One Month Already?!

We can't believe our big guy is already one month old. He is eating a lot and at his last check up he weighted 10 pounds, eight ounces... big boy!

He just loves to kick his feet...

 He is grinning and smiling a lot...

and recognizing and responding to faces...

and cooing and telling us stories in the forms of "agoo"s and "gaahh"s

Whew, all that activity really wears a big guy out. 

Uh Oh!

Look who's on the move already...

Thatcher James, 1 month old
I think we're in trouble.

Happy New Year!

After all the excitement and busyness of Christmas this year, we decided that for New Year's we would just stay in and celebrate as a family. Can't believe our little guy has been around for two years already ;)

 Happy New Year Baby Boy!

Baby's First Christmas

We celebrated Thatcher's first Christmas this year. First we spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa Claeys' house on Christmas Eve.

Then we celebrated with the Brunsman family at Uncle Karl's house.

Then Christmas morning we traveled up to Bad Axe to celebrate with the Baird's.

This was Great Grandpa Baird's first time meeting Thatcher. A four generations picture was certainly in order.

We had such a good time over the holidays. It was fun introducing Thatcher to all his extended family and friends. We could not have asked for a better Christmas present this year. We truly feel blessed.

The Official Announcement

Happy Birthday Thatcher! December 12th, 2011

Baby Baird's Due Date: 12/11/11

Thatcher's Birthday: 12/12/11

Here's how it happened...

Much of our pregnancy with Thatcher was uncertain. We were diagnosed with a placenta previa at 18 weeks, which meant there was a chance we might not make it to full term. At 24 weeks the previa resolved and we moved tentatively right along through the second and third trimesters. As we progressed and started getting near the end the baby started positioning himself very low and the doctor said she would be surprised if he didn't show up early. At our last prenatal visit with Dr. Abessinio she said we would be inducing labor if I progressed much past the baby's due date. So she scheduled an induction for Monday December 12th. 

The afternoon before we were scheduled to go in for our induction we got a call from the doctor's office saying that she had a family emergency and we would have to cancel the scheduled induction for tomorrow. We were disappointed but resolved ourselves to the fact that it was meant to be, everything else had worked itself out up until now and baby would come when it wanted to come. About an hour after we received that call (of course), the contractions started coming and slowly progressed. At one in the morning we decided it was time to head to the hospital. Luckily we were relieved to find out that our doctor's sister would be covering for her and met us at the hospital. 

Our timely little guy made his appearance at 1:34 in the afternoon on Monday December 12th, weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long. We learned that as much as we try to plan, some things are out of our control and sometimes we just need to trust that everything will happen exactly the way that it is supposed to. Looking back now, we wouldn't have changed a thing. 

Thatcher James

First Diaper Change

Going home!

Welcome to Baird Hugs!

Well, we've finally decided to start a blog. We figured it was the best way to share our stories, pictures of our growing family, and our adventures with everyone who cares to follow us.

For those of you who already know us: hi! For those of you who don't, let's get reacquainted... Here's what you may have missed:

My name is Erin. I grew up here in Fraser, graduated from Fraser High School, have my bachelors in Psychology from Wayne State University, and my masters in Physician Assistant Studies from Detroit Mercy. I currently work at Beaumont Grosse Pointe Hospital in General Surgery.

In 2007 I met a boy from Bad Axe named James. He moved down to the area to pursue music after a brief stint at Central. He has played in many local bands, most notably in Search the City, with whom he toured the country and released two full length albums. One such band brought him to Fraser where we met through my brother, Adam, in 2007. We were married in October of 2010, recently purchased our first home here in Fraser, and just this past December we welcomed our son, Thatcher James.

This past month we have seen first hand, through the birth of our son, just how fast time moves. We wanted to start this blog to document his growth and our experiences and adventures as a family and share them with all of you. So welcome, and enjoy some big ol' Baird Hugs!