Landon's 1st Birthday

Lisa and Jason's son, Landon, turned one on Sunday. Since he and Shaye will be play buddies, she wanted to go to his party. We put her in her party dress and headed out to the pool in Irvine. It was a fun time and thoroughly enjoyed the mass destruction Landon caused on his birthday cake. It was impressive!

Bath Time!

Shaye likes being in the warm bath. She is so adorable in the tub and is growing fast! She weighed in at 9 pounds today. I call her the Hungary Hippo!

Four Week Milestone

Shaye is 4 weeks old today and I'm hoping that things will start getting slightly easier. The first couple weeks were tough. The combination of not being able to leave the house due to her demanding feeding/sleeping schedule, feeding problems and obviously a lot less sleep was rough on both of us but especially me. I was on my own as Ryan went back to work right away and I was the only one that could do the feedings anyway. During week 3, it was determined that my milk supply is low due to my thyroid issues (that have been treated) so I stopped nursing. I am still pumping 5 times a day but supplementing significantly with formula. Although I planned to solely breastfeed, the best I can do is supply her with some of my milk, and we have to focus on a well fed, happy, loved baby. So, I am no longer a nursing, pumping, bottle feeding machine. We have Shaye on a good schedule but we have to be well disciplined to make sure she eats, plays and sleeps at increments all day long. She is doing well with it and this will help her to gradually sleep longer at night and know what to expect. I am finally able to get out with Shaye to run an errand or two and have started going on walks each day. This has me feeling more refreshed and in touch with the world. Although it's tough raising a newborn, Ryan and I laugh at her every day. She has the funniest expressions and makes us smile. We can't wait to see how she grows and progresses.

4 Generations

We took some generational pictures while Grandpa Netro was in town for Kara's wedding. Here's Shaye with me, my mother and her father as well as Shaye with me, my father and his father. Couldn't be more special!

They Said 'I Do'!

Kara's wedding was the event of the year. And it lived up to all of our excitement. She is no longer a Netro, but has taken the name Bowdish as Matt's wife. We are thrilled for both of them.

The weekend started on Thursday with the arrival of my family from Ohio. Grandpa Netro, Uncle Mark and my cousin Rob and his wife, Sarah, got to meet Shaye. Rob and Sarah stayed with us and were great guests. That evening was the the rehearsal at The Hacienda followed by dinner at El Ranchito in Newport Beach. This was a reunion of the wedding party and out of town guests, many of which I had not seen in ages. The highlight was getting to see our "family" that flew in from Spain - Mati, Pepe and Andres. They stopped by our house to see the baby on Friday and thus, the picture below.

On Friday night, we went over to my parents' and enjoyed dinner with the Ohio Netro clan. It was great to visit with them.


The wedding was on Saturday. As the Matron of Honor, I was involved in hair and make-up along with the rest of the girls during the afternoon. We left to take pictures at the Santa Ana train station. I can't wait to see the pictures - they should be quite artsy! Then, the whirlwind wedding. The Hacienda was a great venue - Spanish themed which was really beautiful. The ceremony was lovely and very emotional. The reception was another reunion of many faces that we had not seen in so long so it was great to catch up with out of town family and friends. I sucessfully executed the Matron of Honor speech and my dad gave a great speech as well. His dance with Kara was great - he pulled off the waltz! Ryan and I really enjoyed being out together without the baby since I had not really left the house in weeks. She was in good care with Lisa's mother. Kara and Matt are finally married! Here's some of my favorite shots from the photographer (many more pictures are on the link at the top right).





On Sunday, my parents held brunch which was super nice. It was great to get together with some of the folks we didn't get to catch up with at the wedding under a much more casual environment. My mom did a great job coordinating the brunch.





Kara and Matt left for Anguilla that night for their honeymoon. As I write this, they are heading back to Colorado (after a fabulous week in the Caribbean) to continue their life there, this time as man and wife. We wish them all the best!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Although our schedule with the baby was hectic and tiring, we wanted to make sure Mom's birthday was special this year in the midst of Kara's upcoming wedding and all the baby craziness. So, we invited my parents over for dinner along with Grandpa and Rick and Joyce. It was such a nice evening - a simple BBQ dinner with Joyce's carrot cake dessert as the star. We all enjoyed the evening, although I am fairly confident Shaye took a bit of the spotlight.

Welcome to the World, Shaye!

Kudos to the 5 out of 12 of you that took my survey guessing the baby's weight. The final number came in at 6 pounds, 3 ounces, so I'm giving it to those that voted for 6 pounds, 3 ounces. Nice work!

Shaye Ann Flower politely waited for her arrival during the scheduled C-section on Tuesday, September 22nd at 12 noon. It was a flawless surgery, although we had to wait for the doctor who arrived 45 minutes late. Ryan was there holding my hand and I was surprised at how much I could feel (pressure) during the surgery. 15 minutes in, Ryan peeked over the curtain to watch them pull her out of me. We both cried. Ryan was able to watch them wash her up and went with her to get the APGAR tests (she scored 9's across the board) while I was sown up. After seeing Shaye for the first time, I noticed that her face resembles Ryan and she was so small. The whole procedure was about 40 minutes. My doctor and the assisting doctor are pros.




The experience at Hoag Hospital was great. The nurses took such great care of me and helped us with baby care. It was tough to get up and walk the first night (I passed out after standing up) but by day two I walked to the bathroom and on day 3 I made it around the halls. The nights were pretty sleepless as the baby would make her way out of the swaddle and cry a lot. We made it through and on Friday, we were off to welcome her home.


Thanks to all our hospital visitors including Grandpa Wharton, my parents - Bill & Christy, Kara Netro, Shawn, Brianna & Hailee Flower, Rick & Joyce Flower, Helen (Nana) Anderson, and Lisa & Jason Joseph. Thanks to Grandma Barbara for the beautiful flowers.