Baby Brooks First days

Here are some of Brooks' first photos from the last few days. There is just too much we could say about these last 5 days so we are going to say it in pictures! Brooks told us he loves visitors (but call us first so you don't have to witness a stinky diaper!)

We are getting used to our new "normal" and are so grateful to our Amazing God for this little guy. My heart is so full (and yes, our eyes are so tired.)

Click HERE to see me! (Click on Slideshow on the Right hand corner)

James Brooks Bagwell is here!

Little did we know he'd be coming the next morning...


Daddy is wondering where all of the jet black hair came from....


And of course he had to have his "real hat" on before any visitors saw him!

James "Brooks" Bagwell
May 23, 2009
2:38pm
8.1lb, 21 inches
With a whopping head of black hair! (and a slight cone head)

We love him. We love little fingers and toes and a perfect little nose. We love being in the hospital and being taken care of and we love visitors! We are so amazed by this little guy. God is soo good! More to come....

The Braves, the weather, hamburgers, looking ahead....

Admittedly, I do get a little too excited about "events." I love to plan things, get people together, and entertain. I hate the day after though. I always have the post- party blues. So maybe this is why there is still no baby. This has certainly been the longest thing I have ever waited for and anticipated. Granted, Brad and I say we didn't really "acknowledge" this pregnancy until March - we've still known what was going on for nearly 10 months now ad secretly been dreaming of the day of our little guy's arrival. Brad reminded me yesterday that we have now been pregnant and married just as long as we were married and "free." And even though you can't fully plan for birth and the lifestyle that will come with having a child - you still anticipate it and wonder constantly about the miracle growing and the changes awaiting. These last few months we have spent countless hours reading and washing and organizing and moving and contemplating names and painting and rearranging and shopping and soaking up our sweet little time together. So I am thinking the baby and the stork have gotten together in the midst of our planning and decided that they didn't want me to have the "post-party" blues so they are just going to wait a little while longer.

Fine. Stay in there. Cook and turn. Give me some more heartburn and wedge your little head just far enough down to where I waddle like a duck around town but don't come out. It is Memorial Day weekend. My sister is graduating. I am supposed to be in a wedding this weekend. And I love Memorial Day weekend!!! I love hamburgers and a cold Corona. I am wishing now that I had planned a cookout for the Holiday weekend or maybe found some tickets to go see the Bravos play because planning for "Baby" on the calendar just didn't work. It makes me smile to even write that because I should have guessed that God would be teaching me a lesson this week. This is the ultimate way to teach me a little bit about control isn't it? Tell me I'm pregnant and then have me not accept this news until the baby is nearly grown.....have me not show for nearly 6 months just to reiterate my seeming sense of control and then just as things seem they would culminate - BAM - slow down the clock and have me wait hour by hour for a week for something I have no control over. Do I sound like I am going a little bit crazy? All the while have me cancel any plans to keep me busy this weekend just in case this baby does debut. This truly is the ultimate lesson.

So, how bout them Braves? Let's talk anything but about the plans of the baby. I love going downtown for a baseball game. I love to arrive late and then stay after to watch the fireworks. I always enjoy the conversation that comes about inning 4 as the stars come out above the Ted and the air gets a little cooler from a usually hot May day. I know you wouldn't believe it but this season Brad and I have thought nothing of the Braves until today. I am now going to focus on my home team for the weekend and not focus on this alien that keeps contorting my stomach. Oh, and can you believe this weather? Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be hot hot hot without a cloud in the sky.......the best for burger cooking in a back yard. I love a perfectly cooked hamburger with all the toppings. Mama and Dad used to take the 4 kids to Fuddruckers quite often and though in my young age I had a "beef" with beef I still loved to go and dress my chicken burger with all the pickles and tomatoes and sauces a growing girl could want. I learned last week that the reason Fuddruckers was so popular with the parents on a Monday night is because of the "KIDS EAT FREE" sign posted in the window. Smart. I have began to take note of these signs. Whether my chicken burger was paid for or not I loved this treat and to this day I love to dress my now burger just the way I like it! So who needs a cookout in the rain? Let's make a plan. There is no baby going on his 40th week of growth in my belly anyway so plenty of room for a hamburger or two. Soon I will have this weekend all planned up and have no need for a baby to come and entertain me for the weekend. (I'm really not getting antsy.)

But if I force myself to look at this little scenario in a different light then I am truly humbled. This week I have been massaged, treated to lunch, shopped, exercised, celebrated with my husband....I have had time to thoroughly clean and read and write and relax. I've visited with many friends and if I am really honest - I have enjoyed the quiet. I have enjoyed the lack of schedule and I feel so lucky to get to enjoy a few weeks of a growing belly without the pressure to be at work somewhere. My husband is amazing! He may think it but he never makes me feel guilty for my lack of earning potential right now. He never even questions where my cute new shoes came from or my painted toes. He just knows, I think, that the end is near for this chapter in our new lives and a new one is very near. And he probably knows better than I do that I am one to have to ease in to "change" so he is letting me do just that by means of a massage and a nice lunch and a pair of shoes (or 2!) Soon there will not be this much quiet in our little condo. Soon there will not be an afternoon without a responsibility or another mouth to tend to. Soon everything will be different so as hard as this is I will think about hamburgers and a pool somewhere and the Braves and not focus on the "change" ripening in my belly. (If I say that and write it then it is true right? WRONG.....I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO ANTSY!!!!!!!! COME ON BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

MR. BRAD IS OLD!!!

The head of our household celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday. I await this day every Spring as Brad finally catches up with my age (but maybe not my wisdom... :) For 4 months and 4 days he constantly reminds me that I robbed the cradle in marrying him and that I am going to be old and wrinkly while he is still a strapping young buck. Atleast for the next 8 months we are truly equals and he has no bragging rights.
I gave Brad a few surprises leading up to his big day (a coveted pair of blue jeans and a new cd. Jewel. Yes, we both love Jewel and though he may not admit it - he was secretly thrilled!) and then yesterday he accompanied me to what may be the last doctors appointment before all the hoopla. We were given good news on his special day.....that the baby would not share his birthday! Though this sounds cute in theory - I LOVE birthdays and I really wanted to have two seperate celebrations throughout the years. So, yay, no sharing birthday cakes and presents for my boys! Other than that news - we didn't hear much more than the babe is growing, happy, and healthy. So now we act like we are busy and distracted but really all I can do is look at my 7+ pound watermelon and wonder when it may want to come out to play?
After our appointment we went to Horseradish Grill for a huge birthday lunch! This has always been one of my favorite places but I had never been with Mr. Brad. Then last night we met some friends at Brookhaven's newest eatery, Verde. We finished the night with Brad's favorite - Coconut cake - straight from my Mawmaw's kitchen. We even took Dr. Amos and his best-Atlanta friend, Cody on a late night walk. You know you are getting old when you end your birthday on a walk around the neighborhood with another couple friend and their dog. I love having someone that doesn't mind walking with me at any hour! I'm not sure about Brad but I had a great "Brad's birthday!" Thanks for all the birthday wishes he says......stay tuned for any other types of exciting news that may happen any moment.......

Rainy weekend and all the chores are done

I am wishing the nesting instinct thing that everyone clings to late in pregnancy hadn't hit me weeks ago. I've already washed and rewashed baby blankets and clothes for the first weeks. Amos is clean. The toilets are spotless. Brad's hair is trimmed and looking sharp and my toes are bright and happy. The carpets have been vacuumed over and over and I have fully caught up on laundry just in case we need to grab my robe and a nightgown sometime this week. Things are done. How often can you say things are done. Even on our wedding day we didn't have time to get wine in the communion glass so we had to pretend during that part of the ceremony. Did you know that? Nope. We are amazing actors. I would just love to have a list to check through today as it is the first time in years that literally Brad and I have not a thing to do but wait and stare at my belly wondering if the little person in there might ever want to come show us his hair color and his tiny features.

Don't get me wrong...I know we will crave weekends like this starting next month but right now - this is almost torture. Even Amos is bored and has turned to staring at the walls to see if something might come out of them to play with him. Little does he know everything around here is about to be different.

Last week I even began offering to run personal errands for friends all over town just to have something to do to keep my mind occupied. It sure was fun shopping through Nordstrom with someone elses credit card I tell you what! For someone who didn't accept being pregnant until 3 months ago I was surprised at my anxiety last week and continuing this weekend. Last night I was supposed to bring dessert to supper club and of course everyone told me I should just pick something up because "you are 10 months pregnant." No way! I wanted something to bake just to take up the hours and so that is just what I did...I took 3 hours to make a cake that - to be honest - didn't taste at all like a 3 hour cake. I turned the 7 minute frosting into 18 minute frosting just to take more time and I even followed every direction, with no short cuts just to take up any spare minutes.

So what to do now? What would you do if you were home 7 days before a real person was supposed to appear in your life and it was raining and you had not a thing to do? Watch a movie. I'll fall asleep. Read a book. I can't read anymore - Brad and I have read every book regarding pregnancy that Borders could offer......that is so unlike us! Nap. I am not a napper - never have been but I hear I will be. Write thank you notes. Done. It seems to me like this would be the perfect time to have a baby. If only I were in control of all of this......

I guess I'll watch Amos as he watches the walls.



*My view of the babe. My toes look awesome (after a pedicure this week!) even though you can't see them.

In case you were wondering

Your pregnancy: 37 weeks

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still a few weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard (Oh yeah, a swiss stalk of chard!??)). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.



So, there you have it...he looks like some leafy greens with peach fuzz on top. I can't wait to meet the wiggly vegetable!

And on other notes....My brothers both graduate this weekend! I am so excited for both of them. Matt is graduating from Medical College of Georgia. I can't believe he has accomplished the one thing he always set out to do. Now I know the next 4 years aren't a walk in the park but what a feat already to have gotten through the 4 years with a fiance in toe and a house waiting for him at his new place of residence in Greenville, SC. I am so proud of him and I can't imagine the feeling of accomplishment. After we celebrate with him in Augusta, Brad and Amos and I head to Athens - the finest place in the country - for little Carter's graduation from UGA. I can remember this day for me 6 years ago. My last exam of my last semester of my last year of college....I walk out of the auditorium, chunk my notebook in the trash can, call mama to tell her that I was done only to find $400+ of parking tickets on my lonely car. You see, I was slotted to take the exam on the last day in the last hour of finals and I had happened to park I guess illegally. Thank you, UGA, for that lovely memory. So, Carter, I hope in your last few days you do as I say and don't do as I did. Just cause you are a senior and about to be gainfully employed - Campus policies still remain. So instead, walk out the door, exhale, look at all of the beautiful, overwhelming trees on North Campus. Smell Achim''s K-Bob from afar, ring the bell one last time and just live in the moment....life doesn't get much better than Athens on a sunny day with no more tests or papers to do and a career waiting for you in Atlanta (near your soon to be nephew!)

Oh, what a fun season of life! God has certainly blessed my family and I feel so spoiled to be able to enjoy such sweet times with my family (and my new family to be) this Spring. Thank you, Father, for lavishing us with your love. My cuppeth overfloweth for sure.....

Hello May and hello allergies

I've overheard many a people say that the allergy season hasn't really been bad this year because of the rain or Obama or El Nina or something. Well, whatever things like to attack my eyeballs and nasal canal this time of year are out and they are in full force. Granted, the yellow hasn't invaded every inch of our porch yet but there is something out there and it is killing me. Slowly, slowly, slowly. Should you have any thoughts about why I am being attacked when supposedly the allergens aren't out yet please comment. Help appreciated. Man, I love being 20+ pounds heavier as the hot weather pours in with constant heartburn and eyes that run all over the place causing me not to drive or go anywhere. Oh, and I forgot the constant spear in my rubs called "the knee of a 6 pound baby". That part is fun too! MY BODY IS NOT MY OWN ANYMORE!!!!! Aghhhhhhhh..........(meltdown coming on........)

I am happy though. I really am.

Cookies for breakfast!

Amos has been looking at me with disgust all morning. It is not unusual for me to waddle out of bed and head straight for the kitchen. I have always loved breakfast the most of the three dining opportunities during a day but since pregnancy I have enjoyed the first meal of the day that much more! Plus, I usually wake up ravenous in the mornings since I guess there is a little guy taking in any of my post-dinner snacking from the night before. This morning was no exception but with one exception - chocolate chip cookies! I made them yesterday to take to a friend who had a sweet little baby boy a few weeks ago. I ate 3 before we even delivered the meal. The friends ate one. That's it - one. I then ate two on the way home. I hid the container from myself so I wouldn't find it this morning. I woke up and went straight to my super hidden spot in the pantry and I ate 2.5 more this morning for breakfast. I added milk so I guess there is something good in this news flash. They were that good but I do think some of this is that emotional eating that occurs when a woman feels anxiety. I don't know exactly what I am anxious about but I am sure this is the cause of my cookie monstering of late.

This is the birth month of the kiddo. Yes, I guess he may be late and we could be looking at a June birthday but I have a strong feeling this won't be the case. More so, for possible changing insurance reasons we are hoping this whole thing goes down before May 31st. Maybe this makes me anxious? Babies are a funny thing. You prepare as long as you do (and in our case - twice as long) as you do for a wedding yet in the end and after all the preparation mentally and physically - you have no clue how it will all go down. I'd like to think I can sit back and relax and soak in these last few weeks of a party of 3 (including Amos) but seriously, I don't know how that really happens when you are about to see a human come out of your own body. Sorry for the graphic details but I just can't fathom any normalcy surrounding this event. We are thrilled that May is finally here but yes, a little anxious to see how this will all go down. If ever a feeling of lack of control this is it and this is probably the exact place God wants me.....to fully grasp His control and purpose in my life and my helplessness.

Today is also a big day in our household and it pains me to not be able to say more about why this is such a big day. There are sure to be updates to come but I think this will be one of those days, too, where we just see God in a big way in the details of our lives. I am glued to my phone to await any updates from Mr. Brad. And I would like, too, to just be normal today and do my usual Friday things but I don't think there is supposed to be normalcy today. Therefore, I will eat cookies for any meal I want and even in between and just sit here with Amos - happily in the cozy condo and wait for some answers.

***
On other notes. I saw this segment on the Today show this morning. I am usually not one to fall to some good marketing but catch me at 37 weeks pregnant and at home with a brain looking to be distracted and I am a sucker. Supposedly these little "tubs" have been big in the UK for years and have started to make a come back now in the U.S. I think our little guy needs one. I love how there legs are all coddled up just like in the womb. I have found that any product that mimics the womb is a sure to be hit with new moms-to-be like myself. Anything to remind the newest people in the world of their home for 9+ months and to bring serenity to a household is sure to be a best seller. Unfortunately, the Tummy Tub isn't in baby's budget this month unless we just find the right sized bucket somewhere??? Maybe this will occupy my mind today. I need a bucket for my baby.


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Check out the results so far for our baby poll. I have loved checking this site lately to see our friends and family's predictions. Y'all are too funny...here are a few of our favorite (and we hope most accurate guesses!) As we mentioned before - there is sure to be some reward for the best guess. Place your guess here if you haven't already!

NAME?? WEIGHT? HEIGHT? B'DATE WHO AM I???

Grandma Cindy boy 7 lbs 6 ozs 20 in May 24, 9:00 am Plains GA Baby B's daddy is my little boy and the light of my life.

Charlsie boy 6 lbs 11 ozs 20 in May 23, 10:10 am Augusta GA I've had a long standing crush on Betsy and I went on a date with Brad once.

Bradford boy 7 lbs 2 ozs 20 in May 26, 6:04 pm Atlanta GA I sleep with baby's mama.

Amos the Dog boy 10 lbs 4 ozs 21 in Jun 10, 4:00 pm Atlanta GA This thing has intruded my life. I just want a belly rub! (But I know we'll be best friends soon)

uncle matt boy 7 lbs 6 ozs 20 in May 25, 8:00 pm greenville SC using my advanced medical degree and mathematical odds

Diane Scott boy 8 lbs 7 ozs 20 in May 27, 5:30 am Atlanta GA I am maybe Betsy's newest , yet "oldest " friend !

Aunt Victoria boy 7 lbs 2 ozs 19 in May 22, 7:10 am Americus GA Baby B's daddy is my wonderful brother.

nicole lane boy 6 lbs 10 ozs 20 in May 24, 7:18 am alpharetta GA baby b's potential mother-in-law

tanise boy 7 lbs 10 ozs 21 in May 10, 8:00 pm kennesaw GA babymama's mama, aka, Nise