Jack's Nursery

  It took a while, but I finally shot a few pics of Jack's nursery. Kevin and I were so excited to incorporate some of the things WE love… which we will no doubt force upon Jack… poor kid...

Kevin's grandfather's flag   -   Fun, felt finger puppets we found on etsy (there are 18 of them total)

Kevin can't wait until Jack is old enough to see Star Wars for the first time...

...and I can't wait to start reading Harry Potter with Jack. Kevin says when he's 10….
...we'll see if I can wait that long...

Ikea kitchen cart turned nursery caddy  -  Custom Baby Book from Uncommon Goods -
Robot Night Light made by Kevin's mom

Finch approved our rug choice back in November when we first rolled it out :)
We miss him everyday, but we know that right here, next to Jack's crib, would be his favorite spot.

Spring is Here…finally!

  The grass is starting to look green, we've seen our first robin of the year, and *most of the huge, dirty snow mounds, piled up in the Trader Joe's parking lot, have melted away….
  Easter Sunday marked the first day that we wore short sleeves outside and cracked open more that one window to get some fresh air flowing through this place :)

  Jack in his Easter duds…

  Brooke & Owen: On an egg hunt!

"I found Frozen's arm!!" - Owen

Cousins Miles & Preston will be ready for hunting NEXT year!

  ...let's just hope Spring is here to stay…

Jack's First Photo Shoot

  We had a great time visiting our pal Erin of Erin Smith Photography over at her studio in NE Minneapolis. The shoot included great shots of Jack (3 weeks old at the time), a few wardrobe changes, a few diaper changes, some sweet tunes, and some shots of me, Kevin & Jack - family-photo-style!

Here are a few of our very favorite shots. Thanks Erin! You're the best!!

Erin Smith Photography

Bunnies for Baby Harapat!

  Being home on leave with Jack and Kevin has been great, but its been hard to keep my hands idle and to relax. I want to feel productive and make cute things!
  For example, a close friend of mine, Melissa, is next on the list to deliver - baby girl!! - and I found myself coming up with cute projects for her baby shower that would look super cute in the pink and gray nursery that she has been working on.
  So! I really might as well work on a few things while I'm 'sitting around at home' (which is honestly what I thought this would be like: not how hard it is to make it through a 30min sitcom on the DVR without pausing 4 times…)

Bunny Embroidery Project:
  So, for Jack's Nursery (which I have yet to share photos of -  they're coming…) I started/completed my very first embroidery project aside from a few cross stitch creations when I was younger. Thanks to fellow MCAD Alum, Alyssa, of Penguin & Fish, it was super easy to create the little hedgehog that hangs in Jack's room.

left: the hedgehog embroidery kit - available on etsy - complete with embroidery hoop, fabric, instructions, pattern (with both tracing and iron on options), thread and needle.
right: examples of just a FEW of the other fun characters/kits that Penguin & Fish has to offer...

I downloaded this fun freebie "Picnic Pals" embroidery pattern last year from Penguin & Fish (I subscribed to receive their blog updates/newsletter via e-mail) - Score! I extracted/rearranged the two bunnies from the artwork, added some grass and selected the just-right color to coordinate with Melissa's nursery color scheme.

Here is how it turned out! All set for Baby Harapat!

  After completing the Hedgehog project last year, and then successfully creating this bunny project, I want to do more! I'm inspired to create some artwork for a few more personal embroidery projects of my own… thanks for the inspiration Alyssa! It's so much fun!

find Penguin & Fish on etsy
peek at the cute website!
follow the blog!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the McBrides!

 What better way to share our Irish cheer, than by showing off our Jack sporting the official McBride family tartan plaid!

Photo by Erin Smith of Erin Smith Photography

+ here's a link from a previous post with our St. Patricks' Day coloring sheet:

download + print + color = fun for littles!

So Grumpy!

oh so grumpy!

Baby Jack!!

  All of my plans to add a blog post directly following the arrival of our little one were easier said than done… It's been one month since our little Jack arrived - he took his time: only 11 days late! and here we are, finally posting about him.
  We last posting on Feb. 2nd - our due date - Our little guy was just too comfortable to come on out, so we went in for a scheduled induction on Tues. Feb. 11th at 7pm, and *finally went into labor around 3am Feb. 12th, and Jack made his grand entrance on Thurs. morning Feb. 13th.

 Elisa: 30 hour labor, super painful Back Labor contractions, fever with uncontrollable shivering, oxygen mask, elevated white blood cell count, and antibiotics….

 Kevin: pushed so hard on my back for me whenever I asked him to - which was a lot. And  I would say "push harder!" and he physically could not push ANY harder - I couldn't see him at the time (behind me obviously), but he had himself pretty much as horizontal as his body could get applying pressure. He was great. And he cheered me on and counted to 10 so many times for hours of my pushing. We were so exhausted.

  Moms: Both of our moms were with us - we are so thankful they were there! They helped support and count, were right there with ice cold wash cloths for my head and neck. Some people thought we were a little nuts for inviting our moms to be there in the delivery room with us - you know, over-bearing mother-in-law stereotypes, etc. Luckily, we don't have that problem :)

  and most importantly Jack: got himself flipped around to be facing up ("Sunnyside up") which of course, make things more difficult for his mommy. Doctors had anticipated an infection for Jack ahead of time: my fever, white blood cell count, Jack's heart rate all pointed that way. They told me before he even arrived that when Jack showed up, he would be going to the NICU right away to get his own antibiotics, and stay there for 48 hours.
  Jack arrived around 8:45am - his cord wrapped around his neck (which thankfully I couldn't see how blue and white his skin was: just about gave daddy a heart attack) Nurses had him intubated and breathing so quickly and I got to meet him briefly before he was whisked away down to his special nursery. Kevin had to go with him because Jack didn't have a bracelet yet, so "daddy keep your eyes on the baby."
 

Ready to Go Home:
  We were SO relieved to FINALLY get to go home on Saturday morning, 2/15. Having been at the hospital 4 nights (and Valentine's Day), we pretty much cried when we got Jack through the door, looked at each other, and just took a deep breath. We did it - we finally had our little guy, and we were home.

  AND Rigby came home on Sunday 2/16 and was very curious about the new "little puppy" - he's been great with Jack, he likes to sneak kisses, and is already standing guard, very concerned with where Jack is at all times...