Comparison Pictures

See any resemblances? (same outfits/ages)....

Noah...

Brenton...



Noah on the way home from the hospital...


Brenton on the way home from the hospital...

Sunday Funday

With the hot weather this weekend, we brought out Noah's little pool for him to splash around in. After the pool fun, he came inside and went pee-pee in the potty for the first time ever! Party time!

Brenton has been an absolute joy so far...and has been a nearly perfect baby. He sleeps so well, rarely gets fussy, and is eating like a Haag. Noah adores him and can't stop giving him hugs and kisses.

Here are some pictures from the afternoon fun...

Happy Sunday! I'm 10 days old already

Brenton Russell Haag!

Praise God from who all blessings flow! Brenton was born on May 13th at 6:13 p.m., weighing in at 8 lbs, 4oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He and Tyra are doing great, and we are overjoyed with having a new son. He looks like Noah we think. Noah and Brenton met each other for the fitst time this morning, and Noah gave him lots of hugs, kisses, and love...along with leaving some cookie crumbs in Brenton's hair after he left.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We will post more details about the delivery and more pictures soon. Until then, here are a few...

A Week of Mother's Day Surprises

Not only was yesterday a special day, but ever since last Monday Eric has surprised me with a "Mother's Day Week" of treats everyday since then. Our six year anniversary is this Saturday, May 15. It's quite possible we'll be celebrating our anniversary in the hospital, so Eric made Mother's Day even bigger this year.

On Monday, he surprised me with our favorite treat from Newton Farms in Seabrook Island -- homemade cinnamon rolls with buttercream icing! I was totally shocked. Normally at this time of year, we're headed to the beach to celebrate our anniversary, but baby Brenton had other plans in mind :) One of Eric's co-workers was going to Seabrook Island for a retreat, so Eric placed an order for a dozen cinnamon rolls the day she was to head back to Knoxville (Sunday). She brought them to work last Monday and Eric surprised me with them later that night.

On Tuesday, Eric gave me the debut album for Court Yard Hounds (Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire -- the two sisters from the Dixie Chicks) and a decaf caramel frappachino from Starbucks.

On Wednesday, Eric gave me red roses and on Thursday, a book titled "Same Kind of Different as Me" (a New York Times best-seller). On Friday, we had movie night and I picked "Nine" for us to watch -- very good by the way.

Saturday morning was a special day, too. Eric packed a picnic lunch and we took Noah to UT Gardens -- one of our favorite places to go. This is where we took Noah the Saturday before my first day back at work from maternity leave. This weekend was our "last" as a family of three, so Eric wanted to do something special and capture some photos. The roses were in full bloom and smelled amazing. Our favorite was the "Fame" rose. Noah's favorite part was looking at the Koi fish and running around the gardens.

For Mother's Day, I woke up to the sweetest alarm clock -- Noah saying, "Happy Mother's Day" while Eric held a tray of breakfast, flowers and cards. Of course Noah wanted "a bite! a bite!" as soon as Eric gave me the tray :) Then Gabi wanted in on the action and begged for a few bites of her own! After breakfast, we left for church and then a yummy brunch. One of the best gifts I got was taking an hour and a half nap later that afternoon. For dinner we grilled out and Eric reminded me that I'd only had to cook dinner one day the entire week!

Noah is so blessed to have a daddy like Eric to show him what it means to be a great husband and father. I'm also blessed to be married to my best-friend!

Here's to celebrating all the wonderful women in our life!

The soon-to-be BIG brother

I just love this picture of Noah. Eric took the photo on Easter Sunday after he asked us to put his "cape" on (a.k.a. his blankie). He loves to fly around the house pretending to be Super Grover or Super Noah. He looks like such a little man in this photo, too. He was wearing a white linen dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and light blue linen pants. I catch glimpses of him and think he looks just like a baby again, or Eric or me, but mainly he looks like himself--a handsome little blue-eyed heartbreaker.

As for Brenton, my 39-week appointment was today. Everything was great (heart beat, blood pressure, measurements, etc) and I'm almost 3 cm dilated! The plan is to go back to the doctor on Monday, get checked and set me up to be admitted next Wednesday morning...that is unless Baby B (as Noah calls him) decides to come on his own. I was kinda hoping to be admitted on Monday (5/10/10), but my doc is out until 5/12/10 (Brenton's actual due date).

Happy Day :)

Baby Showers

We've been blessed to have had three awesome baby showers for Brenton, hosted by some of the best friends anyone could ask for.

Our friends Kelley and Donna hosted a "girls shower" for Tyra at Cafe 4 on Market square in Knoxville a few weeks ago. We got some great gifts, and all the guests enjoyed the yummy cupcakes and coffee.

Tyra's office threw her a "surprise" shower earlier this month. Unfortunately, Noah wasn't feeling well that day, so Eric stayed home with him. Even though he missed the party, Noah certainly enjoyed eating the leftover cake Tyra brought home.

Earlier this week, my office threw us a shower as well. I was surprised by a visit from Tyra and Noah at work, since I thought she'd be unable to come. We got some great gifts and ate some really good food, made by my co-workers at UT.

Here are a few photos from the UT Baby Shower...

Easter Egg Hunt at UT Gardens & Easter Sunday

The day before Easter we took Noah to UT Gardens. He got to meet the Easter bunny, make "bunny ears" and mix some "Magic Easter Mulch" (oats, shredded carrots and sprinkles) to scatter around our yard. He wasn't sure of the big Easter bunny at first, but was willing to give him a high-five. We walked around the beautiful gardens and took some cute photos. Each of the kids in Noah's age group were allowed to hunt up to six eggs. Here he is coloring bunny ears.

He could have spent the entire morning watching the Koi in this new rock garden memorial tribute.

Hippity, hoppity!

On Easter Sunday, we listened to our church's sermon online since Noah had been up and down during the night with second molar teething pain. You can listen to it here: http://www.cspc.net/sermons/. After church, Tyra made a yummy Easter brunch--Honeybaked ham, mashed potatoes and green peas, pineapple casserole, Sister Schubert rolls, raspberry tea and homemade carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Grand Don drove up and got to spend some good time with us and Noah which was fun.

Good Friday at the Zoo

We had such a fun (and busy) Easter weekend! On Good Friday, we took Noah to the Knoxville Zoo. We got there right as it opened, the weather was great and Noah was quite content in his stoller for a couple hours thanks to snacks, juice and a dum-dums ;) He loved seeing the penguins, turtles, camels and bobcats. He kept calling the bobcats "kitties" and desperately tried to get out of his stroller so he could get closer.
It was such a beautiful spring day to spend at the zoo.

Noah's face was priceless riding the carousel. He chose to ride the giraffe and was so proud to find where Eric was standing each time we passed him. Actually, he chose to ride a tiger and then changed his mind and wanted to ride the giraffe. After the ride was over, he asked me if he could ride again.



Playing "leap frog" in the Kids Cove area. This is where Noah got to see bunnies, turkeys and goats. Noah wasn't sure of the goats at first, but then loved them, brushed them and tried to go into their sleeping areas!

36 week appointment

Today was our 36 week appointment. We had our last ultrasound to make sure Brenton was head down (which he is). He's also measuring at 6 lbs. 13 oz (79th percentile). This is just an estimate though. We think he will gain two more pounds and be right at 9 lbs. around delivery. We'll see soon enough!

This weekend, Eric installed Brenton's car seat in my car and hung his Pottery Barn Kids letters above his crib. I also had a great baby shower at Cafe 4 and Brenton got some awesome gifts. Also last week, my co-workers gave me a surprise baby shower. We're so blessed to be supported by such amazing family and friends!

Extra Ultrasound

I went in this morning for my 34 week check-up and everything looked great (weight gain, blood pressure, etc.), but my belly was measuring at 32 weeks. This was the third appointment that I’ve measured smaller than my actual gestation stage. My doctor thought everything was probably okay, but wanted to do an ultrasound to scan Brenton's measurements just to be on the safe side. This was an unexpected surprise since I’m not scheduled to have another ultrasound until my 36 week appointment. Sure enough, Brenton measured great—64th percentile actually. The nurse measured his head, abdomen and femur to get an average of 5 lbs. 7 oz. (give or take a pound).

Brenton’s heart rate was in the 140s and the nurse found it immediately. He actually cooperated this time.

I've been having some cramping/contractions lately too. My doctor said that if I have 5-6 cramping episodes in one hour, to give him a call. For example, if I had 5-6 episodes tonight in one hour, he’d probably admit me, check me and give me something to stop the “contractions.” He said I’m in the home stretch and that 'Braxton Hicks" contractions are to be expected and probably something I’m noticing sooner with this pregnancy than I did with Noah.

I have three new photos to show Eric and Noah, which already show B’s chipmunk cheeks and full lips. We’re still on track and can’t believe we’ll have another little boy in the house so soon.

Market Square

One of the best parts of Knoxville is hanging out on Market Square. We took Noah downtown after his nap. The weather was the best it's been all year. Noah had his first italian ice (pina colada), saw LOTS of cute dogs, people-watched, browsed some shops and had a yummy dinner at Downtown Grill and Brewery.

Big Boy Room

This has certainly been a year of big transitions for Noah. On Jan. 6, he kicked the paci (cold-turkey), turned two, moved bedrooms and in just 6 weeks will be a big brother.


The paci ordeal turned out to be easier than we thought. It was the dread of making him give it up (and the potential consequences that might follow) that was actually worse. He gave it up at school last fall with no problems whatsoever. His teachers simply told him the "paci was all gone." Of course, when we tried that at home, he knew better and begged for it :) Our goal was to get him to drop it by his second birthday and we definitely didn't want him on a paci when Brenton gets here (although he may regress once he sees his new baby brother with one!) So, in January, we put him to bed one night without it. He cried for it and Eric gave in. The next night, we put him to bed without it and he cried for 30 minutes before falling asleep. Eric was about to give in again, but I kept saying, "just give it five more minutes." I said this several times ;) We kept our usual nighttime routine and told him that we gave his paci to Baby Jack (our friend's little boy) and several other babies. Those two nights were tough, but he's been great ever since. We'll even look through his baby book and he'll see pictures of himself with a paci and not think much about it at all.

For the past few months, we've been getting Noah's big boy room ready. We searched several places before deciding on furniture and bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. It was great to gradually change the guest bedroom into Noah's big boy room because it allowed us ample of time to "pump up" and play in his new big boy room before actually moving him into it. Here are a few pictures:

This is the same print that hung over Eric's bed when he was growing up called "Someday."

This frame contains vintage stationary my sister got us with the actual UT football gameday program covers from the early to mid 20th century.
Yep--that's a framed autograph of Eric Berry to Noah, courtesy of Uncle Drew. This bookshelf is in the corner of his room and was Eric's in college.
Reading Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" after bath time on his new sports bean bag. He LOVES Dr. Seuss!
What little boy's room would be complete without a basketball goal? His name was the last thing we took down in his nursery. The "All-Star" wall art came from Hobby Lobby.
Noah looked so little in his big boy bed. It reminded us of the first night home from the hospital when we put him in his crib. It was a sweet moment to see him in his new bed, and we can't believe he's at this stage of his life already!
Later today, we plan on going to Market Square to hang out, eat Italian Ice, window shop and listen to music. It's nice to have spring in the air!