This, is Jeannette.

She was born on May 23rd, 2009 to her birth Mommie Emily. She named her Hope April. She chose to bless Jenn and I with her baby. We brought her home on May 26th.

We named her Jeannette Erica Hope. Jenn's Grandmother and my Great Aunt are both named Jeanne. We chose to honor these two women who were important in both our lives. Unfortunately, neither of them is with us to meet Jeannette in person, but, we feel that she'll make them proud. Eric is Jenn's brother who was tragically taken from us at too young an age. Jenn loves her brother deeply and knows he'd be proud to share his name with his niece.

Jeannette weighed 8 lbs 3 0z at birth, was 20 inches long and has blonde hair and blue eyes (and one very cute dimple). She'd lost a couple of ozs of weight by discharge, but, I can happily say she's put all of that wieght back on.

She's been an amazing baby. She only fusses when she's actually hungry or needs a diaper change. The rest of the time, she's usually asleep, but, even when she's awake she's happy to just look around at this great big world around her.

There was a ton of traffic on the ride home from the hospital, but, I think her day had been a rough one and she slept right through it. I took side streets hom and drove like I was carrying a load of eggs stacked on top of nitro glycerin. Happily, despite the rain and rush hour traffic conditions, I managed to get my precious cargo home without incident. She was changed, fed, changed again, and then settled in for her first night home. She slept in her bascinet in our room that first night. I think Jenn was worried she might disappear and wanted to keep one eye on her all through the night. Neither of us slept much as the excitement had not worn off.

The next day, there were some things we needed, so, we decided to load her up and take her on her first outing. As you can see, this didn't phase her one bit. She managed to sleep through the entire trip, although she was cooed over a great deal by everyone we passed. I also managed to do better driving. Take it slow and easy.

Yesterday, she had her first doctor visit. She did very well, even when the doctor tried to take blood. Although, I don't think I've ever been so close to slugging an old lady doctor as I was when Jeannette shed those baby tears. I had to fight down the dad instinct and tell myself the doctor knows what she is doing. We calmed her right down afterward and a bottle removed any lingering remnants of discomfort, although, you can see the little band aid from the needle.

Even though she wasn't dirty, Jenn wanted to give her her first bath so, a little once over with a damp wash cloth and a change of cloths and she was all set for the evening.

Nights have taken some getting used to. We are trying to get her on a schedule for human beings. As it is, she likes to wake up around 2am and stay up for a couple of hours. It's not that she crying the whole time, but, she gets hungry so, we're up and down a bit more. But, on the whole she's on a roughly 3 hour schedule. Every 3 hours she changed, fed, and usually changed again. She's eating between 1 1/2 and 3 oz of formula at each feeding, where she was only eating about 1/2 an ounce in the hospital. She's definitely found her appetite.