Sunday, November 27, 2011

Happy Birthday, Daddy and Mimi!

Today we celebrated Mimi (November 26) and Daddy's (November 27) birthdays! Daddy is Mimi's favorite son-in-law, don't you know. Everyone came up to our house since Mia is just four days old. There was a yummy chocolate cake baked by Tutu.
 Here are the birthday boy and girl blowing out the candles. Hope you both wished for something super special.
 And of course, Big Brother Noah and Cousin Jack got front row seats for the cake eating.
And what did Mia do? She slept all afternoon, of course! Awww!
And here is Daddy with his two little ones on his birthday. Gotta love it!

Happy birthday, Daddy and Mimi! We love you both!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Welcome Home, Mia Patricia

 The next day, Mia and I were cleared to go home. Hurray! We dressed her in "street clothes" and took a few last photos before heading out. Daddy was so excited to leave the hospital.
 And so was Mommy.
 Mia fit quite snugly in her car seat.
 And about 30 seconds later was out like a light.
When we arrived home, Big Brother Noah was there to greet us. Mimi and Great-Grammy Mary brought him up earlier in the day. They were so sweet and even changed our sheets and put flowers on my nightstand.
Noah was a lot more relaxed about seeing his new sister in our safe, home environment. I think the hospital was overwhelming for our little guy. Here he is checking Mia out in her car seat.
He was so happy to see all of us but most especially his little sister.
Kisses for Mia. Precious!
Great-Grammy was not able to make it to the hospital to see Mia so this was the first time she held her. It was truly a special moment.
 And then it was Noah's turn. He looks so natural holding Mia. His smile says it all.
And here's our big happy family! What a wonderful homecoming for our new little princess.

Welcome home, Miss Mia! We love you!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Mia's Hospital Photos

Here are some photos that the hospital took of Mia on her first day of life. We were quite pleased to learn that they have a real photographer on staff. We were able to purchase a CD of all the photos in both color and black and white. This was much different than the one (that's right, ONE) taken of Big Brother Noah. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Poor baby! 

Enjoy these wonderful photos of our little angel girl. We think they are so precious!
We used this one for our official baby announcement. Amazing how much she looks like Noah, huh? Simply gorgeous!
 Love the crossed legs. So lady like.
 This one is so sweet. It gives you the perspective of just how tiny she is.
 I think she is almost smiling in this one. Love it!
 Awww, our sweet baby!
 She's striking a pose in this one. Hee, hee!
Adorable! A far cry from our last experience for sure. 

So Miss Mia survived her first photo shoot (the first of many, I'm sure). If Big Brother Noah has any advice for you, little one, I bet he would tell you to watch out for the paparazzi...they are everywhere!

Later That Day...



Mia had quite a first day of life. Since it was Thanksgiving, our families were all nearby so we had lots of visitors that first day. Of course Daddy was there. They had already become cozy buddies.
 That morning, Big Brother Noah arrived with Uncle Jon, Aunt Jenn and Cousin Jack. Mimi and Pop-Pop were there, too! At first Noah was quite apprehensive about being in the hospital and meeting his little sister for the first time.
 At first he was only OK with sitting with Mommy on the bed.
 Then he got a little bit closer to Mia. Baby steps, people!
 He said she was very, very cute. Score one for the little sister.
 It probably helped that Mia had a gift for her new big brother to open.
 Oh, boy, a Batman helicopter. OK, I guess his new sister is not so bad after all.
Now for some great snuggle shots of Mia with her relatives. Here is Mimi with her first granddaughter. Mia sure does look cozy!
Pop-Pop was so happy to finally meet his new granddaughter, too. Just in time for that big fishing trip.
 Uncle Jon was instantly smitten with his new niece. She loved him as well.
 And Aunt Jenn was thrilled to hold her niece, too! Hurray, a girl in the family!
 Jack was quite intrigued by his new cousin. He loved watching her sleep and was very gentle.
 By the end of the visit, Noah warmed up to his sister a bit more and agreed to pose for our first family photo. He was not ready to hold her or touch her yet...this was about as close as he was willing to get. Then he was off to have dinner at Mimi and Pop-Pop's house and to spend the night. See you tomorrow, Big Brother!
A few hours later, Jeff's family came by on their way to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house for Thanksgiving dinner. She sure loved visiting with Tutu, Sir and Aunt Nora!
What an awesome first day you had, little Mia Patricia! Can't wait to take you home tomorrow...

Introducing Mia Patricia Dirstine

I finally went into labor early this morning (November 23). I had a scheduled appointment with my OB/GYN that morning so my Dad drove me drove me down to Panorama City to see what was going on. At 11 a.m. I was dilated 2 cm and 60% effaced with contractions coming every 45 minutes so the doctor sent me home. Jeff stayed at work so my Mom and Dad drove me back up to Santa Clarita to have lunch and wait to pick up Noah from school.

After lunch, the contractions were about 20 minutes apart. I guess a good, hearty Mexican lunch did the trick. Our baby was definitely coming today. So we picked up Noah, did a few last minute things at home and headed down to Sunland to meet Jeff and hand off Noah to Jon and Jenn, who were going to take him for the night so the grandparents could be at the hospital with us.

By 7 p.m., my contractions were getting much stronger and were now 5 minutes apart. So we headed off to the the hospital. Here I am settling into our labor and delivery room. By the time the midwife checked me upon arrival at about 8 p.m., I was 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.
 After a lovely epidural and a few hours of waiting, our little Peanut was born. Here is her first photo as they placed her on my chest. I literally was laying there watching late night talk shows on TV when the midwife came in to check me and said I was fully dilated and ready to push. After three pushes, she popped right out. I couldn't have asked for an easier labor and delivery. The hospital staff were quite stunned at how easy it was. What can I say, I guess I'm made to deliver babies.
 Mia Patricia Dirstine (the baby formerly known as Peanut) was born today, Thursday, November 24, 2011, at 1:24 a.m. Our very own Thanksgiving baby! Her first name, "Mia," is in honor of all the women in our family with the name "Mary" or a close relative of that name. And her middle name, "Patricia," is after my Mommy, Pat. We are so honored to name our little girl after so many wonderful women in our family.
 As you can see, she weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.
 Here she is warming up minutes after birth. Daddy was so proud!
 Soon the happy grandparents came in to see little Miss Mia. We took a very similar photo of the grandparents and their new grandchild when Noah was born. How special to have all of them there for the birth of our second child, too.
 Mia and her Tutu and Sir, Jeff's parents.
 And here is Mia with her Mimi and Pop-Pop, my Mom and Dad.

By the way, as I'm certain you will remember, my Dad caught a really big fish one year ago this week. He was set to go on an anniversary fishing trip before I even learned I was pregnant. So when he found out that my due date was one day after he was supposed to leave on his trip, we all hoped and prayed the our baby would come early. Somehow my Dad got his wish and Mia was born the day before he was set to leave. Whew! 
 I just love this photo. She was so calm and collected and was looking around and taking in the outside world. Welcome, little one. We love you so much already!
 And of course, here is Aunt Nora. She's our good luck charm when it comes to babies. Aunt Nora had come back from a semester abroad in Italy the very night that Noah was born. Before she left that summer, she made me promise not to have her nephew until she got back. Ha, right! And what do you know, it happened. And this time, she made me promise not to have her niece until she came for Thanksgiving. So that afternoon, Aunt Nora flew in from Los Gatos just in time for Mia to be born. Hilarious!
Oh, yeah, don't forget the Mommy! Here are the proud parents and grandparents. What a wonderful and blessed day! Welcome to our family, Mia Patricia. Happy birthday and Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for you and we love you so very much.