Happy Halloween

Thanks mom for the the baby pumpkin. And thanks to Brad and Sarah for hosting a great pumpkin carving party. Happy Halloween to everyone.

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It's a boy - Edward Mitchell Fitzgerald

We found out last Tuesday that our little one is a boy. His dad and I are very proud. Andy was so proud he asked if they could produce a 3d picture (like the one of his face and arm) of the "boy parts". It has been amazing to get a glimpse of his tiny face and to think of "him". Knowing his gender has already given him more of a personality, I imagine his kicks and punches are practicing for soccer and tennis.



Naming him was surprisingly easy. A while back Andy and I were having one of those conversations where you dream about things in the future. We decided on Edward Mitchell one day while talking about what names we would want for our children. Edward is Andy's Dad name. We couldn't be happier that he will bear his grandfathers name and hope he will grow up knowing what a great man he is named after. Of course Mitchell is very special to both Andy and I. I was so excited when Andy asked if I would want to name our boy after Mitch. It is a way for us to honor him and what he meant to all of our lives by passing on his name.

My brother has jokingly called him Cousin Eddy but I am making a request here and now that he not be nicknamed Eddy. We like Ed, Edward and E for short. If anyone has any other ideas we would love to thear them.

Augustus Johan Dinkins

My perfect and amazing nephew, Gus, is one month old and I just had the privilege of meeting him this past weekend. Gus was born September 14 after Geraldine's heroic 26 hours in labor. Both mom and baby are doing well. I was so excited to get to spend the weekend with my whole family although with so many arms around it was hard to get enough holding time. My mom is especially sneaky and can take Gus away so fast you don't even notice your not holding him anymore. He is such a laid back baby, already taking after his dad. I found out his favorite place is the changing table, anytime we placed him on the changing pad he got very still and quiet. This could lull you into a false sense of security because it also placed him in prime position to give anyone standing over him a pee-pee shower. I almost got nailed but jumped out of the way saving my own self while Geraldine bravely stepped in harms way and put a diaper over the spout to keep everything from becoming totally soaked. I am so proud of my brother and sister-in-law for the amazing job they are doing as parents, I hope we will be half as good. I look forward to introducing Gus to his cousin in March. For now Gus is the center of all our attention and I love every little thing about him.

Practice Baby

One of the things I love most about my husband is his sense of humor. His idea of funny can be very different from mine (if anyone is curious I can tell you the story of the "Ultimate Humiliation") but most of the time it puts a smile on my face and laughter in my heart. I came home from work one day to find a stranger on our bed, Practice Baby. Andy made Practice Baby by stuffing my very own baby blanket into a onesie and adding a pair of tube socks for the head. Later we added the knitted hat, a wonderful gift from Geraldine. What do we do with Practice Baby? Well we practice, we hold it, burp it, carry it around and just try and imagine what the real thing will be like. We get a kick out of it and know it is no comparison to our real baby who is growing and kicking like crazy in my belly. I can't wait to put the real thing in the onsie and keep his or her head warm with the hat. I can't wait to see Andy holding our child and to smile and laugh at the beautiful picture that will be.


The precious burp cloth in the pictures is from L.A. and she is making and selling these along with other precious baby items. If anyone is interested or want to see what else she has to offer go to her blog (there is a link from this page) and check out the link to her items. She is so talented and has some really great things.