Odell's first day

Untitled from tamara brink on Vimeo.

Vito made this great video of Odell's birth. watch!

Welcome Odell Hawkins Brink!

Sorry for the crazy long delay... we're home!

Meet Odell Hawkins Brink

born 2/22/11 10:41 am 7lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. 11 days overdue! The last 5 days have been such a blur.. but it's been really great. Odell has been so sweet and I spend most the day just starring at him.

I went in to get induced but ended up having him natural. Wow.. what an amazing experience.

I labored for 10 hours, pushed for 2 and he came out sunny side up. It took 3 Dr.'s an hour to stitch me up from tearing from front to back. ouchie. I also pushed so hard I gave myself two bloodshot black eyes and have broken capillaries all over my face. I didn't know you could give yourself black eyes from pushing. But make no mistake, the moment he came out and was placed on my chest it made it all worth it. All of it... every single bit of it. The infertility, the tears, the In-Vitro,the overdue pregnancy and the hard natural labor, all of it. I'd do it again tomorrow and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. WAY harder than my first marathon but oh so much more rewarding.

My parents are here helping and they have been a life saver. Doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, shopping.. really great. They leave on Monday and just thinking of them not being here makes me teary. I think things are going to feel a lot harder.We've had a couple of fussy nights but overall he's a reallyl happy baby. His first night home was rough for me... he cried for a couple of hours late at night and I couldn't do anything to make it stop. Vito came into the nusery to find me holding Odell crying just as hard as he was. It was such a helpless feeling. Vito eventually got him to fall asleep and once I fell asleep I felt much better after a nap the next day.

I'm learning so much. Learning so much about myself... about babies, about my husband, my family and little Odell. It's quite the instant lifestyle change, but it feels good.

xo

Still nothing...

Due date came and went... now 4 days overdue and so ready! It's hard to believe that it could still be another week before it happens. We're just trying to savor these last few days alone... soon it will all be so different!

JusT WaiTiNG....

We're just waiting here...

I've been doing everything I can to pass the time...

the official due date is tomorrow.

I'm still working which has helped pass the time during the day but when I get home in the afternoon...

I've been taking lots of naps (notice Cassius still sleeping)

Some knitting, drawing, painting, cleaning... hanging things on the walls here and there...

wondering if these vintage blocks I purchased at an antique store were painted with lead paint... I did put a couple of new prints in my etsy shop! Go take a looksie!

Hope you're staying warm... it's been so cold here in Denver the last couple of weeks.

Someone's been PaiNtinG**--**

One week until my due date! I've been painting to help pass the time and just listed these 8 tiny little paintings in my etsy shop today. It had been months and months since I'd picked up a paintbrush and it's felt so great! Ali and Heather gave me a really cool little original painting on wood as a Christmas gift and I really loved the concept of painting on a small hard surface. It inspired these...It's been crazy cold here in Denver the last few days and school has been cancelled, it's been amazing! Drinking warm drinks, knitting, wearing sweatpants all day and veturing out here and there to meet girlfriends for lunch or coffee. It's a great way to spend my last week before this baby comes.

Hope you're staying warm!

WeeKeNd BaBy ShOweR**

My friends Anne Marie and Katie had a baby shower for me at Vito's office this weekend. It was super sweet and just what I wanted. It was small, no lame games, plenty of alcohol (that I couldn't drink) and no public present opening. I really enjoyed it and felt so loved. We laughed a lot! It just felt like a fun party..
It was great being surrounded by fun family and friends.
I can't believe I only have 4 1/2 weeks to go! It's really going by so fast.

New YeArS.. rustic StYle.

We spent New Years up at my friend Brian's little cabin for a couple of nights with Heather and Ali. It was cold and quiet... really cold. It was 18 below zero the morning we packed up the car to come home. We spent our days playing cards, eating Vito's yummy food and laughing a lot. We did spend one afternoon at the dive bar in Hartsel, CO which is a few miles from the cabin. We asked the lady who owned the bar if the bar had anything going on for new years.. her response, "no.. hope not. we're closing at 4." It was a relaxing couple of days. And now this week back to work!

ChriStMaS* 2010

We had a really nice holiday. All of V's family came over to our house.. lots of presents, food, games and fun. Vito cooked an amazing dinner, it was nice spending a lot of time with his family.

I baked a lot on Christmas eve.. cookies, breads and two cheesecakes. I probably won't be doing any baking for awhile. I got my fix.

V went out of town on a "man trip" with his brother and Ali for a few days so things have been quiet around the house. While he's off hiking miles in the snow I've been snuggled up on the couch getting in some serious down time. I'm really going to enjoy this last week off work.
Aside from having a girlfriend over for dinner, today I have absolutely nothing planned... I can't remember the last time I've had a day like this. Super nice.

Hope you had a great holiday. xo

MovinG.. and other adventures..

We've moved! .A few weeks ago actually, to a great home Northeast Parkhill.. super close to Stapleton. We are really excited! It's been fun getting settled and unpacking boxes. I only have a couple more to unpack and then I'll post some more pics. Unpacking Christmas decorations at the same time has been a bit time consuming but really fun. We've been spending our week nights and weekends exploring our fun new neighborhood restaurants. We had a delish B-fast this weekend and a fun dinner with friends on Saturday night.And... the baby's a comin'... only 8 weeks to go! The ladies at work threw me a baby shower last week. It was actually for 3 of us! Lots of pregnant ladies in my school this year. 5 of us! I was obviously super excited about the cake.Jenn, Rachel and I are all due within days of each other. I got soooo many super great gifts from people, it was really really nice.

This is normally such a busy time of year but this year seems to be super CRAZY! But this is my last week of school and then I've got two weeks off for the holiday break. I'm really looking forward to some down time with friends and family. Hope you're having a lovely December. xo

QuiEt AfteRnOOn with friends...

Last Saturday the weather was amazing (considering it's almost mid November,) it was in the 70's! We met some friends for some early evening apps and it was such a strange feeling to sit in front of open patio doors and not be freezing cold! I'm thinking it was probably the last warm evening we're going to be experiencing for quite some time. It snowed two inches last night. Goodbye Fall...

Time for a new season!

IdaHo in the FaLL

We took a trip up to Idaho to see my family over my Fall break a couple of weeks ago and it was super restful. The landscape was so pretty and it was really nice to get out of Denver for a week.

My parents just finished building a guest cabin that is actually just a super mini version of the cabin that they live in. We were their first "guests" and we fell in LOVE. It was really cozy, perfect for the two of us... and Cassius of course.Every morning we would wake up, build a fire, sip our coffee and stare out the windows at the cool Fall fog.. just typing this makes me wish I was still there. In the past we've stayed in my parents cabin, which is nice, but really cramped. It was so great having our own tiny space to hang out in.We built tons of fires, drank plenty of warm beverages, went for LONG walks and got TONS of sleep.Cassius was in heaven. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with my family while we were up there so it was a lovely week full of turkey and pie. I spent some fun time with my mom and her friends... listening to my mom and her friends is so funny. They all get together a few times a week for lunch or coffee and "cluck away..." as I like to call it, chattering up a storm. It's really funny and cute and makes me wish I lived closer to join them more often.We also went to the ONLY really great restaurant in town with my fam the night before we left... super yummy.We did manage to peel ourselves away from the fire a few times to do a little EXPLORING! One of our favorite things to do while we are up there is find old abandoned properties waaaaaay up in the middle of nowhere and poke around. We found some dandies this time...
This place was so freaking creepy.
Whoever lived here with their family should be on the show 'Hoarders.' Piles and piles of stuff everywhere. We always leave asking ourselves so many questions... "who were these people?" "where are they now?" "Why is their stuff EVERYWHERE!?" "Why would someone live up here??" No running water, no electricity, no neighbors.. just really really long winters. Creepy.

Spoooooky to visit this place a few days before Halloween. Eeek!

It was a really great visit especially knowing that I won't be up again until summer... wish I could visit every season.

It was a great break. xo