We 3 Stewarts...

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Chase enjoyed his very first Christmas although he didn't quite connect what was going on. As expected, he had more fun with a silver bow that was on one of the presents than he did with most of the stuff he received. That is, until he discovered the little plastic riding motorcycle we bought him. Once he got on it and we pushed him around a bit, a giant smile formed on his face. We may have a problem on our hands soon enough... Anyway, next up is New Year's. Don't have much planned, just a lil' Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve and a bottle of wine. Then, back to the routine in '08!

Fall is here!

Well, it's Fall here in Seattle. The weather is typically cloudy and rainy. We made the most of the last few days of sun by getting out as much as we could. On our last outing, we took Chase to a pumpkin patch in Snohomish. We're not sure if he actually enjoyed it...he kept eyeing the pumpkins suspiciously. And, let's not even talk about the look he gave the scarecrows!

The holidays are comin up and we're all pretty excited. Chase's first Halloween costume has arrived. Check out the Flickr site after Halloween to see him all dressed up. After that, Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure he'll be having turkey and vegetable baby food that day. Christmas is next and there's where we get to spoil him a little. New Year's will hopefully be a holiday for the grown-ups in the house, but Chase will get his turn again with his first birthday on January 30, 2008. Finally, Valentine's Day is two weeks later. Wow! One holiday after another for the next few months. Can't wait till Spring so we can get a break!

We're Back!

Been awhile since the last post. As the CTO (Chief Troublemaking Officer) of the household, I take full responsibility. I've been planning on updating the software that runs this blog for awhile and I've been procrastinating. So, today I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. There are still a few things I need to tweak, but things should work pretty well right now.

We had a great time in NY and you can see all the cool photos on Flickr. Chase has just turned 6 months old (already?!?!) and continues to amaze his parents. He is currently 18 pounds and 26 inches long and full of energy. Chase loves oatmeal and bananas, carrots, garden vegetables...look, the kid likes to EAT! And forget the bottle...if he wants a drink, it's either Mom or a little sip of water from a nice, solid rocks glass. Pass the Courvoiseur!

We're heading out to dinner with the neighbors tonight. It's so rare that we get to go out to eat, this should be fun. Then, it's time to get the kid to sleep (yeah, right!) and try and get ready for another week at work...

Checkup at 11 weeks

Well, Chase had an appointment with the pediatrician yesterday. All is well. The boy is now 14 pounds (!) and 24 inches long. Wow! He's definitely doing well and pretty happy overall. At least, he was until he had to get his shots. While neither of us like to see him cry, I think Donna's heart was actually breaking! :-(

Thank You All!!

Just wanted to send a quick thank you to all our friends and family who have sent gifts to Chase and words of encouragement to Donna and myself. We appreciate it all, especially since we are so far away from everyone. Donna, Chase and I hope to see you all soon! :-)

New Photos

OK, I'm a slacker. It's been weeks since I posted new photos of Chase and Donna looks like she's gonna kill me. So, go take a look!

Keeping up with the Stewarts

It's been awhile since the last post. Sorry about that. Grandma and Grandpa Stewart had a good visit and are now back in sunny Florida. They, of course, couldn't put the boy down, except when it came time to change diapers! :-) Chase, Donna and I now have to get back into finding a schedule that works for all of us. Nighttime feeding is still a chore, but we're getting longer stretches of sleep now which is good. I have to get enough sleep so that I can make it to the gym in the morning. And our eating habits have been thrown out of whack. I will attempt to handle the cooking on the weekends from now on since we're not as able to go out to eat anymore. One step at a time...

New pictures have been posted to Flickr.

What a busy week!

Well, it's definitely been a hectic week. First, I went back to work after 3 weeks off. We're getting closer to finishing Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS 3), so things are incredibly busy at work. Then, Grandma and Grandpa Richards were here for a visit, albeit a short one. The bad weather on the East coast delayed their flight and it was more expensive than it was worth to extend the trip. So, they'll be back in a few months hopefully. The great folks at Adobe threw me a baby shower and gave us some really nice gifts for Chase. Finally, we spent the weekend crib shopping for the boy. Grandma and Grandpa Stewart will be flying in Tuesday night and they already seem primed to spoil the boy. As if he would mind!

14 Days

Well, Chase is officially 14 days old today. He had his 2 week pediatrician's appointment with Dr. Miller this morning and everything checked out. He is now 7 pounds 13 ounces and doing fine. Next checkup in 6 weeks. Lots of stuff keeping him busy lately. A couple of days ago, the rest of his umbilical cord fell off and it looks like he'll be an innie (again, like his mom.) Dad had the pleasure of taking him to buy his first cafe mocha at Spotted Cow. OK, Dad had the mocha and Chase had milk, but he got the experience. The next day, Mom accompanied us for a drink. Spotted Cow opened a new location at the Mill Creek Town Center, so we took a stroll over to the University Bookstore before finding a comy leather chair and a latte at the Cow. Lots of gifts coming in from friends and family (see the site for a peek at a few). Thanks, everyone! Donna's folks are coming in for a visit on Thursday for a week and my folks will be out a few days after the in-laws leave. Chase will be pretty busy entertaining everyone, so he better rest up!

Go Chase, it’s your birthday!!!

Well, as unbelievable as it may seem, little Chase is already one week old. Longest. Week. Ever. We're starting to learn his patterns, but he is a sneaky lil' one. He's probably trying to lull us into a false sense of security before robbing us of even MORE sleep! :-)

Survived the first day...barely

Chase was released from the hospital yesterday around 2:00 pm. After a nice drive home, we started the first of many feed, change, soothe cycles. LOTS of them. More important was introducing Chase to Kirby. At first, Kirby just sniffed and looked at him curiously. A little later in the day, Kirby discovered that this odd little creature CRIES. And loudly. Well, everyone's favorite Boston Terrier does not like crying one bit let me tell you! Today, things were a little calmer. Not that we could really tell the difference between yesterday and today. We were up so often it just seems like one long, never-ending day. At least Kirby is starting to get used to Chase. He just sits and either sniffs him or licks his feet. And, if Chase starts crying Kirby comes running to check on him. Of course, if he cries too long it pushes the lil' dog past his limit and the barking resumes. Me? The way I see it I'm picking up twice as much poop as normal. Great. But, the kid is cute and likes to fall asleep on my chest. Gotta love him. :-)

"What's My Name?"

1. Snoop Doggy Dogg
2. Inigo Montoya
3. Bond. James Bond.
4. Slim Shady
5. None of the Above

As cool as all of those names are, my parents have decided that my name is:

Chase Matthew Stewart

And Baby Makes Three...

Today, my beautiful wife Donna gave birth to our currently unnamed son. He was born at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA at 4:34 pm PST. He came in at a whopping 7 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long. That's a pretty good size, especially since Donna was only 36 weeks and 3 days into the pregnancy. Mom and baby are doing fine and Dad is gonna get some rest. Here are the first set of pictures:

http://flickr.com/photos/we3stewarts/