The holiday newsletter has become a holiday tradition for us. Our Ninth Annual Bell Times, which you can read online, has been our most ambitious one yet. We deviated from our normal newspaper-like format, and imagined what Camden and Kalia's Facebook walls might look like. For our photo, we blended pictures from vacations in New York, Washington DC, and Twin Lakes.

She was born at 10:02 pm weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring in at 18 inches. She is a healthy baby girl with two very proud parents. Mommy and baby are doing great, and are expected to spend the customary 24hrs or so in the hospital.

More info, photos, and video to follow shortly.

but freakin hot in the summer! The beach is the perfect place to enjoy Independence Day and escape the heat, but with a baby coming any day now, we thought it wise not to make the trek to Zuma and deal with limited parking and large crowds in case we need to get out of there in a hurry.

Camden didn't seem to mind since our newly-upgraded Patio Oasis sports a misting system and a kiddie pool. Camden especially likes to connect the pool with his slide and try all sorts of daredevil maneuvers

We recently found out that Camden is indeed his momma's son when he devoured some beef ribs.

We completed our annual holiday letter this past week, which you can read online. Not surprisingly, Camden was our inspiration this year, and was even kind enough to write a few articles himself! We're all looking forward to celebrating his first Christmas this weekend, and you can be sure we'll have pictures to share after the holiday.

And yes, that's a picture of him naked and stuffed into a giant stocking. To quote a friend, "What's up with you and Crystal sticking Camden in things?" We just can't help ourselves.

It's his first halloween, and since he's still small enough to fit in just about any pumpkin ... hmmm, well why don't we just put him inside a pumpkin? In fact, why don't we dress him like a pumpkin and let him squirm around inside a freshly-carved jack-o-lantern? That's not a bad idea.

Maybe I'm just delirious from the lack of sleep, but these are some of the cutest pictures to date. Look at his feet! Maybe this is just a cruel, slimy orange prison, but I think he's adorable

Mommy's tired ... daddy's tired ... our arms are tired from countless hours of holding Camden because he is not a big fan of chilling out solo for a while - but Camden does not seem to get tired. He sleeps occasionally at night, maybe a nap during the day if it suits him. I'm starting to master holding him in my left arm while my right hand divides time between the mouse and slowly touch-typing at the keyboard. It took 15 minutes to write that last sentence!

To think we were waiting, mostly impatiently, for him to wake up those first few weeks from all that sleeping. Tired faces are not all bad. He's awake, smiling a lot, taking in the world, and amazing us with his inquisitive stares at everything, or nothing in particular.

He doesn't like to spend too much time on his stomach, but his neck is getting so strong, he is holding his huge melon head off the ground for minutes at a time. Much to our surprise, he actually rolled over on his own, deciding he would rather struggle through a feat like that than take repeated face plants into the ground. When he was about a quarter of the way over, I decided I better whip out the camera and cross my fingers - and just like that we captured his first major developmental milestone on film.

Crystal is doing such a great job, and basically on no sleep to boot. She went from getting 9+ hours of sleep every night (that's pre-pregnancy before those darn middle-of-the-night bathroom breaks cramped her zzz's) to 3 or 4 tops - and she's never been more beautiful. But lack of sleep is only one of the prices paid for the wondrous moments with our little one. It turns out that when babies are awake, they're mostly hungry, so if they're not sleeping, they're not fasting. And even though I try to help out as much as possible, I'm basically worthless in that department.

As I start to get out of the house and reenter society, I realize just how much motherhood has changed me. As I walk in the mall I realize that I’m no longer heading to Forever 21 for those cute tank tops, and all those girly bras in Victoria Secret aren’t at the top of my shopping list anymore. Now when I go to the mall it’s a straight bee line for Baby Gap and Gymboree. You’d be amazed how excited a little blue sweater with a dog on it makes me now.

But it’s not just the stores that I frequent at the mall that have changed, it’s the way people at the mall view me (or how I think they view me). Now before I go on let me say I’m not trying to be egotistical here and I’m not looking to get picked up on, but before I became a mom and I went to the mall I’d get a certain amount of head turns from guys in their 20s (or I at least told myself they were checking me out). Now the only people turning their heads to look at me are other moms checking out my stroller. I’m no longer a fairly attractive 20 something female, I’m a mom.

Before, guys would hold the door open for me and I’d like to think they were assessing what I had in the trunk, now the only time a guy holds a door open for me is so I can get the stroller through the door. Could it be that guys don’t find my stretch marks, dark circles under my eyes, and thinning, now mousy brown hair attractive? Maybe I’ve lost the ability to turn heads, or maybe I’m just at the wrong venue. I’ll have to let you know how many head turns I get when I attend the Little League field when Camden starts baseball. For now I’ll have to be happy with just one pair of eyes on me.

And let’s just say in those eyes I know that I’m the most beautiful woman in the world and no other woman can take my place or even come close. When those eyes are on me I know that I’m ready to give up all those other head turns. The beautiful eyes of my little boy are the only eyes I need now.

The verdict is in: Camden looks like ... well, a baby. We are still taking daily inventory of his features to see which he will inherit from mommy, and which he will inherit from daddy. He seems to change so much everyday, that who really knows which physical characteristics will stay with him as he grows.

In the mean time, it's still fun to compare mommy, daddy, and baby, and see who shares noses, smiles, chins, hair, and everything else. To assist you in your speculations, we've provided pictures of Camden's mommy and daddy right after they were born. Who do you think he looks like most? Let us know.

I’ve been a mom now for two weeks and it’s amazing how my life has changed. Before giving birth, Zac asked me what I thought would be difficult about being a mom. I gave the standard answers that most moms-to-be probably give: breast feeding and lack of sleep.

Although both of these things are true, I never anticipated being worried about EVERYTHING my new son does or does not do. Being a worry wart before having a baby, I think a new word needs to be invented for how much I worry now, and how much I’ll continue to worry for the rest of Camden’s life.

We brought Camden home from the hospital on Tuesday, September 6th. I read through the papers that the nurse gave me and quickly learned that newborn babies should have 2 to 3 bowel movements a day. Well, when Sunday, September, 11th rolled around and it had been several days without any poo, I started to panic. Phone calls to the doctor were made, friends with newborns were consulted, Le Leche League was contacted for advice, and well, I just continued to worry. Everyone had great advice, but all the advice was different. What advice should I take? Why was my new baby sleeping through feedings and not going #2? Even though Camden would sleep through the night (and literally almost all day) I couldn’t sleep at all. All I could do was cry and worry, worry, worry.

Being the pessimist that I am, I thought the absolute worst: my new baby would have to be put back in the hospital and they would have to feed him with a tube. Luckily, on Wednesday, September 14th at approximately 8 pm, Camden had an enormous and smelly poo waiting for us in his diaper. Funny enough, Zac captured this momentous occasion on video because he thought Camden was making cute faces and wanted to catch these adorable faces on film. I can honestly say that seeing that poo (and a lot of it) ranks as one of the happiest moments in my life. My baby is going to live!

So, now that I’m a mom and the same question is asked, what do I think will be difficult about having a baby? My response is, EVERYTHING - I even worry about shit. I feel sorry for my wonderful, supportive husband who has to put up with my tears and worry. All I can say is … Camden will have to be wrapped in bubble paper when he starts to ride a bike and he’ll never be allowed to drive. I love my new son more than I could have ever imagined. It’s worth every minute of worry. But I hope he inherits his Daddy’s positive outlook and not my worry bones.

We returned home Tuesday afternoon after a fairly pleasant stay at the hospital (the food, of course, is below airplane grade). The first few days on our own have been challenging. Crystal has been enduring only a couple hours of sleep each night - ironically because the baby is sleeping too much. He's falling asleep at the boob, so feeding sessions last for hours as we try all the tricks to keep him awake and sucking.

Camden has enjoyed many visitors during his first week - family, friends, and coworkers. Everyone brings oohs and ahs, congratulations, and most appreciated by mommy and daddy, food. We haven't had to cook for ourselves yet!

Camden had his first bath a few days ago, during which he screamed and hollered continuously, which we still think is adorable. Above is one of my favorite pictures so far, which was snapped right after the bath.

Take a look at his T-shirt - his mommy made it as a present for daddy, and of course it's my favorite outfit for him.

There are a lot more pictures to see and some videos as well: his first few moments with mommy and his first bath are especially precious.

He was born at 11:06 pm weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring in at 18.75 inches. He is a healthy baby boy with two very proud parents. His mommy is doing fine, with a smile as large as I've ever seen.

Crystal woke up around 6am Sunday morning with light contractions. We used a stopwatch to measure their frequency for the next several hours while relaxing at home watching "Three Men and a Baby" and "Father of the Bride Part II" on cable (both are about having newborns). The contractions were pretty irregular at first, around 8-10 minutes, but eventually shortened to 5 minutes apart with increasing intensity. After consulting with the doctor by phone, we were on the road to the hospital.

We were admitted just after 2pm - Crystal was dilated at 3cm. By 10pm, she was fully dilated at 10cm, and it was time to push. The next hour was tough, but when it was over we were finally looking into the beautiful eyes of our healthy baby boy, Camden.

I'm going to be compiling pictures and video for the next several days, but you can see a sampling of the latest pictures or watch a slideshow.

You can now easily order pictures from our online photo albums through Shutterfly. We provide the cute baby pictures and Shutterfly handles the order processing, printing, and delivery. To use this new service, simply navigate to your favorite photo on our site, then click the orange link in the upper right corner. You can add as many pictures as you want to your order to be printed at the same time to cut down on delivery costs, it could not be any easier.

Our friends and family threw a baby shower to welcome our baby into this world. With a truck full of gifts, good wishes, and fun. Check out some pictures from the event. While the party was a ladies-only affair, Zac joined the fray to help open the countless gifts.

We are starting to test the newest version of the ZandC website. This is the third version of the website since it first came online in late 2000. It began as a wedding website to house pictures, maps, registries, and other wedding-related material. After the summer of 2003, we overhauled the site as a travelogue of our summer vacation in Europe. Now a few years later, this site has been transformed to provide convenient access to photos, videos, and our thoughts as we bring a child into the world.

We waited nervously while a Sonogramologist (I just made that up) positioned and re-positioned an ultrasonic scanner along Crystal's abdomen for nearly an hour. The Ultrasound base, about the size of a laundry washing machine, produces mostly cryptic green/black images of the various fetal tissues/organs. Occasionally, I could spot the heart, ribcage, and arms/legs, but only as blobs that wouldn't stay still (someone needs a timeout).

Eventually, the procedure concluded and the technician asked if we wanted to know the gender, and of course we wanted to know so that we could begin planning the nursery and wardrobe color schemes accordingly. She flipped to one of the dozens of sonograms that she had saved, and pointed to something.

"You're having a boy." She printed the sonogram for us as a keepsake, and then we spent a good hour or so visualizing the Rubik's cube of a torso visible in the picture to see what she was pointing at. The sonogram shows a butt-shot of the fetus in a sitting position, where the thighs are pointed upward and there's this, OK we can say it, huge proterburance between his legs. That's my boy!

I came home with exciting news to share with Crystal - I had passed the CFA Level I exam. She seemed unusually excited about the news, a bit teary-eyed in fact. After her congratulations, she mentioned that she also took an exam today with some exciting results. Then she pulled from behind her back a small white stick and beamed with a great smile, "We're Pregnant!"

Shock...Happiness...What? Are you sure? What do two lines mean? Did you read the directions? Where is the manual, I need to look up these hieroglyphics.

Wow. Life has changed. There is a lot to do: We need to move, I need to get over my fear of holding a baby while standing, how do diapers work, what's all this talk about Lamaze, how should I reallocate our savings into tax-preferential college-fund investment vehicles, how do I express a lifetime of appreciation and love to my wife for bringing me this joy?

First things first, I have to get started on a new website.