Merry Christmas!

Santa - Who?

We carried Ella as we entered the mall, it almost felt as if we where in a Christmas movie. There where frantic mall shoppers, holiday music, and we where dressed for a date with Santa. Speaking of the mall, a little word of advice...... if it is 19 degrees outside and your customers are all bundled up, DO NOT set your heat on 90!! We are standing in line to get a $50 Polaroid of a crying kid and a fat guy in rented red velvet suit all I could think about was how bad I was sweating. Seriously, ultra-marathoners don't sweat this much! Sorry, I got off track.....

We where next, I handed Ella off to Kate and told her "you probably have the best chance at this". Kate was a little puzzled, she said "she is not going to cry, is she...?" My fearless,and always positive wife, placed Ella on Santa's lap and slowly backed away. Ella focused intently on her food source (Kate) until she realized that someone else was holding her. Ella turned her head and looked up..... at that point a flash went off!

Merry Christmas from the Chilton Family (Eric, Kate, Ella and Briar)

Technology...what's next?

I remember as a kid we had one phone in our house and it had a cord reach of 6 ft, not nearly enough to avoid parental ease dropping! Now we have phones that are not only mobile but can play games, music, take photo's and on and on. Take this blog for instance, I can type a few silly sentences, post a pic of Ella and instantly our family in Florida can view it! I continue to be amazed by the advancements in our technology.
A couple of months ago my brother in law (Mitch) told me about a program that can be installed to to your blog that can track everything! By everything I mean everything! It can tell you who is visiting your site, how long they are staying on it, pages they view, how they got to your web site.....the info is limitless. My brother was able to determine that he had people visiting from West Virgina all the way to India!
Well, I had to see what this was all about so we installed it. In the last couple of months we have had hits from Hawaii, Canada, Florida, Texas, Washington, United Kingdom and West Virgina...just to name a few. I can break down the information to even tell you that someone from the far East side of West Virgina visited our site on Nov 20th and 26th and Dec 4th, 10th, stayed an average of 7:34 minutes and viewed an average of 2.75 pages per visit. So a big shout out to West Virginia and everyone else who continues to enjoy reading this blog! Thank you for stopping in and Happy Holidays!!!

Say Cheese!

We had fought the urge to get Ella's pictures professionally taken long enough. It was time to let someone who knew what they where doing take some pics of Ella. We had been doing some research on local photographers that had an eye for babies but would also allow us to have some creative input. In the end we decided on Frank Becker at The Time Photography in Lexington, KY. For those of you who where at our wedding The Time Photography was responsible for the amazing photos that captured that amazing day.

We where all a little unsure how Ella would respond to an hour long photo shoot with several outfit changes, but all that went to the back of our minds as Frank set up for his first shot. It became real clear that this was Kate's baby - "Lil Kate" as I called her while she was getting her pictures taken. She laughed, smiled and to seemed to respond to Franks suggestions for the perfect shots.... such a HAM! . We are so happy with the end results and we hope that you enjoy a small sample of what happened that day.

My Woof Woof

Over the last month or so it seams that Ella has really discovered this furry brown bear that roams our house looking for morsels of food. She gets so excited when he enters the room and starts jumping around and smiling. At this time he's still pretty unsure why he generates this response, but walks over to give her a kiss none the less. It is still early but Kate and I believe that we are witnessing the start of a wonderful relationship.

Giving Thanks!

There are a lot of reasons for us to be thankful this year, but none bigger than our families. We where fortunate enough to spend some time with our family over Thanksgiving. From Gayle spoiling her granddaughter to Tom teaching her what it takes to be the next Alicia Keys. We are looking forward to seeing even more of our family as we celebrate Ella's first Christmas. We want to thank our families for everything you have done to make this such a special year!!

Ready or not....STL here we come!

The doctors confidence was building everyday that my sister and Matt where going to have their baby around the 14th of October. As soon as we got word we checked the airlines to see how close to the 14th we could get without taking out a home equity loan to purchase the tickets. Halloween weekend would be a great weekend to make the trip, besides Matt (Hershey Employee) gives out FULL size candy bars! As the 14th came and went it became clear that their bundle of joy had a few plans of his own. On Tuesday, October 27th we got the call that they where headed to the hospital and where not going to be leaving without a baby! Our trip turned out to be perfect timing and it was unbelievable to have our family share in the excitement as they brought their baby boy home - Liam Nash Collins - 8lbs 6oz /22inches. We are so happy for Matt, Tiffany and baby Liam -The Collins Family!!

rub'a dub, dub......

After a few weeks of being anchored in Michigan it was time for a road trip. The family packed up and headed towards the Haute so the Grandparents could get their hands on Ella and to allow daddy some time to participate in ISU's homecoming. When Kate and I arrived back home our daughter sat in the tub (sink) as Grandma waited for the perfect photo. Although Ella was pruned up from sitting in the water for an hour, Grandma got the one she was looking for!

Pumpkin Patch

Fall in Michigan means two things - a long cold winter is around the corner and, it's time for cider and spice donuts. Apple orchards in Michigan rake in the profit by making fresh cider and spice donuts. They also provide the opportunity for a family to put a $10 spot down to take a ride on a slow moving wagon back to a field packed with $30 pumpkins. Must have been "special" pumpkins......

Sophie the Giraffe

How many of you know the Giraffe in the picture below?

Sophie the Giraffe is the baby toy in "Three Men and a Baby". I bring this up because Eric laughed at me for knowing this.... little did he know, other people knew about Sophie as well.

EXAMPLE ONE
Eric and I were at our Dentist appointment when our dentist noticed the giraffes head sticking out from Ella's blanket, and immediately said "thats the giraffe from "Three Men and a Baby"".

EXAMPLE TWO
Last night Eric and I were picking Ella up from Len and Ginny's house when Ginny asked us if we knew we had a famous giraffe from the movie "Three Men and a Baby".

I will laugh at this for a long time.

Ella's second 5K

Big House Big Heart was the name of Ella's second 5K. It was a little chilly but a lot of fun!
10/04/09

Aunt Tiffy's party

On September 25th Kate and Ella went to St Louis to visit Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Matt for a Not-So-Baby-Shower. Ella had a blast getting a mani and pedi, also breaking in Uncle Matt with an evening of crying.... without Mommy being around.

5 months Old

September 30, 2009 - Ella is 5 months old and changing everyday. Besides the fact that she wants to eat EVERYTHING, Ella is now purposely throwing her toys on the floor. She loves to stand, but hates tummy time.... she might skip crawling.
I have heard she is growing into different looks, people used to say she looks like Daddy but now like Mommy, Who do you think she looks like now?

"C" is for Cereal

Can it be possible that our baby girl is ready to eat cereal from a spoon?!?
Dr. Waier gave Ella the okay to eat big girl food at her 4 month appointment; having a case of denial, I put it off for a couple of weeks. I finally told myself it was time and also thought what better time to start than when Ella's Grandpa Wehmeier was up for a visit.
All I am going to say is the cereal was oatmeal mixed with apple juice, the pictures say the rest!

Ella's First Playdate

On Monday, September 14th Ella had her first playdate with a 7 week old baby boy named Brady. I (Mom) met Brady's Mom during prenatal yoga when I was about halfway through pregnancy.
Megan and I brought Ella and Brady to Storytime at the local library where Ella sat up for the first time! Ella watched all the little toddlers run around and was fascinated with Brady.

First Trip to Church

September 13th 2009 - NorthRidge Church finally comes to Saline via a satellite location.
Mom and Ella dress casual/cute for the grand opening of this exciting event, and make the 9:15am service. I (Mom) was nervous for the fact that I was leaving my Sweet Pea for the first time with Daycare..... just to inform you, Ella is a bit of a Momaholic. She is at the stage now that even when I am standing in front of her and hand her off she will cry. Hopefully it is only a stage! My nerves cleared when I got to the room for babies, saw she was the only baby attending, and there were four ladies to play with her, plus a million toys.
I am happy to report that she did great in daycare and look forward to next Sunday's service!

My Mom is HOT!

Grandma Gayle got Ella this shirt when we went out to Colorado to visit her. As you might imagine, Kate loves it! I have a feeling I am going to see Ella in this shirt a lot in the next several weeks. I say the next several weeks because Ella is growing so fast she is quickly turning all her shirts into mid-drifts. Until then Ella will proudly support how hot her mom really is and dad will smile because they are both mine!

Doctor, Doctor Give me the News

Ella had her 4 month physical on September 1st, and although she had just been to the doctor's office two weeks before for a reflux check-up, Ella knew this visit was different.
As Eric and I sit patiently in the waiting room (which was extremely busy) with Ella bundled up in her car seat, we noticed an unusual look on our baby's face. Her eyes were as big as half dollars and moving from side to side as if she were trying to find an exit, a way out, an escape route of any kind. After what seemed like an eternity, Ella's name was finally called and we followed the nurse to the room. Ella was doing great.... until.... Daddy started to undress her for her weight, and height. Ella saw this as the perfect opportunity to test her lungs out, she started crying from this point through the rest of the appointment.

I swear she knew what this appointment was about!

The nurse weighed her in at 15.5 lbs, and 24.5 inches long. Then Ella's doctor (Dr. Waier) came in to answer any questions or concerns we had before the shots were given. After getting the DL on starting Ella on big girl food, (yes Eric and I will be feeding her baby cereal... FROM A SPOON!) the doctor left and in came the nurse again, with two shots and an oral.
Ella received her immunizations, Mommy fed her and all was good with the world again.

Steal my Kisses

Today we celebrate Ella turning 4 months old! She has really sped up time as we wave goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall. Over and over again parents would tell my pregnant wife and I to take lots of pictures because they grow so quickly. It now seems the more pictures we take the faster she grows! She is so much fun now that she can lift her head, follow me with her eyes, smile, pick some things up and talks to the TV during her Baby Einstein. Back to that smiling thing, I had no idea the things that I would do to get this girl to smile at me...... I have resurrected the human beat box, break dancing, funny faces and songs that she just makes me want to sing. One song seems to be sung more than any other, a song by Ben Harper called "Steal my Kisses". The other day Kate was holding her and I went to kiss them both goodbye as I left for work. As I got closer to Ella she turned her head at the last minute. I thought this must have been as accident so I pulled away and she looked back at me. As I went in again she turned her head AGAIN and then started smiling. I asked Kate what she was doing and Kate said that she had read that sometimes they will turn their head if they think you are invading their personal space!! She is 4 months old and already has personal space??!! I will continue to take all the kisses that she gives me and steal the rest!

First Flight

As the tiny strips of skin began to be pulled from her irritated cuticles, tiny spots of blood began to appear around. Falling under the classification of nervous habits, this would be my wife's. We still had two weeks before our plane was to lift off from the tarmac, but her endless concerns of flying with a 3 month old had already taken hold. This nervous energy was fueled by hours of web research and parental testimonials of travel gone wrong. The good news is that despite the anxiety we felt we where prepared. Little did we know........

As we lugged large amounts of luggage through the airport we emerged through check in, breezed through security, and found our seat with ease. Once we where settled I glanced over to see Kate resorting to her nervous habit, I grabbed her hands to hold them and then her leg began to bounce, the whole time Ella slept with nothing but peace. After the plane broke contact wit the earth things where calm...... for now.

Ella had just finished feeding and was now smiling at her father as she faded in and out of her milk comma. That is when Kate's face lit up as she shrieked "ohhh noooo!" Drink service had just passed and we sat with trays down, leaving little room to scratch your nose, let alone move freely. As Kate lifted Ella, I could tell by her face this was not good..not good at all! I leaned over to see a large pile of Ella's post digested breast milk between Kate's legs. Ella had EXPLODED and defied gravity to send it right out of the back of the diaper. So there we sit, on a sold out flight, Ella has poop on her, Kate has poop on her, we have a seat full of poop, AND we have no room due to tray tables full of beverages. As I began to chug random glasses of pop and water, Kate began the clean up process the best she could. To her credit, all her research had payed off, we where as prepared as a parent could be. In the end Ella had to be changed, Kate had to be changed, and a team of stewardesses help as the seat had to be changed and exited in a large plastic bag. The entire time Ella smiled with relief wondering what all the fuss was about.

The family landed safely into Denver where we met by Kate's mom. Once again Kate and I quickly faded into the background as Ella became the center of attention. While we where out there Ella got to swim for the first time and learned that if we threw her head and arms far enough forward she could actually sit up. Now if she could only figure out how to slow that momentum down and not fall face forward into the couch. The best part of my vacation was waking up with my daughter and knowing that I had the whole day to spend with the family. Of coarse Ella enjoyed being showed with love from the grandparents - Gary and Gayle.

Kate and I joked the other day that in Ella's short three months she has participated in more than I had at 18 years of age. She has road tripped to Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado and the Northern tip of Michigan, she clocked a time of 44 minutes and 15 seconds as she went on to beat her mom by 1 second in a 5k road race, attended a Reds vs. STL Game and Rockies vs Cubs Game........ did I mention she is only three months old?!

July 4th in the South

The opportunity to proudly show off Ella to friends and family proved much stronger than our personal commitment to finally reduce our summer travel schedule. Kentucky bound at 3pm on a Thursday proved to be an unexpected pleasurable ride, I was prepared for the worst holiday traffic, but thankfully never found it. Once again as our car cleared the Kentucky border my wife began to squirm in her seat and begin to use the words from her childhood - "ya'all com'en over tonight?" she says into her tiny new phone. Ella remained unphased, only waking to tell us when she is hungry.

Kentucky is not technically my home, but it is as home as any place I have ever lived. Every time we pack the car up to head North it gets a little harder. Spirits remained high this time though becasue we where only heading an hour North to Cincy, where we would join Kate's Grandparents, Aunt Sherri and Dad for the Reds baseball game. First up..... gearing up Ella in here Cincinnati Reds gear and heading off to her first baseball game. She was so impressed with the 10 - 1 loss to the Cardinals that she slept through the ENTIRE game!

I spent the next couple of days watching one person walk into a room with my daughter and another walking out of the room with her. The perfect example: Sherri had walked into the kitchen holding Ella, but what she didn't know was that her brother Tom was silently following her. Following her as if he where a lion quietly stalking prey through the plains of Africa. The second Sherri needed two hands he swooped in to politely offer his assistance with Ella, he now had the prize in his possession.....it would be brief. In this family packed their is one wiser than all the rest..... Great Grandma Ruth, GG Ruth as she would rather be called. She moved into the kitchen from the laundry room to ask Tom about a load of laundry that needed to be done. Tom innocently entered the room, oblivious to the switch that was about to happen. You could see this set up a mile away ...... you know when you are at the movies watching a scary movie and the half dressed, dumb blonde ventures off into the dark to see what that noise was? Today that half dressed dumb blonde was Tom! See, he would need two hands to complete the innocent task that had been asked of him by GG Ruth........ poor guy, he never saw it coming!

I sat in the kitchen this entire time drinking my coffee and watching with curious eyes as it all unfolded. Seconds later GG Ruth turned the corner with Ella in arms and a satisfied smile. I was left thinking....... damn, she is GOOD!

Cherry Capital

We have resided in Southeast Michigan now for over two years. In that two years most of our free time has been spent with our car pointed south, as we attended the many events our friends and family created to entice our attendance. Though we would not change that for the world, Michiganders are amazed to find that we have never been North of Ann Arbor!

We consistently hear about the weekend retreats to Northern Michigan and how they are the only reason why any of us would consider living in Michigan. Pushing our chores off to the side we headed North. After about 4.5 hours no more land existed to support the roads we drove in on, we had arrived in Traverse City.

Traverse City is the Cherry Capital of the world and they prepared for a large cherry festival the week after we made our visit.
As my wife unpacked her sandals and short sleeve shirts it had become clear that she had merely nodded her head "yes" without fully comprehending my weather announcement a day earlier. Traverse City had a very unusual cold spell while we where visiting, 60 degrees was the high with clouds and good percentage of rain. Seems after we left the sun came out and temps where back in the mid 70's.

It really was a great little town and we look forward to finding another reason to head back up there with better weather on our side.

Road Trip!

Anxiety was building as I thought of the prospect of loading my 7 week old daughter in a car and pointing the car 5 hours to the South. This trip would be a mixture of work and pleasure but seemed a lot more like work when I played the itinerary over in my head. I guess it would only be fair to let you know, and my wife would be the first one to chime up, that I typically get this way before ANY family road trip. As the space in the truck was reaching capacity I looked to my left only to find several large baby items still remaining, a must for the trip....... time to remove everything, and resort to the Sam Chilton style of packing. My father has a knack for packing using the most efficient cubing technique, it would make a UPS driver green with envy.

As I turned the corner to meet my father he rose from the table, temporary leaving his cup of coffee, smiled, shook my hand, and politely asked "where is that baby?" No longer we're Kate and I the center of attention, Ella had stole the show and we could not be more satisfied. We spent the weekend with my parents telling stories, laughing and in true typical Chilton style, working on a check list of items that needed to be completed before the next week could begin.

Baby showers where not typically something that I would attend, but when one of your best friends is pregnant and makes the trip from Hawaii, it is the least I could do. Our good friends Angela and Ceil our expecting their first child in the Fall and little board shorts are abundant for this fella. What a lucky little boy to have such parents!

As breakfast made it's way off the stove I looked on to the porch of the cabin to make the final silverware count. Right then a gun metal grey vehicle appeared on the gravel road out front. A familiar smile was in the passenger seat, it took a second but it quickly became clear that my sister had played a white lie on the family. She was not in St.Louis and Matt was not out cutting the grass, they had surprised us and stopped by the cabin. The way my wife reacted you would have thought Matthew Mcconaughey had made the trip as she pushed me to the side and rushed out to greet them with Ella. This was the first time my sister had held her niece. The picture says it all!

As the tires hummed along the highway they provided the white noise needed to put Ella into a deep slumber. This was also a time for Kate and I to reflect on our great weekend, how nice it was going to be to sleep in our bed and how sad we were that our travels were not just taking us to the other side of town..........

Overnight..

My career requires that I travel, sometimes it is a day trip and occasionally an overnight trip. I have been very fortunate that I have not had an overnight trip since her birth, 6 weeks ago. The hotel in Minneapolis was now booked and the meeting was unavoidable, I was on my way. Traveling has become second nature since making my career change two years ago, I quickly found myself back in my routine. I have to be honest, I was really looking forward to an uninterrupted night of sleep. That reward quickly faded as I slipped under the covers and my mind wondered what my girls where doing back home. That night of good sleep would have to wait...

I opened the front door to our home with little fan fair, it was quite and dark. Finally a coo from upstairs. Ella had just finished feeding and was smack dab in the middle of getting her diaper changed. I snuck up beside her and began to whisper her name.
As a new dad you are always asking yourself - can she see me? are her eyes okay? can she hear me? how is her hearing? is she breathing? I can not tell you how many times that I have woke her up pressing my ear to her lips or stomach to find a clue that her lungs where functioning. Kind of funny I guess...... I hear this is pretty common with new parents though.

As I called Ella's name she continued to be focused on her mother and the task at hand. Finally after about the fifth time calling her name I once again began to wonder if maybe something was not right with her hearing or maybe she just did not have the ability to recognize me yet. She would prove me wrong as she turned her head, looked right at me and gave me a very rare cheeky smile. Right there she made everything right in my world, if only for a moment.

Randomly Ella

Reflux - for a baby?

If you told be that a baby could shot a perfectly circular funnel of milk a foot and a half before it arched I would I have called you crazy. That would also have been previous to Ella's presentation of "Let there be milk!". Ella started to shows signs of discomfort and actually performed the act as described above more and more frequently. The doctor confirmed that in fact Ella may have a mild case of Acid Reflux. I say mild case because Ella has gained 3.5 lbs in 30 days and is tipping the scales at 11 lbs, there is no doubt she is getting the nourishment she needs!

Ella has been on her meds now for about a week and seems to be much more comfortable. I only wish I could have caught her on tape, now that would something for Youtube!

Our Family -

For me the word "Family" continues to evolve as the caleder flips from year to year. As a child my family included my mother, father and sister....and would later include Scott, but that is another story for another time.
On June 30th, 2006, Kate and I where married and started our journey as a married couple and a start to our own family.We now managed two families under the same roof and soon it would become almost natural to the both of us. It felt good to have two loving families to turn to in times of need and also to share great memories with.
Ella is the latest edition to our family and she has captured the hearts of everyone who has grabbed her little hand or looked into those curious eyes. We have lovingly watched our parents as Ella suspicously introduces herself. I could have never imagined on that day in Kentucky, as Kate and I sat on that rock and watched the sun melt behind that hills, the emotion that we would feel when we would see our parents becoming grandparents for the first time.

Light, Camera and Action!

"It goes by so fast!" - This was a phrase that would return in conversation after conversation once it was announced that Ella had joined our family. It is with this in mind that we contacted our good friends Kristen and Scott. Scott is an engineer by profession and photographer by hobby and he was just the man to capture our sleeping beauty. I say sleeping beauty because odds are if you where to stop by at random you would have a much better chance at catching Ella sleeping than catching her with her eyes capturing the world. But I underestimated the power of the DNA her and her mother share. The strand that senses a camera within a 100 yards and commands attention.


Thank you to Scott and Kristen - Enjoy!

KC's first Mother's Day!

Together Kate and I have held hands while on our first vacation to Hilton Head, hiking in Yosemite, as we prepared to skydive and as we danced our first dance as husband and wife. Today we are holding hands as she holds our daughter and we celebrate her first Mothers Day. 

Kate once told me that she wonders what she is good at, where is her talent? On April 30th, the doctors laid my daughter on Kate's chest and they introduced each other for the first time without saying a word. At that very moment the answers to Kate's questions became clear to me, she was meant to be a mother...........

 Thank you for changing my life, I love you!

Ella's first trip to Target

Kate started to feel much better and felt that it was time to initiate her daughter into this this world. So she loaded up the car and headed to Target. So my daughter is a week old and has already made a trip to Target! I knew that they had a strong marketing campaign that heavily focused on girls/women but I had know idea. Kate shared this bit of information with me while I was at work, she said Ella did great and that they both got a bunch of  compliments from mom's and husbands a like. Once I got home it became clear, for at least the husbands compliments anyway. Kate had taken full advantage of the twin girls that have found there way to her chest since feeding. I could not help but to compliment her myself!!!

Baby Chilton was scheduled to arrive around May 11th, 2009. That being said on April 29th Kate and I felt we had at least one more full weekend of preparation for her arrival. Little did we know that there where other plans for us........

I got a phone call on my way home from work around 5:30 from my wife, with some hesitation in her voice she informed me that she was pretty sure her water just broke. When I arrived I found a young lady calm and collected, not what I expected. Our doctor suggested we meet him at the hospital just to make sure that in fact her water did break. We calmly gathered our belongings and proceeded to the hospital. Once again, this was not the drive that we had replayed in our head so many times. That drive consisted of deep breathing, unbearable pain and the knowledge that a baby was coming into our world. The fact was that we where incredible calm, with no pain, and talked about the fact that if they did send us back home this was a great practice run. Little did we know......

Once at the hospital we where admitted to our first room where a very polite resident proceeded with her procedures for checking Kate as she had been taught. During set up a veteran nurse also came into the room to observe Kate. In a matter of seconds she told the resident that she could put up her testing kits because there was no doubt that Kate was getting ready to have a baby. Myself being very naive asked "does this mean we are not going home?" Her response was "Not without a baby!"

We now felt that we had the information we needed to call the, soon to be, grandparents. First was Kate's mother, currently living in Denver, CO. Kate calmly proceeded to tell her that we where in the hospital and we where going to have a baby, then Kate smiled and said "Yes, I am telling the truth but hold on I will let you talk to Eric" She did not believe her! (this would be a reoccurring theme)

Next was my mother who was studying for a big final for her class. We joked days before that the baby would have to wait until after her final so she could make the trip. Once she answered I told her that baby Chilton did not care about her final and she was going to be arriving very soon. She too did not believe me! So out of one side her mouth she continued to tell me that if I was messing with her she was going to kick my ass and the other side of her mouth she yelled into the background for my father to get his damn bag and get the car ready!

Once we where admitted into the labor ward they started all the necessary lines and equipment on Kate to track her progress. It became clear the Kate was having contractions and to the nurses surprise Kate was not feeling them. She stated that Kate must have a high tolerance for pain, a fact that would soon be tested to the max! After several hours of mild contractions and little dilation the doctor wanted to induce labor. Soon the contractions would more than double in strength and consistency, this would go on for hours! Around 3:30 in the morning they highly suggested an epidural due to the length of time she would be laboring. She welcomed the opportunity for reduced pain that would allow her an hour or so of rest before the main event. For the people that know me, you know that I have little tolerance for needles and blood for that matter. Not that I make it a big deal because I am fascinated by the medical world and it's many marvels. It's just that my body has another agenda. I was doing great until I became fixated on a dime size spot of blood that had hit the floor during the epidural. It was not long after that that Kate looked my way to find a man with a ghost white face and tears in his eyes sitting in a chair about to launch the dinner that I never got to eat! I was able to pull through and we laughed about it shortly after.

Kate and I tried to get some sleep but it proved to be short lived. Around 8 am we all talked about the timing for baby Chilton and we felt that we had about 6 hours due to Kate's dilation. You will notice that I refer to Ella as baby Chilton because at this point we where unsure of her name. I then felt safe to go get a coffee and some breakfast. I came back into the room and began to give her dad, Tom, an update and made mention that we could have another 6 hours of labor. They where going to get Kate up and put her on a bean bag to create a different position that would help her with the labor. They checked her once more and turned to me and said "dad, you may want to call her dad back and tell him that 6 hours was a lie because she is fully dilated and we where having this baby!" So there I sat with my yogurt and coffee while on my computer changing my work e-mail status to "Out of Office". It would be seconds later that I was at Kate's side and fully involved in the pushing. Nurses and Doctors rushed into the room and began preparing for the delivery of our little girl. As Kate began to push with her contractions I joked with her that I wanted her to entertain all our guest with an on slot of profanities to see how they would react. She smiled politely and declined but appreciated my approval for such an act. Kate spent the next two hours following commands of pushing and breathing. Now, I always new my wife had unexplained strength and tolerance for pain but even I was taken back by the amazing calmness and strength that she displayed during this whole thing. As baby Chilton began to crown, she took a deep breath and looked at me, I prepared myself for that on slot of profanity that I thought would be so funny. I was not prepared for what she was about to say......... she looked at me and softly said......are you ready for this? she said "Holy Cow!" Holy Cow? Are you serious! That is it? How are we going to shock these people with Holy Cow?

Two hours later the doctor asked if I would cut the cord, I told them earlier that if I was still standing that I was their man! To my surprise I had NO issues with the whole labor, that included what I was supposed to see and what I was I was to avoid in order to stay up right.

I have been witness to many amazing things in my life...... the birth of kittens, my wedding day, Michael Jordan's shot on Greg Ello to win another NBA championship, but nothing could compare to when then took baby Chilton and immediately placed her on Kate's chest upon delivery. The image of baby Chilton and Kate being introduced for the first time grabbed my heart so strongly and I found myself lost in the moment. I was quickly brought back to reality by or nurse yelling "DAD, CAMERA.....DAD CAMERA!"

After counting her toes and fingers we where able to bring in the first set of proud grandparents for an introduction. We figured after sleeping in their car in the hospital parking lot this was the least we could do.

We spent the next couple of days in recovery trying to get a grip on what had just happened. I tell people that in three days I NEVER caught Kate sleeping. Since her arrival Kate had gained supernatural hearing and never missed one noise that was created by that little mouth.

Doctor, Doctor....

Monday was Ella's first visit to the doctor, our first real experience getting her ready and taking her out into the real world. I wish I could say it was a great experience.

The morning started with the sound of crying at 5 am, Ella was unable to feed and frustration was setting in on both sides. This would go on for almost 4 hours as we attempted to feed her. By the time we got to the pediatrician I found myself somewhere between hormones and a angry hunger strike. 

It did not take long for the doctor to diagnose the situation and help us with the feeding and all was right with the world! As we where getting ready to leave Kate excused herself to the restroom and I began the slow task of getting Ella dressed and back into the car seat. Keep in mind this is my first experience with any child and everything takes me at least three times longer than the average dad. So after an hour I finally had a diaper on her, onesie was snapped, pants, hat and socks where own.  Now it was time to tackle the dreaded car seat, a half hour later she was snapped and locked in tight. That is when it heard it...........  what sounded like a lawn mower backfiring came from my little girls bottom. As I shook my head and reached for the diaper bag I realized that Kate had already left with it.....................

The Name Game

Naming a child proved to be  a much bigger task than we ever imagined! I tell everyone that the first thing I would do with any name that was to be considered was to see if it rhymed with penis. That is not very far from the truth, we all know kids can be mean. Hell, I used to be one of the kids! 

Kate and I felt very strongly that we wanted a name that meant something to us. So after filling a note pad of everything that had an impact in our lives we had narrowed our search down to a few hundred. This did not sit well with all the people in our lives who tried EVERYTHING from liquor to straight up cash for a sneak peak. 

On the way to the hospital I told Kate "we should probably talk about the name thing". We spent the first many hours looking at an  "?" on the dry eraser board after the bold title of Baby name. It was really sad. 

Kate and I found some time to be alone and came to a decision that both of us felt would be the perfect name for our child. Ella Jade would be that name that we would right on that little birth certificate that day. 

Ella is short for Eleanor, and Eleanor was amazing women that I would first be introduced though countless stories of love from my wife. Kate's grandmother is the perfect image of what every child could only hope to be able to call grandmother.

 

Jade comes from countless hours of trying to create a name that was close to our hearts. Kate and I met on St. Patrick's day, I often joke that if it where not for green beer that would not be married today. Green beer and the fact that I got off that bar stool faster than my buddy Donnie but that is another story for another time. Jade is a green stone that represents our love for each other that was created on the memorable night. Well, now you know mom, we did not actually meet at an art show.