Meeting Santa Claus

If you ask me, Little Ted looks like he was perplexed by his first encounter with St. Nick.

First Meal

Little Ted had his first meal of rice cereal in Corpus. Honestly, he's not much of a fan; we discovered last week that he'd much rather chow down on bananas. No surprise really - he was bound to have a sweet tooth like his parents. Here's the video footage to prove that he's becoming a big boy.



Little Ted also had another first in Corpus. He rolled from his back to his stomach to his back all by himself. Of course, he managed to do this when we weren't looking and traveled quite a distance in the process, giving mom a pretty big shock. I'm sure before long he'll surprise us again by crawling off somewhere.

Snow in Texas

Yes, it does snow in Texas. Here's the proof:

Christmas on 5th Street

This past Thursday, we all happened to be on campus when Baylor's annual "Christmas on 5th Street" was being held. We braved the cold weather to enjoy hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and see all the festivities. Unfortunately, we did not see the Christmas tree lighting - it was way too cold for us to want to stick around that long. But the evening did put us in the "Christmas mood."

Thanksgiving at Casa Gonzalez

Two Cousins having Fun, Part II

Two Cousins having Fun

Mattie and Little Ted had lots of fun together during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving

This year, we headed down to Corpus to spend Thanksgiving with Ted's family. My MIL had the house decked out in her finest Christmas decorations for the baby to enjoy (we won't be decorating this year because of our trip). We relished in a week's worth of down time and had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Ted's parents' home. Below are a few of the pictures we took while there.

More JC Penney Photos

We took these photos in October, our first visit to Corpus after Little Ted was born.

Four Month Check-Up

On the 19th, Little Ted had his 4 month check-up. Here are his current "stats":

Weight: 14 lbs, 4 oz (30th percentile)
Length: 25 inches (50th percentile - He grew 4 inches in the last 2 months!)
Head: 17 inches around (72nd percentile)

The doctor discovered that Little Ted is very ticklish - he giggled the whole time she examined his hips and abdomen. She complimented us on having a very happy and healthy baby, and then she sent the nurse in to give him his shots. :-/ Little Ted toughed it out the best he could, though he clearly did not appreciate the sticks.

How to Make Your Own Baby Food: A Primer

How to Make Your Own Baby Food: A Primer

If this post seems out of place, that's because this is the best place for me to keep track of this website! But some of the moms out there may find it interesting, too.

Surf's Up, Dude

This will be one of those photos we pull out when we have a need to embarrass our son in the future. ;-)

More Halloween Outfits

Milestone

Last night, Little Ted reached a milestone: he slept through the night for the very first time. He went to bed at his usual time of 7 p.m. and didn't wake up until 4 a.m. I know - that doesn't sound like a full night's sleep from an adult's perspective (who among us really wants to be up at 4 a.m.?). But for the baby, it is. I'm generally up with him twice - around midnight and again at 4 a.m. After the 4 a.m. feeding, I put him back to bed, and I head downstairs, get some coffee, and get to work on my dissertation (it's a good opportunity for me to get at least two hours of uninterrupted work in during the day). Let me tell you, it's not that easy to be up and ready to work at 4 a.m. when you have to wake up every couple of hours or so. But this morning, I was wide awake after having had 5 hours of sleep in a row! I'm not sure when the last time that happened was. And I'm not sure when it will happen again. But I'm hoping this means Little Ted will get in the habit of sleeping longer soon enough.

(On the flip side, Little Ted had a rough day today because he couldn't settle down enough to take his usual 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. Guess he was afraid that he might sleep too long if he got comfortable . . .)

Daddy's Birthday

Ted's birthday was last week Tuesday (the 27th). Here is a snippet of our celebration:



This was Little Ted's first birthday experience. As you can see, he wasn't quite sure if he should like blowing out candles or not.

Mommy's Workout

I've discovered a new workout that, even if it proves not to be too successful, is extremely entertaining.

Halloween Pictures and More

There's a New Sheriff in Town . . .

. . . who hopes you had a Happy Halloween!

Ready for Oregon

Little Ted is ready for our holiday trip to Oregon. In these photos, he shows off his new beanie, which just happens to be a hedgehog. We just know he'll fit in with all the snowboarders up north.

Hazardous Materials

Below is the outfit required when diaper failure occurs. It allows the wearer to deal with the hazardous material that he or she will encounter without coming into direct contact with it and without being overwhelmed by foul odors.

Baby's First Picnic

We've had beautiful fall weather lately, so we decided to take Little Ted on his first picnic last Sunday. Below are a few pictures from our outing.



As you can see, Little Ted had lots of fun with his daddy. The only downside: there was a pretty cool breeze that day that seemed to take the baby's breath away. Every time the wind came up, he would make a "tick-tick-tick" sound, kind of like a squirrel chattering at a bird. We thought it was pretty funny to watch - but don't worry, we did cover him up and block the wind to keep him warm.

Two Years

October 17th was the second anniversary of our move into our little condo. It is still a work in progress, though work has slowed down because of school and the new addition to our family. Nevertheless, we did accomplish a few things in the past year.

We did lots of cleaning - necessary organization to prepare for the arrival of Little Ted.



We created a lovely outdoor space.



We finished our downstairs bathroom.



But our biggest accomplishment was completing Little Ted's nursery.



By this time next year, we hope to have the downstairs completed. We still need to stain our cabinets, install a new countertop, backsplash, hardware, and sink, and do small painting jobs. From there, we look forward to adding new flooring upstairs, painting our room, and updating both bathrooms.

Recent Pics

Tools for List Makers Like Me

Read more at http://www.slate.com/id/2231911/pagenum/all/

3 Months Old

Little Ted is 3 months old today. At this stage, he is gaining better control of his hands. He's pretty good at putting his pacifier into his own mouth. We often just stick it in his hand rather than in his mouth (unless, of course, he is already cranky - he just gets more frustrated when we do that).

He proved this week that he can sleep 7 hours straight! That means we only had to get up one time during the night. Even though he has only done this once, I have high hopes that he will sleep through the night before long.

He has truly discovered his lungs. Since we have returned from Corpus, he has blessed us with choruses of loud screams and squeals. It is generally entertaning - until it turns into a gripe session, at which point we have discussions on why screaming at mommy and daddy does not get you what you want.

He can entertain himself for stretches of time, allowing mommy and daddy to do their school work. We recently purchased a playmat for him that he loves - and so do we. He can spend an hour or more shaking the rattles and cooing at himself in the mirror.

He seems to grow bigger by the minute. When we compare him to pictures from his first few weeks of life, we can hardly believe that he was that tiny. Since he was born, time has flown by!

Strange . . .

We had a strange experience this morning as we got ready to go have breakfast. Little Ted was tired and hungry by the time we were getting ready to leave. I gave him a bottle right before we left, and he fell asleep before he finished it. I then proceeded to put him in his car seat and apparently jostled him a little too much. He woke up, gave me a confused look, and then abruptly shook his head a made a noise that sounded strikingly similar to "no." Ted and I were baffled and talked about it all the way to the restaurant and at the table. We're hoping "no" is not his first word - otherwise, we're in trouble.

Weekend Trip to Corpus

Last weekend, we took Little Ted on his first trip to visit his grandparents, uncle, and cousin in Corpus. He did very well on the drive down and back again, and he was quite happy to let Grandma & Grandpa ooh and ahh over him. He also met the man he is named after, his great-grandfather, and his great-grandmother for the first time. Below are some photos from the trip.

2 Month Doctor's Visit

Little Ted had his 2 month check up on September 18th. Here are his current stats:

22 1/4 inches long (25th percentile)
11 lbs, 6 oz (50th percentile)
16 inch head circumference (70th percentile)

We were surprised that he didn't measure any longer. He seems huge to us, and when he was born, he was in the 90th percentile. I guess all his growth is happening in his head.

The poor little guy also had to suffer through some vaccinations. It was pretty terrible, but he toughed it out and was laughing and cooing by the time we left the doctor's office. But 3 hours later, he was in pain. His little legs (where he received the injections) turned bright red and his feet looked swollen. We tried to call the doctor's office to get some advice, but the answering service was not working (grr!). Eventually, the infant's Tylenol we gave him alleviated his pain and he slept well, but he had us worried for awhile.

A plus that came out of the not-so-fun vaccinaion experience: we decided to put him in his crib, not the bassinet in our room, so that he would have more space and would not put pressure on his legs at night. He took to his crib just fine and now sleeps there, which means that mom gets a little more rest at night because she isn't awakened by every one of his movements.

The next appointment is in November, at which time we will talk about getting Little Ted onto solid foods (already!). Not looking forward to the shots at all, but we are excited to see how big he will be in two months' time.

Game Day Gear

Little Ted in his Baylor gear:


We took Little Ted to Baylor's home opener against UConn on the 19th. He was a trooper and seemed to enjoy himself for the most part. Mom and Dad, on the other hand, were none too pleased with the experience. Baylor played poorly. But what was worse was how poorly organized the stadium staff was at the entrances. It was a mob scene when we got there. The heat and the confusion created many unhappy campers. We had wanted to go to most if not all of the home games, but we're going to rethink that. Hopefully the university will solve the problem so we can enjoy some good football.

The Boss of Me

Have you ever seen this commercial for TheLadders.com?



We believe this commercial is a good metaphor for our lives. Ted and I are the little monsters. We can squeak, squeal, huff and puff as much as we want, but to no avail. We are slaves to the "big talent," otherwise known as our son, Little Ted. Like the little monsters in the commercial, we run for cover when he roars. He reminds us who is the boss in our house.

Here's an example: a couple of weeks ago, he threw his first temper tantrum. That's right, I said temper tantrum. I know it sounds a little unbelievable (I had to convince my mom that it happened), but our sweet little infant had his first fit for no good reason. We had been enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon watching football and relaxing. Around 4:30, I went to the kitchen to make dinner. Little Ted started crying for no apparent reason. After trying all the usual methods to stop his wailing, we realized what was happening. Since he would not be comforted, we let him cry. I finished making dinner and picked him up in hopes that he would calm down. This wasn't good enough. He wanted me to walk with him, so I did. Of course, I was pretty hungry, too, so I decided to eat my dinner while holding him. Again, no good. Apparently, I was not allowed to eat. My hunger eventually won out, and he let me eat while standing and rocking back and forth. It was an interesting meal, to say the least.

We have had no other incidents since that one. If anything, it has taught us what our little guy is capable of and where we stand.

Lessons Learned

Before:


After:

Some of you know that Ted suffered a knee injury during the Baylor Rugby Association's Alumni Festival over Labor Day weekend. The image above was taken several days after the injury happened. Most of the swelling had gone down by that point.

What lessons were learned from this incident? Don't get talked into playing a position you are unfamiliar with!

Ted is doing much better, by the way. He can walk around without much difficulty, the swelling and the brusing has gone away, and he can drive again.

Pics for Grandma Robles

JC Penney Photos

We got the CDs from our JC Penney photo shoot a few weeks ago. Here's the whole collection. We think we're pretty photogenic. :-)

Grandma Gonzalez's Card

Here is a video of Little Ted reacting to a recent card from Grandma Gonzalez.

The End Matter: newyorker.com

For those of you who have ever done academic writing or struggled with MS Office:

The End Matter: newyorker.com

Shared via AddThis

Little Ted Likes Red

And Other Discoveries

Here we stand, between weeks six and seven of Little Ted’s life, and we have made many new discoveries:

1. Red is his favorite color.  We have a red Biola baseball cap hanging over his changing table.  This cap always captures his attention.  He smiles every time he sees it and then holds a conversation with it.  We’ve named the cap “Bob” to make it more personable.  One afternoon, dad put Bob on his head while Little Ted was looking away.  When Little Ted looked back at his daddy, he let out a loud laugh and a big smile, and dad scored entertainment points.
2. He can whine!  Little Ted most often whines when you try to burp him before he has finished eating, when he is tired but doesn’t want to sleep, and when he feels like you are not paying enough attention to him.
3. He’s an expert at staying awake.  We don’t have any problems getting him to sleep at night.  He sleeps in up to 4 hour stretches, which mom appreciates.  But naps during the day are a problem.  We have a “non-napping” routine: baby eats, baby falls asleep, mom puts baby in one of his beds, baby wakes up.  Occasionally, he will put himself back to sleep, but that hasn’t been true the past couple of days.  He’ll wiggle himself into wakefulness, smile, and start cooing.  All of this is very cute – for awhile – but it always leads to crankiness in the afternoon, which prevents mom & dad from completing their work and relaxing in the evening.  We’ve taken to going on short drives twice a day to encourage napping.  It’s worked so far, but we know it will get expensive (given the current price of gas), so we are looking for other ways to get him sleep during the day.
4. Ceiling fans are basically house sized mobiles.  Little Ted likes looking at them more than he likes looking at the mobiles attached to his bassinets.  We’ve named the fans in our condo “Frank.” 

We are looking forward to many more new discoveries as he continues to grow.

The Conversationalist

Little Ted is quite the talker (no surprise when you consider who his parents are). In the video below, he chats with the bears attached to his Pack N Play.

Fun Pictures of Little Ted . . .

. . . just because.

JC Penney Photos

Here are just a few of the photos from our JC Penney photo shoot. We took several others, but they weren't included in the email from Penney's photo studio. I'll post those after we get the photo CD.

Where we've Been . . .

Call us crazy, but we took Little Ted on a 1400 mile road trip to see Grandma & Grandpa Robles at the beginning of the month. We were nervous about taking the baby on such a long trip, but our pediatrician encouraged us to get away and enjoy ourselves. So we went for it and had a great time. Little Ted had a lot of quality time with the grandparents. We enjoyed shopping at the various malls in the area and made a trek out to Huntington Beach. Aunt Marlene hosted a Sunday lunch for us. We caught up with my former roommate, Laurel. We visited Biola, my alma mater, and ran into my honors program mentor, Paul Spears. We even took family photos (the last time we did that, I was 15 years old). Check out pics from our trip, below.

Catching Up

Pardon the lack of posts - we've been out of town for the last couple of weeks and have spent this week readjusting to being home. So, here are several posts that cover what has happened over the last three weeks.

The stump of Little Ted's umbilical cord (otherwise known as an extension cord, at least to Cousin Matthew), fell off at two weeks, which meant it was time for his first bath. Here are some photos from the event.









As you can see, Little Ted didn't enjoy the experience all that much. He cried and cried but was a happy camper once he was fed.

2 Weeks Old

Little Ted had his 2 week doctor's visit yesterday. He got a clean bill of health from the doctor. He has grown (no surprise to those of us who are part of his regular feeding duty) and currently weighs in at 7 lbs, 9 oz. He's still at 21 inches in length, though we think he may be longer (or maybe he just stretches out more than he used to).

All in all, he was pretty mellow at the doctor's office, even when he had his second PKU testing (required by the state). He didn't cry when the nurse pricked his heel, and he didn't really care that she had to squeeze it for a while to draw enough blood for the test. Mom and dad were happy about this - we didn't want to be left with a screaming baby at the end of our visit. Little Ted should be through with doctor's visits until his 2 month check up in September.

Here's a recent photo of Little Ted - he looks so peaceful when he sleeps, but you'd better keep that pacifier nearby just in case he wakes up and is looking for it!

Future Rugby Star

Check out the Baylor Rugby Association's web page - Little Ted is making his debut there.

http://baylorrugby.org/wp/2009/07/24/another-new-rugger/

Little Ted's Grand Entrance

This post is for those of you who might be wondering about the "process" of Little Ted's arrival into the world.

I began feeling contractions around 12:30 am on Tuesday morning (July 14th). Ted was asleep by that time - the earliest either one of us had fallen asleep in a long time - and I didn't want to wake him because 1) I wasn't exactly sure I was feeling labor pains and 2) I didn't think things would progress that quickly anyway.

During the night, I tried to time the contractions. They seemed to come every three minutes or so, but they were short, which meant a trip to the hospital was not yet in order. Sometime around 9 am, Ted woke up, and I told him that I thought I was having contractions. He took the news in stride. We got ourselves showered and cleaned up, Ted moved our luggage downstairs, and we had breakfast. I took care of some last minute school business and was able to nap most of the afternoon. By early evening, the contractions had pretty much stopped. I thought I might be in the clear for awhile.

Well, around 12:30 am or so on Wednesday morning, the contractions returned, and this time, they were more painful and longer. I timed them at about 10 minutes apart for a couple of hours; then they came every 5 to 6 minutes. Ted talked me through them, reminding me to breathe and not fight them. I don't think I could have dealt with them for as long as I did without his coaching.

Night turned into morning. We got up around 7 am, took showers, got dressed, and loaded up the car. First stop: campus - we had to take care of a financial aid issue. From there, we picked up breakfast. I ate what I could while Ted tried to eat enough to keep his strength up for the rest of the afternoon.

We then headed to the hospital, where I tried to answer questions about insurance, my doctor, my history, etc. in between contractions. Then, they sent me to triage, where it was determined I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. In other words, it was time to check me in and bring on the epidural!

The above happened between 9 am and 10 am - the same time my parents were due to fly in. Ted got a hold of them, directed them to take a cab to our condo, and told them where to find the key and the directions to the hospital. Meanwhile, I was hooked up to machines, had blood drawn, and tried to stay comfortable until the anesthesiologist arrived. He came a little while later and hooked up the epidural. I felt like I got immediate relief, though he claimed that it takes about 15 minutes for it to take effect. Pardon me, but I beg to differ. (The clock in my room was broken, so I'm not sure what time it was when all this was done.)

I was told when I was admitted that I should deliver around 3 pm. Great - that meant I might actually get to enjoy the baby, rest, and eat dinner that evening (can you tell where my priorities were???). At 1 pm, my doctor came to check on me. By that time, I had dilated to 7 cm. He broke my water and started me on Pitocin to induce contractions and move things along. By this time, Ted was trying to rescue my parents and get them to the hospital - as a result of lack of sleep (they took a red eye flight from So Cal), excitement, and an oddly located hospital, they got a little lost.

Shortly thereafter, the family arrived and kept me company. We chatted, enjoyed Blue Bell popsicles, and waited. As 5 pm neared, the nurse checked me. I was still at 7 cm and had not yet had adequate contractions to move things along. Also, each contraction would put the baby in distress. So, they started to "flip me" every few minutes and put me on oxygen to correct the issue. At one point, after the nurses sat me up to move me, they both let go - a move which caused me to flop back onto the bed. It was actually pretty comical since I am used to being able to support myself but could do absolutely nothing to keep from falling back (thank you, epidural). Luckily, Ted caught me and helped me up.

My doctor came and checked on me again around 5 pm. He said that he believed the Pitocin would work and that I would have a regular delivery - no need to worry about a cesarean. I just needed time to work up to strong enough contractions. That was all good news, except now I had to deliver with a doctor I did not know (Dr. Becker's day was over at 5 pm). Dr. Becker told me Dr. Bagnasco was on call that evening - great news! He's the same doctor who delivered little Miss Clara Getz.

So, we continued to wait for Little Ted to arrive. Some time around 6 or 7 pm, the epidural wore off, and I started to feel lots of pressure. The nurse told me that I should be able to push soon, but I could have more pain meds if the contractions were too strong for me to handle. The only catch - I might have trouble pushing if I was too numb. Not wanting to delay things any longer, I decided to tough it out and deal with the pain.

The contractions grew stronger, at which point my parents decided to move to the waiting room. By this time, I really wanted to be numb again, but something told me that I should be able to push. Ted went and got my nurse, who was just finishing up her shift. She brought her replacement in, and before I knew it, there seemed to be nurses everywhere. They prepped for delivery, stopping every couple of minutes to help me through contractions and pushing. That was the hard part - they wanted me to hold up my mostly numb, heavy feeling legs as I pushed and hold my breath at the same time. The two actions combined made me feel like I would pass out.

I didn't - I just closed my eyes and focused on pushing while Ted held my head and talked to me and the nurses counted. Their prediction: the baby should be out in 20 minutes. I'm not sure how long it actually took, but it seemed like an eternity. The doctor finally showed up, prepped, and got to work. He told me I could have the baby out in just 10 minutes with some good pushing. I figured I could endure just about any amount of pain for 10 minutes and kept at it. Before I knew it, I was pushing his head out, followed by the rest of him.

Little Ted was just as beautiful as could be. The doctor wiped him down and tried to get him to cry. It took a while because he had swallowed a lot of fluid during delivery. The nurses took him and got him cleaned up and checked out while the doctor attended to me. During delivery, I had gotten three good sized lacerations and needed stitches. He numbed me and stitched me up while Ted took pictures of the baby being measured and attended to. He got to hold him and brought him over to show me.

As I was being worked on, the baby got his first bath. He had to stay on the warmer to get his body temperature up before I could hold him. At about this time, Ted went to get my parents, who got to see him up close and personal before me. In fact, I don't think I was able to hold him until a full hour had passed. By that point, the doctor and all the nurses had gone, with the exception of the one who was attending to me, and Ted left to escort my parents home and pick up some dinner for us. Little Ted and I enjoyed some quality time as we waited for his daddy to come back. When Ted returned with Whataburger, we were moved to another room. We gobbled down our dinner, which had gotten cold by this time, and the three of us settled in for the night.

Overall, the experience was a good one. I was well cared for in the hospital, and it was nice to have my parents around to keep me company. And I couldn't have asked for a better coach. Ted stood by me the whole way, encouraging me and letting me know that I could do it. He was my rock the whole time even though I know he hated to see me in pain and was worried about how I was doing after the delivery. He (and the baby) even bought me some beautiful flowers for all my hard work (see below).

Baby Photos

Here are some photos we have taken of the baby and the family over the last week. More info about Little Ted's grand entrance into the world is coming - as soon as I have two free hands available to type!

Introducing . . .

. . . Ted Felipe Gonzalez IV

Born Wednesday, July 15th at 8:04 p.m.
7 lbs, 4 oz
21 inches long



Mom and baby are doing well. Mom, baby, and dad came home today and are enjoying the company of Grandma and Grandpa Robles, Grandma Gonzalez & Cousin Matthew.

More info to come . . .

Due Date: Not Quite . . .

So while today is the predicted day for Little Ted's arrival, it does not look like he's concerned about being on time. Ted and I aren't too anxious about waiting, but I have definitely gotten more uncomfortable over the last week or so. I have found that waddling is a necessity, bending over is almost more trouble than it's worth, and I can't tie my tennis shoes without assistance. Also, the waiting has affected both of our sleep patterns; no matter when we go to bed, we seldom fall asleep easily. Sleeping in and naps have replaced our normal sleep schedule.

Day 3: Doctor's Visit

Today's verdict - 2 cm dilated and 50% thinned out. What do those numbers mean? Well, they don't tell us when Little Ted is coming, but they do indicate that "progress" is being made. We go back for another doctor's visit next Thursday (assuming Little Ted doesn't appear before then). Depending on what the doctor has to tell us at that point, we may end up scheduling an induction for Monday, July 20th, which would put him about one week past his due date.

In other news, this waiting game has been pretty productive. I baked a key lime pie and blueberry muffins from scratch. Ted finished cutting the shoe molding and installed the last few pieces in the downstairs bathroom. We successfully appealed the appraisal the county uses to determine our property taxes and gave our appraiser some new information that should help her to make more accurate appraisals of our property in the future. And I'm making some slow gains on my dissertation (a sign that my mobility is not what it was a couple of weeks ago; otherwise, I would likely avoid my computer like the plague). Who knows how much we'll be able to accomplish if Little Ted does end up being a full week late . . .

Day 10: The bag is packed . . .

. . . the question is: when will it be needed???

Day 10: (Mostly) Completed Nursery

Here are some photos of the baby's nursery. It has been *mostly* completed for over a week now. I was just waiting on one of the "finishing touches" to arrive - the coordinating lampshade - and it finally came in this afternoon.



Ted got the furniture assembled in no time, and, after I cleaned out all the "junk" from the room (which took a LONG time), decorating was a cinch.



Of course, the baby has his own rugby balls already. He's got two that are baby sized, and the one in the crib is a practice ball Ted picked out for himself. I'm sure he's eager to teach the baby some ball skills.



The recliner, which used to be in the living room, was relocated to the baby's room to make space for a pack 'n play (one of the three sleeping spaces) in the living room. As difficult as the recliner was to get upstairs, I don't think it will ever find a home in the living room again.



This is the baby's library. I still need to add the Winnie the Pooh wall decals my parents got for us to this side of the nursery.



Also missing is a Biola baseball cap. Ted had the bright idea of putting baseball hats on the hooks that we used for the wall hangings. We chose a Baylor hat for obvious reasons. The UT hat honors Ted's favorite college football team. And the Biola hat will be in place for my alma mater. Unfortunately, you can't buy Biola baseball caps online (we looked), so we'll have to wait and pick one up the next time we're in So. Cal.

Day 10: Doctor's Visit

My doctor is on vacation for the 4th of July holiday, so we went in to see the nurse practitioner instead. The official report: there's not much to report. It looks like I'm still at 1 cm - maybe 2 - but that's probably a stretch (so to speak). This seeming lack of progress is adding a bit to our stress, but the NP did state that it is perfectly normal not to dilate until actual contractions begin. That was good to hear, but I have a feeling that the next week (or two, depending on what Little Ted decides to do) will seem like an eternity.

Day 12: Sleeping Spaces

We finally assembled Little Ted's bassinet, which was given to us by Grandma and Grandpa Gonzalez when we were in Corpus. It is adorable and fits perfectly in our bedroom. Now that it's assembled, we have a total of 3 sleeping spaces for the little guy - one in the living room, the crib in the nursery (photos coming soon), and the bassinet in our room. As I write this, it sounds a bit like overkill; on the other hand, I'm pretty sure we'll be glad we have all of them when he gets here.



Ted also hung our new curtains today. We've had a ridiculously hot summer this year (recently, we were in the news for being the hottest place in TX; we got up to 106 that day), and so we decided we needed curtains to cut down on some of the heat that accumulates upstairs during the afternoons. The brainstorm came after hanging blackout curtains in the nursery, which officially made it the coolest location in the condo (lucky baby). We'll see how well our stylish (yet not so darkening) bedroom curtains work out.

Just What I Always Wanted!

Below is a video of Mattie opening his birthday gifts at the "pre"-birthday party held for him while Ted and I were in Corpus. Looks like he got just what he wanted.

From Corpus Christi Vacation

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew turned 5 today - can't believe he's that big already!

Day 17: Doctor's Visit

Nothing interesting to report today. Little Ted is comfortably situated in the same place he was last week - only 1 cm dilated. Of course, he feels like he's putting more pressure on me, but that may simply be because he's getting bigger. We'll see what report we get next week. Personally, I hope Little Ted decides he's ready to "move on" so that we don't have to worry about forcing things along.

Day 24: Weekly Doctor Visits

Today was the first of several weekly doctor visits that we will attend up until the birth of Little Ted. Ted (the elder) described this visit as the one where "we all get to know each other a little better" as it consisted of the first of many pelvic exams to determine what exactly the ankle-biter is doing inside of me. While most people don't learn much at the 36 week visit, we got some good info: Little Ted is head down, where he's supposed to be, and unless he's some sort of amazing acrobat, he will stay that way. In other words, no need to worry about a breach baby. Also, it looks like I'm about a centimeter dilated. That's neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but at least it seems like Little Ted is aware that his due date is fast approaching.

Day 30: One Month to Go!

I can hardly believe we're down to 30 days. I don't know where the time has gone! At this stage, Ted is busy prepping the condo for Little Ted's arrival. Here are pictures of two of his latest projects:



Ted replaced our bent, sad looking A/C vent in the hallway. He had to cut out part of the wall to do so. His handiwork looks great, if I do say so myself.



Our crib and changing table arrived on Wednesday. Ted assembled the crib today, as you can see above, and he is working on the changing table as I write. The crib set is currently in the washer, and I will, of course, post more pictures once it is all put together. And if you're wondering what the rest of the nursery looks like, it is, quite literally, a disaster, which is why I didn't post a wider shot. I expect to have things in order over the course of the next two weeks and will share the final product with all of you.

And for those of you who might be wondering how things are "progressing," I had yet another doctor's appointment yesterday. All is well - the baby's heartbeat is strong, he is on track for growth, and I am healthy. Beginning next week, the doctor will check me weekly to see how close we are to delivery. We'll be sure to keep everyone posted. :-)

Day 33: Decisions & Deliveries

After returning from our vacation, we had a consultation scheduled with a pediatrician. This doctor was the third we had interviewed. The first seemed more interested in moving us through as opposed to having a meaningful discussion with us. We liked the second pediatrician we interviewed; he answered our questions honestly and took a genuine interest in us. But in the end, we decided to go with doctor #3 - she is an internist/pediatrician who has recently joined a new practice in our area and does not seem to be overwhelmed by patients. In addition, she took our questions seriously and can become our family doctor, if we so choose. So that's one big item we can check off our list.

Also, we received a fun package from our Oregon family that same evening. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin filled a box with goodies for Little Ted:



We were thrilled with the gifts - thanks to all who contributed (formal thank yous will be in the mail as soon as I get myself to the store and pick up more cards!)

Hiatus

We recently returned from a nice little vacation in Corpus Christi, with a stop in the Hill Country on the way down. We had lots of fun revisiting some of the Hill Country sites we first visited in 2006 (Fredericksburg and the Wildseed Farm in particular) and relaxing with family. After a long school semester, we needed to get away and do lots of nothing for awhile.

We also got to enjoy our new video camera, one of the many purchases we have made in preparation for the arrival of Little Ted. We spent a lot of time filming Matthew. Those of you who know him know that he is an endless source of entertainment. Our favorite clip of him is posted below, for your enjoyment.

New Additions to the Condo

Ted has been a busy bee, working to finish up some of our incomplete projects before Little Ted makes his big debut. He finished our downstairs bathroom (a long-time work in progress), and it looks great! Also, he installed some planters on the back fence, and we planted some lovely flowers (impatients, I think) in them that brighten up the space even more.











Also, an update on our "Costly Weekend Trip to Ft. Worth": the hotel has decided to reimburse us for our repair costs and rental car (hooray!). So it looks like the trip will not be as expensive as we originally thought.