one of the few naps he took at the beach


sleeping on his Grandma on the beach

Jo Jo and Grandma

Joey trying to smile :)

In honor of Papa Waters

in his special outfit he wore when he arrived at the beach

Before my camera died....

We left June 6th for our first real road trip with Joey. He was so great in the car! We headed to Richmond and made a surprise stop in Hopewell and introduced Joey to his Greatgrandmum. He loved cuddling on her for a while. My camera was working still at this point, but I forgot to take it in. Mum was great with him. She was glad we stopped by so she could make sure she got some Joey time before we all got together for our family reunion. Tuesday the 9th, we went to Sam's graduation from Hermitage! Joey did perfectly up until Wednesday. The boy would not sleep during the day Wednesday or thursday. Friday when he woke up around 7:45, I noticed he had an eye infection, which explained the lack of sleep. I took him to see a friend of ours who is a pediatric nurse and she gave us some drops and took care of him. We were able to leave that afternoon to head to Urbanna for the family reunion! Joey's eye was a million times better Saturday morning! We got to Urbanna and immediately Joey was taken from us by his grandparents, Uncle Jeff, Great Aunt Denise and Great Uncle Steve. I was able to take pictures the first night, then my camera went dead. We had a blast, doing what we do best: eating and sharing recipes. Denise and Steve's new house is beautiful and they put on quite a spread for us. Steve took the boys fishing and they caught more than 30 fish- Jon caught 11 himself! We had such a wonderful time with everyone and can't wait to do it again next year!!!

Before we left for the reuinion, Jon's mom, Joy, asked us if we could come back to Richmond when we were done. She had gone to Winston Salem to meet her other new grandbaby, Celeste Joy, who was born June 7th. So we went back and then came home to Charlotte on Tuesday. It was an emotional goodbye when we left Richmond that last time. Jonathan's parents and Matthew are moving to Tampa this weekend. Mom Drake was especially sad since she won't see Joey until September.

Joey had his first month check up yesterday! He is progressing perfectly! He weighed 11lbs 1 1/4oz, was 23 inches long, and his head was just under 16inches (90%). He also got his first shot that we witnessed. Not sure who it was more traumatizing for. I also had an appointment yesterday and Joey met Dr. Campbell, the doctor who delivered him.

Me and Joey after his bath!

Dr. Campbell and Joey

Mum, Mom, and Joey

Joey with 2 of his cousins, OC and Celeste

Joey in his favorite spot: curled up on his daddy

Our Sweet Guy

Well Mommy and Joey got to spend lots of quality time together this past week. Dad was gone in VA working on our townhouse. Of course Joey would've picked that week to try out some new things, such as not sleeping in his crib for 6 nights. He's been sleeping decently at night but we are still getting up a few times for food.

He is such a joy for us. He is making us laugh quite a bit with his cry. He is growing rapidly. We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday and he had gained 1lb in 6 days! He was up to 9lbs 4oz, almost 1lb more than his birth weight of 8lb 7oz. Joey is starting to outgrow some clothes already, which is very depressing.

We are getting ready to make a long journey. Saturday June 6th we are treking up to Richmond for several days. Joey's Uncle Sam is graduating from high school on the 9th and we're glad to have the opportunity to share that with him. Then we're going to Urbanna for a DeFalco/Waters/Bingham reunion at the Bingham's new house! We are SO looking forward to introducing Joey to his great aunt and great uncles and grandparents. We are taking our camera for the whole week we are gone, so you can expect to see lots of great pictures!

Speaking of, here are some recent pictures of our little man.

Welcome Joseph Michael!!!!

Joey joined our family Friday, May 8th at 5:30 pm! He weighed 8lbs 7oz, and was 21.5 long. We went into the hospital Thursday night to get a dose of cervadil to help with the induction. I was officially induced Friday morning about 7:30. Joey was being slightly difficult during the day, making it hard for the nurses to find his heartbeat to monitor. I was encouraged to walk around but when I was doing that, I was not able to feel my contractions (which I thought was a good thing :) But since I couldn't feel my contractions, I was not dilating. Finally at 3:45, after Jonathan and Dad had just made a quick trip home, Dr. Campbell came in to check me and told me and Mom that I was not making any progress and that when he touched the baby's head he felt it bouncing. This led him to believe that either his head was too big to fit into the birth canal or it would take an extra long time to drop into position. He wanted to do a c-section- in 45 minutes. I called Jon in tears and he and Dad left the apartment immediately and joined us. Evan, Joy, the boys, Fudge, Ali and Mark would be there shortly so the timing was perfect. They prepped me for surgery and then brought Jonathan in. All I'll say is that the surgery was awful- I was in so much pain. I remember them bringing Joey around the sterile curtain and I could barely see his face through the tears (of joy and pain). Jonathan went and cut the umbilical cord and snapped some first photos for us. After completion, I went to recovery while I waited for what seemed like forever for more numbing medication. I don't really remember holding Joey for the first time. I remember my mom came in first to the post-op and visited for a few minutes, then Joy, Dad, Evan, and Ali, one at a time. They wheeled me back to my room when some more family came in. I was so medicated, I don't remember much from this point on. I had an awesome nurse, Amanda, who took great care of all three of us.

Partially thru Friday night, I was able to get on my side to sleep which was such a relief for me. By Saturday, I physically felt so much better in the morning I was up walking around by the time our visitors arrived. All day Saturday and Sunday we were showered with family and friends coming to meet our latest addition.

We were discharged on Monday and made the 3 mile drive home. Mom, Ali and Mark were there waiting for us. Ali and Mark left on Wednesday and Mom is here until Saturday. Here are a couple of pictures from the first few days. We will be posting some more soon.

We really do appreciate all the prayers and love we've experienced this weekend. We cannot express our thanks enough.

38 weeks

We headed to the doctor today. We had another non-stress today and everything was great. He was moving around great!!!!! After that, we went to see Dr. Rollins. She checked me and I have dilated 1 cm already. We set a date and time for us to be induced. I have to go in Thursday at 6pm to get the process started. I will officially be induced Friday morning. Thankfully, our favorite doctor, Dr. Campbell, is on call next Friday so he'll be the one delivering our son. I don't have any more doctor appointments scheduled- just heading to the hospital! I haven't had any real nesting yet...but it hit a little bit today when I got home. I think just realizing that there is an actual deadline maybe is whats doing it :) I have desperately been wanting to bake, but I can't.

Thankfully I have been doing pretty well with the diabetes, although I am still on insulin at night. My weight has stayed pretty steady- about 33 in all. My swelling has continued to get worse, I have had to buy some crocs- they are the only shoes my feet will fit into by lunch during the week. Jonathan has been awesome rubbing my feet just about every night. I'm sleeping pretty well for the most part but I still have to get up at least once to go to the bathroom and I try to make my nightly snack run at the same time. I hope this will continue, just so we can get some rest.

We are going to hide this weekend as it's our last weekend without a baby. We will resurface at some point next week. Keep praying for us. We will keep you all posted!

Nursery Photos

We have finally completed the nursery with 13 days to go!!!!!! Everything is washed and ready. It looks great. We received the curtains that Mom made this week and hung those up! We got the rocker Thursday night and Jonathan put that together as well as a matching book case that holds the CD player, monitor, and books. The dresser is fully stocked with clean clothes. We are absolutely ready for the little man to arrive. Even the car seat is in the car. Our bags are packed and just waiting to rush to the hospital. Just in case you haven't heard, we are officially being induced sometime on the 8th if he doesn't come before then. Baby and I are doing our best to accomodate everyone's request for timing, but he cannot and will not be stopped. Pray for us that we get a bunch of rest over the next 13 days and are able to spend as much time as possible together. We will keep you all updated as we get them! These are the new photos of the nursery...just waiting for him!



The rocker with a shot of the bookcase, and CD player


Our wonderful crib and bedding!


A full shot of the rocker, bookcase and quilt


The curtains Mom made for us with the swing we borrowed from Ali and
my childhood rocker!

37 Weeks

After our crazy experience last week at the doctor, today was a piece of cake. Last week we did have an ultrasound, but he wasn't being overly cooperative. Today he was, so there are pictures below!!! He was so cute! Last week, they wanted to monitor my fluid, and today it had more than doubled since last week. They checked me today and no progress. It is a definite though that we will be induced May 8th if the baby does not come on his own. My legs and ankles are starting to swell considerably. I've ordered some Crocs so my feet will have some wiggle room. I have become very tired. Jonathan has been wonderful helping me with everything. I've been getting some contractions, but nothing too bad.

Hope you enjoy these photos below. Stay tuned for more updates and some pictures of the nursery!!!!!

The arrow is pointing to his hair!!!!

His little face :)

This is a good profile picture!

I love that you can see his chubby cheeks in this one!!!