First Halloween

On Halloween. we decided to take Bryce out - finally. We figured it was still a little early to take him Trick-or-Treating, but we did get to hang out with some friends at the Richmond's party. Thank you to Steph for Bryce's adorable costume!

We also loved this Halloween outfit that Cassie gave us at the baby shower. Bryce was excited to wear this one the day before to his doctor's appointment.

Doug carved a couple pumpkins for his annual Luminex contest as well and won first place (aaaagain). He is so creative!

Bryce Dennen Whitman

After much anticipation, finally our baby boy has arrived... And FINALLY I got to posting about it on our blog ;)

Bryce Dennen
was born last Friday, October 16 at 4:55pm.
He was 8lbs, 14 ounces and 21 inches long.

After checking in the night before to begin induction, we were more than ready. Doug was with me the whole time and was truly the best husband as he held my hand during any kind of pain or discomfort. We were thankful for all the visits from family and friends, eager to meet our new lil man.

(Grandma and Grandpa Peterson fighting over whose turn it is to hold Bryce)


(Aunt Mandy and cousins, Kailey and Shelby, couldn't wait for Uncle Rob to get back in town to come hold the new baby)


(Auntie Steph is going to spoil him so bad)

Our first week with him has been amazing. First of all, he is the cutest baby I've ever seen - absolutely full of personality! He is such a calm baby (unless you're changing his diaper) and loves to snuggle. He has already started sleeping for good 3-4 hour blocks at night, which we are so thankful for and always seems to wake up in a good mood. He is truly a blessing and the perfect addition to the Texas Whitman clan.

Doug had to start back at work this morning, and we already miss him. It was so fun to have the whole family home last week to spend time together as we got to know Bryce.

(Daddy has the magic touch when it comes to calming Bryce before bedtime. his secret: 'The Happiest Baby on the Block' video he borrowed and the swaddle.)


(Bryce likes to be close and held tight in his sling - gooood call, Wendy!)

the baby's nursery

Yes, the Doug was unhappy when he first heard my plans to paint the baby's room -- "TOO many stripes" he said. Soooo... we compromised and I only made him paint one wall of orange and brown stripes.

Then, two solid green walls.

On the last wall, he painted this mural, which I really love... A whimsical tree with a mischievious, yet sweet, monkey :)

Didn't he do an awesome job?!

If I had it to do all over again...

Seriously why didn't I think of this?!

The closest thing I can think of is how at our reception, after the DJ announced it was time for our first dance, he played Usher's "Yeeeah" instead of the tradtional slow dance we had planned. Not as cool.

www.makemebabies.com

Last week I found this website and thought it might be fun to snag a glimpse of what baby boy Whitman might look like... What do ya think?

Names we will NOT use

Just because we haven't agreed on a name yet for our baby boy... doesn't mean we haven't been hard at work!!! For your entertainment, we compiled a list of the top 15 names we will definitely, 100%, NOT be using for the baby. We found all of these names on www.babynames.com (as hard as it is to believe). We thought maybe it was just the A's but quickly learned, as we searched through the rest of the alphabet, about all the crazy names out there.

1. Adolf (Funny enough, I had to explain to the Doug how this one was ruined.)

2. Arsenio (wHooo, wHoo, wHooo - you'll have to imagine the arm swing on your own)
3. Beamer
4. Denim
5. Darth (Doug asks, sincerely, "what about Vader?")
6. Hanzila (Really anything with "zila" at the end is going to remind me of Godzilla)
7. Hannibal
8. Madog (Would it be worse to pronounce this one "Mad Dog" or "Ma Dog" like 'my dawg'?)
9. Gizmo
10. Nature
11. Rangle
12. Saddam
13. Safari (Maybe as a middle name after #10....?)
14. Whistler
15. Peanut (My personal fav)

23 weeks along... and counting

Many of you out-of-towners have asked me to post a belly shot. I took this about 2 weeks ago so I have grown to be a little plumper (I'm sure the locals can attest to this). I'll post a more updated pic later.

The baby has been moving a lot lately - Doug was even able to feel him once so far. It's hilarious to brag to him about how much I'm feeling the baby, and then see Doug's frustration when the baby stops moving right when he tries to feel. Poor guy...

We have not decided on names yet, but have started to create a list of all the interesting boy names we're finding of those we will definitely NOT be using. At least it's a start ;)




We celebrated Doug's birthday a few weeks ago. His only request: Beef Ribs from County Line BBQ. As you can see, he was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the 'Big Daddy Plate.' The doggies loved the bones :)





Here's a shot of Doug with my Dad and big brother, Rob. He took them to our ward's Priesthood camp out, and even though it rained them out pretty early in the morning... I think everyone had a good time :)

It's a BOY!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this week and found out the big news! Doug said I wasn't allowed to post the pictures of all his boy business though. Here are a few others though... The nurse said that this was the hardest exam she had done in a while because our baby boy was so stubborn. He was curled up in a ball for most of the exam and didn't want to unwind so she could get all the measurements she needed. We took a break so I could move around a little, which helped.

In this one he's waving again like in his first ultrasound pictures :)

Ok, this one seems a lil creepy at first, but also kinda cool:I liked this last one of his foot. His lil toes are soo cute!

Top Inventor (again)

Doug is constantly amazing me with his geniusness. Last week we went to his 3rd annual Patent Awards Dinner with Luminex at Sullivan's. Dinner was awesome. Yes, that fancy steak dinner is the main reason I get so excited about attending these events and am more than willing to sit through the guest speaker who I can never keep up with (we can't all be science geniuses like the Doug)...

To my surprise, after dinner, Doug was named the Top Inventor for 2008 for all of Luminex! As if this wasn't enough, this was actually the second time. He also won in 2006!!

I had Doug write a little bit about the invention that he won for this year (I almost feel like I'm quoting a celebrity - Ha):

"I invented a new method that allows DNA to be snapped closed so

that it will pop open ONLY when viruses are present in the patient sample – allowing for detection of the specific diseases.
This invention brings us closer to the goal of providing tests to doctors that can indicate (within an hour) what disease their patients have.

It seems silly at times to claim these ideas as our own when they are only given to us to benefit mankind. I can personally attest the influence from the source of all knowledge above." -Doug

Strawberry Fields Forever...

For Memorial Day, we celebrated our day off work with the Richmonds. We had so much fun picking fresh strawberries (well, mostly eating them). Funny enough, even though I grew up just about an hour away from Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls TX, I had actually never been there.

We even got to feed some farm animals. Apparently horses and goats really like strawberies :)

Here's Doug sneakily eating MY fresh strawberry popcicle while I cheese it up for the camera.

Store bought strawberries are soooo dead to me now.