On Tuesday, July 7th, I went to the doctor for my weekly check-up. Though I wasn't due until June 30th according to their calculations, I had a very strong feeling that my baby was coming early—three weeks early to be exact. But when the doctor informed me I was at 1 cm. and I said, "So you don't want to keep me and let me have him today?" he just laughed and said, "No, no. You've got a few weeks to go."

A few weeks, my foot.

Here I am Wednesday morning just before I headed to work. I was super-swollen, super-hot, and super-ready to have that baby already. Lucky for me, he was ready to stop baking too ...

That night while watching So You Think You Can Dance, I started to feel contractions. Caleb started noting the times and we saw they were coming every 7 to 11 minutes. I was talking to Dad on the phone and he assured me that these were just Braxton-Hicks contractions and I would probably have them a few more times in the next few weeks. Well, you too were mistaken, sir.

I woke up at 1:15 Thursday morning assuming I just had to go to the bathroom (as I did a million times each night), but with the vague recollection that something painful had occurred. Thinking nothing of it, I started to go back to sleep and then I felt DEFINITE pain. "That seemed quick," I thought. So I eyed the clock and waited for it to happen again. A mere four minutes had passed—it was time to raise the alarm. So I calmly informed Caleb that I was possibly in labor.

His response was less calm, as he leaped up and hurried around, but I insisted that we wait a bit because I didn't want to show up at the hospital and it end up being false labor. He was convinced it was the real deal and promptly began shaving. (He knew Mom would be taking lots of pictures and since he'd been sick for the past week, he somewhat resembled a grizzly bear.) In the mean time, I sat on the bed and turned on Cheers. Of course, since the contractions were now four minutes apart, it didn't take long for me to experience another one. As I went to tell Caleb that I thought it was indeed the real deal, my water broke. Much to Caleb's alarm, I decided to take a shower and blow-dry my hair. (I didn't want to look super-greasy in all those first baby photos. You'll see soon that my plan didn't quite work ...)

Despite my dawdling, we were at the hospital by 2:00 and eagerly awaiting pain medication. As I've told many people, with each contraction I thought I was going to die, and then was even more discouraged when I realized I wasn't going to die, but continue to go through this in ever-increasing frequency. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when I got the epidural and proceeded to take a care-free nap.

Before I knew it, it was baby time. Apparently I pushed longer than was expected (almost two hours), but I was fine, calmly discussing the purchase of Wrigley Field and watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Sports Center. Then, at 10:32 I had a perfect 6-lb. 3-oz., 19.5-inch redheaded baby boy. It was crazy. I didn't cry, but I think that was mostly because the whole thing was so surreal. But enough story. Let's get to some photos.

is time-consuming. But I suppose you could've guessed that. Still, that's no excuse for denying you the privilege of seeing the face of the most beautiful boy who has graced this planet. But before you get to see him, I have to put up those last few pictures I mentioned pre-baby—his first concert and baseball game. If you're only here for cute baby photos, feel free to skip to the next post, which I shall put up shortly.

While Caleb was off playing a camp somewhere, REO Speedwagon was playing City Stages. There I was, on the brink of fulfilling my life-long dream of seeing REO in concert for free (it pays to be editor of a local magazine ...), and I had no one to go with. Clearly as a 9-month pregnant girl, I couldn't go alone, and my standard date Kelly was sick. Brad offered to go with me, but let's face it, what fellow is dying to stand in sweltering heat to see REO Speedwagon with his wife's best friend? A good man, but when I got a hold of Karen and she was actually desirous of seeing the 70s super-group (that might be a stretch), he was off the hook, and I was on my way! Yay for Karen and Jeff who didn't run from me as I stood swaying to the music with a belly as big as a watermelon. Good times ... (Please note the rock hand gesture is ironic...)



Then later that week, Caleb and I went on our annual pilgrimage to Atlanta to see the Cubs play the Braves. It was an entertaining evening (even if the wrong team won): I was repeatedly asked by an usher if I was doing okay (I think she thought I was going to go into labor, and as you can see in this photo, I didn't look far off), discovered the importance of teaching my son how baseball is played so that he doesn't cheer for the right fielder the ENTIRE time he's in the outfield, and watched in horror as two loving parents revealed the dangers of taking your children to a baseball game. (We estimate they spent more than $100 on food alone.) The mother of the two very-close-in-age children also gave me an important bit of info: You can in fact get pregnant while nursing. "And then here you are at 40 with two little kids and you drink a lot of beer." Point taken. (Side note: this picture should serve as a reminder to all pregnant women that white is not your friend and your husband will lie to you about whether or not you look okay once you're too large to be able to see yourself.)

Okay, now onto the good stuff!

As time for the little man to arrive draws near, I've been thinking more and more about how fortunate I am to have Caleb as my husband and the father of my son (so weird to write!). And while I try to make it plain how much I appreciate him, I have decided to seize the opportunity while he is away and can't read over my shoulder to make sure everyone knows why he's pretty much the best ever.


You see, Caleb and I have known each other a long time—a decade in fact. We spent many of those years as off-again, on-again best friends until finally dating and realizing this was the real deal. I can remember pulling up to my parents' house over Christmas break one day shortly after becoming an "item," and thinking, "I'm going to marry him." After years of being friends, it became abundantly clear that he was the one. It took a while because I always remembered him as the cute little 15-year-old playing bass in the band, lip-synching to The Carpenters, and making bizarre, funny videos with his friends.

But the truth is, Caleb had grown up in lots of ways that have made him the best husband I could ask for. He's still hysterical and super-cute, but he's also the most considerate, thoughtful, and loving person I've ever met. That's how I know that, in addition to being a wonderful husband to me, he's going to be the hands-down greatest dad any child has ever had. I mean, just look at this photo:



This picture is from several years ago when we were just dating and he spent the whole day with (me and) my two nieces at City Park Amusements, taking turns riding with each, since they fought over who got to be with him (I apparently was chopped liver), and generally entertaining them. It's been said that "not liking Caleb is like not liking puppies," and I think that's the truth. He is the picture of patience and kindness to every child who crosses his path, which makes me eternally grateful that he's mine all mine, because let's face it, I am not.

So here's to Caleb: The sweetest husband in the world, and the soon-to-be best dad ever. (And yes, this is obviously not OUR kid, but he looks like he could be! [It's my nephew Andrew] And look how cute he looks with a little boy!)

Though he may not be aware that he has done these things, Axel has already been to his first concert AND baseball game—all in one week! But let's back up.

Though we meant to go to JazzFest back in May, we didn't quite make it. Sure, sure, we went down to New Orleans, but we ended up spending a lot of time that weekend with Lacey. And when we spend time with Lacey, I think we all know what happens: there's a lot of eating involved (Crazy Johnny's AND Venezia) and someone (meaning Caleb) winds up with a new tattoo. (For those interested in shopping Lacey and JuJu's wares, visit Mid City Voodoux Tattoos.)

It went a little something like this: We pull up to the tattoo shop to see Lacey. As we get out, I say, "Wouldn't it be funny if I walked in and said, 'I want a tattoo!'?" To which Caleb replied, "You can't get one—you're pregnant. But wouldn't it be funny if we walked in and you said I could get a tattoo?" To which I replied, "That would be funny because that will never happen." And so, we entered the shop, Caleb resigned, me thinking nothing of it. Until I noticed a drawing of a coat of arms on the counter. That's when I turned to Caleb and said, "What about a coat of arms?" (For the record, I've always been a big fan of family crests. For any Kehoe readers out there, I credit Mrs. Dempsey for that class project we had to do—and my brother for making a really snappy one when he was in her class that my parents later framed and had hanging in our house.) Caleb said, "That would be cool!" And so, we set out to find the Millwood coat of arms. Turns out, it's really boring, so we decided to make our own. And here she is:


The pelican symbolizes devotion and self-sacrifice (and it's also the Louisiana state bird, so we doubly liked it). His crown is the celestial crown (that's what the stars are about), which represents heavenly rewards. The lozenge (diamond right below the pelican) stands for loyalty. The horse represents "readiness for all employments for king and country." And the axes, which typically stand for military involvement, really represent our first-born: Axel. The banner underneath says "Strength through Loyalty" in Latin.

All this is on Caleb's right arm, which he now calls his family arm, since it also bears the typewriter with my name. I have once again announced that this is the end of the tattoos. We'll see if I can stand stronger this time. I can only blame so much on Lace... (P.S. isn't she cute pregnant? You can't really tell in that photo, but she is I promise! Her little boy—Blaine—we'll be arriving just a few weeks after Axel.)


And now we fast-forward a bit. I'll throw in a few belly shots for good measure. Here I am at 33.5 weeks. Still looking relatively normal from the front, but ridiculously round from the side:


And some updated photos of his room, now that he has a mattress and shades and we got the chair-and-a-half in. We got a few albums hung (Stryper, anyone?), but we're still on the hunt for some more good ones. We took our Yellow Submarine gel (thanks, Daddy!) to get professionally framed today since it's actually nice and deserves more veneration than the Hobby Lobby jobs we did on some of our other stuff around the house (I like the frames, but the pictures warped a bit). When we get it back, it''ll hang next to the window by the chair.





Here we have a few of his future friends: the yet-to-be-named bear from Pop and Delly (taking suggestions here), Aslan, and Pigwidgeon. And of course, a soccer ball, since Caleb is obsessed. Luckily, it seems as though Axel is quite a fan as well, judging by his current and constant favorite activity of violently kicking me in the side. I'm getting my orange-slice-cutting skills ready!



A couple weeks ago, my fabulous friends Kelly and Emily threw a shower for me, and I got to see lots of my old Coastal pals, along with friends from church and even Ashley and Meera from home! It was super-great fun, and I totally forgot to take photos. Because I am bad at this. I hope to improve once Axel is actually born. Tons of ridiculously cute things were bestowed upon us, including our stroller, a bouncy seat, a whale-shaped bathtub, the totally rad shoes shown below, the greatest bedtime book ever (Goodnight NOLA), snuggly blankets, adorable onesies, and more. I have such great friends and family! Because I'm too lazy to take photos of everything, I pulled a few items out of his drawers (that's right, I'm on top of something—I washed his clothes IN DREFT) to show off. Just try to tell me my son isn't ready to rock and/or roll.



OK, this has turned into an obscenely long post, so I'm going to wait on photos of the firsts until next time, which I vow will be sooner than the last time. I have much to rant about—like how I'm confident that if I wait this long between posts again, I will already have a baby, despite the doctors saying I'm due July 28th. But more on that TK.

As we prepare for Axel's arrival, we've been trying to get all of those annoying little house things taken care of that have fallen by the wayside. First on the list was the bathroom. Check. You finally saw that. Second, the baby's room. Checkity-check.

But now, in a much more timely fashion, you will see the rest of our progress. Here we have what our house looked like just the other week. It seems as though the people who owned the house before us had just painted it before we bought it ... but didn't scrape or prep the house at all. So it was getting really sad and peely. We decided to go with a more muted look. Check her out:





We went with November Rain again on the siding, but I promise you, it was recommended as an exterior paint color. In fact, we went with a palette they had in the Benjamin Moore exterior pamphlet, so if you don't like it, blame Ben. We still want to do some landscaping and move those holly trees so they stop blocking the windows. If anyone has landscaping prowess, please let us know. We need all the help we can get.



Here, the old porch. Now, much prettier. It's not screened again yet, which means bugs keep getting in when we leave the doors open. But on the positive side, Louzie doesn't seem to understand that no screen means she could technically leap through the holes and be free. Ever since she poked her arm through the old screen though, she's been a little hesitant to throw herself at it. I guess that helps. Or maybe she just likes us better now and doesn't feel a need to run away ... Either way, we're glad she has yet to escape, and we will rectify the un-screened screened porch situation soon. Also exciting, we put the screen door (which fell off onto the mail lady back in September '05) back onto the front door. It doesn't have a screen in it right now either. The neighbors must think we're totally bizarre ... but at least the house looks prettier in general!




And, one of my favorite details (thanks Josh and Elena!), our New Orleans manhole cover door mat!



Next up, the guest room. Formerly home to the twin beds from my childhood and their matching bedside table and dresser (not to mention some heinously ugly limey green walls), the guest room is now a stylish, restful haven for visitors. And guess what, married folks: you don't have to sleep in separate beds anymore!

Like it or not, we inherited many a lovely item from the store closing. For example, the rad mirror now serving as a headboard, rug, chair, and white lacquer bookcase. Caleb conquered his distaste for painting and covered the walls in a lovely steely blue and then styled the room all by himself! Is he talented or what?

The vanity I picked up at an antique shop is still in there, but I think its lines go rather well with the mirror, so it works. If you don't agree, please don't share.



















While we were in New Orleans, we went to our favorite store, Renaissance, which is a furniture consignment place Mom introduced us to back in the day. Since apparently everyone in NOLA has amazing 19th-century goods hanging out in their homes, they bring them in here to sell them. You could go in every day and you'd see a whole new batch of stuff, so if you like something, you better grab it. Of course, if it has been there for a month, it's 20 percent off. Two months, 40 percent off. So sometimes you want to wait ...

Anyway, there were a ton of great paintings, and we started thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have a wall devoted to random portraits? The answer: yes. So we began our collection there at Renaissance with this 19th century painting and the lovely painted ladies. Personally, I love it.



So if you find any great portraits—doesn't matter what style—let us know!

Well friends, you've waited long enough. Here is an update. And not just any update. An update with photos of the bathroom! That's right, after several months of its 95 percent completion, it is now 100 percent complete! But first, here I am at 27 weeks (which was last week):





As you can see, there has been a dramatic increase in the size of my belly, though it appears to still not be big enough for Axel, who is quite the boogier. He seems to like music and gets a little miffed when I stop singing. Such a good boy ... He loves his mama already. Speaking of the little man, let's take a gander at his room, shall we?

This is what you see right when you walk into the room. Previously, the whole space had been that bright blue color, but we decided we wanted it to be a little more subdued. So we chose November Rain, which—I may have mentioned before—Caleb suspected was a sign from God, and just left the back of the bookshelves blue.

We absolutely LOVE our crib and changing table/dresser. Because there are two windows and so many built-in bookshelves, there's not a whole lot of room for furniture, so I was a little unsure where the changer was going to go until Caleb pointed out it fit perfectly in the window, thus eliminating the bit of dead space under the window that had previously driven me crazy. Hoorah!

Here we have our fabulous crib, which sports just the right amount of modern design for our mish-mash of a decorating style. I just painted the canvas over the bed the other day. We enjoy bad puns...






Now before you get distracted by bathroom photos, I'll fill you in on a bit of news. Yesterday, I was named Editor-in-Chief of PORTICO magazine here in Birmingham. (You can see a free online version of the mag at porticomag.com. The web site needs work, I know, but one thing at a time, folks!) It's been a lot of work, and it's going to be a lot more work in the next few months. But it's extremely exciting!

Also, on the pregnant front, I failed my first blood glucose test. Note to all newly pregnant or not-yet pregnant friends: do NOT fail the first test. I have the 3-hour one tomorrow, so I don't know how awful it is yet. All I know is, it takes three hours and that sounds miserable, and—worst of all—you have to follow a really terrible diet. What are you supposed to do when the doctors simultaneously tell you to gain weight, and then hand you a sheet that says you can have 3 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of cheese! I'm STARVING! And as we have learned these past few days, when I am hungry, I am cranky. I might kill someone for a Hershey bar and a Dr. Pepper right now, so watch out. Fingers crossed that I pass the test tomorrow and go back to my cheery, weight-gaining ways! (Side note: I made sure to schedule the test far enough away from our trip to New Orleans so that I didn't have to miss out on anything good while we were home. More on that trip in a future post.)


Now onto the bathroom! It's still as small as ever, but ain't it purty? If you go back into the archives, you can see how atrocious it was before. Now there's a pretty white pennyround floor, freshly glazed tub, super-light green paint, new toilet, and snappy brown roman shade.

Inside the tub, we went with white subway tile and a dark gray grout. The fixtures, which you can't see, are chrome and squared-off and good-looking. We replaced the super-low sink that was hanging off the wall with a square pedestal sink and the messed up medicine cabinet and bald lightbulb with the wood-framed mirror and chrome square-ish light fixture. And finally, we took off the closet door and made a curtain to match the window shade. Yay for new bathroom!

First some fun. Check me out at 22 weeks! (This was taken last week.)

Now, down to business. As I have expressed in earlier posts, I was quite pleased with myself in acquiring a "zebra" rug to complement my soon-to-be-made "Welcome to the Jungle" sign for maybe-to-be-named-Axel's room. But as I lay in bed the other night, it occurred to me: Zebras don't live in jungles. And as I thought about it even more, I realized, neither do lions! Yet when you're looking at crib bedding, you will find many a jungle-themed set featuring lions and giraffes and sometimes even crocodiles. But they don't live in jungles!

Why did it take me until I was 25 to realize this? Safari? OK, I'll allow it. You can go on safari in the plains, grasslands, or deserts (which is where zebras, lions, and giraffes typically dwell), but jungle? 'Fraid not, friend. Just watch any nature program—or even The Lion King for that matter—and you will see, lions are not hanging out in jungles (except for that part when Simba runs away, but even then, that really should've been a forest, not a jungle). I feel as though I have been led astray my whole life long.

On a separate note, I have found the potential naming of my child and musical references made thereafter have led to endless amusement on my part. For example ...

the whole "Welcome to the Jungle" sign. Those in the know find it hilarious (as well they should), while others just think it's cute and that I'm going to cover the room in lions and giraffes and zebras (clearly not after the aforementioned discovery!).

Even funnier, though, has proven my comment about how appropriate it was that the color we painted the nursery is—I kid you not—called November Rain. While we did not select it because of it's name, we didn't doubt it was a sign from God. Especially after we painted a swatch on the wall and it looked super-good. The funny part though, is why people thought "November Rain" would be appropriate. Let's just say we announced in November that we were pregnant. You can use your imagination as to the assumptions made here ...

In case these last few paragraphs have been a mystery to you, let me explain. While we stumbled across the name Axel while searching for good Hebrew names (both Caleb and Abigail are Hebrew. In case you're interested, Axel means "Father of Peace."), it also happens to be the name of the lead singer of one of Caleb's favorite bands, Guns 'n Roses. And so, we make a lot of GnR and Axl Rose references around here, and in relation to the little man. For the record, both "Welcome to the Jungle" and "November Rain" are classic GnR songs.

All that to say, the nursery has been painted! Currently, unwanted furniture is still taking up the center of the room, so no photos. But we plan on having a yard sale/giving away a bunch of stuff in the next few weeks. Stay tuned ...