mother and daughter

Carey and Maggie are finding their groove together. It takes hard work and coordination but each of them are infinitely patient with the process and now reaping the rewards of their wonderful relationship.

Animation

Maggie displays a wide range of facial expressions which provide us with endless entertainment. These few pics were shot in series while she took a nap in the warmth of the sun. I'm not sure what she was dreaming about but clearly she was having a good time...and so was I.

Home for the Holidays

Tuesday morning Maggie underwent her last set of labs at MMC and passed with flying colors. What started off as a home birth and became a marathon ending with a cesarean under general anesthesia (with high levels of white blood cells and c-reactive proteins to boot) was finally over. Without a moment to lose we went home to start our life as a normal family. We spent the holidays showing her off to all our family who had yet to meet her.

Her Soule cousins Ezra, Calvin and Adelaide had been waiting anxiously for her arrival and wasted not a moment to get their chance to see her. Presents were passed around by the kids and the house was filled with fun and good cheer.

Of course, we had to take the opportunity to have a cheesy holiday photo shoot. Christmas hat, onesie and socks all stuffed in a holiday stocking made for good times for almost everyone. She wasn't too impressed but tolerated our behavior...another example of her excellent personality.

And the proud papa was visited by his friends Romeo & Julieta and Don Julio. Three gifts by three different people...does everyone have my number? We all know what the real Christmas gift was this year and that's the one we rejoiced in celebrating. Happy Holidays.

Baby World

Life in the maternity ward is surreal. We have a brand new baby to love, teach and learn from but we aren't allowed any sleep. Time on the clock has become irrelevant. Day, night, dark, light...it's all the same. It's like Vegas with babies. People come in and out of our room at all hours and bring pokes, prods and various measuring devices along with sage advice and generous help. It's hard not to love them but we are anxious to get home.

No matter how difficult lack of privacy gets we are always awed by little Maggie. She is just gorgeous and has a very adorable personality. She's a strong, curious, alert, quick learning heart-breaker. I'm in trouble, this little girl has me wrapped around her little finger already.

It was a long, hard road to get here but in the end we have a beautiful gift of life and everyone is happy and healthy. Carey's sister, Gina, was our doula and assisted us tremendously throughout the laboring process. Her words to Carey were those only an experienced mom and sister could give. Here she is spending some QT with Maggie:

We received, and continue to receive, so much love and support from all of you. Thank you all so much for everything you've done, we couldn't have done this without you. Barring any red flags in the morning we are scheduled to go home on Tuesday.

Ta-Daaaaaaahhh!!!!!

Meet Margaret Lily Soule. Born on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 5:30pm. 8lbs 8ozs, 21" long.

My two warriors. They experienced 88 hours of labor before meeting and are now inseparable. We are so proud and blessed to finally have Maggie in our lives. Thank you all for your love and support.

Laboring

55 hours and counting. Home birthing can be a slow and patient process. Carey is doing GREAT and everything is fine. No concerns, zero problems, just a kid not quite yet ready to leave mama.

Benny lava

I know a lot of you are anxious for information and updates. Patience, grasshopper. In the meantime, entertain yourself with the world's greatest dance video. Enjoy:

knitting

Carey has been hard at work knitting the little one a kicking sack to wear. It might as well be called a kicking bag with all the limb movement lately. Unfortunately, my request to call the baby Chucknorris (all one word) has long since been declined. We'll see who laughs last!

Reflexology

Waiting. Patiently. Thinking of ideas. I'm rubbing Carey's feet. Julie's rubbing Carey's feet. Molly's rubbing Carey's feet. Carey's rubbing her own feet. Waiting.

At least the Bruins are in FIRST place! It's a good winter to have free cable.

Inducing Labor

I can't stand it. I'm ready for this kid to pop so I'm taking matters into my own hands. Red for positive, black for negative. Now, where do these attach again? Hey, get back here...

Baby Quilt

The much awaited baby quilt, lovingly sewn together by Carey's mom, is finished! The individual squares drawn by many friends and family members are absolutely beautiful and go together very well. It's a real work of art.

We thank everyone who filled in a square with colorful drawings and good wishes. For those of you who didn't get a chance to draw in a square there are a few blanks waiting for you.

PBR

Well over ten years ago the blue ribbon beer attained cult status among west branch raft guides and it hasn't slowed down since. It seemed only natural when the same guides, now entrenched in society, decided to celebrate literature they would call themselves the Portland Book Readers. We met this afternoon to discuss The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

A gorgeously illustrated book, each page is filled with amazing drawings that tell the tale of an immigrant who leaves his family and an oppressive homeland in search of a better life. Through many trials and experiences he learns to understand the foreign culture. He befriends other immigrants (who have their own stories) and eventually earns enough money to send for his wife and daughter. There isn't a single word on any page.

We all enjoyed the book immensely. For more about the author and his other projects visit Shaun Tan.



Jean Bean perusing the book while Mama knits up a storm in the background.

Our excellent hostess Foo.







PBR laureate P. Hutchings Brown.

belly cast

So, what do we do while we wait in anticipation of the big day? Why, make a belly cast of course! We completely underestimated the messiness of the procedure and spent as much time cleaning up afterward as we did actually making it. The cast is still a work in progress and will likely get some modge-podge applied to fair it out a little smoother. Isn't it beautiful?

...and always we are thinking positive thoughts.

Final Preparations

Yes, we are getting very close and expect the little one to be joining us soon. One week left, officially, and conditions are changing. Carey is becoming more uncomfortable with each passing day and has completely stopped working. Her last massage was given on Monday and there will be no more for a few months. Now it is time to really relax and get ready for the new member of the family. Yay!!!

Such a cute little basket of soft animals and other kid safe products that will surely be shoved into their mouth.

The pool is all set up and the changing table is loaded with every piece of waste management product ever invented.












This beautiful necklace was strung together using the pieces everyone brought to Carey's blessing way. Each piece reflects the personality and mojo of the giver perfectly and will be hung near the birthing pool.

And in between the last of the preparations...REST!!! Time to put all of life on hold and give our baby 100% of our time and attention. Except when the Bruins are on, of course.

The Shower

Thanks to Gina, Michael and Julie we celebrated the coming of our child BIG TIME with a mid-October shower in Standish. Both sides of the family were there. Since Carey and I are heathens with our own little corner of hell waiting for us because we aren't married most of the family had never met each other.

Lots of friends, lots of family, lots of food and drink, lots of gifts and lots of fun. We got spoiled by everyone's generosity and love for our emerging family. It was incredible.

Two mama's to be Amanda and Carey. You can see Amanda's newest addition to the Soule family, Harper Jude, on her site soulemama

Our lovely hostess having a grand time during our gift opening. That's me in the background, with my hand on my junk.

There was some fierce competition in the belly contest.

We had a really wonderful time and were so glad to have everybody together in one spot. It was very special to receive so much love from all the people we are closest to. Not to mention the booty.

The Fall

The official due date was looming and looking large, like Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. There was a lot to do. First on the list of items to check off was hauling the boat, but not before one final and glorious sail.

Joining me for the final glide through Casco Bay were seasoned veterans Willie and Morgan Baxter.

We had plenty of wind but I don't recall reducing sail at any point, even after burying the rail. It won't be long before Willie is outpacing both of us and patiently waiting for us old folks to catch up.

Vittoria was hauled the next day and went on the hard without any problems, which is a bit unlike her. She doesn't like to be put away any more than we like doing it. Our season is too short and the end is always a bummer.

The next week we started our Birthing from Within class, offered at 101 state street in Portland by Birthroots. The women who teach the class are excellent and all named Leah. Carey and I learned a lot about ourselves, each other, and what kind of birth experience we really wanted to have. We also learned great buzz words which have become part of our everyday lexicon, for example: Carey, when I do THIS is it oxytosin inducing or adrenalin inducing??? They covered a wide range of topics beyond basic birthing procedure including insight exercises and breast feeding. My personal favorite was a lesson in how best to clean up after a poop-plosion. Now that's practical! Seriously, I would recommend this class to any first time parents.

The Summer

As the pregnancy progressed we began taking on new perspectives about our life. Things were really sinking in, even through my thick skull. Seeing things from an entirely new point of view was refreshing, scary and inspiring. With a whole new ball game in front of us we had a lot to learn, and a summer to enjoy. We took to the water again and cruised to Penobscot Bay:

We saw many beautiful stretches of water and peaceful anchorages, like this one in the White Islands off Vinylhaven where we could never get our anchor to set properly but spent the night anyway.

And we met up with an old friend, Dietter, another former raft guide, and spent a little time with him, his wife Jen and kids Ollie and Zeke. These guys are so much fun, and the safety of our boat was improved by Ollie who apparently doesn't approve of dangerously open gates.

We cruised the first half of the trip by ourselves, took a break in the middle to go to cousin Tom and Shauna's wedding, and then returned to the boat to sail home with Lance, Dave and Foo. This was officially documented as Gracie & Vittoria's Sail to Nowhere. The crew:

The Beginning

We created this blog to share photos and events of our life with family and friends who, believe it or not, may actually be interested in it. With the impending arrival of 'the human' any day we are, to say the least, more than anxious to begin our new adventure as a family. It all started about 10 months ago:

Deep in the heart of a long and snowy Maine winter and just as I returned home from a week long trek around Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park with four of my smelly male friends Carey and I celebrated Valentine's Day in the usual manner. We didn't realize it then but this would prove to be our first act as a family.

It took a while to notice there were now three of us. After several pregnancy tests and two straight days of crying we really warmed up to the idea of being parents. Surely, we would have the coolest kid around. Sailing season was now upon us and we took the little one on their first multi-day:

An easy and relaxing summer cruise around our home

waters of Casco Bay. Short walks around Jewell Island and

Potts Harbor, warm sun, pea soup fog, exciting sailing, the Audubon society herons of Back Cove and taking our dinghy through reversing falls all made for an enjoyable and memorable long weekend. The trip coincided with Carey's birthday. Having been born on the July 4th, 1976 bi-centennial, Carey has the easiest birthday in the world to remember. Thank god.

We spent the weekend cruising with our friends Lance and Christie who, coincidentally, happen to also be pregnant and due on the exact same day as us, December 9.

We were on the road to parenting but still had a long pregnancy ahead of us.