On the Outside

Yesterday, April 29th, was Emma's second day on the outside. Here are some more adorable pictures of our daughter (daughter! still so hard to believe). We continue to be in awe of her. I haven't slept much at night, yet, but when I open my eyes and see her sweet face sleeping or staring back at me, nothing else matters.

Oh, and thank you to everyone who has been sending us emails and posting comments on the blog! We have been thinking of you and can't wait to introduce you to Emma Sosie in person.

And check out Emma's right cross in the first picture. She is so strong already and less than 60 hours old! Today at the pediatrician (everything was great) she kicked the doctor who was sticking her little heel with a needle. Already doing self-defense :)

Introducing... Emma Sosie Plac

What a surprise she was, arriving 3 weeks early! We went into labor at 11:15pm Sunday, April 27 and she was born a mere eight hours later at 7:26am by natural delivery in the birthing center at Roosevelt Hospital, exactly how we wanted it to be. She weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and clocked a lanky 19 1/2 inches long. We love her so much already it's ridiculous. Here are a few pictures to tide you over until we get our act together. Everyone is happy and healthy and we're looking forward to introducing you to our sweet new addition. By the way, if you call us and we don't respond right away, it's because we are very new at this whole newborn thing and will get back to you as soon as we are able.

April Shower(s)

April showers bring, well, an April shower! In this case a very small family get together at our house in honor of our soon-to-arrive little girl. Thanks to my cookie making cousin Peeps and my Martha Stewart inspired sister-in-law Lisa, it was a very tasteful, elegant, and intimate gathering. Here are some highlights, including one of my favorite photos which I've titled, "Me versus the cupcake."

Flower Power

Spring has sprung, and so has my belly. I don't know if I realized how big I was until I saw these pictures! Steven and I went to Prospect Park for a mini photo shoot. On our walk we saw a man with a parrot on his shoulder (he was whispering to it) and tons of moms and babies. Seems like I won't lack for company once this nugget arrives.

Beach Baby

The elusive baby furniture for the beach house finally arrived yesterday and it was worth the wait! The Steven team unpacked everything while I supervised and then younger Steven (aka Baby Daddy) put the crib together while my dad and I kept a safe distance. The end result is perfection! Check out the cool wall sticker that our friend Jill designed. She has a beautiful website where she sells wallpaper, www.jillmalek.com.

And now, some (slightly blurry) pictures!

Can of Horrors

"Kaynahorah" is Yiddish meaning to ward off the evil eye. In other words, when you have good news but don't want to jinx it, you might throw out this term. Steven likes to call it Can of Horrors. He also says he doesn't believe in it. But I do...

The good news is we finally integrated our 3 cats and so far it's going well, kaynahorah!

If you didn't know about our horrendous cat problem (which would be odd considering it's all we talk about these days besides the baby) the situation was pretty bad. Because of a severe cat personality clash, our newest addition Millie was basically living in the baby's nursery, also known as our guest room. FOR ALMOST A YEAR. We had no idea how to fix this problem since Pixel, the aggressive kitty, seemed to have a stalking addiction and any time we'd let them near each other, fur would fly. Literally. Then Steven had the genius idea to put soft claw covers on Pixel's nails (a humane alternative to declawing, which we don't believe in) and open all the doors. Even though Pix can use her jaws of steel, she can no longer maul poor Millie with her sharpies.

We did this two days ago and the result, so far, KAYNAHORAH, has been positive. Pix still stalks Millie, but now that she has unlimited access, she grows bored quickly. We hope this trend will continue so Millie can stop hiding and live freely, not just upstairs, but all over the house. Luckily we should have at least a month and a half to perfect this. Keep your fingers crossed!