He's here!

Quick update with pictures to follow. Our little Monkey, formerly known as Barack has made it.
Born May 28th, 2009 at 5:19 pm, and weighing in at 6 lbs 9 oz with the length of 20 1/2 inches, Elias Emerson Flora has made his way into the world. Mama, Daddy, and little monkey boy are doing well. We will head home from the fancy hospital this weekend and will sort through some pictures for all to see as well as our birth story.

A final bump shot

Barack is expected any day now. Bags are packed and we are all ready to go--except for the baby that is. We don't blame him. It's warm, dark, and snug in there. You don't have to work for your food, get rocked to sleep frequently, and you always have your Mama near. But Mama has passed the energetic "nesting" and has hit total exhaustion. Rushes are growing stronger and more frequent every day. She can finally breathe again and eat full meals. She's hoping that this may be one of the last bump shots. Please keep us in our prayers as we hope for a good delivery day :)

We'll let you know when he arrives!

Graduation Day

Yesterday, Daddy graduated from the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. He will officially be earning his Juris Doctorate (JD) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) this August once he completes a couple of more MBA classes. But we got to celebrate and honor Daddy for four years of hard work and dedication as a “night student” or part-time student. He has worked very hard clerking at a law office by day and doing a dual degree at night, not to mention also participating in the International Law Review and Moot Court. It’s no wonder that some of his classmates bestowed the honor of representing his class in giving a speech for graduation. All of us in the barrel think he did a great job. See for yourself: Graduation Speech.

Prost Daddy!

B-Day Check List

Here's our Birth Day Check List:

1. Nursery: DONE. The crib is now put together and Barack's room is fully operational. Thanks to C and Gram for the hardware and software of the sleeping quarters.

2. Thank you Cards: DONE. Thank you to all who have helped us out with purchased gifts and lovely hand-me-downs. We appreciate all your kind gestures.

3. Sign up for Daycare: DONE. Once Mama goes back to work, Barack will be hangin' out during the day at a nice daycare right up the street so she can visit whenever she wants.

4. Pack for the Hospital: DONE. Well, MOSTLY done. The last minute items don't get packed until the end as it is. Plus Mama is still on the fence about the final coming home outfit. Not quite sure why that is such a hard decision...

5. Game plan for the hospital (birth plan): DONE. We get to meet our doula in a couple of weeks to go over our plan of a positive and healthy natural child birth.

6. Install car seats: Plan on doing over the weekend.

Now we just wait. This weekend we get to salute Daddy in his graduation for 4 long years of hard work and diligence as he will be earning a Juris Doctorate (law degree) and MBA. We also get to celebrate Mother's Day with the Flora clan. After that we just wait for Barack to make his appearance.

A peek at the nursery

Here's a little sneak-peek of Barack's new room. Everything is done outside of the crib. We are waiting for some replacement parts from the manufacturer. Tomorrow we get to visit the OB as Mama is now down to weekly visits. Time is getting closer...

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has sprung at the school house. We were blessed with a very lovely couple of days of warmer weather over the weekend. It feels that winter has really head his grip this year with cold, wet, and gray days. The two trees at the front of our school house have finally fully expressed themselves which means that Spring is officially here!

We also want to make a shout out to fellow babies that have sprung in the past two months including Baby EB, Baby NR, Baby RD, Baby JB, and very soon Baby McK. The anticipation is building as in about 6 weeks plus-or-minus, Barack should be with us and we are very excited to meet him. Here's a recent picture of Mama and Barack:

At our visit to the OB, we had another check in with the ultrasound technician and Barack is looking good. The pictures are not so clear this time, so we won't post them. Mama was able to see Barack practice breathing. He is head down, but he likes to sit off to the side and kick her right ribs. His heart rate was 135 bpm (very appropriate for a boy, the old wives say...) He's measuring on time or a little ahead (a-"head" if you base it off his large noggin filled with all those smarts he got from his parents no doubt). His estimated weight is 5 lb and 11 oz. (but the ultrasound can be off by up to 2 lbs at birth.) We are not quite sure were he's getting his weight from. He is expected to gain a 1/2 pound a week from this point until birth as Mama gains a pound a week. The nursery should be finished in about 2 weeks or so, so pictures will be posted then. We are waiting on some odds and ends as well as decorations.

Happy Spring everyone from the Barrel!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy turned 33 yesterday, so Mama took him on a trip to the Hofbrauhaus. Well, not the REAL one in Germany...but luck be have it, there's one outside of Cincinnati! Here's Daddy toasting with our good friend P.K. as they taste all the lovely beers offered by the brewery. We had a very fun time, and good beer was enjoyed by all... Prost!

In other news, the nursery is slowly taking shape. As we went to Cincinnati this weekend, Mama got to stop in at one of her favorite stores --IKEA. It's the closest one to us, so it was quite the treat. We were able to pick up some goods for Barack including a new rocking chair!