Friday, February 29, 2008

My Awesome Wife


I know that most of you already know this, but my wife is seriously the most awesome wife ever. This week has been incredibly difficult at work, and she has been super supportive at home. One night this week I fell asleep (blacked out would be a better term) with Sawyer and while I was out Sarah made my lunch for the next day. This allowed me to sleep in for just a couple of extra valuable minutes. She also brought me lunch on Friday (crazy doesn't even begin to describe everything that happened on Friday). I guess that you should know things won't break your way when you get a call at 6am, saying that the school has been broken into and vandalized.

So anyway I just needed to let everybody know how lucky I know I am. I thought that I was lucky when Sarah told me she thought Valentine's Day was a waste of money. But she has outdone herself, by only buying soccer clothing for Sawyer, you may think that isn't a big deal, but let me tell you, it is virtually impossible to find soccer themed outfits. She has waded through piles of baseball, football, and basketball clothes to find the few soccer outfits available. I does not get much better than a beer drinking, soccer loving woman who is still smokin hot after having a 9lb baby. After this week and all of the support she has provided me, not to mention she is an Super mom to Sawyer, I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world.

I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite pictures of SuperWife.


I love this picture because we are in Paris which has millions of interesting and historic architectural landmarks, and Sarah insisted me shoot pictures of her in front of this red door.


Another shot from Paris, and this time we had a take a picture of this blow dryer (it wasn't even on during the picture) because it was so unique (we have since seen these in every cheap hotel we have stayed in back in the States). Strangely enough Sarah doesn't want me to take pictures of us play acting with those dryers.


If you have ever traveled with Sarah you may have seen this look before, let me decode it for those of you not familiar with the look. "I am doing this crap because you wanted to, but don't think I am going to forget about it." In this case it was climbing hundreds of steps to the bell towers of every historic landmark in western Europe. I am not sure which one this is from, because I saw this look many times at the top.

Sarah, I love your quirks and I love the fact you are a strong and independent woman and mother. I love you

Minor

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Oh, Poop!



Everyone tells you that babies poop often. They say you'll be changing diapers all the time and if you have a boy that you stand a good chance to get wet, too. Minor has experienced quite a few of those wet moments with Sawyer and until yesterday I thought Sawyer was always saving these moments for his daddy.

Sawyer and I headed to our photographer's studio, Mary Barnett for his newborn photo session. Minor would be catching up with us after he wrapped up things at his school, so when we got there, Mary went ahead and started the session with some solo shots of Sawyer.

We decided to move along to some pics of just the two of us, before Minor arrived, and these would be those adorable baby nude shots. Mary mentioned, as she positioned us, that frequently the babies may pee, but not to worry, she was prepared! Click, click of the camera and then, Sawyer began to add his own noises to the session. Um, Mary..this feels more than wet! She quickly grabbed wipes and a diaper. Minor walks into the studio as we're getting all cleaned-up. We were ready to finish those momma and Sawyer shots, now that everyone is clean, again. Off comes the diaper, a few flashes later, um Mary, where are those wipes??! Of course, Minor thought this whole scene was great fun. Mary helps us clean-up again and mentions that she's never had a baby poop before.

Why does this not surprise us? Perhaps this is only a taste of what is to come in the future with our son. I'm sure Minor could create a list of possible statements we may hear from Sawyer's teachers, friends, etc. as he grows up. The rest of the photo session went on without any other bathroom incidents, which I'm sure Mary was thankful for! Even with the poop, Minor and I had a great time at the photo session with Sawyer. Thanks so much, Mary! We're looking forward to seeing the proofs next weekend.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

More Firsts



On Saturday morning, what was left of Sawyer's umbilical cord fell off, so he had his first bath in the tub. He seemed to enjoy his bath more than the sponge baths he had been receiving. Although, he's still not in love with the idea of being exposed!

Then, in the evening Minor and I headed to my school campus, so he could host the PTA's version of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" We decided this would also be a great opportunity to leave Sawyer with his first babysitter, Lindsay, since we didn't want to introduce Sawyer to all the joys of being at school, just yet. (There will be plenty of time for flu and strep in the future!) We enjoyed seeing many of our students and their families at the event. And Lindsay did great with Sawyer, so we're looking forward to calling on her again, so we can have date nights.



Today was just a relaxing day at home. We were all able to enjoy one of my favorite activities together, an afternoon nap! Then, this evening we kicked back with some pizza (thanks, Amie!) to watch the Oscars.



It's hard to believe that this week Sawyer will already be three weeks old. I'm starting to realize that the time really does go by fast, so we're appreciating the joys (and challenges) of each day.

Thanks again for everyone's love and support! Minor and I tell each other at least once a day how blessed we are to have friends and family like you in our lives. We love each of you!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

A Week of First's

We have now had a bunch of baby firsts.

1. First Birthday - Sawyer turned one week old on Thursday (Granted we didn't do anything special, besides enjoying our traditional heart shaped pizza from Mangia to celebrate Valentine's Day. Just being one week old is pretty special.)

2. First Smile - I believe this happened on Thursday (I don't know that we can really count this as an actual smile, because I think it was more of a face contortion to facilitate gaseous release, but what the heck, this early on you take what you can get.)


3. First Visit to the Doctor - We made our first official visit to Dr. Hughes office on Tuesday. We were way early (that can be considered a first for Sarah) and once we got it in Sawyer passed all of the little checks and probes with flying colors. Dr. Hughes said that he had never seen a baby with such a low level of jaundice.

(side-note on the jaundice: I am now starting to believe that Doctors and Nurses are trained to pick out one thing about your baby and tell you that they have never seen another baby doing so well in that category - for us it was the Jaundice thing, for others it is the size of the baby, and so on and so forth. I mean really, how often have your heard about a doctor telling new parents, "Little John is doing just great. He is in the 37th percentile for his size, thats okay, but it could be worse you could have one of those 24th percentile babies." That just doesn't happen, in fact I don't think they tell you unless your kid is above 90%. Below I have compiled a list of possible things your doctor could tell you that makes your baby unique that you may not want to hear.)

-"Your child has the most back hair of any child I have ever seen!"
-"Your child has the worst breath of any kid I have ever seen!"
-"That is the biggest Smurf I have ever seen!"
-"The last time that I saw that many nipples, I was at the Wisconsin State dairy barn!"
-"I don't believe I have ever seen a mustache look so good on a little baby girl!"
-"You baby girl looks like a cross between Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears, if the father was Tom Cruise!"

So that has been a brief summary of our week. We also wanted to thank everybody for all the prayers, calls, and visits to wish us well. We have really felt loved and grateful to have such a wonderful group of friends and family to support us.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Sawyer ......the Baker one



I want you all to know that I have heard your cries for more baby pictures and will now show the latest and greatest of the pics. Now that we are finally home and have a constant internet connection it should be a little easier to upload a bunch of pictures.

Momma and Sawyer about to leave the hospital.



Little music mogel getting his groove on at an early age. Actually it is Sawyer's hearing test (he passed)


Finally home. Sabine has done very well adjusting to the newest addition of the family.


Jessica, Sarah, and Sawyer

Friday, February 8, 2008

Sawyer explained.......


There has been much speculation to the naming of our first child and I want to clear up any doubts. Although Sarah and I are huge LOST fans (who isn't) we didn't name our child after one of the main characters that also happens to be a con man. Although I personally like the character, I don't think it is ever a good idea to name your kid after your favorite TV character otherwise there would be lots of Captain Kirk's who are now nearly 40 years old.


We decided to go the literary route, and sought our inspiration from a classic in American literature. We liked the way that the name Sawyer sounded and we loved the hint of mischief and creativity the name implies.



And we most definitely didn't name our child after Sawyer Brown (which somebody asked), the country music group.

Contest Winner


The winner of the first "Baker Baby Bonanza" contest is, Miriam Green (my sister - I promise the fix was not in). Although she didn't get the sex of the baby correct, she did get the date and was nearly spot on with the weight. Kelly was also close, but she was just a couple of ounces further away then Miriam. Check back on the blog to see what the final prize will be. To be truly honest, we haven't a clue what we are going to give for a prize but I figure we got time, since the Green clan won't be hear until the baptism.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

IT'S A.........................

BOY



Sawyer Nathaniel Baker made his first appearance today at 8:53am. Weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds 12oz and measuring a length of 21.5 inches. We were very excited to see him this morning, although I am not sure that the feeling was mutual. Sawyer promptly made his presence felt by peeing on Dr. Mac as soon as he came out.

Here is a brief summary of our night. Sarah's water broke 10 minutes after the US v. Mexico game (it is good to see that our young lad already has his priorities straight, by realizing the importance of futbol). We promptly went to the hospital to get settled in. Six hours of contractions, epidurals, then pushing and presto we have the first boy grandbaby for both sides of the family.

Sarah is doing wonderful and is recovering quite nicely. She is hoping to be able to update more on the blog in the next couple of days.

Oh and one more thing: Sawyer has some huge hands - I don't know if this is how all babies come out, but it is quite amazing to me (so I guess we can rule out "Carnie's" as a future job).


Mom, Dad, and Sawyer


The Three Amigos (Doctor McIntyre, Sawyer, and Minor)