2:3 "the customer is always right!"

Recently the gliding chair we bought started to squeak, not like a mouse but one of those really annoying loose-nail-in-the-floor-board squeaks, so with my handy-man abilities got the WD-40 and gave all the hinges a good lube. That is until I found the real reason for the noisy occurrence; one of the hinges rolled right through its bearing and ate away at the bare metal each time you rocked. The Glider was later disassembled and I brought it to the store and pointed to the receipt where it said "satisfaction guaranteed". So I chose the model I wanted and payed the extra for the upgrade... I soon realized this new chair was not going to fit in my compact car... hmmm.  

Chanté did get her chair, but the fun is in how I got it home.

Here you can see I'm standing in front of a truck with window stickers and a Dealers license plate! Bwah ha ha! Yes, I went to the local used car lot and told the man I was looking for a truck. We gave it a test drive and and I told the man I needed to show the wife who is at home with the baby, and he let me take the truck. He even filled it with gas before I took it! 

On my way home to "show the wife", I made a quick stop at the furniture store and picked up my rather large box I had purchased earlier, drove it home, delivered it, and on my way out the door asked if she liked the truck enough to buy. Before she could answer I had left and told the man the wife didn't like it. I thanked the man and left.

Nothing beats renting a truck without renting a truck.

2:2 Pure joy!!

From a daddy's prospective, the long nights of diaper changes and passing the baby from crib to mommy and back, and back... and back, are well worth the joy and spirit it brings into the home and family.

I've been lucky though, we've have grandma, grandpa, an aunt and now a great grandma here to help us while learn what the heck we're doing. We appreciate the help.

So here's a few pics from Xan's first week in our family.

A couple of proud dads and their boys. André, with Paul, is about 5 weeks old here. Yep, best buds.

A good yawn before a good nap.

Our first Family portrait. I was my own photographer so I used the lamp with the Octopus arms for my tripod and the timer... next time I'm hiring someone.

Awwww...!

Classic Xan. Inserted thumb in mouth while holding face in place.

Season 2 episode 1: A whole new life... literally!

When we say a new life, we mean it. Xan came into our world early this morning after Chanté worked the hardest she ever has... period. She worked hard partly because we decided not to go to the hospital, but to use a midwife without all the wonderful intervention. The only medicational intervention we used was a drug called cervadil, which helps the uterus to efface and eventually start contractions. After the second dose labor had definitely started, which made chante go from This:

Chanté and midwife katie monitoring baby.

To these:

Relaxing between contractions,

attempting to relax during contractions.

Chanté labored for 14 hours and pushed for over 3 hours. I don't know how she did it but she did not complain about the clearly present pain or complain that it was too hard. After so many hours of changing positions and going through contractions and pushing, she was physically exhausted, but did not complain. Then Xan's head started to emerge just enough you could see his hair. Midwife Marsha told her she could touch his head, once Chanté could feel her baby she got a whole new wave of energy and painfully but willingly pushed until, with the assistance of an episiotomy, until our little Xander popped his head completely out.

Many people have rolled their eyes and questioned us when they heard we were using a midwife saying things like it's not safe, or she will want the epidural. Here's what I have to say to all who even doubted in their minds: Chanté is a warrior who birthed a baby the natural way and survived. Now Mom, Dad, and Baby are at home 6 hours after birth getting acquainted once again, instead of walking the halls at the hospital and looking through the glass at the nursery.