So I didn’t mention that after Deacon peed all over my neighbor’s studio room and we finally gave up trying to take pictures of him that day, Zoe started begging to get in on the action. Actually, she had been begging all morning. Could she have just one picture taken? Please? Please, just one? I told her that she could another day. But she didn’t like my answer, so she consulted her Magic 8 Ball, which assured her that she would, indeed, be having pictures taken that day. Now granted, she hadn’t showered, done her hair, or even put on particularly nice clothes, but as I started packing up Deacon from his pee-filled shoot, she begged Kristen to take her picture. So a picture was snapped. And then another. And then some umbrellas were brought out. And some cute hats. And flower petals. And before I knew it, many, many minutes had gone by and there was a stock-pile of cute pictures on Kristen’s camera.

Voila.

Never doubt the wisdom of the Magic 8 Ball.

My photog-neighbor, Kristen, took some shots of Deacon today. He was not happy about it. And when I say “not happy”, I mean he screamed his frickin head off for two hours while she tried her very hardest to capture his “newborn innocence”. Bottom line: he was pissed, man. He just wanted to sleep. He abhors the camera flash. He detested being stripped down nekkid and having a satin bow wrapped around him. And what can you do when you’re a newborn and find yourself being stripped down nekkid against your will and tied up with a bow? Why, you pee all over the photographer’s props, of course. And I mean, all over them. Like, soaking through several layers of backdrops and blankets and tapestries. (That’ll teach her to try to take pictures of his precious l’il bum.)

But of the 350 disastrous shots of him screaming and looking eerily like an old man, she managed to get a few shots that were absolutely awesome. (Have I mentioned before that the girl is good??) Here are a couple preliminary shots:

I know, cute, right? (I’m pretty sure he was screaming in the second one, but you can’t tell since it’s the very top of his head… she had to get creative with obscuring his unhappiness.)

I’ll post a few more up on flickr once she’s photoshopped out the tears and red-faced screaming… and pee stains.

Deacon Richard Gale was born Monday, December 22, just before 8pm. I am far too exhausted and giddy to write something long and witty and entertaining, so for now I’ll just give you the basics. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. We came home yesterday, Christmas Eve. I am ecstatic that he was able to be here for Christmas (and I was wondering what I was going to do with the presents under the tree that were for him if he wasn’t here to have me open them for him. As it was, he just gave me a sleepy yawn when I showed him his awesome presents.) As we speak, the sweet little dude is in my lap on a Boppy, snoozin and being all wiggly and babyish. I call him Deac the Squeak because he makes the cutest squeaks and noises you’ve ever heard. Or maybe you have heard it… it’s that set of amazingly adorable newborn sounds. He is my buddy.

We may have to tweak how to spell his nickname, though. Because tweak has a ‘k’, and squeak has a ‘k’, so maybe “Deac” should have a ‘k’ as well. Y’know, “Deak”. Is K a cooler letter than C? Eh, whatever.

One awesome perk is that I now have three handsome guys to look at everyday. Ask me how lucky I feel…

More pics up on flickr, as Jon has been a very diligent wife-helper and picture-taker and flickr uploader. If it weren’t for him, you’d have nothing… because the last few days have just been a precious baby-snuggling haze for me. Most of my time is spent looking like this:

Baby-gazing.

There have been no posts, no Facebook updates, no nothing if not resembling baby-snuggling or kid-hugging. All of the kid-hugging has been because Jachin and Zoe? Are precious with their baby brother!! They are fantastic helpers. (And Jon has taken pictures illustrating such.)

And now, carry on with your Christmas cheer. I sure am. This is the best Christmas ever.