yet!

All of you know I love to make excuses for my lack of posts on this blog, but I have the best excuse to date: In January Sean and I found out we're expecting! So in the hustle-n-bustle of announcing our good news, researching baby gear, re-arranging furniture and trying our best to mentally prepare ourselves for being parents, this blog has fallen by the wayside. Most of you know all of the important details: We're having a girl, her due date is August 22nd, and all of our checkups so far have shown her growing right on track and healthy as can be. For those of you who would like a more detailed account of the past few months, here you go!
JANUARY:
What a wonderful way to start the new year! After feeling a bit queasy and worn down the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and take a pregnancy test before consuming the many beverages I planned to drink to ring in the new year. Katie and Adam were staying with us, in town for the Insight Bowl, so I had to be sneaky about it all. I'd planned to take a half day off work that day to get home in time to tailgate for the Insight Bowl. When I got home I greeted everyone and then went to take the test...anxiously watching the little stick to see if a second pink line would appear. And sure enough, it did! Not as pronounced as I thought it would be, but it was there! Now the question was how to show/tell Sean without acting suspicious...very hard when I was as excited as I was! I went to the living room where they were all watching TV and asked Sean if he could show me where the Tums were...I had a queasy stomach and couldn't find them. When he went into our master bath, I showed him the test and he had the biggest smile on his face and gave me a big hug. Now we just had to plot how we would explain to our friends and family why I wasn't drinking on NEW YEAR'S EVE of all days. I would do my best to keep up the "I'm not feeling well, think I'm coming down with something" guise and Sean would do his best to back me up or change the subject if need be. It worked most of the night, although I got a few "Is there something you're not telling us?" and tried my best to brush them off...most of the time I had to flat out lie, which was really hard to do! The Insight Bowl was a blast, but I still wasn't feeling well and was pretty tired, so I grabbed a cab right after the game while everyone else headed to Mill Avenue to celebrate and ring in the new year. As excited as I was about the positive test, I felt the need to be certain it was correct, so I ran to the grocery store when I got home, bought another pack of tests, and was very pleased to see another positive come up. Within a few minutes I heard Sean come home, which surprised me since I thought he was with the rest of our friends and family. He said after he saw me leave he realized there's nowhere he'd rather be that night than with me, especially now that we had such good news to start off the new year.
The following week I scheduled a doctor's appointment to confirm everything and the week after that we had our first ultrasound, which estimated I was about eight weeks pregnant. Too excited to keep the news to ourselves, we told family and close friends, but waiting a few more weeks before telling people at work and other acquaintances.
FEBRUARY:
I really lucked out, because I was barely sick the first trimester. Other than feeling under the weather over New Year's, the only real symptoms I "suffered" from were lack of energy (I'd come home from work and lounge on the couch until going to bed at 8 p.m.) and some food aversions (I'm a meat-and-potatoes kind of gal, but the sight of meat made me gag...Outback TV commercials forced me to change the channel). In the middle of the month I convinced Sean to take a Valentine's Day/his birthday trip to San Diego where we stayed at our favorite place, the Hotel Del Coronado, which was a wonderful weekend. We walked on the beach and ate at our favorite restaurants on the island.
MARCH:
March was a fun month because we got to see some family and really start talking about the baby. Joel was in Phoenix for work the middle of the month and we had a lengthy discussion about names, knowing that we would find out the sex just a few days after he left. Most of you know we've had a boy name picked out for a long time, but we were at a loss for girl names. All the names he threw out were nice, but they just weren't right...the search continued. A few days later we found out we were having a girl, so that made it extra fun when Jim and Robin came to visit at the end of the month, being able to refer to their granddaughter and being able to shop for girl things. We had a wonderful time with them...lots of activities and eating, just what we like! We visited the Desert Botanical Garden (which is currently featuring a Chihuly glass exhibit), took in a spring training game, went shopping for some baby gear, visited the spa, golfed and ate at some of our favorite spots (Cowboy Ciao and Ted's Hot Dogs...opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of cost and "fancy-ness," but both at the top of our favorite places to eat list). While my energy had definitely increased over the past month, I was definitely worn out after Jim and Robin left...we're not used to having such exciting weekends...this one really tired me out! But it was worth it!
APRIL:
It's hard to believe it's already April! Even crazier is the thought that I'm technically halfway through this pregnancy, at 20 weeks. Things are still going really well...finding it's a little more challenging to bend over to grab things with my growing belly...but it sure is nice not having to suck in anymore! Elastic waistbands sure speed up getting dressed in the morning and bathroom breaks! Other than those luxuries, on a more serious note, I've been feeling great and all the checkups have shown our little girl also doing great, for which I'm extremely thankful.
NEXT MONTH:
Lisa, Robin and Katie have gracioiusly volunteered to host a shower for me and Baby Girl O'Hara, so we're really looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends for the occasion! Hope to report back after the shower! Until then, here are some photos (that some of you have already seen) to tide you over...

Happy Holidays!

Knowing that some of you may be visiting this blog as a result of our Christmas card, I’ve been motivated to post some new content!

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is only 10 days away! October and November just flew by. They were tough months to be ASU football fans, that’s for sure. But seeing so many family members in November definitely made up for it! At the beginning of November we made a long-weekend trip to Seattle to watch ASU football (they won and broke their losing streak!), but also got to see my brother Joel (who works a few times a month in Seattle), Sean’s cousin Heather and her new baby, Clementine, along with the rest of that family, Heather’s husband John and her other three children, Lavinia, Owen and Tessa. And as luck would have it, Heather’s parents (Sean’s aunt and uncle), Maureen and Linc were visiting at the same time. Heather and John hosted us for an afternoon with a delicious lunch and a great visit. It was so fun to play with all the kids—they have so much personality and they’re so bright! Other than seeing family (which was one of the best parts of the trip), Sean and I did manage to sneak in a few tourist-y things. We visited the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project (and got free admission to the adjoining Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame where we saw Griff Tannen’s hoverboard from Back to the Future II), the original Nordstrom, the original Starbucks, and of course Pike Place Market. And what would a vacation be without experiencing some great food? We had breakfast every day at Lowell’s, which looks right out onto the water (excellent hash browns, by the way); grilled cheese sandwiches and soup at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (and watch cheese being made); and a delicious dinner at Etta’s, where Sean had some of the best mussels and oysters he’d ever eaten. It was our first trip to Seattle and I hope it’s not our last—I know there’s a lot more to see and do!

Knowing we’re from the Midwest, friends often ask if we’re going anywhere for Thanksgiving, to which I always reply: “As long as Sean is physically able to get to the ASU football game that weekend, we’re staying in Phoenix.” So although we travel every year for Christmas, we always count on being here for Thanksgiving. It was nice last year when Jim and Robin came down and overlapped with a post-Thanksgiving trip my parents made. And this year was great because although Jim and Robin weren’t with us, my parents (Bob and Ellen) came down and my brother Christian and his girlfriend Anna came from Florida! Sean and I were experienced Thanksgiving dinner chefs by now, after Jim and Robin’s visit last year, so it was our pleasure to host my family for the weekend. We had dinner at the Roaring Fork for my birthday, ate at one of Christian’s favorites, Gordon Biersch for lunch the day he and Anna arrived, visited the Desert Botanical Garden (which was hosting a Chihuly glass exhibit), took in the ASU-UCLA football game, and then before we knew it the weekend was over!

This is our year to be in Kansas City for Christmas (last year we were in Minnesota) and we’re really looking forward to it…lots of friends and family to see! We’re pretty quick to complain about how “cold” it is down here, so we’ll see how we adjust to the temperature! I’m willing to give up the warm temperatures for a chance at seeing snow and having a White Christmas, though. Although it will be nice to see Katie (Sean’s sister) and Adam (her husband), we won’t have to worry about not spending enough time with them, as they’ll be joining us in Phoenix for New Year’s and the Insight Bowl (KU vs. Minnesota)! There’s also a chance my brothers Joel and David will be coming, so hopefully we’re in for another mini family reunion like we had in Seattle in November!

And speaking of Christmas, I did finally get some decorations up in our house. Our tree is lit and decorated (albeit with fake/empty gifts underneath it), our lights are up outside and I’m hanging up Christmas cards as we receive them in the mail. At first I thought it would be hard to get into the holiday spirit without any snow, but people down here in the desert sure love to decorate! There are many houses in our neighborhood and throughout other neighborhoods we’ve driven through that are absolutely glowing with lights, santas, reindeer and other holiday decorations, it’s hard to NOT get in the spirit!

Other than our trips and visiting family, Sean and I continue to enjoy our jobs. I recently finished up on a two-day, 300 person conference that my Center hosted for nonprofit professionals, so now things have quieted down a bit until after the holidays. Sean recently traveled to exotic Washington, Utah, to take depositions, and continues to gain new experiences in his various cases.

Brinkley just got a haircut and has been doing a little bit of shivering around the house, as we don’t turn the heat on (it just feels wrong to turn the heat on when you live in the desert) and neither Brinkley nor Sean is very fond of the dog sweater I bought him. He’s definitely gotten soft since moving to Phoenix…Sean and I remember watching him happily romp through the snow in front of the Lied Center back when we lived in Lawrence!

Merry Christmas and happy 2009!