Two weeks!

Where does the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday when we watched our beautiful daughter come into the world, but now she is is two weeks old. Time flies when you are having fun I guess. I just hope that this last two weeks is not indicative of what the rest of her life will look like. If that is the case, then I better start getting ready for Olivia's teen years now (i.e. finding way to scare guys away). OK, so maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but these two weeks really did go fast.

So what are the highlights of the past two weeks? First and foremost, the birth of Livi. Denisse's water broke at a jewlery party at a friend's house (we did not get the jewelry for free by the way!) and then we rushed to the hospital only to wait throughout the night for her birth in the morning. Throughout the night and morning, I continued to be amazed by my wife and how well she did during the entire process. She is such an amazing person and her courage really shined through that night. I am so blessed to have her as my wife and the mother of my daughter. Second best moment, Livi's moments when she is awake in the evening. It is really cool to see her awake even though we know that she really doesn't see that far (only about 8-10 inches away) and she really does not react to things that we say or do, however we are convinced that she loves to listen to singing. That is something that I started to do immediately after she got home. I made up a song about her to Queen's "Bohemian Raphsody". I can blame American Idol for that.

Anyways, bottomline, we have had a great two weeks. I am writing this summary because I am heading back to work tomorrow and will be away from my "girls" a little more than I have the past two weeks. I am looking forward to that new challenge. So with that, I give you pics. I will try to post as many new ones as possible. Take care.

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Snow Day

We got some snow today. Probably somewhere between 8-10 inches. What relevance does this have to our new daughter? None really, other than I was outside the entire time shoveling snow and I really didn't get a lot of quality time with her. However, I was able to snap a couple of pics over the last few days. I realized after getting in from shoveling that she was in her first all pink outfit. Coming from a man, this may sound a little weird, but considering it is about my little daughter, Olivia, I thought it was pretty cool. So I had to take a picture.

Everything else is going well. Denisse and the baby are doing great. We think we are getting her on a pretty good schedule now. Lately, she seems to be sleeping and eating, sleeping, eating which is a vicious cycle. Of course she throws in an occasional diaper change between the sleeping and eating. She has an active "awake" period in the evening from around 7-9 pm after her 6 pm feeding. Other than that, things are going really well.

Sorry it has been so long since a posting. I will try to keep this going when I head back to work next week. Oh yeah, I am also posting a pic of one of her burp cloths which may offend some of our many Aggie friends. I am apologizing for this in advance but when I saw it hanging on her cradle, I couldn't resist the shot.

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Its Been...

One week since the birth of Olivia Isabel! Well, actually it has been a little more than a week (week and two days to be exact). Mom and daughter continue to do well and I just wanted to post this on the blog to put up another picture of Livi and to show the amazing well wishes we received from everyone! Thanks so much for your love and support! Take care!

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Bath Time

Olivia got a bath today and I had the camera available. We had to make sure that her ambilical cord did not get wet during the bath. She was a little wiggly during the bath but was quite content afterwards. She did great and smelled great too!

Everything is continuing to go well. As expected, we are still up a little at night, but having this little bundle of joy is more than worth it. Our first week has been so rewarding and absolutely amazing! It seems that she continues to get more and more precious everyday! We are especially happy that she is adjusting to home life so well and that Bailey is adjusting so well too. Bailey has been very curious but has done so great with Livi. It seems like every chance she gets, she is trying to take a peak at Livi! They are going to be great friends soon.

Take care everyone and we will write more later.

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is definitely a day to think about the one you love. Well, in my case, I am now thinking about the ones I love! I felt so horrible because I have not had the time to buy something nice for Denisse for Valentine's Day so I ran out today to get her a small flower arrangement from our local flower shop. Since I was there, I had to get something for Livi's first Valentine's Day too, so I bought her a pink teddy bear! I thought it was a great idea at the time, but then I came home and realized she has about 100 stuffed animals already. I guess I just added to her already growing collection!

I hope everyone's Valentine's Day was as wonderful as ours. Even though we did not do anything really special today, we know that we are very blessed to have Livi here with us. We are still amazed at the thought that Denisse was carrying her just last week and we did not even know if she was a boy or a girl. Everything is still going great. Livi had her first trip to the pediatrician today and is doing great. Abuela Olivia is glowing everyday and has been so helpful for both Denisse and I.

We wanted to include some pics in today's posting and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! One pic shows that not only is Livi wearing Denisse and I out, but Bailey too.

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Olivia Comes Home

First, we would like to thank all those that helped us out during our hospital stay. Amy Hrdy came in and was a huge part of the delivery after a long day at work. We greatly appreciated her being there, since 5 am, because she provided so much support for both Denisse and me! Thanks so much Amy! Cathy Bachl and Kate Moll who stopped everything and came in from Washington D.C. and New York City within hours of Denisse going into labor. They helped us out all day on Sunday! Cathy, thanks for your motherly insights throughout your stay! You are an amazing friend. Kate, thanks for your helpful hints throughout the medical process. Lastly, we would like to thank Olivia's Abuela, Olivia, for helping us through the hospital discharge. There are no words to express how thankful we are for all the love and support that everyone provided during our stay.

Another exciting day for the Lunoff family! After nine months of pregnancy, taking the step of finally taking our daughter home brought out a lot of different emotions varying from excitement, anxiousness to nervousness. You start going over everything in your head wondering if everything was ready for the baby and your mind goes about 100 miles a minute, but, when it finally happened, we were the happiest new parents in the hospital. Granted, it took us quite a while to get home because I may have been driving 10 miles UNDER the speed limit with the precious cargo we were carrying!

When we finally got home, we began to get Bailey associated with Olivia. Luckily, we brought receiving blankets home the first night Olivia was in the hospital so Bailey knew her smell. Bailey automatically understood that she was part of the family because she began protecting her from Rambo, the other Griff in the house right now. She did great and actually pushed Olivia in her swing which is one of the pics. I think Olivia and Bailey will be friends for life!

We are absolutely excited to be home and so far, Olivia is doing great. She took her first nap in her own bed and several naps in her pack and play. She is loving our new glider in the nursery and loves the warmth our pellet stove puts out in the family room. We will continue to update Olivia's progress in the coming days. Hopefully, I will be able to get some good videos of her!

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey

Olivia Isabel's Arrival

What an amazing day!!! Funny part of the story is that Denisse's water broke on Saturday night around 9:30 pm at a Jewlery Party at a friend's house. Personally, I think that qualifies Denisse for a free necklace or something, but of course, it didn't happen. I will try to work something out with the salesperson.

Anyways, the most important thing is that both Denisse and Olivia are doing well. Olivia was born on February 10, 2008 at 9:19 am. She was 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. She decided to surprise us a little early by being born about 3 weeks early, however, she is very healthy and fine. I am so proud of Denisse and the courage she showed during the delivery. I will say it again, my wife is absolutely amazing. We are very happy and Olivia has been doing great after 24 hours in the hospital.

Here are some pics of the new arrival to enjoy. More will follow in the coming days.

Love,

Drew, Denisse, Olivia and Bailey