Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas.

Baby it's cold outside!

With temperatures in the 20's, Jackson had to get a little bundled up to head outdoors. Hope you are all staying warm.

Sitting and rolling.

Jackson has conquered rolling over from his back to his stomach. He loves his new trick so much that it is almost impossible to keep him on his back. This is great and all but it has affected his sleep. So a couple of days ago we started a new sleep program. We used to rock him to sleep for all his naps and bedtime, only to have to go back in his nursery to do it all over again once he awoke at all. To say the least it could be incredibly exhausting. The new program has been going very well and we are hoping to have some of our evening back.

Today will be our first Christmas tree hunt with Jackson. I am hoping he doesn't want to chime in on what his ideal Christmas tree looks like. It is hard enough for Autumn and I to decide on one.

5 months old and counting.

Jackson was a chicken.

Sorry for the delay of Halloween pictures. Here are a couple. Jackson wasn't so sure he liked the idea of dressing up like a chicken, but he put up with it.

4 months and counting

The last month has been one filled with exploration and seeing Jackson grow before our eyes. He is learning new things daily. Last week was all about screaming for fun one day, and babbling the next. He is grabbing his feet, trying to roll over (he did once), and figure out why maggie keeps kissing him on the lips. I am pretty sure he is trying to eat his tongue in the picture above.

Mom and Dad are still working on the balance of life. How do we maintain our relationship and get in all of the family time that is needed. I am very thankful that one of us has the opportunity to stay home with Jackson and see the constant growth before our eyes. On Friday, we hit up Nostrana with Jackson, for dinner. It was fun to go to a nice restaurant with Jackson and he did great. About 1 hour into the evening, we could see him deteriorating quickly. We grab our dinners to go and finished them at home. I am glad that we did it though. We always said that we didn't want to stop doing things once Jackson joined the family.

Had a great day at the pumpkin patch with Jeremy, Grandma and the twins. That never gets old to me. It is a fun tradition that I hope we pass on to Jackson and his family some day.

Fall is here. Stay warm and healthy!

fa rra ra

Weekend at the beach.

This weekend we celebrated our fifth anniversary at Cannon Beach. The weather was amazing, about as perfect as you can get at the Oregon Coast. It was really nice to spend some quality time together as a family. Maggie was in dog heaven as she jumped in the water and rolled in the sand. As you can tell in the pictures below Jackson didn't really care for the wind blowing in his eyes. He did roll over for the first time this weekend. Now we really have to start keeping our eye on him. We don't want him to roll off the couch. We took Jackson swimming for the first time. He didn't seem to mind it much despite the fact that he turned blue. Today I signed us up to do Mommy and Me swim lessons, but luckily they heat the pool to a nice 92 degrees, so I am sure we will stay nice and toasty.

I can't believe that we have already been married five years. Marriage is such a wonderful thing. It is a union that brings two individuals together that have chosen to collide their separate lives into one. I am very lucky to have such an amazing man in my life to call my husband. He is the most compassionate, caring, selfless person I know. Seeing him with our son melts my heart. I am looking forward to the next 50 years together.

Love you Babes.

5 year anniversary

the house of farrara is moving to the beach this weekend. should be very relaxing and we cant wait to get Jackson's reaction to the sand and ocean. Maggie might be happy to see the beach also.

12 weeks and now a video

Jackson was a movie star today. Autumn and I bought a little FLIP video camera so we can start tracking some of these memories. Cant wait to show him when he is older. check out his debut.

where is my family at?

I love and miss my wife and kids (maggie was first).

11 weeks.

Jackson is almost 3 months old. He has become a little flirt. His new thing is to carry on a full conversation with us. When we talk to him he talks back to us in his own little language. It is very cute. He gets a little more rolly poly each day. He slept through the night two nights ago. It didn't happen twice in a row, but I am hoping that we are turning the corner. Having a full eight hours of sleep felt amazing. I almost forgot that waking up in the morning can actually fell refreshing.

I love to smile!!

Growing.

Jackson has become such a sweet baby. He loves to take baths, sleep, eat, eat some more and poop sometimes. He weighed in at good 13lbs 14 oz at his two month check up. The other day I heard a belly laugh (his first laughter), so I went to check on him. Sure enough he was sound asleep with one of the biggest smiles I have seen him sport laughing away. Boy did my heart melt. Everyday it gets more fun and I fall more in love.

last month flew by

So has the last five years. Autumn and I talked about having kids when we were 15. I didn't know I was saying that to my future wife, but I think she was sewing the seeds from the day we met. We have known each other for over 12 years now, with the big 5th anniversary coming up in September. Now we have a little chubby boy to take care of.

Jackson has passed the 9 week mark. He is weighing in over 14 pounds and I think his head is occupying 5 of those. He is growing out of his newborn clothes and challenging some of the 3-6 month stuff. He has been incredibly fun of late. He has a smile on his face every time we go to pick him up from his nap. He is very aware and strong. He has his first vaccinations tomorrow. We tried to watch a dateline on vaccinations tonight, but Portland KGW channel 8 thought it was a better idea to run a 1970's Burt Reynolds movie. Jackson's hair hasn't changed much of late. It is a light brown with hints of red. He is getting bald spots on the back and sides of his head from sleeping. It looks like it is going to all fall out and we are very curious to see what it is going to come back like.

Autumn and him have been very active. We actually took him for his first jog the other day. We had him packed so tight, he looked like an Eskimo. It was nice for us to be able to run together. We haven't had that opportunity yet besides a fun run we did last month without Jackson. I am sure Maggie would like to encourage us to run more.

Jackson's first vacation with be our 5th anniversary at the beach. It will be so much fun to see him in that environment. Probably a little too young to rent a surf board, but maybe we will do it just for the pictures. I am sure our camera will be getting a lot of attention.

5 weeks old.

Our little one is five weeks old now. My how time flies! Everyday brings a new level of joy and love into our relationship. Jackson is trying to give Mom and Dad a full toothless smile (oh so cute!), but he can't do it on cue just yet. I bet next week will be the milestone. His hair is growing in thicker. It appears to be Eric's color. Everyone says he looks like a mini Eric--What do you think??

Jackson's first real bath.

Jackson endured his first bath last week. He actually does pretty well, despite what the pictures say. He likes the warm water so we might have to schedule a Hawaii vacation to make him smile. Autumn might smile also. Even when we gave him a sponge bath after his birth, he reacted positive to the warm water.

He is starting to outgrow some of his first outfits. At this rate, his shirts cost about $8 per use.

Lots of work, late nights and a baby who likes to eat.

Less than a month ago, Autumn and I were prepared and ready to have our first child. A few weeks later, we are still nursing our wounds and learning daily about the joys of parenting. Jackson loves to eat. The last 3-days, he has been on a pretty accurate two hour feeding schedule. Sometimes he chooses to take a nap in between. Sometimes he chooses to stay in the one place that has a constant flow of heaven. Autumn is trying to juggle between being a nurturing mom and the lady that she use to be, that took care of everything. She is learning a new level of patience that is greater than the one she learned by living with me. It has been hard.

Work has been busy and great. Lots of fun projects and my support at work has been amazing. I feel very blessed to work with the people I do.

Jackson is growing. I am guessing he is up to 9lbs, 8oz. He is a little tank already. Some would call him a dump truck. His hair is filling in and turning red. Looks like we are going to have a mini firecracker. Right now it is all about the same things. He eats, sleeps, poops, eats, gets a bath, stares at Maggie, stares at mom, eats, poops and definitely is not afraid to enjoy a good cry. He played kickball with us the other day. He needs to work on his hand-eye coordination. We have tried to go out to dinner a couple of times. He does okay, but he prefers to be in our arms.

All is well as the first month is about to pass by. Thanks to all of you who have been here to lend a hand.

Autumn, Eric, Jackson and Maggie

family photos

Here is the link to our family photos. You might have to copy it into your browser.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31425566@N07

New Parents.

Jackson is now officially 12 days old. Everyday we learn a little more than we knew the last day about parenting. It is the toughest job that I have ever been involved in, but the most rewarding at the same time. To see this little baby that was created by you and your best friend makes you melt. There isn't anyone else in this world that I would want to share this journey with other than Eric. He is what has kept me sane during this process. Jackson has brought a new level of love to our relationship. He has opened our eyes to a whole new life and I am so excited about the upcoming journey.

We made it past the 100 hr mark.

Jackson has been alive for 107 hours. He was a pain in the butt last night. He slept in his crib for a couple of hours on two occasions however. But the feeding and diaper change while he was awake was pretty frustrating. I changed his diaper twice yesterday and had him soil them again after zipping up his outfit. Doesn't he know those diapers cost money?

We took Jackson on his first walk to the park Yesterday. Mags appreciated this as she got to play with her ball. We also made a trip out to lunch after a doctors appointment.

Jackson meets Maggie

Autumn and Jackson were released from the hospital yesterday around 1 pm. The doctors were monitoring Jackson's blood sugar levels and Mom's iron levels. We were starting to get cabin fever. Kaiser did a great job through the whole pregnancy, not just the labor. We had several nurses and mid-wives that had their eyes on us the whole time. It really made things easier knowing that.

While in the hospital we were learning how to take care of Jackson. It was trying at best. I had several moments of "Oh, that is my kid crying". I have probably said this a million times already, but there is no reading material that helps you understand the commitment to having a baby. Before Autumn went in labor, I thought we were going to be great parents, instantly. It has been amazing and frustrating and Jackson is only 60 hours old. Cant wait to see where today takes us in this journey.

As I was saying, we got to bring Jackson home to Maggie. My mother and Grandma were kind enough to help us out with her. If you know Autumn and I, you probably know how important Maggie (our dog) is to us. We have talked about this coming home moment for about 6 months now. We wondered how Maggie would accept or not accept Jackson. Maggie came through. She smelled him for about 1 minute straight, and that gave him a bunch of licks on his hands. A couple of hours later, Autumn was sitting with Jackson on the floor and Maggie layed her head on Jackson's stomach like she would do to us. That was awesome.

Last night was the best so far. Jackson is eating wonderfully and Autumn's boobs, I mean milk, has arrived. Autumn is feeding, Dad is changing diapers and putting him down to sleep. He gets a little fussy sleeping in his crib at night, but nothing we cant handle. I feel lucky to get the sleep we have gotten so far, but i am still tired

we have a ton of pictures already. I will try to get Autumn to update her Flickr account in case you want to see more.

Jackson is here

First of all, my wife is amazing. She brought our son into this world with amazing strength. Jackson and I are the luckiest guys in this world.

Jackson Wheeler Farrara entered this world at 9:25 pm. He weighs 8 pounds and 11 ounces and he has huge muscles. He has been responding great to his new world. He is about to spend his first night outside of his moms womb. He is sucking his fingers. He is beautiful.

Pictures to come tomorrow.

Baby is near

Autumn is tired, but we should be pushing soon. We have been here long enough to see our midwife and rn leave on their shift. Getting excited.

Epidural is in

Autumn fought the labors of pain for 14.5 hours. We danced, walked, sat on a birthing ball and cried. She has been and continues to be so strong. Right now we are enjoying the calm before our son arrives. They are planning on breaking the bag of waters soon which will increase the frequency of contractions, and the intensity.

I would like to say that he will arrive In the next couple of hours, but we are just enjoying this time. 8 cm dialated and the countdown is on.

In the hospital

Autumn woke up about 2 am this morning with some light contractions. She was able to fall back asleep. At 5am she got up and took a shower to ease the strengthening contractions. By 8:30, we were at the hospital and now we are playing the waiting game.

Currently, she is dialated to 4 cm. She is doing great, and we are ready to welcome our son.

The Countdown is on....

We are getting ready for the big plunge. Autumn is feeling great, but has had some hard days these past couple of weeks. Are walks are getting longer and more frequent. Anyone know of any household remedies to make a baby come out? The baby is due on June 25th, but we are not so sure we are going to hit that date.

If you have not heard, we are naming our son Jackson Wheeler Farrara. My favorite name was Rocco, but that got vetoed quickly. The first name came down to Hudson and Jackson, even though Autumn has tried to throw in some wrenches the past couple of weeks. All of sudden Landon and Dawson have become a possibility. I dont think we will be changing names now, but you never know what can happen. Wheeler is my grandparents last name and my mother's maiden name. We wanted to honor my grandma and grandpa for everything they have done for the family and I think it is a name the whole family can be proud of. Farrara is just cool.

We have been preparing the nursery for the past 5 months and it is looking pretty cool. The theme is surfer. We found some cool frames made of old boat and dock wood. It is more ocean front theme than direct surfer, but we are still looking for the 9 foot woodie surfboard. Along with the nursery, we have been trying to delete as many items off of the honey-do list as possible so we can focus on Jackson when he arrives. The bags are also packed for the spontaneous journey to the hospital.

Our friends Andy and Jamie were able to take home their baby from the hospital after 10 weeks of her being there. She was originally due a week after Jackson. She is doing really good.

Once we hit the hospital, I will keep everyone updated.