Social Butterfly

We're starting to get a little social... we've had a few visitors. Frankly, Evan is quite the hit!!! Our pals Kevin, Roberta and Shannon stopped by. Here we see Kevin holding Evan and looking like quite the natural.



We've noticed how well behaved Evan has been when people come over. No complaints about that. He saves all his screaming for us! Below is Evan with Gary's babysitter... yes... GARY'S babysitter, Sharon, who now get's to hold the next generation. Cousin Peggy also came by. Peggy was so sweet recalling the days when her kids were born. It was great seeing her and getting to spend time with two women who have known Gary from the beginning.



Of course Gary gets a little embarassed because they know all the fun stories of his younger days. Carrie thinks it's funny and educational :)

Lastly, not to let you think that all we do is sit back and let the world come to us... with the weather finally breaking we got out for our first walk around the neighborhood. We loved going for a walk, seeing our neigborhood at a slower pace and getting a little fresh air. Evan slept through the whole thing.

Getting Used To Life At Home

We haven't blogged in a while... Evan came home on Tuesday and we've been getting our rhythm down. We seem to be doing alright. Not bad for a couple a newbie parents!

Now that we're back online with you we can share some of latest news.

Evan had his first bath at home yesterday! Mommy and daddy shared the duties as all hands were definitely on deck for the first attempt during this momentous occasion. As you can see Evan was VERY excited to be taking part.


We managed to get him clean, not have him swallow any water and didn't get any shampoo in his eyes. All In all a good time was had by most.

Later that day we had some visitors. Uncle Warren, Aunt Chelle and cousin Erik came for a visit to meet the newest member of the Kase family.
















Warren and Chelle seemed pleased to meet him and couldn't take their eyes off of him. Who could blame them. Erik determined that his new cousin was, in his words... "awesome!" Again, no argument here. We even posed for a portrait of all the Kase men... Gary, Evan, Erik and Warren.

The other Kases don't live far away so we're hoping that we all get to see each other often. Gary's been an Uncle for 10 years now. Now it's Warren's turn. So we all look forward to years of fun gatherings!!!

We're Home Safe and Sound

As you can see we got Evan and Carrie all loaded up to go home yesterday. Gary felt like a chauffeur with some very precious cargo. We even put on the hazard lights and Gary started exclaiming, "Out of the Way! Coming Through!"... Until Carrie told him to stop.

On the way home we stopped at the drive through for some lunch to take home with us. Apparently Carrie was tired of hospital food so it was KFC for us! Mmm, healthy.

When we arrived at the house there was a box waiting for us on the front step. Flowers for Carrie. Lovely roses. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Nelson (Dick and Jeannie).

Wednesday was spent getting mom and baby settled into our home. We have to admit that we were a little taken aback by the entire situation. We were finally parents and they actually let us go home with a little tiny baby, no license required. Fascinating.

We made it through our first day with no major problems or surprises. Feedings, diaper changes and not much sleep. Not too bad.

Today (Thursday) we spent our first full day together as a family. Carrie will take off a few months or so to get Evan off to a healthy start. Besides, daycare won't take anyone before 8 weeks old. Gary is lucky enough to have family leave (it's the law!) so he'll be able to help around the house for a while. We haven't decided for how long though. Maybe until Carrie has had enough of his "help". He did make bacon, eggs and toast today so at least we won't starve.

Lastly, we got another package delivered today and a few cards. Not to count anyone out but it was very sweet of Sharon and Tony to send a card... Sharon was Gary's babysitter! The package was from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. Among the items in the gift from the Nelsons were a few new pals to keep Evan Joseph company...

Can you pick Evan out of the crowd?

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor...

This is the first video of Evan Joseph Kase. This video was actually taken before the lovely family portrait in the previous post. It just took Gary a little time to get it posted because of an uploading problem with the website.

Evan was all of 20 minutes old or so in this clip. Daddy was hanging out with him while the doctors were taking care of mommy.

I'm sure that this sort of behavior WILL NOT be indicative of what it will be like when Carrie and Evan get home.

We're a Trio!

Well the big day finally arrived.
04-04-2008!

(Gary is writing this since Carrie will be spending the weekend at the hospital - we'll hear from her in the near future.)

Spoiler alert... as you can see from the picture above everything turned out well.

We showed up Friday at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital at 3:00 in the afternoon and started the preparations for our moment of truth. Carrie received her gown and Gary got his scrubs. The staff was excellent and filled us in on how and when things would happen. They took Carrie in to get prepped for her surgery a little before 5:00. Fifteen minutes later they came and got Gary who was waiting back in the room.

Gary got to the operating room and the staff was busy taking care of Carrie. Two doctors, a couple of nurses and the Anesthesiologist. Gary took his place next to Carrie behind the curtain that blocked our view of all of the action. The staff did their work, chatted about Chinese restaurants and made sure Carrie was doing well... not in that order!

When the time came, they asked Gary if he wanted to see the birth. He did! Little by little the baby came out with the help of the doctors. Carrie was doing a GREAT job. Before we knew it the baby was out and into the hands of the nurses who wrapped him in a nice warm blankie. Carrie had to spend some time in the opperating room so Gary went with the baby to get cleaned up. Cleaning up the baby... not Gary.

About an hour or so later after Carrie spent some time in the recovery room the Kase family was together for the fiirst time. We're all SO happy!!! This is an amazing experience for us. Our son is absolutely beautiful!!! The most beautiful baby EVER! And since this is our big day no one is allowed to argue with this fact. :)

This little boy has only been around a few hours at this point but please, let us introduce you to him... he is 20 inches long and weighs in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces... our little bruiser!

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you...

EVAN JOSEPH...

The countdown...

It's interesting the talents you discover about yourself or the one you love! As you can see, we no longer need end tables. Or coasters for that matter.

We found out this week that we won't be delivering our son in the time honored 30 hour marathon that so many parents to be get to experience. Nope, it a scheduled affair for us.

Friday, April 4th will be the day!!! We're very excited and ready to start our life as a trio. Carrie and the baby (as yet unnamed) will spend the weekend at the hospital and Gary will pick them up on Monday the 7th and bring everybody home.

Stay tuned for pictures of the new little bundle of JOY!!!