An Honorary Michigander

Well, we're back from Michigan.

The trip was a blast. We had a great time seeing friends and family. Molly got to meet her great-grandparents, great aunts and uncle.

Here's Molly with her great-grandfather Pa and great-grandmother Ceelee. In addition to meeting her great-grandparents, Molly also was able to hear stories about her name-sake, her great-grandmother's sister Mariel. While Molly may be a tad too young to remember these stories in the years to come, both my mom and I were able to capture them on our phones (technology is pretty impressive).

Four generations of Hoagland women (two by marriage, two by birth). By this point in the photo shoot Molly had had enough of looking at the camera. Apparently something on the floor was much more interesting.

We were also able to catch up with some friends from home. The above shot is from Dean and Tricia's house with their two little angels Owen (you can just see the tuff of blond hair behind Katie) and Sophie. It was great not only to see them, but also to talk with some people who have already made it through our current stage of parenthood and survived.

While visiting, we made sure to stop in at the local baby boutique, Sweet Pea. Owned by two friends of mine from high school, this is where we purchased Molly's first outfit back in November (we'd just found out we were having a girl)! We love the store and encourage anyone who may be passing through Northern Michigan to check it out.

Being that we were in the Great Lakes State, Molly also had her first experience with "swimming".

Here she is all decked out in her surfer-girl attire.

At first she was a little skeptical...

...but you can see from the smile on her face that she definitely liked it.

These shots are from her foray into West Grand Traverse Bay off my parents beach. Later on in our trip she went "swimming" again in Glen Lake at my grandparents house. So now she's been officially "baptized" in Michigan waters.

The trip also gave us a chance to remember why we both love Michigan and Traverse City in particular. The above picture was taken from my parents deck at about 9:30 - 10pm.

First flight

Yesterday was a big day for Molly. Not only was it her first time out of state, but it was also her fist time on an airplane! The day started at 4:15am when Molly decided we should get things going fifteen minutes befoe our alarm was supposed to go off (this actually turned out to be a really good thing as we were a little rushed by the time we got to the airport). From there we were all in uncharted territory as Molly had never flown before and neither of us had ever flown with an infant.

All in all the whole trip went off with nary a hitch. The first flight from DC to Detroit began only a few minutes after we boarded the plane (we were so late getting to the gate that the gate agent didn't think we were even on the flight) and just in time for Molly to eat. Lucky we had a bottle ready and were able to keep her relatively quiet. Molly's first experience with announcements from the flight deck was something to behold. All the sudden this random voice started saying things and Molly's face just lit up. During the whole announcement, Molly was just happy as a clam. Thankfully the plane took off soon afterwards and Molly went right to sleep. There wasn't a peep from her until we landed.

The second flight didn't start out as well. The main issue was the broken A/C on the plane. Let's just say Molly was not a fan. After a good ten to fifteen minutes of crying (thankfully no screaming) the plane took off and Molly was once again down for the count. So overall, out of a total of a seven-ish hour trip (including a three hour layover in Detroit), Molly was only really crying for about fifteen minutes. I'll take that any day.

We're all enjoying our time here in Travere City and will hopefully have pictures after we get back home.

Two Months

Molly just had her two month check-up. All in all she's doing great. Here are her stats:

• Length: 23 inches (75th percentile)
• Weight: 10 lbs (40th percentile)
• Head circumference: 15 inches (45th percentile)

So basically she's long and skinny. We're a little skeptical on the weight. She was 9 lbs, 10 oz at roughly 6 weeks. Also every other weighing has been on a digital scale; the most recent one was on a more traditional scale that may or may not be calibrated every time. The important thing though is she's still full of life and vigor.

Unfortunately the two month check-up also came with the dreaded, but necessary, shots. All-in-all Molly took it like a champ. There was a little bit a crying immediately afterwards, but she then calmed down long enough for us to get her home (and into the waiting arms of Grammie and Grandpa Poulin). With Grammie and Grandpa watching her we were able to search the city frantically for some infant acetaminophen (we got the non-recalled stuff, don't worry).

Within no time (the next day) she was back to her smiley self, just in time to wish Grandpa Poulin a happy Father's Day with her awesome shirt.

When I See You Smile

Well... Molly's smiling up a storm these days. It's still a challenge to catch on film (or should I say "digital memory"?), but we've got a few good shots. I've been curious about who she takes after, as she really doesn't obviously favor one of the other of us. For comparison...

Andy at approximately 6 weeks:


Katie at approximately 6 weeks:


Molly at 6 weeks:




And just because we couldn't resist... our preppy girl...

TEAM HOULI

I am asking for your support in my efforts to raise $1,000 for the Matthew W. Houlihan Foundation (http://houlihanfoundation.com/site.html).

I will be running the Falmouth Road Race in Falmouth, MA as part of TEAM HOULI this August. TEAM HOULI is made up of friends and family of Matthew "Houli" Houlihan, who died unexpectedly on October 3rd, 2000, just shy of his twentieth birthday. During the brief time I knew him, Houli was one of my closest friends at Hamilton College as well as a teammate on the crew team.

The Matthew W. Houlihan Foundation, a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, was created to keep Houli's memory alive and ensure other young adults who shared his love of life are able to enjoy a rewarding college experience. The Foundation awards two need-based scholarships a year: one of $20,000 to a graduating senior at the Tabor Academy (Houli's high school) and one of $1,000 to a senior at Hamilton College (Houli's alma mater).

The $20,000 scholarship awarded at Tabor's graduation is given in an amount of $5,000 over four years. This scholarship has allowed ten high school seniors a chance to pursue higher education at such institutions as George Washington University, Skidmore College, and Tufts University.

All donations are 100% tax deductible and can be made either online via PayPal at: http://houlifund.blogspot.com/ or via check made out to The Matthew W. Houlihan Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 903, Falmouth, MA 02541.

Thank you for your support. Every little bit helps.

1 Month Update

As promised, a more detailed Molly update:

At her 1-month appointment, Molly weighed in at 9lbs, 3ozs. This is really good news, as she gained just over 1lb in the 14 days since her last appointment. The doctor congratulated me on doing a great job!

This success was especially important, because Molly has developed quite the habit of sending at least part of her meal back to the "kitchen." I blame Andy for this unfortunate trait (apparently he had the same bad habit at Molly's age). I can only imagine how much she'd weigh if she kept all her food where it belongs.

Molly doesn't always make it easy for Mom and Dad to put her down to bed at night, but once she goes down, she's usually down for 4-6 hours on that first stretch. I was a little worried about this at first, because most of the books will tell you that this is NOT normal for a baby her age, but the pediatrician said her weight gain and general good health/vigor speaks for itself... essentially... enjoy it while it lasts!

She's starting to vocalize (other than screaming, of course)... and she's smiled at me a few times now. I'm not 100% sure it was intentional yet... but she's definitely more and more interested in engaging with us and the world around her.

As for Molly's parents... we're adjusting. The first two weeks in particular were hard on both of us, but particularly hard for me. Without going into gory details, between recovery from childbirth, raging hormones, a challenging breastfeeding start, and the realities of a peaceful world turned on its head, I was a bit of a wreck. Okay... I was a few cards short of a full deck. Luckily I had the help and support of Andy... my parents, his parents, and a few friends who stepped in to remind me that this adjustment is a major challenge for everyone... and what I was going through was normal. Things have improved quite a bit since that rough start. But I know we still have plenty of adjusting left to do.

Current feature tally:
Andy: Nose, ears, feet... hands?
Katie: Mouth, eyes (? appear to be heading towards hazel - my eye color - but remains to be seen for sure)
Wild cards: hair - currently strawberry blondish or light auburn... a little bit of curling behind the ears... hard to tell what it might become later on

A few pictures of Molly from this afternoon:

Having a cat

The Evidence:

The Culprit:

You don't look as innocent as you think you do kitty.

Just A Few Pictures

A more complete update to come after Molly's 1 month check-up next week. Hopefully.

It Takes A Village

So far this week we've only had to figure out one or two dinners. This is not because we've been so exhausted that we've skipped dinner. No, there's a much better explanation. On two occasions friends or neighbors have dropped off pre-cooked dinners for us. All we've needed to do is pop stuff in the microwave for a minute or two (the "reheat plate of food" option is magical) and poof! we have dinner.

First on the menu was flank steak, baked potatoes, bread, and green beans brought to us by our neighbors. We were able to easily make two meals out of this.

Next up is a summer herb chicken. This meal was cooked by one of our friends who is also a local chef. Needless to say it'll be much better than anything we could ever come up with. When our friend dropped this off she also picked up Harry for a few hours of greyhound time (she also has a greyhound). To say Harry was thrilled is like saying the surface of the sun is warm.

We are extremely thankful to everyone for all their help.

"Mom? Can I have some of the yummy steak? Please?"

"Pretty please?"

"Thanks Mom, you're the best!"

Despite what this looks like, Harry wasn't actually being vicious. I was able to capture this shot in the middle of Harry licking his lips. It's only up here 'cause I thought it was a funny picture.

Week One

Molly is a few hours away from being one week old. Over the past seven days she's come quite a ways as have we. As other parents know, you start to learn that 8 hours of sleep is no longer an option and a three - four hour stretch is a miracle. Thankfully Katie's family was able to be down here and ease our transition from well-rested individuals to parents of a newborn. Without their help I'm not sure where we'd be right now.

This was from when Molly was still at the hospital. She's already decided it's a good idea to hold Gramp's hand.

Molly has done a relatively good job of eating, sleeping, and pooping (I'll spare you the details on the many 'poopsplosions'). On the first issue, eating, she has probably exceeded all needs. We've been to the pediatrician a few times this week for various, non-serious reasons. At one of the visits the nurse told us they like to see newborns gain 1oz every day... Molly had gained 7oz in three days. The little girl can eat! While we're thrilled she's putting on weight like a champ, we're a little worried for the world's food supply when she gets older. You all might want to start buying stock in food companies now.

With the plethora of cameras, it's taken me until now to get some pictures of Katie and Molly leaving the hospital.


One of the bigger surprises has been Harry's reaction. Though he doesn't look like the most excited dog in these pics, he's been quite the trooper. Throughout the week he's preferred to be in the room with Molly - even when she's screaming her heart out - than elsewhere. Prior to Molly's birth, Harry wasn't the biggest fan of her room. If we were up there he might come check things out for 5 mins and then leave. Now he's in there almost constantly. It's obvious he understands she's part of the family.

My mom is happy to finally have a girl born into the family.

As you probably saw in Molly's first post, her eyes were pretty swollen in her first few days of life. Over the course of the week she's begun to open them more frequently. Right now they're blue; it'll be interesting to see what color they end up.

On the visitor front, Uncle Nate was able to make it down for a few days to see his new niece.

What a rough life.

Thankfully the weather has cooperated for the most part and we've been able to get Molly out of the house and into some fresh air for brief stretches of time. Thanks to the Poulins we were also able to use our grill for the first time in about two years.

Bath time! (Obviously she's thrilled)