| 12.31.2004 | 2004 in review
Inspired by Hicksdesign lists of 2004 and my friend, Dr. Madigan, I present my lists of 2004!
Continue reading "2004 in review"
| | henry owen close-ups
Henry is a remakably agreeable subject when it comes to photography. He tirelessly poses for the camera and is amenable to trying new things and strange poses. He's not at all shy and doesn't mind me getting up close to his face.
Big sister Emma has been enjoying Henry to no end. This is good, as I was a little afraid she'd be jealous and decide she didn't like him.
She had, afterall, ominously picked out "When The New Baby Comes I'm Moving Out" from the library the other day. (Don't believe the negative review. What she describes is in the book, but it's great.)
Emma is copying everything we do with Henry with her stuffed anmials and dolls. Today was Red Car's day. The Car spent a good bit of the day wrapped in a "blanket" (a small washcloth) and went with us to Costco while Marla and Henry stayed home.
Car had to ride in Henry's car seat and Emma dutifully carried him around the store. Once we arrived home Emma decided it was time for her to "breastfeed" the car.
She is, indeed, an angel.
@ 9:32 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (1)
| | naked on white
I can't even begin to describe just how happy I am with how this picture turned out. So proud, in fact, that I'm just going to post it now and worry with the rest later. (Click for the larger version.)
@ 4:40 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (1)
| 12.27.2004 | northcutt christmas 2004
Our Christmas morning started early this year. After putting Henry down from a feeding and crawling into bed at 6:30, I heard thunderous footfalls headed towards our room.
The door flew open (her new talent is opening doors) and there stood Emma Grace.
"Daddy, I'm awake!"
It was in the cutest, sing-song voice you ever heard.
"Daaaaaaa-deeeee, I'm awaaaa-aake."
Apparently, Daddy was going to be, too.
Continue reading "northcutt christmas 2004"
@ 4:19 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (2)
| 12.25.2004 | who is this billy reuben character?
Who is this Billy Reuben character, anyway? And why is he so interested in my son? (I kid, I kid.)
Looks like "tip-top" shape was a little bit of an overstatement.
The nurse dropped by to visit the day after we brought Henry home and took his weight and a blood sample for testing.
I guess California isn't entirely awful - the mandatory day-after visits from nurses is awfully nice.
She thought he looked a bit yellow in the face and warned that many newborns (50%!) develop jaundice. Babies born prematurely are, among others, particularly "high-risk" for jaundice.
Sure enough, they called back a few hours later to confirm that his bilirubin levels were high.
Continue reading "who is this billy reuben character?"
@ 11:43 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (4)
| 12.23.2004 | henry's 2nd and 3rd days
We brought Mr. Henry Owen home from the hospital today (Thursday). Despite being 5 weeks early, he is in tip-top shape according to the docs. Still a scrawny 5 lbs, of course, but otherwise doing fine.
Big Sister Emma enjoyed going to the hospital to visit Mommy and Henry. I'm convinced her favorite part of these visits was eating lunch and supper from Marla's hospital tray. The two of them were quite cute together.
She was a big hit with the nurses, too. Batting her long eye lashes and saying, "Pleeeeeease!" netted her exactly what she wanted every time (juice and crackers). Eventually they just gave us the code to the refreshment room so we could get our own.
And now, we're home! It's time for the real joy - and sleeplessness - to begin. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from the 2nd and 3rd day!
Note to grandparents who like to print: You should now be able to click on "open <picturename>" below the thumbnails and open the picture itself for quick prints.
@ 11:18 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (2)
| 12.22.2004 | henry owen northcutt
Wow!
Let me say that again.
Wow!
Less than 24 hours later and we are the proud new parents of Henry Owen Northcutt. Born at 4:59 PM on December 21st, 2004 Henry weighed in at a trim 5 pounds, 2 ounces and measured 16.5 inches tall.
Marla's labor started in earnest at around 11 AM and progressed pretty rapidly. I left her in some discomfort, but only 4 cm dialated, at around 3 PM to take Emma to The Tabor's for the rest of the evening.
Everyone - doctors and nurses included - expected the labor to be long, with nothing happening until late in the night.
That long, drawn-out labor was not to be! Marla and Henry make a good team so just an hour later (4 PM) as I arrived back at the hospital they pronounced Marla fully dialated and Henry +3 station.
An hour more, just two pushes from Marla and - biggity bam! - there was Henry.
He is, of course, gorgeous and perfect in every way. He was surprisingly alert just a few minutes after birth and would look our way when we called to him. (His ears clearly work.) His tiny little fingers and toes are amazing. I can't wait to nibble on them once we get home.
Emma met him a few hours later and was absolutely beaming, as you can see from her pictures. She was kissing on him and just begging to hold him.
Emma and I are home for the night to try and get some rest and then we'll be back to the hospital early in the morning to hang out with Mommy and Henry.
@ 1:12 AM by TNorthcutt | Comments (14)
| 12.21.2004 | water broken... baby on it's way!
Marla's water broke at 12:30 AM this morning. We were admitted to Mission Hospital at about 1:30 AM. She's resting fine at the hospital now and we're waiting on the fun (labor) to begin.
We're about 5 weeks early, but everyone is doing fine. You can see from the pictures that Marla was smiling and in good spirits last night.
Right now we're anticipating Baby Northcutt #2 will arive some time tonight, though it could certainly stretch out until tomorrow morning. Emma and I are off to the hospital now. The doctor is due back for her next visit in another hour or so.
She's the cutest thing ever, btw. I'll talk about that later... you know, after things have calmed down.
@ 11:10 AM by TNorthcutt | Comments (7)
| 12.19.2004 | macrotastic lemon bars
I treated myself to a few new lenses a few weeks ago, one of which was a macro lens that I'd been wanting for ages. In the winter, of course, all the bugs are dead, the spiders have gone away and there are no flowers to speak of. What's a guy to do with his new toy?
Why capture his wife making delicious treats, of course!
We had a few lemons left on my scraggly looking tree so Marla decided to put them to good use in the form of scrumptious lemon bars. The tree is an "Improved Meyer" and is much sweeter and less acidic than the Lisbon lemons you get in the store. Yummy, yummy stuff!
Marla was, as always, very patient with me as I circled around her with the camera lens just inches from the ingredients.
"Wait, wait... let me pre-focus."
"Darn. I missed it. Do you need more eggs? You can add one more, right?"
"Oh, wait! Don't pour that in yet!" Focusing... "OK, now you can pour the batter in."
Marla later remarked that the hardest and most time consuming part of the process was putting up with me.
Continue reading "macrotastic lemon bars"
@ 3:28 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (4)
| 12.17.2004 | ign christmas party 2004
We had ourselves a grand old time at the IGN Christmas Party last night. I was the lone photographer since Silverdawn moved up North. I had to, you know, represent or something. I was pretty pleased with the way most of them turned out.
I tried a new little album generator/slideshow app called SimpleViewer to put everything together.
For this particular show you'll want to maximize your browser window to eliminate the jaggies on some pictures. It tries to scale the pictures to be the size of your window and the results aren't too hot.
What do you think? I'm tempted to start using this more often since it was so easy to use and looks rather snazzy. Let me know how it works!
View IGN Christmas Party Slideshow
@ 9:22 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (3)
| 12.15.2004 | how do i look in my overalls?
Emma wore these overalls for the first time a few weeks ago and was just beaming when she put them on. Sunlight was streaming into her room, it was early on a Saturday morning and everything in the world was just right.
After almost three years of being a daddy I'm still amazed how a few perfect minutes with her can erase entire weeks of frustration and despair in other parts of life.
These have to be some of my all-time favorite pictures of Emma - especially this one. (I've got a big print on the way.) Hope you like them, too!
View as Gallery or View as Slideshow
@ 7:09 AM by TNorthcutt | Comments (1)
| 12.12.2004 | general cuteness abounds
I was chastised for going an entire week without updating last night. I know. I'm a bad, bad father. (Thanks, Leah!)
There are a few great ones in this collection. Emma is now Mommy's little helper at the grocery store. She'll cross things off the list and make sure that Marla buys everthing we need... and more.
I also love the little hand on Marla's leg in this one while they're reading a story.
And don't worry. Emma's eyes aren't really this big. That's what taking headshots with a wide-angle lens (28mm f/2.8) will do for you.
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@ 4:10 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (0)
| 12.11.2004 | holiday bush
This year we are having a "holiday bush" rather than just a Christmas tree. What's the difference you might ask? We're celebrating TWO holidays, of course! Hanukkah and Christmas are always very close together so we've decided to make the tree a celebration of both. (Sandy Goldstein be damned.)
I'm proud to say that all of the decorations - excpet the lights, of course - are homemade! (Or, rather, Marla-made. I didn't do a whole lot of helping!)
We've got popcorn strings, paper snowflakes and wonderful gingerbread ornaments. The house smelled fantastic the night Marla was baking the gingerbread. You may be able to spot gingerbread dreidels, gingerbread men, cars, bells, ducks, dog bones and an occassional Star of David. Astute readers may be able to tell which shapes Emma selected for the tree. Here are two pictures of the tree in progress.
Camera-geek readers might notice that you can guess the number of diaphragm blades in each of the two lenses that were used to take the shots. Care to guess?
@ 4:30 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (2)
| 12.03.2004 | i can do it myself, thank you
Emma is becoming more and more self-sufficient these days. She's able to entertain herself pretty well coloring, reading or feeding her Baby. It sure makes life easier when Marla is fixing dinner or taking a rare moment to relax. (I stress rare, though.)
I have to admit, though, that I'm left wondering what I am supposed to be doing. Is it OK to read a book? Dare I sneak on the laptop and check my e-mail? I'm afraid that if I do, the Bad Parent SWAT Team will come crashing through the windows and arrest me, just like the precrime cops in Minority Report.
She's gone so far as to start going potty all by herself. No more help needed - or wanted - from Mommy and Daddy. Tonight, in fact, she said, "Mommy go away. You need some privacy." (She still speaks in the 2nd person and calls herself "you" most of the time.)
I kid you not! Marla quietly shut the bathroom door and waited outside, calling me at work to give me the news.
"You'll never guess what your daughter just said..."
These pictures are much less exciting than solo potty shots, but still awfully cute. There's one of Emma reading by herself at the library and then a few more of her quietly coloring in The Big Chair.
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