Second Cousins meet

Annabelle (left) and her second cousin, Piper, meet in Baton Rouge over the holiday. Piper was born on 8/1, so they are only a month apart.

Great Granny Cecil's house

We stopped off at Great Granny Cecil's house for a visit. We helped her shell some peanuts and enjoyed some freshly roasted Mississippi pecans.

Our first trip

Heading off to Mississippi to visit Lance's family for Thanksgiving. We packed so light - no checked bags! Annabelle was perfect on the planes, slept like a baby.

Annabelle and Madelyn

Madelyn is Erica and Dylan's baby, born 1 month before Annabelle on 7/27/09. They get to hang out a lot, although they don't know it yet.

Halloween

Annabelle is a spider and I am the web! Not sure she got much out of Halloween this year, she pretty much slept through the whole night. But she was a cute spider

Bathing Beauty

Loving bath time!

Great-Granny Cecil & Annabelle

Annabelle is Granny Cecil's first great-grandchild, and they share the same birthday! August 29.

4 Generations of Thorntons

We had a great visit with Lance's family this past weekend. Here are Lance's grandmother (Cecil) , father (Tom) and daughter. Lance's stepmother (Martha) and stepbrother (Guy) were also here to visit. It was wonderful to see them and let them meet Annabelle! We will be looking forward to seeing them again at Thanksgiving time in Mississippi.

relaxing with papa

Neck exercises

At 4 weeks, I am already a strong girl!

What's That?

Even after 3 weeks, Mia is still wondering who our new house guest is. Mia has been great, very patient and gentle, but she is definitely still curious! Hopefully soon, we can all start to go on more walks together and have some fun :-)

I'm 2 weeks old!!

Wow, this thumb tastes good :-)

Learning to Multi-task

Thanks Papou!

My dad (Papou) has been here from September 3 - 12 helping us adjust to life with a new baby. It has been great to have him here! Thanks for all the laundry, diaper changes, cooking and great company.

Ryan and Aurora visit

They were both there for the birth, but had to leave shortly after. This time Annabelle gets to spend some quality time with both
Ryan and Aurora.

Papa can still play games!

Annabelle's birth hasn't put a damper on game playing around here.

going home!

09,02.09

Finally leaving the hospital. It takes both of us to figure how to put Annabelle in the car seat!

We have a name!

Went and signed the birth certificate today, the alien telepathy must have broken through to Lance!

Introducing: Annabelle Tempel Thornton

Both names have old family ties to both of our families.

And the other grandmother...

Here is my mother. She was in the operating room with me (which was wonderful) and was the first person to hold our little one!

In case you are wondering why we were in the operating room - Erika ended up having a c-section because the baby was turned backwards and we were unable to get her out the traditional way. We certainly tried our hardest, but it just wasn't to be. Doesn't really matter anyway, we have got our little sweetie and everyone is healthy and doing great!

Lance's mom visits

Thank goodness for grandmothers! Lance's mom (Honey) will be staying with us for several days to help out and see her new granddaughter.

why there is no name...

Lance signing on:

To those asking about a name, there's no name yet because it turns out that she's not actually human. At first I thought she was because she pretty much looks like a normal human baby but then I realized that she only communicates by telepathy and she also uses mind control - this obviously means she's an alien. That, and her cranium looks just like the alien heads I've seen on the internet so that pretty much proves it.

And being an alien, I don't really feel like I have the authority to name her. I came up with Zymxlplkz as a possible alien name for her but then I couldn't figure out how to pronounce it so I kinda gave up. I'm waiting for a telepathic message from her to get her real name.

Thanks,
Lance

baby arrives, click HERE for more pictures

Born on her great-granny's birthday, August 29 at 8:30pm. 8 lbs 2 oz, 21.45 inches.

anyone in there?

Mom and Dad arrived today. They were a bit surprised by how big my belly has gotten! We are down to the final days - I wonder when the big day will be.

last photo of pregnant Erickas

Looks like the last post for the two of us -- this was taken on Saturday night (7/25). Looks like Erica will be having her baby tonight (7/27)! I can't wait for the final news :-)

One more picture

Gotta have some bughouse action!

Another party pic

Arts & Crafts - "decorate a onesie".

Baby Naming Party

Sunday we had a wonderful party in a beautiful redwood grove in the Oakland hills. It was great to see a bunch of our friends - thanks so much to all who came! We had some really great food, lots of name suggestions, arts n crafts, a nice hike/mountain uni ride, and some music and games! We also had a special guest, Tom Thornton (grandad-to-be) all the way here from Mississippi!

Midwife visit

Went to see Jeri, our midwife today. Things are going great, I've gained 23 pounds so far and have 6 weeks to go. So far, so good...

And here is Lance

Better get some pictures of the "Dad-To-Be" in here. This is Lance passing time while we wait to take the ferry from the island.

the rest of the gang

From left to right:
Erika, Dylan, Erica, Ray, Joe with Alcatraz and SF behind us.

My how we've grown

In just a few weeks, team "pregnant Ericka" has grown substantially. This picture was taken on July 5 on Angel Island in the SF Bay. It was a gorgeous day with an amazing view. Erica's baby is due in a week or two, Erika still has about 6 weeks to go.

pre-birth class photo

We just finished our 8 week birthing class. I am so glad we took it, we met some nice folks and learned a ton. This picture shows all of us "pre-birth". We should start getting some babies any day now...

Erika & Erica - hiking in Tilden

We had a beautiful hike, but it is harder with a baby in the belly!

Building a Baby Room

Construction begins today - building a wall so baby can have a bedroom. Wow, what a mess!

The Lovely Ohio River

I've hit the 6 month mark. She is moving around a lot now which feels really strange. Last weekend, we were at a wedding in West Virginia. Ohio is on the other side and Kentucky is only about 10 miles away.

Baby sounds

Here's a link to the heartbeat:
Baby Sounds

Gone camping

May 9, 2009

Camping & hiking at Henry Coe State Park.  Next time we do this we'll need a lot more gear.

Growing...

May 1, 2009

No longer a bump!

Baby's first trip to Virginia

At 23 weeks, baby thornton is a growing belly bump!  She is starting to move around a lot as Piper and Ivory can feel.