All Systems Go

Had our first doctor visit today after the hospital and got the a-ok; all his bits are in working order. It turns out that our doctor's office is so close to us that it takes longer to put Luke in the car seat than to just walk the 1 block to the office.

Our awesome chiropractor also stopped by the house to see the baby and relieve all of Natalie's sore back muscles.
Another picture of Luke for the family.
(By the way, this is the point where this blog changes focus from Natalie and Dave to Luke, Luke, and Luke with many postings, pictures, and videos of Luke doing mundane things that are exciting to us. Just a warning.)

Video: Luke's First Day and a Half

Turn up the volume, grab some tissues, and hit the play button...



This was my favorite video to make so far; let us know what you think.

Luke William

We welcomed Luke William into the world today!!

7.1 lbs
21 inches
12:01 am 10/10/07

Natalie was incredible; we labored at home for about 16 hours on our own, headed to the hospital at 8pm, and we were holding him in our arms 4 hours later. We had to cancel Natalie's birthday get together, but she received the best birthday gift ever with handsome little Luke; however, he wanted his own birthday and waited until 1 minute after Natalie's to be born =) Nat's mom and aunt flew in from Seattle just in time for the delivery, and my family was there to enjoy our new son with us as well. It all went very well and we now have our happy healthy boy home with us. The few times he cries it's about as loud as a whisper so we'll enjoy that while it lasts.

Tri-Party Day

We like getting in as many parties as we can each day -- especially when they're all at different times so we can enjoy all of them without double-booking. Today's parties worked out well with a 10am wedding shower, a 2pm company family picnic, and a 6pm housewarming party. We even fit in a pumpkin patch in between.

Here's some pics of the company party; they had everything, rock wall, water-balloon toss, raffle, bbq, 3-legged race, basketball toss, horseshoes, etc. It was fun to get to know everyone better and meet the families. This place even had a corn maze (or a maize maze?) that we'll definitely have to come back to.













Natalie picking pumpkins...Our cat tries to attack Natalie's foot through the glass coffee table. By the way, does anyone want a really cool cat? We're not sure what to do with her when the baby comes along.

Name Vote Results

Thank you for taking the time to participate in our online poll to name our son. 71 votes were cast and the winner is... "Luke"! We may or may not take this into consideration when we actually name our son, but it was fun to see what you think. The final decision is a secret until he's born...

Dave's New Gig

The office driveway:Two weeks into my job at Reliant and it's going very well. I'm a "Systems Engineer & Program Manager" in product development. Here's a few pictures of some people you may recognize who've been treated with our product:
I don't know who the marketing girls are, but they seem to be doing a good job at getting our name out there. We make the industry leading laser skin-resurfacing product called Fraxel. It's the safest, quickest, and most effective way to get rid of acne scars, age spots, malasma, and wrinkles. You should all go get a treatment. =)

Natalie off to work for her last week

Only 1 more week of work for Natalie! Then 2 weeks of rest until the due date. She's still landing big accounts even though she's supposed to be winding down.

Carmel Day 2: Reti(red) in Carmel

Weekdays are a great time to see Carmel: we always got our parking spot right next to the beach, 1/2 price B&B's, and no need for reservations anywhere. The pic below shows where we started our days each morning. Good spot for eating breakfast, reading, praying, and people, dog, and wave watching.Our first B&B was lame -- loud, old, dirty, and bright lights outside that shined in all night. So the next morning we called this magic Carmel super hotel helper person (who we later found out was "Resort 2 Me" (800) 757-5646); she was great and set us up with our own cottage at a much better B&B at an amazing price. Call them first if you're going to Carmel, they've got inside info on all the deals in town. We felt like we were staying in Marie Antionette's Versailles room:
We took about 50 pictures of this sunset, difficult to choose just one to post, but here it goes...
After sunset we headed to dinner at the Grill restaurant. I needed some filet mignon.
Notice my reference to The ONE Campaign in the title of this post, I'm so witty.

Carmel Day 1: Last Getaway

Our weekends will be filled up pretty soon so we headed down the coast for one last getaway.

Stopped by a friend's nursery on the way to Carmel. His new business is going well -- and he's even running for Trustee, vote McShane! (if you live in Hartnell) Strolling along the beach, with the 10th hole at Pebble Beach golf course in the background.
Even the gas station signs look nice in Carmel.
Great sunset after dinner at the Hog's Breath. Looks like Natalie ate a little too much...

Employed

I'll be working for a great medical device company after a couple weeks of rest and relaxation (i.e. chores). More details later...