happy father's day everyone!

Ella Valentine is 3 months old...

If you look closely, you can see Maggie in Ella's eyes.
(I mean literally - her reflection)

Hands at rest.

So cute.

Ella Valentine @ 11 weeks...

Let's see... so we're coming down off an amazing three week run with Aunt Eliza (Max's sister) in from New York while on break from her masters program. She was so good to us and took great care of our family. It's been a bit of a shock to not have her around but we're making do. It was especially fun to watch Eliza and Ella bond and we all had a lot of fun together.

Ella's been as cute as ever. The latest thing she's doing is that she's starting to realize that her hands and arms are actually hers! She recognizes when she touches things and you can tell that despite the lack of control that she's trying to make contact. It's so cool to watch her little brain working so hard.

You can click on this photo to see a few more Ella pix...

Ella at 11 Weeks

Ella Valentine turns 10 weeks...

Ella's aunt Eliza turned 29 this past Saturday. To celebrate, we drove down to Santa Cruz (the farthest Ella's been from home yet!) and went to Eliza's b-day party. It was so fun to be with family and have Ella meet even more people who love her.

She's been "talking" a lot and singing with me and staring into our eyes all the time. You can really see her little brain working so hard as she takes it all in. Here's a little video so you can see what I mean...

More soon.

Love,

Max

Ella's getting bigger before our eyes...

Hard to believe that two months have gone by! Little Ella Valentine is outgrowing her clothes and getting bigger every day. Lately she's been giving us huge stares with lots of eye contact and the biggest, most adorable smiles. That's been the highlight over the past couple of days. Hard to top the big smile with the scrunched up nose she's flashing us.

Ella Valentine Fancher

It Takes A Village

CLICK THIS PHOTO to see the latest Ella Valentine Album...

Ella Valentine 4-22-08

Maggie here (finally!)....

Ella Valentine turned 6 weeks old today and has just begun to bless us with her incredible smile. She is amazing and Max and I are learning to read her cues and understand her needs better every day. My respect for all the parents of the world has grown by leaps and bounds! I find myself constantly marveling at the thought of my own mother who raised five of us long before the invention of disposable diapers (or electric swings or breast pumps or dads-who-change-diapers and do night feedings!). I honestly can't fathom how she did it when mothering one little easy baby girl has kicked my butt in these first weeks!

Max and I have only managed to muddle our way through this far because of the amazing support we've been getting from our family and friends. Erica arranged for folks to bring us evening meals and we've been blessed with wonderful food and endless loving arms to hold Ella. My dear friend Terri Fox jumped on a plane from Boulder when Ella was just two weeks old and took incredible care of all of us. Terri's a mother of two, and she schooled us beautifully, giving Ella her first sink-bath and teaching me about the healing powers of drinking wine in the evenings and wearing ear-plugs at night. Grammy Dinah came out and stayed with us for two weeks which was a huge gift. Every morning Dinah would cradle Ella in her arms as she sang and talked to her about her future and rocked her to sleep. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Linda have been nurturing us all, Linda even taking on the brave adventure of sleeping/feeding Ella for an entire night while Max and I got to snuggle and sleep. And as I write this, my mom is in the next room - her arms numb from holding Ella in precisely the one position that has finally enabled her to fall asleep.

Max and I feel so fortunate to have this level of support and it makes me so happy to feel all the love Ella is receiving and to think of the big circle of friends and family she will grow up within.

New Pix of Ella Valentine...

Here are some new pix of Miss Ella V. Click Here to view the latest album or click on the picture below...

Ella Valentine 3-29-08

The Snugglewrap is the best!!!

Of all of the baby products we've put to good use since Ella was born, none has been as influential as The Snugglewrap. Little Ella and I start each morning by gulping down a bottle of milk (she does the gulping). Then, I get her in the wrap and we bounce around the living room and inevitably she falls asleep.

The Snugglewrap

Today we went for a hike up in Redwood Regional and she slept the entire time. What I really love about it is that she's snuggled up really tight to my body and I know it's a really comforting, womb-like feeling for her in there.

The wrap is really easy to get on, it's as comfortable as can be, and it's totally soft and stretchy and yummy. We also have the Baby Bjorn but it's not as cozy and doesn't support her neck as well. So, if you know someone who has a baby or will have a baby soon, this makes for an awesome and unique gift. Check it out... The Snugglewrap

Lazy Saturday

We're doing great. Sleepy but great. It's Saturday and it's almost two
weeks since our labor started. It's been a big blur but we're still in
love. Can u see Ella's cute little elf-ears in this pic?We'll post
more soon.

The name game...

We took our sweet time to make sure we got it just right... "Baby Girl" Fancher now has her very own name. Without further ado, we present to you...

Ella Valentine Fancher

We call her Evee (E.V.), Ella-Bella, Ella-Bee, Eliana, and most often, "da Faysche".

Ella, from the greek, means "torch" or "bright light." Valentine, of Latin origin, means "strong and robust."


Thank you for your patience and for all of your support. We feel like the luckiest new parents in the world.

M & M

Parenthood Day 5: glowing baby girl

The past couple of days have mostly been amazing but also a little trying. We're slowly getting caught up on sleep and we're just starting to figure out how to do this parenting thing. Such a trip to have this crazy, physically and mentally draining labor experience and then be expected to muster more patience and strength than ever before. It's really wild. I've gained a whole new respect for all the parents out there, especially my own!

Our friend Sirena gave us some great advice yesterday... She said that it's important that when child-raising stuff is feeling hard and trying, to remember that it's only a phase and that it'll pass soon... AND to also remember that when stuff is going great and feeling easy to not get too attached cause that too may change. We're feeling that already. Thanks Ren.

Lots of people have been commenting on how our little girl has "such a glow" about her and that she's radiant. That glow is actually a mild case of jaundice so that's been good for a few laughs. ;-) We had our first doctor visit today and our pediatrician told us that she wasn't too concerned about it and to come back again next week to see how she's doing.

We continue to feel so lucky to have such amazing friends and family. We've been hiding in our little bubble here trying to regain our strength but will reach out soon and start returning calls and emails. Thanks for your patience.

We've still not chosen our little girl's name which we'll do this weekend. We have until Monday so we've committed to getting it done soon.

As always, thanks for your support.

Love,

m&m

DO NOT CLICK ON THIS PHOTO ALBUM...

...UNLESS YOU'RE FULLY PREPARED TO FALL IN LOVE.

We've started calling our little baby with no name "da faysche". You would use it in a sentence like "look at dat faysche" or "I'm gonna eat dat lil' faysche". It helps if you keep your teeth clinched together as you say it to create the right accent... oh and scrunch your nose up just as you say "faysche". give it a try.

she's killing us with her cuteness. i know i'm biased but "da faysche" is such a sweet-pea. check it out...

"da faysche" comes home

We're home now...

It's almost 4am. I've got baby on my shoulder and we're sitting in a
glider (thx edie) rocking back and forth. Swadled girl in my left
hand, iPhone in my right and I'm typing away hoping the battery won't
die before I send this to the blog.
We got home safely weds afternoon and it feels great to be back in the
comfort of our own space. Erica had cleaned our house from the crazy
labor so we walked in to a fresh new home. What a gift! Just another
incredible thing she's done to help us out. Thx erica again and again!
The day has been challenging for us. Baby's gotten really good at
crying at the top of her little lungs and isn't eating as easily as
she did the first two days. We're all learning how to do all this
stuff but it's never fun to have a baby crying so hard and feel like
you don't know exactly why. We're getting it but it's been a little
trying especially since we're both so tired.
Maggie's doing great despite being tired and really sore. I read her
all of your emails and 'comments' throughout the labor and delivery
but she's had time now to go back and read them herself. You all are
so cool. Your support REALLY made a difference and we love you for that.
Okay, battery's almost dead and my thumb is getting tired. We'll be in
touch soon.

M

One more night at the hospital...

The girls are both doing great. Baby girl is passing tests right and
left and is doing all the things she should as a one-day old. She's a
great breast-feeder and our nurses think she's a special little thing.

Despite being really tired maggie went another night with no sleep.
Baby's sleeping fine but maggie's head is spinning with so many
thoughts that she can't seem to close her eyes. At this moment baby
girl and I are out cruising the hospital and we're hoping mom is fast
asleep.

Despite being sleepy, maggie's spirits are high and she's a natural
mommy. So fun to watch her with her baby and see her bring so much
mommy-love.

We're getting taken care of and we're glad for more time here. Each
encounter with each nurse we learn something new. Nurses are incredibe
and do such amazing work. Yeah nurses!

We're excited to get home too and looking forward to tomorrow as well.
For now we're just chillin'.

M

photos & a little about our delivery...

Here are a few pictures from today...

Baby's First Day

I want to write more to tell you about how awesome our actual delivery went and about how sweet and beautiful our daughter is... but, i just can't right now... i'm a little tired and can't seem to pull the right words together.

okay, the short version is like this... after suffering for so long, maggie's cervix finally opened and we woke up this morning with our baby ready to come into this world. it only took 25 minutes of actual pushing and she was out! can you believe that? maggie was such a trooper through the whole thing. and it was such a gift to have the end be so sweet.

So now we have this yummy little baby (name not decided) and we're learning so much about parenting. breast feeding, swaddling, burping, etc. etc. all things we learned in class but now there's a whole new meaning behind each lesson. Our little baby is learning too. She's so cute and gazes into your eyes when you're up nice and close. just a really precious little thing. i am in love.

can't wait for you to meet her.

we'll be in touch soon.

m & m.

Daddy nap time

Aunt boo...

Feeties!

Look at dat face.

Lovey

Cutest-pie...

Yummy

1hr. old...

8:20am... 8lbs. 21.5". Girl. Perfect.

Push

Reflecting

Sunrise... minutes before birth.

10 centimeters

I awoke from a deep sleep at 6:29 to see our awesome nurse Lea
examining mags. 10 centimeters already! It's moving so fast now.

Goodnight...

Epidural to the rescue!!

It's 3:15am and maggie is completely relaxed and cozy thanks to our
rad anesthesiologist. Our birth plan was designed to get as far
naturally as possible so i think Mags is a bit disappointed. seeing
her sleeping sofly and so completely spent and exhausted, I'm thrilled
that she's no longer in pain.

The best news is that her cervix is now 4.5 - 5cms and we're on track
for our delivery.

Thank you for your kind words and support. It's been amazing to get
your emails and notes and gives maggie strength.

M

To the hospital! Take two...

Maggie's 8 o'clock morphine shot is wearing off. It helped in the beginning and gave her the ability to eat some soup & toast, drink recharge and sleep in between contractions but it was no match for these gnarly contractions. We have a call in to the hospital to let them know we're coming back in.

more soon...

It's 8:45 and we're home...

Okay, so it's 8:30pm sunday night and we just got home from the hospital (still pregnant). The good news was that when we got there we found out that maggie's cervix was 1cm dilated. The frustrating part is that it's still only 1cm.

We were given several options and the one we chose was to go with a shot of morphine and an anti-nausea med to help her get some rest. the hope is that by the time it wears off, her cervix will be further along and we'll drive back to the hospital to be admitted. In the meantime, we're hoping she'll get some much needed sleep.

THANK YOU to everyone who've sent emails and blog-comments with kind words of encouragement for maggie. I'm reading them to her as they come in and they're putting huge smiles on her pained face.

gotta run.

love,

max

Waiting for our doc...

We're here to get some fluids. Maggie's spirits are up. Waiting to see
our doc so he can start the drip.

To the hospital! Take one.

With all the vomitting, little mags is dehydrated. We're going in to
get a couple of bags of IV fluids and we may come back home depending
on how it goes.

Support

In good hands...

The labor of love

Slow dancing our baby home...

Maggie started having noticeable contractions at 4am Saturday Morning. They were sporadic and manageable for most of the day and then came on strong starting around 7pm. It's now 1:00pm on Sunday and after a sleepless night, with vomiting and crazy pain, she's feeling pretty crappy.

We've found that standing and "slow dancing" in place is working the best to get through the minute-long contractions. It looks like this... Maggie is fast asleep on the couch and then with each contraction (every 8-10 minutes) her eyes open quickly, I spring to my feet, grab her outstretched hand and pull her into my arms... we dance, taking deep breaths while i count them out loud.... "...ten ...eleven ...twelve..." the contraction subsides, she takes a sip of water and crashes again... repeat. She needs the sleep so this has been the best part of our labor yet.

Testing...

It's Saturday at 1:30pm and we're at alta bates getting tested. Mags
is hooked up to a monitor to test the baby's heartrate and response to
movement. So far all looks great.

Maggie has started to have a few contractions here and there so we
might be close!

I'm sending this from my phone and also "testing" my plans to bring
you live feeds from the delivery. Wish me luck!