1 Month and counting . .

                           Seems like yesterday . . .

I can not believe Callie is already 1 month old. I remember her being born like it was yesterday. It is a great feeling seeing Callie grow and interact with Lindsay and I. This past month, Callie has had lots of visitors like Grandma and Grandpa Dickerson, Grandma Carol, Pop Pop, Grandma Cathy and lots of Aunts and Uncles. Lindsay and I want to thank everyone that took their time and money to come visit. It means a lot to us that friends and family are willing to help us out in anyway. We love and miss all of you. Enjoy the pictures!

Callie is here!!!!!!!!!

            Another Dickerson has arrived . . 

Welcome to the world Callie Grace! It is hard to describe in words how Lindsay and I are feeling when Callie arrived.  It was an emotional event and wished all our friends and family could be there to see Callie arrive.

The whole experience that night was so fast and furious, we will never forget it.  Lindsay's water broke at 8:30 pm on March 1 at Walmart in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. During the pregnancy, Lindsay was so worried her water would break in a public place, and guess what, it happened. I was working when she told me and my shift was over at 10:00 pm, so I waited till then to go home.  Lindsay and her mom Catherine went to the doctor, the Hackettstown Midwives, before doing anything else to make sure everything was OK.  Lindsay was feeling contractions around 9:00 pm, but they were very mild, so the Midwives told Lindsay to just head home and relax for a while before going to the hospital.  I got a call from Lindsay a few minutes later telling me to go home and get our stuff ready and try to relax as well.  Then the car ride from the Midwives office is when all hell broke loose.  Lindsay was having regular and severe contractions and could not believe all this stuff was happening so fast.  Around 10:50 pm or so, the feelings were so painful, Lindsay and her mom decided to head straight to the hospital ASAP. Lindsay called me and I rushed out of the apartment and headed to the hospital as well.  I arrived at the hospital with all our bags and stuff and got to our room and Lindsay was continuing her contractions and working very hard.  Lindsay was doing an awesome job at dealing with the pain and how fast everything was going. When I got the hospital room, Lindsay was already DILATED AT 8CM! It was incredible how fast this delivery was going. Usually it takes hours and hours to deliver a baby, but for us it was taking just minutes. Our Midwife Lisa arrived at the hospital just after me and jumped in to help the birthing process.  Lindsay did an incredible job pushing and controlling the pain and was able to deliver Callie within 30 MINUTES!!!! That's right folks, 30 MINUTES!!!!!! 

At 12:36 am on March 2, 2011, a new member of the Dickerson clan had arrived, Callie Grace Dickerson. She weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 20 inches long. We love you Callie!

Anytime now Callie Grace . . .

                                    39th week and here we go . . .

Callie Grace Dickerson is going to arrive any moment now! Lindsay and I can't believe how close it is to delivery day. We have been preparing for the big day, packing stuff for the hospital and getting everything set up in the apartment. It is an emotional feeling knowing we are going to become parents at any moment now. Lindsay's mom Catherine is here for the next 3 weeks to help us get started with Callie.  Catherine is a mid-wife in Bar Harbor, Maine, so she knows everything about babies and what to expect in the delivery room.  Good thing since I know absolutely nothing about what to expect or see in the delivery room, so that makes me feel better to have Catherine around to help out.

Lindsay is doing an incredible job being calm and positive while facing the end of the pregnancy.  She has a hard time doing the little things like tying her shoes and getting out of bed, but she stays strong and powers through and gets them done.  I am so proud of her and know she will kick butt when it comes to delivering Callie.  I love you Lindsay!

On February 12, we had Lindsay's baby shower.  A lot of friends and family members showed up and the shower was great.  Big thanks to Pam and Glenn Bisbing for having the shower at their house and making favors for everyone. Also big thanks to Michael Pelnitz for making great food for everyone to enjoy. Carol, Lindsay's step mom, flew up from South Carolina, Megan, Lindsay's cousin, flew up from Florida to be at the shower.  Lindsay's girls from California, Katie Bennett (also Kenny and Talen Bennett showed up) and Erica Blanke attended via skype and it was a blast seeing their faces and voices during the shower. It meant a lot to Lindsay and I to have family and friends from afar attend the shower either in person on on the computer. We love all of you so much!

                                                                    February 12, 2011

                                                                    February 12, 2011

Great news on our Hackettstown, New Jersey house, it is back to being built!! The terrible weather we had in January (lots and lots of snow) delayed the construction, but we have had some warmer and dryer weather, so construction has continued. The roof is done, as you can see and the stairs should almost be done, then the elctrical installation can start immediately after that. The windows and doors are also in, so any bad weather won't delay anymore construction.  The bad news is that the finish date is pushed to mid-June, about a month or so behind schedule, but as long as it is built correctly, we can wait.  In the end, the house will be awesome and we are excited for everyone to come and visit Casa Dickerson.

                                                                    February 14, 2011

The Home Stretch . . .

                               34 weeks down and a few more to go...

A lot has happen since early November.  We have decided to name our new baby girl Callie.  When Lindsay and I met in California, we always said "Cali," so we wanted to always remember when and where we meet and never forget our friends and family from California, so the name "Callie" was the perfect fit.  Since early November, Lindsay's belly has grown every day.  I swear after one weekend, her belly went from looking like a little bump to looking like a basketball had been shoved under her shirt.  It is so crazy how fast Lindsay's belly grew in just a few weeks.


My sister Stacy and her husband Matt flew into NYC just before Christmas and we were able to take them to our new house and show them our future neighborhood before we flew to Mississippi. I was worried about Lindsay on the flight because I wasn't sure when pregnant women were not suppose to fly anymore.  Lindsay said it was just fine and she did great on the flight.  We had a delay since Christmas travel sucks, but it was very short. We arrived in Oxford, Mississippi to begin the huge Dickerson family Christmas. My parents had just moved down there last July and had their brand new house all decked out with Christmas decorations.  My brother Tom and his wife Missy had their house covered with lights and our nephews Trevor and Hunter were excited to see us.  On Christmas morning, we all woke up to see SNOW had covered everything! The Oxford, Mississippi locals said it was the first time in 30 years it had snowed, so the town had a little trouble dealing with it. It meant a lot to see my family and share the 1st Dickerson Christmas in Oxford, Mississippi.

31 weeks

Besides Callie being born, another huge change we are going through is the construction of our new townhouse in Hackettstown, New Jersey. We are very excited for it and can't believe how fast it is being constructed. The stairs are almost done and soon they will begin the electrical work.  The target date for the home being done is May 2011, but we hope the winter is mild and they could be done April 2011, so we are crossing our fingers.  All our friends and family are welcome to come visit and stay as long as you want.  We are looking forward to hanging out all summer at the new house and having BBQs and watching Red Sox baseball games!

32 weeks

Recently, the Northeast has been hammered with snow and NYC got more than it can handle.  Lindsay and I hung out at Central Park and enjoyed the sight of snow everywhere.  I think Callie likes the snow, she has been kicking and very active the past few weeks.  When I put my hand on Lindsay's belly, it is an emotional feeling for me.  I can feel my daughter kick and move around all the time and makes me feel so proud.  The day she arrives will be the best day for Lindsay and I.

33 weeks

IT'S A GIRL!!!

20 weeks pregnant was a huge week for our little family!!!

First, we got to see our precious little baby for the first time.  She was very shy and kept her hands up by her face and we even think she was sucking her thumb through most of the ultrasound.  Also, she was very lady like and kept her legs together so that we couldn't get a good picture of whether she was a boy or girl.  In the end the ultrasound tech told us that she was 99.9% sure that we were having a GIRL!  Mommy had a feeling from the beginning that she was going to be a little girl but thought deep down that daddy had a feeling she was going to be a boy.  When the ultrasound tech told us "It's a Girl" mommy looked at daddy and he looked very surprised!  The ultrasound tech continued with her measurements and as she was measuring her legs daddy said "wow her legs look long maybe she will be tall like her mommy and play basketball." Later I think daddy was continuing to process that she was a girl and said "well I guess I am going to have to buy her a pink Miami Dolphins jersey."  By the time our appointment was over daddy had a big grin on his face and proudly carried the pictures of his little girl out of the doctors office!

Later that week we purchased our first home in Hackettstown, NJ.  It has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, garage and daddy's pride & joy, a full finished basement!  Unfortunately, the house won't be finished being built until after baby girl Dickerson is born, but mommy already knows exactly how she's going to decorate her nursery!!!  The building process has begun with the foundation and look at our beautiful view!!!  Can't wait to move in and have a BBQ with our friends and family.

Mommy and daddy also celebrated their one year wedding anniversary with a trip to Canada to see Niagara Falls!!!  We got some great pictures of the falls, went on the Maid of the Mist, walked around the town and had a delicious anniversary dinner overlooking the falls!!!

20 weeks

Morning sickness over?!? Time to shop!!!

Well, it has been almost two weeks since mommy has been sick and she is hoping that means the “morning” sickness is over!!!  Of course she has heard the horror stories that it comes back in the third trimester but she is pretty sure that she got it all out in the first 10 weeks!!!  Mommy also finally broke down and went shopping for maternity clothes.  She decided that when she started digging through daddy’s dresser drawers for clothes to wear it was sign that she needed to go do some maternity shopping or else she would be wearing sweats and daddy’s t-shirts for the next 5 months.  The next few weeks are going to be exciting ones and now mommy has comfy clothes to wear while we do them.  We have another doctors appointment next Tuesday and the Tuesday after that we have our first ultrasound to see our baby and find out if we are having a boy or girl and then that weekend we head to Niagara Falls for our one year wedding anniversary!!!  Lots more to come... stay tuned!!!

The Next Big Step!!

We had a doctor appointment last friday and everything went great!  Baby Dickerson's heartbeat is super strong and Lindsay is doing great on every part of the pregnancy.  When we found Baby Dickerson's heartbeat, we heard the beat and then a loud "boom" came right after it.  It seems like Baby Dickerson has a lot of spunk and just wants to do his or her own thing in Lindsay's belly. It's awesome how Baby Dickerson has a personality already and a little attitude (from Lindsay) to go along with it.  It's amazing how a tiny baby controls both of us when it comes to everything!  As Dwight Schrute said, "Baby Dickerson is so badass!"
Lindsay is feeling a little better these days and doesn't have as much morning sickness, so that is a good thing.  She gets tired easily still, but she is doing so much better than a month ago.  Her belly is starting to show and we will post belly pictures as time goes on.  It is crazy how her belly will expand to make space for Baby Dickerson and continue to grow and grow.
The next big moment in this adventure is knowing whether it's a boy or girl.  We are very organized and want everything set up perfectly for Baby Dickerson.  Some people wait till delivery day, but there is no way we could wait that long and I'm sure everyone knows that.  We have an appointment on October 12 for the ultra sound and the closer it gets, the more nervous Jimmy gets. He is nervous about becoming a dad, but will do anything to become the best dad ever!  This adventure is getting more real by the moment and once we find out the sex of the baby, it will be one of the best moments of our lives.  Seeing the child we have created will make us feel like the luckiest parents on the planet!  Thanks for all the support from our family and friends!  We are so lucky to have all of you in our lives and will love you forever!  Cheers!!