Happy Halloween!

Hello Friends and Family!

Well it has been way too long. This blog is turning into a bi yearly update. There is way too many things going on in our lives to not post more updates so we will keep them coming! Juliet is now 6...no almost 7 months! It is truely flying by.

Here's our newest pictures of her. We went to a fall festival and got pictures in the pumpkin patch with her friends Augustino and Carson! Juliet is decked out in her Mummy bib and hat thanks to Steph (Augie's mom). I am working (slowly) on collecting the 100s of Juliet Pictures we take but stay on the SD card. Got to get organized...can you believe the holidays are coming!

Talk soon
Jenny

Juliet and New Bow

Juliet and New Bow, a photo by irishpharmd1 on Flickr.

Juliet and New Bow

Sorry for the Delay!

Hello all!

Life is good. Juliet has definitely been a life changing experience, and I would not change it for the world.  She is an amazing daughter, and I am also blessed with an amazing wife, Jenny.  She has been so wonderful taking great care of our new baby.  Juliet is now about 2 1/2 months and she changes almost daily.

I have posted a slide show of some of the pics of Juliet at and leaving the hospital, as well as the first few days at home.  I know these are old news, but I am working on getting some more recent pics uploaded...it takes a while to upload 1500 pictures!

Jenny and I are getting the hang of things, I think Juliet has gotten us pretty well trained!  She has been sleeping in her crib since she was 2 weeks old, and for the past month or so, she sleeps through the night.  When I say through the night, I mean she goes to bed @ 9-10pm and sleeps until 7-8am!  Jenny and I have been enjoying our sleep and are very thankful to the inventor of the swaddle.  Juliet gets a double swaddle.  We have the swaddler w/ the velcro that keeps her in a bundle, then we swaddle her with a linen blanket on top of that.  If we don't use the blanket, Juliet a.k.a Houdini will work her way out of the velcro swaddle.

So, nights are more quiet now, and we are all getting some much-needed rest.  Things are settling down, and we are also starting to get back into the fun of cooking!  Last night we made a Manhattan Clam Chowder, and we also finally tried out the ice cream attachment for our kitchenaid. 

The ice cream attachment is pretty awesome, and I have to thank Melonie for the inspiration.  On our recent trip to Gainesville (which was Juliet's first trip out of the Tampa Area, and was great, and probably deserves its own posting) Melonie had made some espresso ice cream.  We had had some of her ice cream creations before, including her Spicy Cinnamon Ice Cream, but this was different.  First off, coffee ice cream is my favorite flavor EVER, and Jenny's as well.  This espresso ice cream was like coffee ice cream on steroids, and it was so rich and creamy and delicious.  Secondly, I was able to witness the master ice cream maker in action, and watched Melonie make the ice cream from scratch.  It motivated me to try out our ice cream maker, which we have had for two or three years now (just sitting on the shelf).

Anyway, I ended up making a Berry Frozen Yogurt, which turned out quite good.  I will admit, I did use store-bought non-fat yogurt as a base, but it did turn out very good.  Only complaint I would have is that the blackberry seeds were a bit annoying while consuming the frozen yogurt, otherwise, it was great.

I have to wrap this up, so , things are great here, Juliet is happy, healthy, and changing everyday, it is amazing.  I will work on getting some more pics uploaded, not sure if I will add them to the same slide show or just have a few slide shows, so check back for updates!

Jenny, Juliet, and I love you all, and thank all of you for your help and support.

Juliet and the Gator

Juliet and the Gator, a photo by irishpharmd1 on Flickr.

Juliet and the Gator

Juliet in a Basket

Juliet is on facebook, on cloud 9 studios site. This photo appears on their facebook page, thanks Lashina and Medgyn for letting us know her photo is up for all to see!

First days with Juliet

I'd like to dedicate this blog entry to Grandma Gloria! You've been such a help coming over and simply holding and loving Juliet! It's allowed Marc and I a few hours to run around and get things done! It's amazing how much planning goes into a simple trip to Target now. Marc and I are finally adapting to our new lives with Juliet. She is a great baby and loves to Eat, pass gas, poop and be held! No holding back, this girl burbs like a champ and makes Marc laugh hysterically each time she makes a gasous noise!

As you know Juliet is now 2 weeks old but I thought I'd take you back to her first few hours and days in the hospital. She sure was a lot bigger than we expected at 8 lbs, 12oz (by the way Marc, who is your weight guessing winner?)

Overall labor and delivery was not bad at all. I succeeded and met my goal of no drugs! Thanks to Michelle and the Bradley Method I learned how to relax and breathe through the contractions. I know it sounds unrealistic but it worked for me! I was also lucky with no back labor! And check out this head of hair! It's so long we can think about a ponytail in the near future! Ok, now I understand why I lived on Tums during those last new months!

So, our biggest challenge was feeding. It took nearly 24 hours for her to feed from a bottle and forget about breast feeding. It wasn't until day 11....we didn't give up and after a wonderful visit with a lactation consultant we began breast feeding (SOOO much better than pumping constantly AND supplementing with formula). I'd have to say the first week home with Juliet was one of most challenging things for me. I don't do well with little sleep as it is, now add strapping myself to a pump every 2 hours AND trying to feed, diaper and shhhh her alseep. All I have to say is THANK GOD for my WONDERFULLY AMAZING NEW DADDY Husband, Marc! Baby I couldn't have done it without you.

This picture is dedicated to my mom, Grandma Carol. She made Juliet's coming home outfit. A white sweater, booties, hat and beautiful blanket. Juliet sure does love her blankets and she's got quite a few special one's made by friends and family. Each one used is special ways whether it's in her car seat, swing, while feeding, on a walk to block the sun or hanging up on display in her nursary.....thank you to all for the thoughtful blankets!

So the girls have met Juliet and let me say that Ginger is definately a "mommy dog". She follows Juliet everywhere we take her and constantly checks on her when sleeping. Well, today is another day and adventure....off to baby land!

Jenny

Juliet in the Sling

Here is Juliet in her sling. She is 2 weeks old today! Mommy and Daddy are starting to get into a routine.  We have been enjoying some time on the back patio by the pool w/ baby Juliet, and can't wait until she (and Mommy) can go in the pool with me.  So far, the pool is about 77 degrees, and I am sure that it needs to warm up a bit more before she will be able to go in.  Next time we go Juliet's doctor, we are going to see how old she needs to be before she can go in the pool.  Can't wait.

Thanks again for all of you that have been helping us along the way to get through this (dinners, baby sitting, cleaning, guidance, etc) we would not have made it this far without you.

Also, a special CONGRADULATIONS to my grandparents, "Mem and Pep", on their 60th wedding anniversary last week!

Home Sweet Home

We are all home, safe and sound!

Update, no news

No baby yet, we are being patient.  Jenny and I have been doing lots of walking, and she has tried eating an olive and a jalepeno (trying to stimulate labor) but nothing yet.

Keep checking for up-to-date baby info...

Still no baby

Update, Juliet has not arrived yet. Walking and stairs to help her along...stay tuned

No baby yet

So just to keep everyone updated, Juliet has not arrived as of yet. Jenny and I are doing lots of walking to try to get everything in motion, but no luck yet.  Will let you know of any changes...

Maternity Pics!

Hello All,

It is coming down the the wire.  I have added a poll for all to guess how big they think Juliet will be when she is born.  To make a specific prediction, please comment on this posting with your guesstimation of her weight.  Please, keep all predictions to only one decimal.  The winner with the closest guess from the comments will win a prize (to be determined).

Ok, back to maternity pics.  We had some professional pics done a month or two ago, and picked a few for a collage.  Posted here are the pics we chose for your viewing pleasure.  You can see the collage when you come by the house, it is hanging in the nursery, and it came out beautiful (Thanks Cloud 9)!  I have to say first off, I receive no kickbacks and have no financial ties to Clound 9, except for the bill for our collage :)

Now that I have made all my disclosures, I have to say that Cloud 9 was amazing.  They were so friendly and easy to work with.  You can see more of their work on their website: http://www.photosoncloud9.com/.  Jeanine is just great, very creative, and makes a warm, relaxing enviroment to work in.  She has just about everything and anything you could think of for props, and if you need more, just bring it, and she will incorporate it into your shoot.  She does maternity pics, but more importantly, she does amazing baby pics!  Juliet will be visiting there soon after her arrival, so stay tuned for pictures!

So, make sure to participate in the poll on the right, general weight predictions, and if you have a gut feeling about a specific weight, comment on this posting. Winner to receive a PRIZE!

We love you all, and I hope you enjoyed this post, especially the pics of Jenny, Juliet, and I!

On that note, I would like to give a special thanks to the love of my life, Jenny.  You are doing an amazing job with the pregnancy.  I am amazed at how much you and your body have been through and had to deal with.  But you handle it with such grace.  When we first found out we were pregnant, I heard so many horror stories of how the pregnant mommy becomes the ball of raging hormones, but in my eyes, Jenny has managed to keep her hormones in check, and enjoy the pregancy with all its wonders and miracles.  Anyway, long story short, Jenny, you are amazing, and I am the luckiest man on earth to have a wife like you.  I love you, and will be with you every step of the way.  12 days and counting, but could be anyday! 

Keep us in your thoughts...

Juliet in 2 weeks!

Whoops, I thought Marc and I would have blogged all the way through this pregnancy but honestly these past 9 months flew by. It's just amazing how much there is to do and prepare for when having a child! From baby supplies, baby shower, childbirth classes and hormones....it has been a fun and wild ride.


I have to start this blog entry with a huge THANK YOU to my husband. Marc you have been so encouraging, patient (during hormones crazes) and amazingly loving through out this process....I don't think I could have made it without you. I know you are going to be an amazing dad and EXCELLENT coach during the labor process too....YIKES LABOR! My heart stops each time I think about the next HUGE EVENT we will go through together. And yes, I am proud to call you diapering champ at being the fastest to put a diaper on a monkey blind folded! After our baby shower we decided to test a few of our games on the boys...hillarious! Even the current dad's participated and we discovered my uncle and "Haaarry" were like 2 peas in a pod. Can't wait to see that future relationship blossom :)

Well the bags are packed and we are ready for Juliet's arrival. Yes, we finally settled on a full name, Juliet Marie Pepin! And if, for some crazy reason, she's a he.....and we have no ideas on boys names....it will probably be a Marc Jr BUT all signs and sonograms point to a GIRL. And she is already Daddy's little girl. Marc talks to her, rubs my belly and even kisses her goodnight. Powerful little girl, got him wrapped around her finger and she's not even out yet! :)

Next, I'd like to Thank Michelle Pinera....bridesmaid, baby shower host and Natural Childbirth Bradley Method "Instructor"! Thank you for all your support, teachings and encouragment. My goal is to have Juliet with no drugs, no epideral. That is a goal BUT Marc and I both know things change. So hopefully no epideral or c-section but we will see what happens. The shower was absolutely beautiful and I can't thank you enough Mish!

Ok and a few announcements! Aunt Aimee is now Godmother Aimee! and Uncle Matt is Godfather! Matt and Mel will be legal guardians for Juliet if ever needed.Thank you guys for being such an important part of Juliet's life!


Another cool project Marc poured his heart and soul into....a POOL! Yep our little one will have a pool when she is ready. I've only had my feet in as it was completed in Nov. Can't wait for the summer! Oh and yes, we have a baby fence up now too!

So next week is our 1st Anniversary! What an eventful year it has been. Wedding, crazy honeymoon, pool and baby on the way. Don't think we can top this one again. Our 1st anniversary will be low key as we can't venture far from the hospital. Marc has taken the week off and we are going to catch up on some R&R before Juliet's arrival (unlesss she decides to crash the party!).

We'll keep you updated via text when we head into labor and Juliet Arrives!