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...

Is Today the Day?

  Cue music: The Final Countdown by Europe or better yet, watch the sweet music video… 

TODAY! is our Due Date!

  Our little guy has proven to be too cozy where he is to arrive early, but now we're REALLY thinking ANY time now…. soon right? C'mon!! We are SO ready…
  - Nursery = good to go: waiting for a few last details before we snap pics to share…
  - Our "Go Bag" is mostly-packed…a few last things to throw in there when the time comes...
  - Rigby's "Go Bag" is all set
  - Car Seat: installed securely!
  - iPad loaded with movies, ready for a hospital stay…
  - Diapers, wipes, creams and ointments - check!
  - Cozy clothes, swaddling blankets all washed and ready
  - "Contraction Counter" App = downloaded

  While we can't control whether of not Baby McBride shows up today, at least we have a few things going for us…

..like DONUTS!

Mmmm Yo Yo Bakery, Minnetonka, MN
Raspberry Filled, Maple Glaze with Bacon, Apple Fritters + good 'ol Raised Glazed. You can't go wrong…and we didn't: such a great Sunday morning treat.

+ today is also Groundhogs Day! See Punxsutawney Phil's official verdict - so silly how all those guys dress up in top hats with old-timey super relevant mustaches…

+ today is Super Bowl Sunday of course. I have a feeling there may be some Super Bowl Birthday Parties in our little one's future (if Kevin has his way…) We're hoping the Bronco's will pull it off...
  Rigby has placed HIS bets for Puppy Bowl X on Animal Planet - see their Starting Line-up. Kevin is pumped for penguin cheerleaders…..

Rigby is already focused on the cutest puppy shows on Animal Planet
+ Our money is on Hunter, the boxer pup, for MVP...

  So even though my fortune from dinner last week promised that Saturday would be an "exciting time," -  as Janelle from work pointed out: it might still mean NEXT Saturday??

…. Stay tuned!

Seasons Greetings from the McBrides

  As we get through another hectic holiday season, the McBride's are pleased to say that we are done with our Christmas shopping and feeling pretty darn prepared for baby thanks to the generous baby showers hosted by family and friends. We are adding the finishing touches to the nursery and gearing up to hibernate until he arrives...

  We are so happy to be together as a family this season, especially as we said good-bye to our beloved Finch last week. We are so thankful for the 8+ years we spent with him, and especially these last 7 or so months that Finch battled cancer. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to enjoy Finch, his love, loyalty, and his silliness for so long - he was our best friend.

  Finch taught Rigby a thing or two as well, and we are very grateful for the positive habits that Rigby picked up from him. Even though this is the crappiest ever, so many family and friends really helped us out with their concern and support. Finch is so, so missed - we really would've liked for him to meet the "little nugget" when he arrives this coming February.

AND thank goodness for Rigby - not sure if we would be making it through this without his cuddles.

  Before it got *too cold, we had the chance to get these great family photos with our good friend Erin of Erin Smith Photography - they turned out perfectly.

we had to laugh and play around about some of those over-the-top couples pregnancy photos
it just got a little silly after that...

Pup Windows!!

  Part of Finch and Rigby's main jobs are to be good watchers. They keep an eye on what's going on, and let us know if they are concerned with what they see...
  Back in the Mpls house, Finch would perch himself on the couch, and look out the front window ALL the time - occasionally a little "burf" or soft growl would be Finch's way of letting us know that he was looking out for us.
  In the Minnetonka house, we don't have any windows for the pups to look out of except for the sliding glass deck door (where Rigby is occasionally concerned with the passing chipmunk or squirrel) or the downstairs office window (but we're not down there as often...)
  So! We decided to add 2 Pet Peek Windows into our deck fence!

image from the website: this is a really short fence or a really tall dog....

Here is OUR more realistic Before & After:

Finch supervising...

Rigby getting in the way...

  The pups REALLY love their new peek windows - Rigby oftens asks to go outside JUST to use them. He enjoyed keeping an eye out for Trick-or-Treaters headed our way

Happy Birthday Rigby!!

  A look back at Rigby's First Year:

A quick nap on cousin Owen and a BIG hug from cousin Brooke!

  Last September we picked up our 8 wk, 5 lb pup and named him Rigby - he was tinier than we expected (Finch had been 8 lbs at 8 weeks), and proved to a lot naughtier and a lot more work than Finch was at that age. Kevin is convinced that I just don't remember how Finch was when he was really young - I remember Finch being a silly, energetic pup who jumped up on guests and pulled too hard on his leash until I got him trained - which didn't take very long.  The main difference of course was that Finch was an only child, and it was just me, single, living on my own at the tiny house in Minneapolis - before Kevin :) I had plenty of one-on-one time to spend with my boy Finch. Potty training had been a breeze and he learned to "shake hands" in 10 min. Sure there were accidents - but with Rigby!! Thank God we purchased a Bissel Spotbot, little spot wet-vac. It was used VERY often, and Kevin swears it saved our marriage :)

Finch: What are you doing with that little guy? I lick your face!!

  Right away, Rigby's first day home, he connected with his new, big brother, Finch. Although we got the feeling that Finch was more annoyed by this new pup, he tolerated his new little bro's constant snuggling - oh my goodness the snuggling! It's like they were ALWAYS posing for a Christmas card.

Finch really liked the little bed that Rigby got from Tabitha....and Ribgy fit in there too...

  Now, 10 months later, Rigby is a sweetie pup who...

-  runs around the backyard like a crazy man,

- thinks he's a lap dog,

- sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night and carefully lays down at the bottom of the bed between us so as not to get busted,

- prefers to eat out of Finch's bowl

- LOVES going into his kennel (he did NOT learn that from Finch)

- is best friends with Finch - they wrestle everyday, and I think Finch is younger because of it :)

Rigby is 1 year old today and we love him so!

Oh Rigby

  Rigby sure loves his brother Finch - like on bath day: Rigby went first, and then Kevin took Finch into the bathroom for his turn.

   Here is Rigby waiting ever so patiently for big bro to come out...

  And all Little Riggs wanted to do was snuggle when he came home, after his "fix'n surgery", sporting his lovely new cone (which he broke by day 4, and we had to buy a new one...).