The Tongue

When we were in our prenatal class, we saw a video about how newborns will mimic your facial expressions. The example they showed was a mom sticking out her tongue and, after several tries, the baby would mimic the mom and stick her tongue out. Adam and I talked on our way home as to how we won't do that because why would we want our child to stick her tongue out at me. That's sassy. I'm sure we'll be dealing with enough sass when she's 2, why start now? Anyways, last week, without any help from us, she found her tongue and trust me, she wasn't afraid to use it! Had we known how hilarious it would be, we might have tried to teach her!

The reason I haven't posted in 2 months

It's waaay too much fun making her smile. I will try to give an update on our last two months very soon but right now I hear her stirring in her crib, telling me it is time for our morning snuggle.

The reason I was able to publish 4 posts this morning

I trust no explanation is needed.

2-Month Photo Shoot

No smiles this time but we think she's pretty cute!

Special Outfit

When I was born, my dad went shopping and picked out an outfit all on his own. My mom kept that outfit and for the past 32 years it has been stored in a trunk. When Addison was born, they broke into the trunk (32 years is a long time to keep a tiny key...) and gave me the outfit. Here it is on my little girl. As you can see by her face, she wasn't too happy about all the scratchy lace. I'll try to post a picture of me in the outfit so those of you who are so inclined can see if she bears any resemblance to me.

My how she's grown...

So when we were at the public health unit to get Addison's 2-month shots, a new father came over to see her and commented on how big she was. I thought that was kind of strange since most people comment on how small she is so I asked him how old his baby was. Being a proud new papa, he told me that his daughter was only 5 days old and brought me over to his carseat to see her. Oh my goodness. She was bigger than Addison was when she was born and she was sooooo tiny. It was hard for me to believe that our little girl was ever that size so I came home and looked at some photos. Then, during our next bath time, I took another one for comparison purposes. Check this out:

Taken July 10, 2007 - 5 days old

Taken September 5, 2007 - 2 months old

Believe it.

More pictures from month #2

I was hoping to get better photos to commemorate the visit from Auntie Cariann and Uncle Kurtis but I guess these will have to do. Cariann, sorry I didn't have a good one of your face. If you send me one then I'd be happy to replace this one. We really enjoyed our visit with them. And I'm sure Addison looks forward to being spoiled by them.

Two Months? Already?!

I can't believe we've already passed the 2-month marker.

A few highlights:

• Smiles and chatter - Addison can be pretty selective with her smiles. She seems pretty serious but she surely can talk. Her noises are so cute. I should try and capture her during one of her talkative times.
• Visits - Grammy and Granda Jones spent a couple of days with us and Uncle Kurtis and Auntie Cariann were here last weekend. Needless to say, Addison cast her spell over them all and now they are wrapped around her tiny little finger.
• Road trip - Addison went on her first road trip down to the States for a day of shopping with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kurt & Auntie Cariann and was an absolute angel. She did better than most of us with the long border line.
• Old friends - we got together with two of my best girlfriends (one who came down from Kelowna) and their significant others for a night full of good conversations and laughter.

The lowlight:

• First shots - it just happened today so it's very much on my mind. How cruel to ask a mother to hold down her daughter while a nurse stabs her four times with 1-inch needles. Addison took it pretty hard - as did I. She slept the majority of the afternoon, although there were a few tears (hers, not mine). But she woke up around 6 this evening and has been happy and alert since then. Hopefully, we have a good night.

The funny:

• I signed Addison and I up for a Kindermusik class. Now I'm not one of those mothers who have to involve their child in every possible activity. I just thought it would be fun. We had our first class on Tuesday. I should have known something was up when she was awake for the whole ride there. Wide awake. Right up until the class started. Then she closed her eyes and proceeded to sleep for the entire class. What a little trouble maker. It was so funny. Hopefully she'll get used to it soon. I am curious to see how she does during our first aquasize class...

The pictures:

Cuddles with Grammy

Cuddles with Grandma

Checking out dad

Checking out mom

Can we get some food over here?

Figuring out how it all works

Seriously, how cute am I?

I couldn't resist taking a nudie picture

1-Month Photo Shoot

Since Adam and I are both against the posed Sears or Walmart photos, we decided to do our own photo shoot on her 1-month birthday. Apparently the photographers at Sears and Walmart have a few tricks up their sleeves because we couldn't seem to catch her with her eyes open. We definitely had a good laugh though. Here are a few of the shots.

First Month Review

Well, it's hard to believe that I finally have a few minutes to update our blog. Before Addison was born I would have found it hard to believe that someone who just stayed home to care for a baby couldn't find a few minutes in the past month to post an update, but it is the truth. It was sort of along the lines of Adam and I both thinking, "really, how tired could we possibly be?" HAHAHAHA!!!! It's a good thing we were so naive going into this!

So... where should I start? I guess I'll pick up from where I left off in my last post. At 11:00am on July 5th, Adam and I headed out to the hospital. What a strange feeling that was to know that when we returned to our house, the two of us would be three. Here is a picture of us just before we got in the car.We spent the afternoon in our hospital room waiting to be called to the OR. We were the last of 5 c-sections that day so we had a bit of a wait. At about 5:45 the porter arrived and we were off. The procedure was without complications and 45 minutes later, we were parents. Addison Mayne was born at 6:34pm, weighing in at 5lbs. 15 ozs. Here is our first family photo.



The next few days in the hospital flew by with us learning, mostly by trial and error, how to take care of her. We were released on Sunday morning and our new little family headed home after a quick stop to pick up more diapers.
And then the next month flew by and we continued to learn and get to know our little girl. Here are some photos:

Finding her thumb for the first time with Grammy Jones

Her first bath (which she loved!)

My grandparents flew out from Tofield for a weekend to meet her. It was a special time and allowed us the opportunity for a 4 generation picture.

Uh-oh, I think our little cutie just did something not so cute in her diaper so I have to run. I promise to post more often.

Proud New Dad

What you are about to read could be considered mush, cheesy, un-manly…take your pick.

I was always one of those guys that didn’t like to talk too much about the goings on’s in my life as I didn’t want to seem selfish or all-consuming of conversations. With babies, I always wanted to try and resist using phrases like “my daughter”, “cute”, “cozy”, using “soooo” at the beginning of statements and also limiting my conversation and phrases of adulation to a minimum. But I really can’t resist with Addison. I know, I know, I am breaking the rules I set for myself, but life is way to short to limit myself to words that describe this little one and when she does something amazing…like blink, (I know, not that big of a deal), I gotta tell someone.

No father-about-to-be for the first time knows just how he is going to take or react to this new phase in his life. I can only speak for myself, that before the big moment I was quite positive that I was ready and waiting eagerly for the arrival of my baby girl, but the true test was going to be post birth, every 3 hr feedings, dirty diapers, a few whales and tears, etc.

Though it is hard to wake up in the middle of the night numerous times (Kim is much better), I must say that when I am finally up and she is laying in my lap, completely dependant, I am on the other hand completely taken by her and have forgotten that my body is supposed to be sleeping. Again, this is my experience and have only had less than a week of partially sleepless nights, but I really want to remember this feeling of awe of my daughter, as she truely is my perfect little girl.

Case and point…I sit in my family room writing this post with the baby monitor by my side and listen to her many squeaks while she sleeps trying her hardest to release her hand from a tight swaddle. Her little cute voice is sooooo addictive to hear, I get up and go upstairs and look at her as she is cozy in her little bed. See, just broke key words rule. A shot of this view:

I will stop here for now. But there will be more to come.

Another pic of this little miracle…

The countdown is on

Well, we have news... In my last post I told you that we were scheduled to have another ultrasound to determine the baby's size and position last Tuesday. The ultrasound confirmed what Adam and I thought - Addison was in the breech position (frank breech for those of you who want the deets). The outcome - we're having a c-section. The ultrasound also told us something unexpected - my amniotic fluid was really low and, after our dr's appointment on Thursday, we found out that we were going to be parents much sooner than we thought. The maternity clinic sent us up to the maternity ward where we had a non-stress test and then met with an obstetrician who told us that she wanted us to have the baby this week. So we were in the rare position of being able to determine when our daughter's birthday was going to be. Very strange. Anyways, we're scheduled to have her on Thursday, July 5th. At that time she'll be 37 weeks and 2 days old. Despite the complications, she's doing really well. She weighs about 6 pounds and the dr said she measured like a textbook baby. We went today for another non-stress test and we have another one on Tuesday. Then we'll be admitted on Thursday.

When we heard the news, we were both a bit stunned. I had planned to work until July 6, so I went in to work this past Friday and informed them it would be my last day. I'm officially unemployed and that feels pretty strange.

Thankfully we had plans to go to friends' for dinner on Thursday who had just had a baby back in January. I sat down with her and made a few lists of essentials - one of things we needed to have before Addison arrives and one of things we need to take to the hospital with us. Then we spent the past few days picking up the things we need before she comes home. Thankfully we had already purchased the big-ticket items (stroller, carseat & crib) but we had a ton of little things left to pick up. It's been an expensive few days but I think we're pretty much good to go.

Anyways, that's our story. We'll definitely keep you updated on any new developments and, once the big day has come and gone, will post pictures. Hope you're all well!

Long time - no write..

I know, I know, I know... we're terrible. For those of you who continue to faithfully check this website, you have my sincere apologies. I'll give the usual reasons - we're busy, I'm tired, yada yada, yada. But, being a daily blog-checker myself, I know how great it is when there's a new entry. And, trust me, when Addison arrives, we'll be much, much, much better. I PROMISE!! Right now I still think that our lives aren't so interesting and struggle for things to write about.

Anyways, enough of that. Adam and I just got back from spending the weekend out in Nanaimo with his parents. We wanted to make sure to get out there before Addison arrives and this was pretty much our last opportunity. We went over yesterday morning and came back late this afternoon. It was good to see his parents and his brother's family. Strange to fall asleep and wke up again to total silence. Us, "city people" aren't used to silence. There's always something going on. It was kind of unsettling. Almost enough to make us think: have we been left behind? We saw where they're building their new house, we went and watched Adam's nephew play softball, we had dinner with the whole family, we took a trip to coombs market where the goats live on the roof. The weather was total crap, but it was nice to see some new scenery.

Now we're back to real life and, as of today, exactly 1 month away from Addison's due date. Crazy. For those of you who haven't been in the pregnancy loop, things are going well. I'll attach a photo for your viewing pleasure. I am really happy that we're coming down the home stretch though. Lately I've heard women talking about how much they loved being pregnant. I haven't really had that experience. I love the "idea" of being pregnant. Carrying a life around inside of me is pretty amazing. I love feeling her kicks and squirms. But I'm uncomfortable all the time. I am thankful for the crappy weather we've had because, as it is, my toes are sauages by the time I get home from work. And my belly button has popped out to epic proportions. And strangers can stop looking at me at any time now. But now I'm complaining about the most amazing thing that's happening in my body so I'll stop.

We might have a bit of a situation in that our little girl doesn't seem to want to turn. We're having an ultrasound on Tuesday to confirm if she's breech or not. If so, we will probably be delivering early by c-section. We'll know more later this week.

Oh boy, we just stumbled across a dirty dancing reality show. How can they keep coming up with these ideas?!

Ok, well this hasn't been a very interesting blog entry. See? You haven't been missing anything interesting at all. I hope you're all well and will definitely let you know what we find out on Tuesday.

It's a ...

Well, after carrying this thing around inside of me for the past 21 weeks, we finally know if we'll be buying pink or blue. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm very curious about pretty much everything and these past five months of not knowing have been so hard. Adam and I both wanted a girl. I don't think we had any good reasons for wanting a girl. Maybe it was the family with four kids who sat in front of us on the beach in Mexico one day. There were three boys who were creating quite a bit of chaos for their poor father and then there was the girl, who just sat so peacefully as her mother played with her hair. At first I was a bit concerned that it would be a boy. I spent quite a bit of time observing mothers with their baby sons and they truly seemed to love them as much as mothers loved their daughters. But, of course, once we had the ultrasound and learned that everything was where it should be and that the baby was healthy, the gender wasn't really all that important.

ANYWAYS, when I called the maternity clinic this week, they finally had the results. The receptionist reminded me that the the findings weren't 100%. Seriously, what are they going to do, offer a "satisfaction guaranteed" policy. Anyways, she asked me what I thought I was having. This is a question I've been asked many times but I've never been able to distinguish between what I wanted and what I thought I'd have. But the moment she asked the question,
I felt pretty sure I knew. I told her that I thought we were having a girl and she told me that I was right. So you all now have a new granddaugher, great granddaughter and niece. YAY!!! We can buy pink!!!!!! Come on now, for someone who loves pink as much as I do, how can I not be excited about that?!

I don't really know what else to say. I've finally been feeling her move around and kick so that's pretty cool.

Well we should be heading to bed. Tomorrow we're off to Kelowna with our friends Jonny & Corinne. We're going up to visit another friend who just had a baby on Monday. Seeing as how it's supposed to rain here all weekend long, we're happy to be getting out of the city and seeing some new sights. I hope you're all well and we can't wait for you to meet our sweet little daughter.

2D Never Looked So Good

So this week Kim and I had the pleasure of seeing first hand what was happening in her growing tummy. Pretty amazing I must say. I know, I know, we have all seen ultrasounds before and they typically look very alien like, but knowing that this is your own creation in there is entirely a different story.

The detail that the radiologist was able to show on the screen in real time was amazing..the spinal cord, foot and hand digits, 2 developing sides of the brain, the beating heart and general insides of our baby's body. We could have scanned for hours if they would have let us, but unfortunately they brought kim in, took all the necessary measurements, brought me in, showed us our baby and we were on our way with a $10 average white stock 8.5/11 printout for a keepsake.

The most important part of this highlight to our life is that the baby's measurements all checked out perfectly! The next task is the discovery of the gender, so grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. will know whether to go with pink or blue when picking out that perfect _____________ (add item here).

Here is a glimpse of our little one...We look at this every day, looking forward to July 24th.