Goodman Baby Blog

14 Months

2009-09-28T13:35:00.004-04:00

Things have been crazy busy now that Elijah is one. He is crawling, standing, walking with the aid of furniture, and has taken a few steps before he falls on his bum. Elijah also loves music and dancing. Anytime he hears music he starts to dance. He is talking up a storm and recognizes things like balloons, books, dogs, cats, and balls and points them out. He is also learning some baby signs like more, hat, and baby.

Nick has been working in Midland for the last 5 weeks so it has just been Elijah and me at home during the week. Nick's first week away Elijah severly broke out in hives. They were all over his body. We think it was a combination of whole milk and the cereal he had that morning. The next two weeks he was sick with a cold. Both weren't too bad and didn't seem to bother Elijah too much. Shortly after Elijah turned one he was also sick and went to the doctor's office a couple of times. He was having acid stools and we originally thought he was just having a stomach bug but turns out he can't have whole milk. This thought was also confirmed by the hives. He has been a pretty healthy baby but it seems like since he turned one he has been to the doctors a lot. Must just be part of growing up. Elijah is out of the helmet though. He is still at a 4mm difference but we are happy with that. He didn't make any improvements the last month that he wore it so we decided we wouldn't continue to have him wear it. Hopefully his head will continue to improve as he grows.

We have found Elijah's favorite TV show ever. It is Yo Gabba Gabba and he will actually ask to watch it. We try to keep the TV watching to a minimum and limit it to two episodes of Yo a day. He usually watches before his nap and before bedtime. This is his cuddle time and this is usually when he requests Yo. When Nick is home we also try to go exploring. We went to the zoo in Battle Creek. Elijah loved this. We would like to go to the zoo in Grand Rapids soon. We also went to the airzoo in Kalamazoo. Elijah wasn't so excited about this but he liked it. We also went to the museum in Kalamazoo. They have a children's play area. When we went Elijah was sick so I didn't let him play with much but we will definitely go back there soon. He also loves playing the drums with Nick. Anytime he hears drums he says "boom boom".

Every week Elijah seems to get smarter and have a better understanding of his surroundings. It is amazing watching him grow.

1 Year Old!!!

2009-08-03T09:46:00.005-04:00

It is almost impossible to believe that Elijah has been in our lives for a year already. The time has flown by yet it seems like forever ago that Nick and I were waking up every 2 hours through the night to feed Elijah and change his diaper. It has been a great year and before we know it we will be sending Elijah off to college. It seems like he is developing leaps and bounds every week. He is now proficient at crawling and standing with the aid of furniture. His vocabulary is pretty extensive. He loves to say "ball" and "bye". Grandpa Houvener taught Elijah to say "light" when he visited them in Midland for a weekend. He also loves to say "daddy" and "balloon". He also imitates the cats meowing and Delia barking. And he will imitate noises that we make like if we throw a ball and say "boom" he will do it too. He is also imitating motions, we are trying to teach him the sign for more so when he wants more food he signs instead of whining.

Elijah successfully made it through two birthday parties. His first was in Midland at Grandpa and Grandma Houvener's. His aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents attended. His Grandma Houvener made him a Backyardigans birthday cake that was really cute. He didn't really know what to do with it. Most of it ended up on the floor. Elijah was also more interested in playing with the birthday cards instead of opening presents. He got some cloths and books. Also, a kit to make his own stepping stone and artwork. And of course he got some toys too. He got a really cool baseball mit chair and baseball ottoman from Grandpa and Grandma Goodman. We are excited to get a new house where Elijah can have his own room to put his chair in.

The second party was at our house in Kalamazoo. Friends and some family that are in Kalamazoo attended. It was only a week later than the other party but Elijah improved a lot in his cake eating skills. He ate most of his piece and was covered in frosting. He loved it! He also improved in his present unwrapping skills. He got lots of toys and made the cutest face when he got a huge stuffed elephant from Benjamin.

On his actual birthday Elijah got to go to the doctors and get his vaccinations. He was not to happy about that. The doctor said he is looking good. He is in the 50th percentile for his weight at 23 pounds. I thought that was light but I guess not. I have always been really paranoid about his weight since our scare at 4 months when he hadn't gained any weight since 2 months. He is also 30 inches tall. Already 2 1/2 feet! That is the 67th percentile for his height. My prediction is he will be tall like the Burlews. We are also working on weaning him off the bottle and just giving him milk. We were having an issue with getting Elijah to drink out of a sippy cup so the pediatrician suggested we try a straw. So we bought some children cups with straws and Elijah started drinking from them right away, no issues. After the doctors appointment we went to Babies R Us and get a new big boy car seat. Elijah loves it and is so stinking adorable in it!!! Every time you look back at him when we are riding in the car he giggles and smiles.

The helmet is now only worn at nap time and bed time. When Elijah had his appointment in July his head had improved another 2mm. So now he is at a 4mm difference. We wanted to just stop the wearing of the helmet but we decided we would try to get a little more improvement with just having Elijah wear the helmet while sleeping. He has an appointment mid August. If there is a change, great, if not that is okay too. Either way we will have him stop wearing it after his next appointment. He has already made such a drastic improvement and 4mm is such a small difference that on an adult head it won't even be noticeable.

11 Months

2009-06-28T11:39:00.003-04:00

We are starting to plan the one year birthday parties. It is hard to believe that the next post will be one year. The time has flown by. Elijah will be having a party in Midland for the family and one in Kalamazoo for all our friends that live here. He is a lucky boy that gets to eat cake twice. He will probably enjoy a little ice cream too. He has had some on Mother's Day and Father's Day when we decided to treat ourselves. He makes a face at first like "why is this so cold?" then he realizes it is yummy and wants more. He is also eating pancakes and some other misc. foods that we give him.

Elijah is still not truly crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees to sit himself back up and gets around by pulling himself on his belly. I guess that is the benefit of hardwood floors, he doesn't have to work very hard to get around. He isn't pulling himself into a standing position, but if he is sitting and we grab his hands he is helping us pull him into a standing position.

Elijah is responding to and recognizing certain words like "no" and "clap". He will also start clapping when we sing patty cake. He has a baby einstein book that I point to items in and tell him what they are so now when we look at that book he points at the items. His favorite words to speak are "Abby" and "baby". I don't know if he knows that I am Abby but I try not to respond to him when he uses my name because I don't want him growing up calling me Abby.

Elijah's helmet will be hopefully coming off soon. When he started wearing it he had a 14mm difference from one side of his head to the other. Now he has a 6mm difference and his whole head has grown 1 1/2 cm. He improved a mm in one week due to a growth spurt. He has another appointment July 13th and we are hoping that is his last one. I think he is over his growth spurt so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will still see an improvement. His helmet only has a 2cm growth allowance so Elijah has almost grown out of his helmet. If he gets down to 2 or 3mm difference we will just call it good because that much of a difference will hardly be noticeable.

10 Months

2009-05-27T11:17:00.006-04:00

Elijah had his first week away this last month. Nick and I had to refinish the hardwood floors and the noise and dust would not be a good environment for a baby. He went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Goodman and Great Grandma Kramer. He had lots of fun. He got to go swimming and to Dow Gardens Children's Garden. Nick and I missed him tons and worked 14+ hours a day to get done so Elijah could come home.

Lots of teeth have come through. Elijah has four on the top and two on the bottom. We are still experimenting with solid foods. He gags a lot and Nick and I are such worry warts we would probably feed him baby food until he was four. But we know it is important for Elijah to start eating "real" food. He eats cereal puffs and macaroni.

Elijah still isn't crawling. He has gotten up on all fours a couple of times. Maybe now that the floors are refinished he will be able to spend more time on them and get a move on. He is developing greatly in other areas though. He uses his pointer finger a lot. He likes to pick crumbs and specks of dirt off the floor and put them in his mouth, not that putting them in his mouth is a development but more so the picking them up part. I guess while he was in Midland he learned to put shaped blocks in their correct hole. He also is waving bye (which is accompanied with a mimic of how I say "bye") and clapping. Sometimes they are combined which is adorable. I think he is learning that I am "mama" and Nick is "dada". He also knows that Delia is "dede". He laughed when I talked to him on the phone and asked him where "dede" was. He thinks she is a hoot. He is really starting to explore and wonder what things are.

Elijah has his favorite pass times and toys too. He loves to go on walks with me and giggles at all the stuff he sees. Right now his favorite toy is his busy block that he puts his shaped blocks into. He is also getting more interested in books. He doesn't like books with a lot of words though. He looses patience and wants to go to the next page. So I just buy him books with a couple of words on each page. He really likes the No David books.

He is developing quite the little personality. He is a social butterfly. He prefers to be out and about meeting new people. Elijah loves a crowd. As long as there are new people around Elijah is content. We are constantly getting comments about how happy and smily he is. It is really only at home when Nick and I are not giving him 100% of our attention that he gets fussy. He is content to play in his pack and play for a little bit but then he gets bored. Elijah is not a very good self entertainer. He always has to have something going on and new things to look at. My prediction is that when he is older he is going to be a total extrovert. He will be that little kid that walks up to a complete stranger and starts up a conversation. He has a little bit of the "stranger danger" going on but he warms up to people after a couple of minutes. He doesn't try to hide his face or anything. He wants to look at new people and interact with them. He just doesn't want them to hold him.

9 Months

2009-04-23T11:42:00.006-04:00

We are experiencing our first really sick baby. Elijah has been diagnosed with bronchitis and an ear infection. His demenor has still been pretty pleasant. He has been to the doctors three times because he was breathing rapidly. They all say he is doing well and he should start improving now. We have to give him breathing treatments three times a day. He doesn't like them very much. This morning he was distracted by cartoons, he doesn't watch TV much so he was enthralled. Last night I read him the same three books for 15 minutes. We sing and dance around a lot to keep him content because if he is crying the majority of his breathing is exhaling and we need him to inhale as much medicine as possible.

Our little man finally has some teeth. They aren't all the way through yet but they are visible. He has two on the bottom and two on the top. He waited to grow them all at once. He has been a little cranky but not drooling too much. He is also still sleeping well (knock on wood). He hasn't started crawling yet. We haven't really been pushing it the last week because he is sick. He pretty much just wants to be held.

Nick and I had to do some summer clothing shopping this last weekend. Elijah is now wearing 12 month cloths. It has been warm in Kalamazoo and Elijah does not like the heat. He is like his mom. He cries if he is slightly warm. It will be a challange to get him to wear his helmet in the warm weather. He hasn't been wearing it for about a week due to fever and a warm house. Soon we will put an air conditioner in his room so he can be comfortable when he naps and sleeps at night. He is still progressing wearing his helmet. He started at a 14mm difference and is now at 10mm. The multiple days of not wearing the helmet has set him back a little.

8 Months

2009-03-24T19:51:00.005-04:00

Elijah is close to being on the go. He is constantly wiggling and reaching for things when you hold him. It is getting pretty difficult to hold him because he is getting strong. When you put him down, so he will learn to crawl, he cries. I think he is just getting frustrated because he wants to be mobile and the only way he thinks he can be mobile is by being carried around. He does spend at least an hour a day in his pack and play sitting up or laying on his belly. He can pivot around on his belly. We try to spend time with him upstairs on the carpet everyday too. We tuck his legs under him but he just kicks them back out. He is getting pretty good at standing on our laps so maybe he will just skip crawling. Hopefully when it is nicer out we can put him outside on his blanket to encourage him to move around.

Elijah's vocabulary is increasing. He used to say dadadada, or hi dadada. Now he says ma. It is usually when he is whining and it more of a mmmmaaaaaaaaa, ma, mmmmmaaaaaa or mamama. He also yells at Delia and says a somewhat recognizable form of Delia. He doesn't have any teeth yet. He is getting pretty good at picking finger foods off his tray and putting them in his mouth and "chewing" them. They disolve so it doesn't really matter that he doesn't have any teeth. We are also trying to introduce him to the sippy cup. He mostly just plays with it or chews on the nipple.

Elijah is now wearing a "helmet" 23 hours a day to help his head form more symetrically. He doesn't seem to mind it. Nick and I are already noticing a difference. We are hoping he doesn't have to wear it for the 4 - 6 months that is the average time for a child to wear it. We get lots of comments from little kids and lots of stares from adults. I understand it is an unusual thing to see but some adults have no tact. Luckily we haven't gotten any mean comments. I probably wouldn't handle that to well. One little kid was so cute, he told his mom "that little boy looks like he is in outerspace". I miss the way Elijah looks without the helmet on. He gets lots of kisses and cuddles when it is off for the alotted 1 hour a day. It is hard to give him kisses when it is on. He will get his head measured again at the end of this week so we will be able to tell if the helmet truely is making a difference.

7 Months

2009-03-05T09:22:00.005-05:00

Many new developments have occured in the last month. Elijah is now sitting up on his own. He likes to sit in his pack 'n' play and dance to the songs a little stuffed dog plays. Nick and I are going to be making a trip to babies r us and buying some baby song cd's. I am glad he enjoys music because Nick and I really do. He is also eating rice cereal two times a day. He has tried bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and peaches. He is not to fond of the peaches or the sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes was the first one we tried and he gaged a lot. I am going to try them again since he is used to eating that kind of baby food now. If he still gags then I know he really does not like sweet potatoes. He will eat the peaches but he makes a sour face with every bite. I, personally, think the peaches are kind of bitter.

Everyone comments on how happy Elijah is. He is such a content baby. He smiles and talks all the time. His smile just lights up the whole room. He is now learning how to stick his tongue out and blow rasperries. It is cute unless he is doing it when you are trying to feed him. I have gotten a nice faceful of squash. I try not to smile but he is so proud of his new talent that I can't help it. I hope I am not encouraging him to spit his food out. He is also starting to scream to get us to look at him. He normally does this when he is in his highchair and we are trying to make dinner. Nick and I are trying to ignore this behaviour. He is just so ear piercing.

Elijah's new favorite pass time is swimming. He has only gone twice but he really had fun both times. I am just waiting for the time we put him in the water and he freaks out. We got him a very cute Speedo swim suit. It has a built in diaper so we don't have to buy those swimmer diapers. I am looking forward to the summer, he will be in the pool a lot. We have a little baby pool that we will set up in the backyard. Hopefully Delia will stay out of it. She has never been to fond of the water. We are hoping to get to Midland, The Ranch, and Traverse City this summer. That will provide lots of water time.

Elijah had a doctors appointment yesterday. He is almost 20 pounds. He is getting so big. They took x-rays of his skull to try to figure out why it is a little mishappen. The PA said the x-rays look normal and that is a good sign. We are taking him to Hangar, a prosthetics and orthotics place, today to get more extensive analysis. The PA said they may analyze his skull today and then have us come back in a couple weeks to see if it has changed any. They will also determine if Elijah is a candidate for a helmet. I will be so glad when his head is normal and this is all done. It really is a minor medical thing compared to what some families have to go through it will just be a relief to have it taken care of.

6 Months

2009-01-20T13:34:00.005-05:00

As can be seen from the lack of months 3, 4, and 5 we have been very busy. Elijah is growing bigger every day and he is such a joy. He has mini conversations with us and spends much of the day laughing and smiling. The only time he is unhappy is if he is hungry or sleepy. We are finally into a "routine". Elijah is taking two naps a day. One around 10 and the other around 2. Sometimes he sleeps for 2-3 hours, other times only 30 minutes. We try to cram in as much housework and other misc. things as we can during these times. He is pretty contented to spend time in his baby einstein when he is awake making it easier for us to prepare his bottles and food for ourselves. He actually prefers to be in his baby einstein to being held. He is also an amazing sleeper at night. He goes to bed around 8 and sleeps til about 7:30. We have been so lucky because most babies his age sleep about 6 hours a night. He eats a lot during the day, about every two hours, where most babies eat about every 3 - 4 hours. We believe that is why he sleeps so well at night because he cluster eats all day.

As some of you know I had to give up breast feeding due to Elijah's low weight gain. When he went in for his 4 month check up and vacinations he was in the less than 3 percentile for weight. It was very hard for Nick and me to hear, especially me. He didn't act any differently then he had previously so we had no idea that he wasn't getting enough substanance. We switched him to formula and he has gained about 6 pounds in two months. He is already in 9 month old cloths(slightly big but they fit). He is back on track and is as happy as can be. We are happy that it was an easy fix.

Elijah is very active. He likes to be entertained every minute that he is awake. He has his favorite toys like the baby einstein as mentioned above. He also likes his sensory cube and his baby laptop. His favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see. He likes to "taste" everything. He loves studying faces and trying to put people's hands in his mouth (not so sanitary.) He has had one cold and handled it pretty well. Luckily it didn't travel into his chest or ears. He hasn't started teething yet. We are not looking forward to that but he will be so cute with little teeth. He does great when we go places because he likes all the action, noise, and people. That has been great because we don't have to be shut-ins. He pretty much goes everywhere with us. We feel so blessed every day.

2 Months

2008-10-02T14:02:00.002-04:00

It is amazing how quickly our little man is growing. He had his two month appointment on Tuesday. He weighed 10 pds 8 oz. He is in the 25th percentile for his weight. The doctor said that that is fine and he is not under weight. He is 23 inches long and that is in the 50th percentile. He also got his two month vacines. That was sad. Nick and I had to hold his arms while two nurses gave him shots in both legs. He got two shots in one leg and three in the other. He cried while he was getting the shots. He calmed down pretty quickly once they were done. He napped most of the morning with dad and took a long nap in the afternoon with mom. Now he is back to normal.

As you can see in the pictures above Elijah is smiling all the time. He is just so darn cute. He is following items with his eyes and seems a lot more attentive. He is waking up once during the night usually around 4. Sometimes he sleeps all night. He usually goes to bed around 10 and gets up for the morning around 7. Sometimes Abby has to wake him up so he can be fed before she goes to work.

Nick and Abby are somewhat back into a routine. Abby started at Miller Auditorium almost two weeks ago. She is working from 9 until noon doing bank deposits and other misc. items. Nick stays home with Elijah while Abby is at work. Nick is teaching two labs on campus. He also has help room and office hours. He is on campus in the afternoon. He has decided to go for his masters instead of a doctorate so he is also working on his thesis paper.

5 Weeks Old

2008-09-01T13:15:00.002-04:00

Elijah is now 5 weeks old. It is hard to believe that he has been with us for that long. The time has flown by. He is getting bigger everyday. He is now fitting into 3 month clothes. Nick and I did some shopping at Babies R Us and got him a lot of cute outfits. We got him his outfit for uncle Noel's wedding. We haven't taken the tags off yet for fear that he will grow out of it before the wedding and it will need to be replaced. He let us sleep for 7 hours straight last night. That was great. He doesn't like to sleep after 7 a.m. That is his I'm not going back to sleep time. He usually takes a good nap in the morning and multiple short naps in the afternoon. He is usually in bed by 10 and up around 4 a.m. for his one nightly feeding.

We have been going on a lot of walks. He really likes them and sleeps the whole time. That is how I can tell he likes them. If he likes something he sleeps. If he dislikes something he cries. Nick, Jacob, and I were able to get in a round of boche ball yesterday with me carrying Elijah in the baby carrier. He was alert for most of the time just taking in the outdoors. It is really nice that we are able to get out and about more. He is also doing better in the car. As long as he has just been fed we are able to do errands or take a walk for about 2 hours before he starts fussing.

So, Nick and I are starting to get adjusted. I don't feel like a zombie all day and am able to get some stuff done around the house. Nick is still studying so I can't wait for the school year to start so he is home more. I should be starting work soon but I am dragging my feet. It is just so nice to be at home with Elijah and after spending 6 plus weeks with him it will be hard to leave. Everything else is going well. No major news.

Goodman Baby Has Arrived!!

2008-08-11T13:13:00.002-04:00

Elijah James Goodman was born July 28th at 7:23 p.m. He weighed 8 pounds exact and was 20 inches long. He was born at 38 weeks of pregnancy. His due date is today, August 11th, and it is weird to think that he has been with us for 2 weeks already. The picture of Elijah and Nick and the bottom picture were taken today at 2 weeks old. He is already getting so big.

We brought him home 2 days after he was born. He had a touch of Jaundice so we had to keep him on a biliblanket for 5 days. His little feet are still cut up from when he had to go and get his blood drawn everyday. He is looking much better now and the yellow in his skin is slowly going away. He has a healthy appetite. He wants to eat whenever he is awake. His sleeping patterns are not patterns yet. He does go to bed anywhere between 8 and 10. He went to be at 8:30 last night and didn't get up until 2:30. I think that is the longest he has slept since he was born.

Nick and I are doing well. He is on campus daily studying. It was nice that he was able to stay home for a week with us. I don't think I would have been able to handle the Jaundice thing without him here. Elyse was able to stay with us for 2 weeks. That really helped especially because Elijah wants to nurse constantly and doesn't like to be put down during the day. Sonya is staying with us now until Wednesday. Then Nick's mom is coming until next Tuesday. I am very thankful for the help. When Nick's mom leaves Nick has one week until the qualifier. I can't wait for it to be over so Nick can be home and get to spend some time with Elijah. I am hanging in there. I function extremely well on little sleep. It is strange how you become super woman when you have a newborn.

I also want to thank Lisa for the brownies and hanging out with Elijah and me while Nick and Sonya were grocery shopping.

Week 36

2008-07-14T17:03:00.002-04:00

Getting close. Had a doctor's appointment this morning. She was pointing all the body parts out to Nick and I had a contraction. I couldn't even tell. The doctor asked me if I could feel it and I said no. Nick got to feel it. She also gave Nick the option of "catching" the baby when it is born. We haven't really gotten a chance to talk about it so I don't know if that is something that he wants to do. I will now be making weekly visits to the doctor's office. She said at this point we are good to go. The baby is head down and is waiting at the cervix. The baby is a good size and is pretty much fully developed.

I think I have been having braxton-hicks all day. It is hard for me to tell since I can't feel them and because I haven't gained a lot of weight the baby itself makes my stomach pretty hard all the time. I have been trying to push the fluids since dehydration increases braxton-hicks. I am pretty tired and it is getting harder for me to do a lot of physical activity. Up until a couple weeks ago I would wake up between 8 and 9 and be ready to get up. Now if I have the chance to sleep in I have to force myself to wake up at 11. I did get to try Michael's new WiiFit and was surprised that I was able to do as many things on it as I did. I even beat Nick and Michael at some training activities. I of course had to rub it in that a pregnant lady was doing better than them at physical challanges.

Well, everyone keep your fingers crossed for us. The baby will be here soon.

Week 35

2008-07-08T17:43:00.002-04:00

Not much news this week. Nick, baby, and I are doing well. We got the stroller, highchair, bouncer, and swing set up this weekend. Soon we will be packing our bag and the babies bag for the hospital. Time is flying and Nick and I are coming to the realization more everyday that these are the last weeks that it will be the two of us for the rest of our lives. It is kind of an intimidating thought. We are still excited for the baby to get here and we are ready for the change.

We have the hospital tour tomorrow night. I am excited to see all the special amenities that everyone always talked about in all our other classes. The thing I am most excited about for our hospital stay, other than getting a baby, is air conditioning. Nick and Elyse will have to dress in layers because I am going to keep that room freezing.

I am getting bigger everyday. My selection of clothing is getting smaller and smaller. My mobility is decreasing as well. We have a trick chair at work that "reclines" and you really have to use your stomach muscles to get out of it. I got stuck. Wendy had to come and rescue me, only after we both had a good laugh.

Week 34

2008-06-30T17:41:00.002-04:00

Not much going on this week. Nick and I are done shopping for baby stuff as of now. We got our crib mattress and craddle mattress. I spent sometime this weekend doing baby laundry. I think I smelled every piece of clothing once it came out of the dryer. Folding all the little things made Nick and I really excited for the baby to be here. I am starting to work on baby shower thank you notes. My goal is to do 10 a night. So far I have been able to reach that goal but it has only been one night.

I am feeling worse everyday. It isn't that bad but I am starting to get uncomfortable. I woke up this morning and I was exhausted and my whole body hurt. I can only imagine that it isn't going to get better. I am slowing down and feel like I am dragging my feet. I am still getting things accomplished at work. Luckily we are slow right now so I am not busting butt too much. I hope to hang on until early August. The baby feels bigger everyday. Nick has been reading a lot of books to him or her. I think my belly button is going to pop out anyday.

Week 33

2008-06-26T19:33:00.003-04:00

Approximately seven more weeks to go!!! We are feeling the crunch. We had two wonderful baby showers in Midland last weekend. One was held by my side of the family, middle picture, and the other by Nick's side, top picture. We got lots of wonderful gifts and appreciate and thank all the people who made the showers possible. The nursery is coming together slowly. We have all the clothing items seperated into lights and darks for washing. We have managed to put together a couple of the baby items. It still has a long way to go and my goal is to put an hour in a night. It is amazing how much energy is required and how little of it I have. I ended up taking Tuesday off so we could make a trip to Babies R Us. We spent 3 hours picking up items that we still needed. I wanted to come home and unpack everything and get everything organized but was completely exhausted by the time we left the store. It is exciting to have everything for the baby in the house. It is a constant reminder of what is to come shortly. For some strange reason that is more of an eye opener than my growing belly, as seen above.

Not much is happening on the baby front. We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow. We will be taking the hospital tour soon. I am excited about that because I have been hearing a lot of cool things about the hospital in our many classes that we have taken.

Week 31 and 32

2008-06-14T11:38:00.003-04:00

Nick and I are officially graduates of Lamaze. We got done on Thursday with our four classes. I learned some stuff but a lot of the material covered I have already read about. Lamaze did a good job of making me think about how this baby is actually going to get out. Not looking forward to that. I think Nick learned a lot. He hasn't been reading like I have. We both *really enjoyed* the birthing videos. It was pretty weird to practice the "pushing" positions and the instructor was trying to get us to make pushing noises but I wouldn't. I'll save those up for when I really need them. Monday is our baby care class. I am really looking forward to that. We get to interact with real babies. It will be kind of a refresher course for me and a learn everything in 3 hours course for Nick. Hopefully it isn't too overwhelming for him.

We also had another doctors appointment. We got to ask the midwife questions that we wrote down in Lamaze. She also listened to the babies heartbeat and measured my uterus. I am right on track. She also told us where the baby is situated which is where I thought it is. The butt is in the right side of my ribs which can be pretty uncomfortable at times. The feet are towards the upper middle part of my belly, this is where I feel the most kicking action. Nick gets to feel the feet moving across my stomach. The baby is head down which is good. Hopefully it doesn't flip back around to the breech position. It has been in this position for probably about a month so I am thinking the likelyhood of it doing a major move from head down to head up is unlikely.

We are going to start calling pediatricians soon. We have about 8 weeks or less until the baby will be here and it is starting to feel like crunch time. We are excited about the two showers we have next weekend. Looking forward to getting everything ready in the house. Washing baby clothes and linens, setting up furniture, babyproofing, and organizing all the little things like where the diapers go and all the baby care items. The baby will be here before we know it.

Week 29 and 30

2008-05-30T18:47:00.002-04:00

It has been a very hectic two weeks. Isn't that how it always works after vacation? Anyhow, the baby is doing well. We had another doctors appointment. I guess I have only gained 6 pounds, which is a miracle with how much I eat. The doctor said if I don't gain at least 15 pounds by the time the baby is born I am not going to have many "reserves". It isn't really affecting me now but I guess I could be a lot more tired once the baby is here. I also got my first shot to make sure that my Rh- blood doesn't mix with the baby's blood. I had to get it in my behind and it hurt. I am used to shots in the arm that don't hurt. The baby is moving a lot. It has gotten big enough to jab me in the ribs all the time. We feel body parts but aren't able to identify what part of the body it is. Sleeping is becoming more uncomfortable but I am still managing to get a good amount of it.

We found a home for Lexi. My friend Kara adopted her. We have talked to Kara since she took Lexi and it sounds like she is adjusting well. She even got to go and run on Kara's grandma's property and go swimming in the lake. Delia is also behaving a lot better since Lexi is out of the house. She was kind of moping around the other day, I can't believe she might actually be sad that Lexi is gone.

We also decided not to sell my car. We had to get the wheel hub fixed and so we have put more money into fixing it than we were going to be able to sell it for. It is also nice not having a car payment. We will make due until we absolutely need a larger vehicle and our funds are "larger".

Next week is going to be busy as well. Jacob is coming to stay with us so he can attend WMU orientation. We are super excited to have him in Kalamazoo next fall. We also start our Lamaze class on Monday. That should be fun.

Week 28

2008-05-18T19:37:00.003-04:00

The first baby shower has officially come and gone. I had a lot of fun and the baby got a lot of great things. We now have to figure out where everything is going to go. My friend Lisa hosted the shower. She did a great job. We played the baby diaper game where you had to guess what kind of candy bar was melted in the diaper. We also had to guess baby foods by just looking at them. I didn't get any of them right. Nick got two. So I guess if the labels every fall off he is the man to go to. In the top picture I am holding a "diaper cake" that Lisa made. I am impressed with all the hard work she must have put into it. It was super cute. Lisa is in the third picture with me. I would also like to thank her mom, Cindy, and her sister, Kim, for helping Lisa so much and driving from Midland for the baby shower. I also want to thank Nick and Elyse for helping me get the house ready and for helping Lisa get things together.

Sorry the blog is so short but opening gifts is exhausting =-)

Week 27

2008-05-16T14:37:00.003-04:00

So the baby took it's first trip out of state. We just got home from Arizona and are glad we got the opportunity to go. The flight there was good but the flight home was a little rough. The baby didn't like it and I was sick to my stomach on the first flight. I am still feeling a little sick today so I am laying low. The baby also responded a lot to the pressure changes and was very active on the plane rides. I did well with all the hiking and am glad I wasn't much further along or it would have been difficult.

Nick and I filled all of our days with lots of activities. The first day in Arizona we went to Taliesin West. Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home near Phoenix. Then we went to Ashley and Adam's rehearsal dinner. The next day we went to the Phoenix Zoo. It was nice but I liked the San Antonio Zoo better. The second picture is of me by a cactus at the Zoo. We then went to Ashley and Adam's wedding. It was very nice and we got to see a fireworks show. The third day we went to Scottsdale and then drove to Sedona. The fourth day we visited Red Rock State Park (that is where the bottom picture was taken) and did lots of hiking. We then went to Slide Rock Park where Nick went down the natural rock water slide. The baby and I just spectated. The fifth day we took the train to Grand Canyon and did some more hiking. We went along the rim and only about 30 ft into the Grand Canyon. It was pretty strenuous. The sixth day we went to Meteor Crater. That is the crater behind Nick and I in the first picture. Nick enjoyed it more than the Grand Canyon. I liked it because Nick was so excited about seeing it. The seventh day we flew home.

Week 26

2008-05-06T22:18:00.003-04:00

The nursery is done. Sorry the pictures aren't that great but at least they show the color and the new placement of our cloths. We worked really hard on it all weekend. We painted all the trim white and the ceiling. Nick had to spend a lot of time fixing bad "patch" jobs that the previous owners did. We also had to put in the new clothing bar and shelf. Our goal was to get it done before we went to Arizona and we did it. Nick wants to paint our bedroom a more happy color now and I think he is crazy. I don't want to paint again for a long time.

We also had another doctors appointment. Everything still looks great. I had to go in for some more blood work. I had to drink some sugar punch and than sit for an hour before they drew my blood. I won't know the results until the end of this month. I am sure if anything is wrong they will call me before then. At our next appointment I have to start getting the shots to counteract my RH- blood type. Then I start going in every other week. It seems like time is flying by now and August will be here before we know it.

I am starting to get fairly big. I will post more pics in a couple of weeks. My first baby shower is the 18th so I will hopefully get some good pictures then. I have only gained 7 pounds and the doctor asked if I was excercising. I said no, she was surprised. I guess running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day at work is excercise enough. I have yoga DVD's but have yet to open them. I need more time in my day.

Week 25

2008-04-27T11:30:00.003-04:00

No big news this week. I am now in my third trimester. We have a doctors appointment on Tuesday morning. It will be our first appointment since the ultrasound. I am excited to hear the babies heartbeat again. I am going through withdrawl.

We bought the paint for the nursery yesterday. It is called sunglow and is a very nice shade of yellow. We also bought our new closet stuff so we are hoping to get the nursery started next weekend. We are falling a little behind schedule but we aren't stressing.

No luck on finding my car or Lexi a new home yet. I was thinking about looking into pit bull rescues for Delia. We will see what happens.

6 Months

2008-04-21T20:16:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe that I am in my sixth month. Next week I am considered to be in my third trimester. Time has gone quickly and very slowly. It is hard to believe that I was pregnant at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am still pregnant. August doesn't seem to be coming quick enough. But when you actually put a number, like six months, in the equation it seems like the time has just flown by. When I think of all the changes that will happen once the baby arrives I want all the time I can have before the baby is here. I am also anxious to find out who this little human inside of my tummy is.

Nick has finals this week and then it is go time on all the household projects. I have been doing some work on organizing the closet/baby nursery. I have some color samples for paint. We are going with yellow but we aren't sure which shade yet. We are also putting in a new closet organizer for our cloths to free up some space for baby furniture. I hope to have the nursery done by the shower Lisa is having for me. It is at our house so I am sure people will want to see the nursery.

Other than that not much is going on. We will be heading to Arizona at the beginning of May for Ashley's wedding and we are looking forward to our prebaby "honeymoon".

Week 23

2008-04-12T12:04:00.002-04:00

Not much news for this week. The baby is pretty active but it is still hard at times for Nick to feel it moving. I am finding it harder and harder to do daily activities. Cleaning the house makes my back hurt very badly. I have started grunting when I bend over. Everyone at work laughs at me. I have been wearing the pair of Crocs that I bought continuously. If I drop something at home and Nick is around I don't even attempt to pick it up. I lay on the couch and think about how I should start doing my pregnancy yoga DVD's so I am a little more limber. I do have more energy than I did at the beginning of the pregnancy so this is a good thing.

I keep having dreams about the baby being here. I am so excited to see what our baby looks like. I am also excited to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I'm so ready to do baths, diaper changing, cuddling, and smelling. I know that sounds weird but babies smell so good.

We are slowly getting ourselves and the house ready for the addition. We have my car, the Grand Prix, up for sale. We have gotten a couple of calls. Hopefully it sells. We are also still trying to find a home for Lexi. Delia and her got into a fight last weekend so they are not allowed to be together period! We had to take Lexi to the vet because Delia bit her ankle and it was bruised and she was limping. She is walking fine on it now. We are also doing some modifications to the nursery/walk-in closet upstairs. Elyse has offered to paint once we have it ready.

Week 22

2008-04-06T20:49:00.002-04:00

The big news this week is that Nick finally felt the baby move!!! He felt it a couple of times on Monday because it was kicking very hard. He didn't feel it again until Saturday morning. I think he/she was doing aerobics or something because Nick could feel it moving all around. He was very excited. I woke him up early this morning (Sunday) by bribing him with reading a book to the baby. Who could refuse that? He was tired but was happy to do it and made both mom and baby laugh.

We also spent all weekend shopping for maternity cloths. I am not joking when I say all weekend. It was quite the adventure and very tiring. Luckily, Sonya and Nick went with me and got me to try on a lot of things I would have never tried on by myself. I ended up buying the cutest dress that I poopooed and Sonya had me try on. I, of course, feel guilty for spending so much money on myself but Nick reassures me that I deserve some pampering (Sonya agreed and tried to get me to buy even more.)

As of now we are going to sell our Grand Prix and buy Sonya and Don's minivan. We need more space and they have been trying to sell their minivan. Nick doesn't really want a minivan but we decided an SUV would be too much of a gas guzzler and the minivan gets about the same gas mileage as the Grand Prix. Nick's parents are going to drive it here next weekend for a visit so we can check it out. I am excited about the DVD player, the sliding doors on each side, and the captain seats in the middle. So, if anyone is interested in a Grand Prix with slightly, and I mean slightly, over 100,000 miles on it let us know.

Ultrasound 3/28/08

2008-03-29T11:53:00.006-04:00

Here are the much anticipated ultrasound pictures. The top two are side profiles with the babies head on the left. The very top picture has the umbilical cord right above the babies head. It is the thing that looks like a horseshoe. The middle one the baby has its chin tucked into its chest and its hand right above its forehead/eye area. The bottom picture is a head on shot and you can see both of the babies eyes and nose. It has its hands in front of its chest. Sorry if they are a little hard to make out. The baby is very active and didn't want to stay still for very long. The ultrasound tech was having some difficulties getting good pictures due to this. It was neat to see the baby move and feel it at the same time.

Everything looks great. The baby is healthy and everything is where it is supposed to be. The spine looks good and so do the kidneys and brain. We got to see its little arm and leg bones and hands and feet. We didn't find out the sex. Nick said we could if it was twins but there is only one baby in there. The baby is, according to measurements, 1 pound exact. I think it is supposed to be around 10 oz. The midwife and ultrasound tech think it is going to be a big baby. I didn't find this surprising since Nick and I were both almost 9 pounds. All my siblings have been close to 9 pounds too.

We also found out why Nick hasn't felt the baby yet. I guess my placenta is right at the front of my uterus so it is creating cushoning between the baby and Nick's hands. He probably won't be able to feel the baby for a couple more weeks. I still feel the baby moving constantly. I am quickly growing out of all my shirts. Sonya is coming next weekend and we are going to go on a shopping excursion. I am very excited.

5 Months

2008-03-23T17:08:00.003-04:00

Here are the long awaited pics. I am about twice as big as I was a couple weeks ago. Keep in mind this is after Easter dinner. The baby is moving constantly. Nick has yet to feel it.

We have signed up for all our baby classes. They are all in June except the hospital tour which is the beginning of July. We decided to take a newborn care class so I could freshen up on my learning and Nick could learn period. We are starting to prepare the house. It may be a little early but we figured get it done while we have the energy. We got the crib set up. We wanted to make sure it went together fine because it was my crib when I was a baby. We also needed to make sure the size was standard for registering for a matress. By the way, the registry is done (yeah). We also organized the cubbards so we would have room for baby bottles and baby items. We still want to do some work in the "nursery".

Our ultrasound is Friday so as soon as I can get the ultrasound pics scanned everyone can get their first look at Baby Goodman.

Almost week 19

2008-03-15T12:45:00.003-04:00

So Nick and I have taken on a big task and it is the baby registery. We have been to Babies R Us twice already and will have to go back a couple more times. It is so overwhelming all the stuff we have to get. It is also hard to try and pick out which highchair, portable crib, car seat, etc will be best. Luckily the people at Babies R Us are very helpful and guided us into picking things we are very excited about. Nick is especially excited about the car seat stroller combo that we registered for. We are trying hard not to go buy it now and start playing with it at home.

Nick was totally lost when it came to picking out bottles and baby clothing. Good thing I have a little bit of experience registering and with babies. He is learning a lot and I think it is adorable. He gets more and more excited everytime we visit the store. I think he is really excited about all the stuff he will get to put together and play around with. I am excited about picking out a homecoming outfit. We did register for the cutest green and white outfit with a little turtle on the shirt. I picked that one out especially for Lisa. (Lisa collects turtles for those of you who didn't know that.)

Not much new on the baby itself. I feel it move everyday and Nick thinks he may have felt it once but is hesitant in believing it. I feel bigger every day and will post pics soon.

Feel free to check out the registery online and give me any suggestions on things we may have missed. We are not completely done registering so keep in mind we are still going to get a bassinet, mattress, and bedding.

18 Weeks

2008-03-10T21:13:00.003-04:00

I am officially in my 18th week. Things are going well and Nick and I have heard the baby's heartbeat twice. We have an ultrasound in a couple of weeks and are very excited. Elyse is going to come with us and we are happy to share this experience with her. We are also happy that she has volunteered to stay here multiple weeks around the time the baby is due so I have help before and after the baby is here. Nick and I are hoping it will help in her education and my sanity.

I am not posting any pictures yet. I am showing but unless you see it in person it just looks like I am really bloated. I have purchased a couple of pairs of maternity jeans. Mine still fit but were digging into my belly when I sat down. I am happy with the new pants. They are so comfortable and no one can even tell that that is what I am wearing.

I believe I have felt the baby move multiple times. It is still hard to tell but it is not like anything I have felt before so I am assuming that is what it is. With every day and every movement Nick gets more excited. He likes to touch my stomach and talk to the baby. He calls himself dad and says that it sounds weird. He said to me that "dad" is his dad's name not his but he is ready for his name to be "dad".

I am feeling a lot more energetic and not sick too much (only when I have to clean up cat puke). Sleeping has become difficult. I rarely sleep all through the night and Nick has developed a new habit of snoring. The snoring does not help my new found light sleeping, either do the cats. I am managing and I think my body is becoming adapted to the lack of sleep that I will be getting when the baby is here. I also find it hard to sleep in on the weekends.

Well, more updates and ultrasound pictures to come.