Van's First Photo Shoot

When Van was one week old we had Courtney Linnehan from Lovely Photography come to the condo and take newborn pictures. She was amazing with Van and so patient with all the nursing and diaper changes we had to do in between picture taking.

Here are a few sneak peeks:

Van was not happy to be naked

He has something of mine.....a dimple!!!

Our sweet little cherub. Check out those cheeks!

My! What large feet you have!

Santa dropped off our Christmas present early!

Van's hospital photos

When Van was three days old, the hospital photographer came by to take his pictures. He wanted me to share them with you all!

Go to www. Our365.com. Customer #: 10571-2847-52537. Hospital: Carolinas Medical Center. Visitor password: R2T7E4B7A5. Mothers name: Melissa U.

Friends agree pose 1 and 4 are our favorites!! Looks like he's throwing up gang signs in pose 1!!!!

"Dilworth what??" - our friend Andrew

He's such an animated baby!

Prayer for the Utseys

I wanted to share with everyone one of the nicest emails Derek and I have ever received. It was sent to us while we were in the hospital in the labor and delivery room waiting for Van to come into the world. I read it out loud to all of our family and it brought tears to all of our eyes. Thank you Libby, Mac and Betsy Grace for creating such a memorable and powerful memory. God was truly present in that room and in our hearts. We love you three.

Not sure where you are in labor, so I am not going to call but wanted to pray with y'all, so I will do it over email :)

Lord, we thank you so much for all of your blessings and the gift of life. We praise you for the miracle of Van Tillman Utsey and all of the creation and detail that you have put into him in the last 40 weeks. How special it is to experience a wondrous birth in the Christmas season! We ask that you be with Melissa, Derek and Van today and we shout with joy because this is the day that you have made, we will rejoice and be glad in it! What a wonderful day for a baby to be born! Lord, be with Melissa and provide her peace and comfort, let her body respond to labor and give her precious memories of bringing her baby into this world. Be with Derek, let him be a support and tower of strength for Melissa. And be with Van, that he has a smooth entry into this world, protect him from the stresses of labor and deliver him with ease into the arms of his parents on earth who already love him so much. Be with the Utseys and Lukoskies as they patiently await the arrival of their newest family member. And lastly, we ask that you be with Melissa's midwife and her nurses, give them guidance, knowledge and discernment to make all of the right decisions necessary to bring this baby into the world and keep his mama safe. In the name of your son Jesus, Amen.

We love y'all so much and are so excited, it feels like Christmas Eve!!!

Libby, Mac and Betsy Grace

Van's first week

Wow did that first week fly by! Of course we spent the first 3.5 days at the hospital but it is kind of a blur once we got home!

Our first night wasn't too bad considering we had NO IDEA what we were doing!!! We don't have any kind of schedule - we are nursing on demand which usually means every 2-3 hours but sometimes Van likes to eat every hour!!

He's the sweetest baby. Only cries when he has a wet diaper or he's hungry so that really helps us narrow down how we can help him!

Baxter and Hurley are great with him. I think at first Baxter thought he was a doll! Now they both like to be close to him and Baxter stays up with us most of the night, following us to and from the nursery when we need to change his diaper.

Hurley & Baxter standing guard

Van had many visitors his first week and there are many more who are planning to come.

Kate & little man

Nicole loving on Van

Scotty Wilson came to see him too!

Mimi can't get enough of her grandbaby

Van's Great-Godmother was in awe

I was so happy my cousin Keith (who flew into Charlotte for one day) got to meet Van

Brooke & Lawton have come over a couple of times for some Van love & even some diaper duty!!!

Happy Birthday Van Tillman Utsey!

Derek and I are so excited to announce the birth of our son Van Tillman Utsey. Born at 1:54 p.m. on December 11, 2009 weighing 8 pounds 12.4 ounces and measuring 21.25 inches!

It all started at 12:50 a.m. when my water broke as I was on one of my many trips to the restroom! We headed to CMC Main where we had the most wonderful birth experience. All of our Nurses, Midwives and Doctors took such great care of us. I, of course, chose to have an epidural and it truly made Van's birth easier for all of us. Our families showed up at the hospital around 7 a.m. and we were able to all hang out anxiously awaiting Van's arrival. There was so much excitement in the room!

At 12:25 p.m. it was time s0 the granddads and Josh decided to head into work and the grandmommies went to get lunch(for us too)! Then it was just me, Derek, our nurse Arden and our midwife Hallie. At 1:54 p.m. Van was put into my arms and just thinking about that moment brings tears to my eyes. What a wonderful gift God has given to us and our families!

Then there were three

Our precious cherub with redish blonde hair

The Nurses & Hallie couldn't get over how big he was!

Mimi with her grandbaby

Candace & Clay with their nephew

Nana & The Colonel with their grandbaby

Uncle Jereme & Van

Uncle Josh holding Van (the first baby he's ever held!!!!)

Pop Pop & Van

We are so very blessed to have been given such a little miracle. God has brought such joy into our lives. One of my friends said it best "You have mommy and daddy awe". Derek and I just can't stop staring at Van!

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on us, come to visit us in the hospital and at home and for everyone who signed up to bring us dinner in the coming weeks. Not only are we blessed with this new addition to our family but we have amazing family and friends who love our son as much as we do!

So much to be thankful for.....

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Derek and I spent Thanksgiving out at my parents house. We usually have about 25 people there but this year there were only 12. It was really nice to be able to sit at the same table with everyone!

Here are a few pictures of the fam:

Dad & Derek sporting similar hats!!! Too cute!

Umm yea.......I think Van has him beat!

Derek helping mom with the apples that should be caramelizing not turning into applesauce!

Love my family!

On another note...........

Dad (The Colonel) had his Retirement Ceremony from the 108th Division of the Army Reserves on November 22nd. We are all so proud of you Daddy!

And a big Thank You to Heather...........

My very creative friend Heather gave me a professional maternity photo shoot as a baby shower gift. We shot these around 36 weeks so the belly bump was definitely on display! Here are a couple of my favorite shots. Thank you Heather and Neal for making me look and feel so beautiful!

It's Official!! Peanut has a name!

After much thought, Derek & I have chosen our son's name.

Van Tillman Utsey

A lot of you have asked where the name comes from.....so here is a little background. Derek's paternal grandfather's name was Pierce Tillman Utsey. We loved both names but wanted to have at least two names to choose from when Peanut was born.

I have always wanted to have a son named Lucas or Luke. My maiden name is Lukoskie and everyone calls my dad and brother Luke and it's a name we always use when making reservations at a restaurant because if you say Lukoskie - the hostess always cocks her head and says "Sorry."

So we came up with Lucas Pierce as name number 1.

Van is a name that we both really liked and seemed to just keep coming up in our relationship. And it sounded really cool with Tillman sooooo Van Tillman became name number 2.

We saw his ultrasound pictures from a couple weeks ago and he just looked like a Van to us.

We can't wait for you all to meet him!

Preparing for Little Man's Arrival!

There has been a lot going on this week! Derek re-organized our office so he could hang up his bikes and to make a designated space for the stroller & baby items. Don't know why we didn't think to arrange the room like this before??

I had my 36 week mid-wife appointment on Friday. My mid-wife had a patient go into labor so I ended up seeing one of the Doctors instead. I have progressed to 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced which doesn't tell us much about when to expect Peanut's arrival but the Doctor said it tells us the labor will mostly like go quickly! Here's hoping!!

I have friends taking bets that I will deliver this coming Friday!! Derek thinks it will be this Friday or coming Monday. I still feel like it will be closer to Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe that we are getting so close. I think the one thing everyone has agreed upon including the Doctor is that I will most likely not make it to December - so I guess we'll see. He'll come when he wants and until then I plan on going to the gym everyday!

Enjoying the beautiful fall weather ......

I also had my last baby shower on Saturday. Mimi's (Mama Utsey) best friend Cynthia threw a wonderful shower at her home for friends of the grandmothers-to-be. We had the most beautiful weather and got to enjoy sitting outside in mid-November. It was in the 70's!

Cynthia (aka Dalcher) - the hostess with the mostest!

Nana

Aunt Candace

Mimi

Mimi & Mrs. H (my other two moms)

My Aunt Denise (my belly almost covers her completely!)

Mimi & Nana - two very excited grandmothers-to-be

Baby Utsey received so many wonderful gifts and all the love we were showered with has really prepared us for his arrival! Now all we need is Baby!

Bear gave Peanut a little bear outfit of his own!!

Hugh Hefner mini robe

Our Baby Jogger!!!

This is going to come in real handy I have a feeling! It's a 2 in 1 swing & bouncy seat. Plays soothing spa music to remind him of all the time he has spent in the spa! And best of all it plugs into the wall!