Little Milk Breath

As I type, I have Little Milk Breath in my arms. If you think that's hard, try taking a practice insurance test (cross your fingers that I pass this Monday!) while holding him. I really never knew that digested milk would smell good but it actually does!

Not much to report. Jacob has had a little gas as he's still getting some formula right now. His mother is tired so I am watching him right now before his next meal. I did not take any pictures today but here is one of him and his papa from a couple days back.
And so Suzanne will not feel left out, here is a picture of the first time she saw her son.

Learning Life's Essentials

It's hard to believe Jacob is a mere week and soon-to-be three days old. Already the changes in him are noticable. He is starting to coo. Su and I both think his eyes are changing to green. And he's learning the element of surprise.

Let me explain, while being blunt. I have never touched as much pee in my life as I have the past three days. Young Jacob's favorite time to do "#1" is when his diapers are off, usually when I'm cleaning him up from "#2." Today, alone Suzanne changed his outfit SIX TIMES!!! Not because she wants a different wardrobe by the hour, but because he is relieving himself on his clothes. I managed to snap pictures of only half his day's outfits. Unfortunately, I had to work those other three times.

Jacob's first outfit of the day
Jacob's outfit at lunch
Jacob's outfit after his bath

You may notice the funny face he is making in the above picture. That is his "poo poo" face. I am not joking when I write that he went to the bathroom one minute after his bath.

You may wonder what George thinks about all this and I believe the pic below says it all. Now that I think about it, maybe kitty litter ain't such a bad thing!

The Name Game

I've been looking for a slow day to post this and today appears to be that day.

For all of you bloggers who have been on the site from day one--I have been having some fun at your expense--especially those of you who were curious about the names we picked out.

For several months, I dropped at least one hint in each and every post in regards to the name, boy or girl.

Congratulations to Nicole Parnell and husband David, who guessed correctly both names before Jacob was born. DeAnn of Brister Brothers pharmacy gets second place for getting half the girl name and third place goes to my mom who simply knew something screwy was going on with my typing. Go back to the "Jubilant Daddy" post, which is where I began the game, to view all the clues, some which are more obvious than others. Meantime, here is another picture of young Jacob...taken today.

All is well

Quick update before bedtime. Jacob had his doctor's appointment this afternoon and his jaundice is going away and his weight is going up. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. Su and I are going to try to get some rest this weekend and then hopefully I will be back on photo-watch.

Home Sweet Home

The Brister trio arrived home around 3:30 Thursday afternoon after four long days at the hospital. Here is Jacob after his first bath in his new home.

We learned Wednesday that Jacob has jaundice. There has been a little bit of concern from his pediatrician, although she monitored it throughout the day and evening on Wednesday and it improved today. Nevertheless, they are having him wear a "lamp" of sorts (similar to the one he wore in the hospital below) tonight and will check him again tomorrow.

We were very thankful they discharged us today. Below, Jacob appears to be unhappy by the news--he really liked his nurses--but I really think he's crying because he fears he has been dressed like a little girl in his going home outfit.

Suzanne is tired but is doing great and has quit taking pretty much all pain medications. She is mobile and I'm sure will be back at the gym as soon as she gets the green light! The whole gang, including a baffled George, is resting in the bedroom until our next feeding shortly after midnight. Until next time here's a "best of" collection of pics from our vacation.

Jacob's Blue Eyes

Thanks to Aunt KK for this picture. I believe I have snapped 180 pictures so far and don't have one to match the one above. I did manage to get another pretty good one with his eyes open, and also included two pictures with his proud parents.

Mother and son are doing just fine. Jacob has fed well today. Suzanne is a warrior; no way I could pull off what she has. When I left the hospital about 4PM, she was up and around like you wouldn't believe. She told a visitor that she tolerates pain very well and I would say that's an understatement.

We should be coming home sometime Thursday, although I don't know when.

I have appreciated all of the phone and text messages, and e-mails and will be sharing some of these with her when I return later tonight. I hope to personally respond to all of them because they mean so much. We have definitely been well thought of.

It's a boy! It's Jacob Davis Brister!

Suzanne and I welcomed our first child into the world just before midnight last night. I will spare the great length of detail, but she had an impromptu c-section last night about an hour after we arrived at the hospital. Baby Jacob is doing great.

Here are his vitals:

Born 7/20/08 at 11:24 pm

7 pounds 2 ounces

19 1/2 inches long

Brown hair

Blue eyes

And he is more adorable than I ever could've imagined. I will try to post pics ASAP, but we will likely remain in the hospital for at least a couple more days. Mother and son are resting and my mother-in-law was nice enough to let me break away to post this and get cleaned up for the first time in 20 hours!

And here are some more pics, with the promise of many more to come.

The Other Side

Was there ever something you did as a kid--say ride a roller coaster--where you waited and waited in line, you were a little bit afraid, but at the same time anxious to get on the ride and see what happened? And once you got to the end, you knew it was worth it? Funny enough, I was thinking of this analogy earlier today and Suzanne actually mentioned she was feeling the same thing, without me bringing it up, on our way to church this evening.

We are leaving for the hospital in about 30 minutes for the beginning of our new journey. I have butterflies as I type this. As you will see below, we have lots of experience with young'uns, but none that will be living with us 100% of the time. So as we (and you) wait this one out, here is proof that we have had ample preparation for this moment.

Our godson Ethan Dunn (now 3)

My goddaughter Graham Sherman (now 2)

Our goddaughter Elise Parnell (now 3)

Elise just turned three this weekend. We had a grand time at her party last weekend. It was fun hanging out with all the kids running around, like Will and Ella...and those not quite as mobile like Deacon and Jacob/Mary Grace. During my keen observation that day, I quickly realized...that will soon be us. I will see you all on the other side. Davis

Time's A Tickin

In Just unDer 24 hours, Suzanne and I will be in St. Tammany Parish Hospital beginning the process of trying to deliver a baby. I can't describe the truly emotional week it's been, although I'm sure all of you parents know exactly what I'm talking about. I can honestly say, at this point, that I am not nervous. Suzanne is nervous but she is handling the building pressure well.

Like any normal couple, we wanted to spend our last potentially full day of freedom in style. First, we did what Most Girls and boys would do...buy a car. This is a model of what it looks like...

2009 Nissan Murano

Next, we went to what has become our fun little Southshore hangout. I would say since Suzanne's pregnancy and her ensuing doctor's appointments across the lake, we've eaten the Whole Foods salad bar a dozen times. It never disappoints.

Finally, we finished our day with a movie matinee and the critically acclaimed new Batman movie. The film was outstanding and would've been even better had the sound not been messed up in the theater. It was hard understading dialogue during action sequences. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this on a lazy night, whether you like super-hero flicks (which I generally don't) or not.

The Dark Knight

Tomorrow, we will finish packing for our "trip" and I'll try to make one more post before we welcome Baby Brister into the world.

We have a date!

Jot Down the date; we will be going into the hospital Sunday night (a week from now) at 9PM. We have been, climbing the ladder, to get to this point so to speak and now it's time for the baby to do the same. Here is a picture of Suzanne at 38 weeks. In my biased opinion, I think she looks "magnificantly gorgeous."

38 down, 1 to go!!!

Well, there have been times when I truly wondered if this day would come. God has filled us with his "grace;" In one week, we will have our first child.

Suzanne had her follow-up with her OB this morning. The doc still wants to deliver a week early. It's really too complicated to explain why she wants to induce at 39 weeks, but I will simply say there is absolutely nothing to be worried about.

So we play the waiting game now; our official date will be next Thursday or the following Monday (off the top of my head, I believe that's the 17th or the 21st). It depends on when the hospital can get us in.

So I would ask that the thoughts and the prayers to God, the saints, Mary, whomever you choose...continue for just a little while longer!

p.s. Baby room pics have not been posted because the chair has still not arrived and may not until the actual due date. I may go ahead and take one anyway to put on here.

This "Juss Den"

The title above is me being stupid but I guess would-to-be-fathers-in-two-weeks should be allowed a little bit of silliness.

Some great news...Suzanne had an ultrasound today and the baby is in position! This is great because just last week, the baby was breech...but My Goodness, that sucker turned at the last minute.

The official due date is July 25th. A c-section would've pushed it up a week but hopefully we do not have to worry about that. We have a followup with Su's OB Thursday morning and I'll put a full update at that time.

FYI, the baby is measuring 6 pounds, 14 ounces right now.

Happy 4th!

It's not just another "july day." It's the fourth and I hope everyone has enjoyed it. Here are some pictures of our cousins from Houston, TX; Mitchell and Avery Byrnes. They are both a pleasure to be around as are their parents. It was great getting to hang out with them for a few days in Rosemary Beach.

Surf's up!

Mitchell proud of himself

Avery stayed on land

Avery and Mitchell (he's boogieboarding in the background)

More Beach Pictures

The beach theme continues tonight with our godson & nephew Ethan Dunn. Ethan is now three years old and I honestly think my intellect is a "jump down" from his. I wish I had some video/audio of some of the funny things he said over the week. Quotes don't do it justice.

Watching his favorite video game with race cars

He brought all of the essentials to the pool; goggles, tubes, floaties, noodles, and anything else one can float on

Daddy Dunn providing some assistance

Looks like a future Olympian to me; sign him up!

And my favorite in this batch; Ethan getting acquainted with his future cousin...

...which does bring me to one funny quote he said to Suzanne one night after dinner:
"Aunt Susu, you look full!"

Babies are like toast?

Suzanne and I had another eventful class tonight at St. Tammany Parish hospital with our favorite teacher. She is actually quite good, but the above analogy stood out to me tonight; the extended message had something to do with babies being like toast, they pop out when they're ready, not when you want them to be.

A couple more random comments before I get back to "more good" pictures from our Destin trip.

1.) Thanks for the comments from friends past and present in the comments section. One of these days I will figure out how to add links and comments myself. We read and look forward to each one. And we both visit each of the blogs regularly on that list.

2.) Speaking of changes, I've had a couple comments about the new picture up top. We live on the golf course and that picture was taken by me at about 6:30 one morning, basically in my back yard. The picture will likely change closer to the due date and of course that "jolly day" is getting closer and closer.

On to the pics!
Tonight is dedicated to our 13 month old niece Keira Dunn; she lives in San Diego.

Keira and Nana enjoying a game of air hockey (hopefully I have spelled both names right)

First trip to the Florida beach

Hopefully you can click on this one for a tight shot; notice the contents in the mouth

One of my favorite pictures of the trip; Keira with her mother, Erin

Another favorite