Josh and Karly Do Stuff

Gumpa the Gopher

2011-08-14T21:44:00.001-06:00

2 Years of Zeke

2011-07-04T21:07:00.002-06:00

You.....

Weigh 22lbs 4oz and are 33 inches long

love to wrestle (Fy-ing) and fall dramatically to the ground.

you are still shy but have started to find you loud voice.

went to your first movie in the theatre. Cars 2.

love to mow the lawn and follow you Papa back and forth across the yard

love to race- cars, people, toys. You line up right next to us and say "Ready, GO!"

are getting good at golf and baseball.

can put on your own shoes and are trying really hard to put on your pants.

like to play pretend games with your jungle animals.

like to put your toys to sleep by flipping them upside down and making them snore.

are getting braver about climbing things and insist on jumping off of EVERYTHING.

like to play musical instraments - drums, recorder, and harmonica.

favourite foods are pickles, olives, cheese slices, grapes, and chips with dip.

are learning to ride your two wheeled scoot bike.

really enjoy the concept of hiding - hide and seek, hiding your toys, saying something is 'hieing' when you can't see them.

are gentle and loving. You love to touch your forehead to ours and grab our face with your hands.

rub your right eye with your fist when you are shy or nervous.

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T20:59:00.001-06:00

Mother's Day was a good one. Sleeping in, home made cards, fun trips to the river, starbucks, and two sweet guys to enjoy it all with. Zeke was finally feeling better and it was so good to see his happy smiling face again. Josh even managed to grab a few cute pictures of me and my little guy!

21.75 Months of Zeke

2011-04-17T10:48:00.006-06:00

This blog deserves an update. Like a big, huge, what the heck have you been doing for the last six months update. But really, who has the time or energy for that? I think I used to.... Pre Zeke. Or even Pre Zeke demanding to play trucks and hockey 12 hours a day. I haven't made lists of his milestones or funny antics and its been making me sad. I've taken pictures of him in his chair every three months but I never wrote anything down. So I am going to try and start again. In 20 years I will be happier to read what I did write than sad about the stuff I didn't write.

So, At 21.75 months you....

Can't get enough of hockey. Of course you only call it 'haaaww' or 'keeey' never both syllables together. You have a set of sticks upstairs and one in the basement and are forever trying to hand one to us too. The other day I hid under a blanket just in hopes that you would pick to play with your Papa over me! You have learned to raise the puck off of the floor and we have had to make sure to hide all your hard balls. You run around the room shouting 'GOAL' or 'SCORE' anytime you make a really good shot.

Your second love is trucks. Grave Digger to be exact. 'GAYVE' videos are your favourite on YouTube and you ohhh and ahhh over the jumps. If there is no hockey stick in your hand you have one truck in each hand, driving them across the floor and standing them up like "cows".

You are starting to have a great little imagination. Your trucks go off of imaginary jumps, your hands fly like airplanes.

You love to play outside and will shovel until we drag you inside kicking and screaming.

You speak with an inflection 99% of the time and your little voice sounds like it is always questioning whatever it is you are exploring. HIGH? Yes baby, the truck went high. TOWEL? Yes buddy, that is a towel. FAST? Yes bubba, your papa is driving too fast. CHEESE? Yes toots, you can have some cheese. MA? Yes honey, I am still here.

You dance. Mainly with your hands but your little butt can shake pretty good too. TV is the most fun when there is music and you bust a move at every chance you get. You love when we dance with you, and I'm sure that's where you picked up your awesome moves.

You are shy and quiet around new people. Sometime you turn into a statue and are convinced that if you don't move they can't see you. But, a few silly faces or 30 seconds of playing trucks and you warm up pretty quick.

You are just starting to say two syllables and don't link two whole words together yet. You recognize colours, but always say 'GEEN' when we ask you the colour of something. You can finish your shape, animals and colour puzzles without a problem. You can count to three and confuse your b's and d's.

You can dribble a soccer ball across the floor, throw a ball across the room, and balance things on your head. You love to high five and give us a thumbs up with your pointer finger. You prefer to drink from a cup with no lid and like to use a fork rather than a spoon. You are big into dipping food even if the combitions are grosse. Yesterday we watched you eat a whole strawberry dipped in mustard.

You are ticklish on your tummy, under you chin, and when papa bites your ribs. You love to put on your socks, but don't really like having shirts pulled over your head. You would choose to wear your Flames jersey everyday if given the option.

You sleep in your crib and go to bed at 7:30. You are pretty much done with your sucky but have formed a new attachment to the stuffed frog that has been in your crib since you were born. You still get wrapped up nice and tight for night and prefer to sleep on your stomach. On a good night you sleep until 7:30am in your crib, but most mornings you are cuddled up in bed with us by 6:30.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

Skating

2011-01-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

We took Zeke skating for the first time on Sunday. Yes he is far too little, yes he could barely stand, and yes we had lots of FUN! He smiled the entire 40 minutes we were out on the ice.

We went down to Bowness Park and onto the canal. He loved all the people whizzing by him and in his cute little voice he kept saying 'skate' skate.' He could barely stand on his own but he wanted to 'GO'. So he kicked him feet around and took a few steps in his effort to 'GO' He was full of happy giggles as we helped him along the ice!

And at the end of the day Zeke got his first kids hot chocolate from Starbucks...although he liked his Papa's frappuccino a lot more!

Christmas

2011-01-03T20:00:00.004-07:00

Christmas was absolutely everything it is supposed to be. Warm and cozy. Relaxing and reviving. Exciting and joyful. I was having so much fun taking it all in that I neglected my camera - big time! But sometimes my memories are so much better than my camera could ever make them out to be. So I will enjoy the warmth, love and joy of the past two weeks in my head and heart, and you all can enjoy these few crappy pictures that I did take!

Zeke has two cousins that are within 6 months of him and they are all just getting old enough to play together. It is fun to have little kids at the family gatherings again - we all just kind of sit there and let them entertain us!

As always when we head to Manitoba, we spent lots of time outside. Grandpa had been building a snow hill in the backyard and it was the perfect size for little Zeke. Luckily we got a bit of snow while we were visiting and both the big boy (Josh), and the little boy (Zeke) got to enjoy the snowblower!

Grandpa read the abridged version of the Christmas Story to a fairly impatient Zeke. He just couldn't wait to see what was going to happend on the next page!

Grandma gave Zeke a quick piano lessons, but he liked playing with his toes better
than his fingers.

And Josh looked very festive.

Zeke was a pretty intense little kid while he was opening gifts. Each small piece of paper had
to be ripped off the box before he would even take note of what it was. The first gift he opened
was a set of toy golf clubs - which he unwrapped and happily announced "golf!" So cute!

Merry Early Christmas

2010-11-15T18:10:00.001-07:00

We got sick of watching the Monster Mash video 800 times a day with Zeke so we had to create a new dancing video!

10 on Tuesday

2010-11-02T11:29:00.007-06:00

#1. Halloween was a blast! We started the day trick or treating at the mall and left feeling totally deflated and tired. We both had the, "well, we survived that" feeling and were very reluctant to put Zeke's costume back on for evening trick or treating. BUT...when people starting lighting pumpkins and the first kids came to the door we quickly got our spirit back and had a ball. Zeke was running around waving his arms yelling "wow" and "whoah" every time we heard a knock at the door. He loved our neighbours blow up halloween cat and spent a good 10 minutes with his face squished to our front window to get a better look. He was having so much fun, we couldn't resist putting his costume on and taking him around the neighbourhood. By the third house, he totally 'got' what we were doing. He inspected every jack o' lantern along the way, signed thank you after each treat was desposited in his bag, and waved 'bye-bye' at each house. He sure was a cute little golfer!

#2. I love holidays. I love the over done hype of it all. I love the rows upon rows of decorations at walmart. I love to be able to bring a little bit of that into our lives. But the challenge? To find the hype to celebrate in the everyday. A blogger friend calls it the "Master of the Merge -brilliantly ladeling the fabulousness of holidays onto ordinary days." My mom is great at this - adding special touches - something I need to try harder at. So this week we will drink our coke out of facy glasses, serve supper on colourful platters, light a few candles while we watch our favourite TV shows, paint our toenails a fun colour even though flip flop season is done, spike our hair and put on some beads for our afternoon dance parties. Little things that will make each day sparkle.

#3. Next Thursday is remembrance day. This means I have the day off of work, but Zeke's daycare is still open. Do I take the day for myself to get caught up on a few project and deal with the Mama guilt? Or keep Zeke home and do a poppy craft? Or better yet, convince Josh to take the day off too and spend the day together?

#4. My parents got me a sewing machine for Christmas last year and it is still sitting in the box. Not for long! I've got fabric cut out for three different Christmas present projects and they are waiting to be finished. I see a lot of cursing this weekend as I try to remember my grade 8 sewing lessons.

#5. A couple of weeks ago we had our first snowfall. We woke up to big fat fluffy flakes falling from the sky. So we did what any sane person would do - put on some clothes and ran outside to catch them on our tongue!
#6. Sometimes I wish Zeke was a girl. Or maybe i just wish it was more socially acceptable to put sequins, polka dots and tulle on little boys.

#7. I've been at my new job almost four months. I like the people and the work - but the toilet paper sucks. I've been working on setting my goals for the next year and I nearly included "start petition to change toilet paper."

#8. I'm really glad the American election is over and I didn't even have to vote. So sick of the the commercials - they sure do play a lot of BS games.

#9. I'm tired.

#10. And going to bed. It's 9:23. See you in the movies.

2010-10-25T10:37:00.001-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Gobble Gobble

2010-10-20T21:54:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving came to Calgary a couple of weeks ago, along with a weekend of beautiful weather and a visit from my parents. I've been meaning to post these pictures for over a week, but I've been rather preoccupied putting the finishing touches on Zeke's baby book to send to the printers. Better late than never right? At least we found time to finish our Thanksgiving turkey project.

So like I said, the weekend was absolutely gorgeous so we spent most of our visit outside enjoying the fall. Saturday morning we headed to Heritage Park. They opened a new antique car/gas station museum up there - right up Zeke's and my Dad's alley. The day was pretty much filled with lots of finger pointed and loud 'ehhhhhh's -Zeke's version of "hey, look at that it is so cool." Who can blame him? Trains, chickens, wagon rides, boats, and ferris wheels - it was a pretty cool day!

Sunday we drove down to a set of falls about 30 minutes south of the city. We had never been there before but decided to try something new. It was a beautiful little spot with lots of rocks. When did my life become about finding the best spots to throw rocks into a river? Exactly 16 months ago today. Happy 16 month birthday baby boy! Anyway - lots of fun.

Next to rocks throwing, Zeke's other favourite past time is hitting any kind of ball with any kind of stick type thing. We picked him up a golf club and two weeks later he still barely puts it down. He just runs around the house and yard looking for balls yelling 'GOF'

For Tara and Alana

2010-10-06T22:38:00.003-06:00

We have been far too busy soaking in the beautifully warm fall to be inside blogging! Summer finally decided to arrive around the middle of September and we have been embracing it with open arms. I know the snow will be chasing us inside and blanketing the ground before we know it, and the thought of those long, cold, dark months keep us eager to enjoy our unusually warm fall weather.

Zeke is totally into animals right now. Farm animals, Africa animals, fish, dogs... you name it he loves it. His favourite by far is an elephant. He loves when Josh makes the loud elephant sound, and has mastered his own sound complete with his arm in the air for his trunk. When we take him to the zoo he is happy to watch the elephants walk around for a good 30 minutes - throwing in the odd elephant trumpet call to his friends. Fall at the zoo is a lot of fun. There are less people, the animals are really active, and the colours on the trees are so pretty. We've been three times in the past two weeks!

Bowness park has also become on our our favourite places. It is a big park along the river with lots of space to run, lots of trees, lots of small rocks to throw, and lots of hungry ducks to feed - a little boys dream! Zeke is so happy to explore and run around in circles. He is getting pretty brave on the slide and throws himself down headfirst on his belly.

Zeke and I also had out first adventure baking cookies together. I've baked with him playing on the floor at my feet before, but this time he got to measure the sugar and flour and use the mixer. He was so interested, and we had a lot of fun. He would stand in front of the oven and watch the cookies through the windows and come running to the living room to get me when the buzzer went off. It still amazes me how fast they catch on to things.

With Fall aslo comes the start of hockey season. We've been to two games so far and both have been super fun outings. I was pleasantly suprised how well Zeke will still sit and enjoy the game without too much squirming or complaining. He loves the huge fire balls that shoot out of the ceiling when the flames score and is totally intrigued by our mascot - Harvey the Hound. A dog that is bigger than a human? Totally cool!

Zeke also got his first official salon hair cut. Aunt Rossy cut off his first curls a few months back, but his mullet had gotten a bit out of control. I was nearly ready to hyperventilate on the ride there imagining the stylist giving him a buzz cut or something. Luckily, she listened pretty closesly to what we wanted and tamed his mullet just a wee little bit. I'm not ready to lose the curls completely yet.

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, and we have been getting ready for company. We decorated the house with a few fall mums, some pumpkins, and a wreath of colourful leaves. Zeke hides his face whenever we walk through the halloween section of walmart so we are keeping the fall/halloween decorations pretty tame this year. Jack o' lanterns seem to be about the scariest decoration my poor tender, sensitive little boy can handle. He may look like my side of the family, but he sure has his Papa's heart!

Papa's Home!

2010-09-01T18:49:00.003-06:00

Zeke Walking

2010-08-01T18:15:00.002-06:00

Zeke took his first steps on July 10th. Two shaky steps in the direction of the cat! So far he is taking about 10 to 12 steps in a row and then falling down to quickly crawl to what he is trying to get to.
Today was the first time we were able to capture video of his new moves. His walking is still pretty here and there - he picks and chooses the perfect, most random times so it was hard to get the video camera out in time! Enjoy!

Zeke Drinkin'

2010-07-28T09:30:00.001-06:00

It is pretty funny to watch Zeke figure out new things. This week he learned to drink from a bottle and a hose.

Enjoy!

Stampede 2010

2010-07-19T20:55:00.009-06:00

It is the second week of July in Calgary, and that can only mean one thing...STAMPEDE! It is impossible to ignore all the festivities in town. And really, who can pass up a chance to eat corn dogs, deep fried oreos, and mini donuts while dressed in plaid and belt buckles? Certainly not us!

We kicked off our Stampede festivities with Josh's annual work party. Zeke was only 3 weeks old when we took him last year, and it was a pretty sureal moment to see him so much bigger this year. It is one of the first times we are experiencing the second round of 'firsts' with Zeke and it is such a different experience than it was a year ago.

Each employee at Josh's office has a wanted poster hung up around the building during the party. How special that Zeke got his own poster huh?

The next day we headed down to the stampede grounds. We somehow forgot the camera, so cell phone pictures are going to have to do! Zeke's favourite part of the day was the dirt bike show. Four loud bikes that were jumping a 70 foot gap 40 feet in the air about 10 feet in front of his face. He was yelling and waving both hands in the air the entire time. His head would follow each bike from one side of the jump to the other. Super cute! He loved seeing all the animals and had this unsure beam on his fac each time he touched them.

We hung out with the mounties in the Indian Village:

Zeke and Josh were totally unphased by the bull that was chasing them down:

Zeke rode a horse:

And he even found a hat to complete his cute little plaid shirt. Looks impressed doesn't he?

Can't wait until next year!

Happy Birthday Zeke

2010-07-12T08:31:00.006-06:00

It is hard to believe it has been a year since this little guy came into our lives. Maybe even harder to believe that we kept him relatively happy and healthy for one whole year! Josh and I have done a whole lot of learning, but in reality it is nothing compared to the growing and learning Zeke has done - it really is pretty amazing when you sit down and think about it. But sitting and thinking about things always makes me weepy and nostalgic - so instead we threw a party to celebrate how far we have all come!

We blew up some balloons, threw up some decorations, ordered some cupcakes and invited all the people who have helped and supported us through the last year. We had a beautiful day - lots of friends, lots of bubbles, lots of balloons, lots of party hat decorating, lots of sunshine, and pretty little girls in party dresses! Perfect!

The best part of the day was seeing the look on Zeke's face when he saw all the balloons in the backyard. Grandpa had tried to distract him when we were putting them all up, but he caught a quick glimpse of one balloon and started jumping! He stood at the back door with his face pressed up against the glass yelling and jumping with excitement. It was pretty funny - and a good memory.

Now some photos for a very patient Grammie:

12 Months of Zeke

2010-07-11T21:47:00.004-06:00

You weigh 18lbs 1oz. 1oz more than you did at 11 months.

You are 28.5 inches long
You stand for 30 seconds at a time
You are a seasoned traveller with six 13 hour car rides and 7 round trip airplane trips under your belt.
You like trucks, trains, buses and motorcycles.
You have six teeth
You like to push your toy lawnmower and love to watch you Papa work the real one.
You sleep from 8pm to 7am with one quick nursing session in the middle of the night. But you never stay in your own bed after the wake up!
You love water. You love to splash, and swim, and run along shore.
You dance and shake you booty.
You take two naps a day - 9:30ish and 2:30 ish.
You say Mama and expect me to answer. Sometimes this is funny, sometimes it is cute, and sometimes i wish you would learn a few new words.
You still love Sophie and chase her around the house.
You love the vaccuum and make vaccuum noises when you play with the attachments.
You are curious. Nan even calls you nosey! You study and stare at everything.
You love pretty girls.
You will do silly things over and over again if you know they make us laugh.
You shake hands when we say "nice to meet ya."
You have grown by 11lbs 8oz and 9 inches in your first year.

Eleven Months of Zeke

2010-06-05T21:16:00.003-06:00

You weigh 18lbs

You soothe yourself by rubbing the skin on your collar bone or your Mama's knuckles

You love the vaccuum and make the 'vroom' noise when you play with the attachments.

You love spaghetti, yogurt, tomotoes, and fruit.

You can pat the baby, pat the mama, and pat the papa.

You can say "MAMA" but don't really associate it with the person.

You can show us how big you are with your arms.

You have four teeth and are working on your second set of top teeth.

You always sit sideways in the shopping cart so you can see where we are going.

You crawl around the house on all fours instead of on your belly.

You stand on your own for 4 or 5 seconds at a time.

You ride in your new big kid car seat.

You shake your head from side to side to get dizzy.

What a difference a week makes

2010-05-01T22:29:00.004-06:00

10 days ago it was sunny, warm, and smelled like spring. And it looked something like this:

Zeke and I spent the afternoon outside. He sat and played with the toys from holidays past and I raked the yard. We listened to birds, we smelled the tulips, and we walked barefoot in the grass. We were so happy to be out of the living room and enjoying the freedom that spring brings.

Fast forward 10 days. It looked something like this:

Zeke and I spent the afternoon outside again, except this time we were wearing our winter clothes. He sat and ate snow while I shovelled the foot and a half of snow off our front walk. We made a baby snowman, we threw snowballs, and we took a ride around the yard in the sled. We had fun, but it sure was hard to believe that 10 days earlier we were outside celebrating spring.

I guess the bonus is that next week the sun will be back and we can go outside and celebrate another 'first' day of spring!

10 Months of Zeke

2010-04-25T17:24:00.003-06:00

You are funny! We haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

You push your trucks across the floor.

You weigh 17 lbs 2 oz and are 28.5 inches long.
You 'meow' when we ask you what the kitty says
You laugh at yourself and all. the. time. We are glad you find yourself so entertaining.
You eat your meals all by yourself, one little piece of food at a time.
You are cautious and gentle, but get aggressive when you are tired.
You lower yourself backwards off of our bed.
You sleep. Finally. An average night is 7:30pm-ish to 7:30am-is with a feeding at 4:30am-ish.
You love to open and close the garage door.
You walk, sometimes run, behind your shopping cart.
You love the 'type-type' and sneak over to 'help' whoever is using it.
You always move to the left.
You choose house hold items over toys. Your favourite right now is a small frying pan.
You love to talk on the phone.
You love to study, analyze, and think about what is going on around you. Wonder where you get that?
You have three teeth. Your top left tooth cut through and you are working on the right.
You climb stairs.
You dance.

Grandparents

2010-04-13T09:32:00.002-06:00

I'm recovering from PGV - Post Grandparent Visit. The symptoms are pretty severe, too. Lonely, bored, quiet house, lack of conversation. Not to mention doing diaper changes, entertaining, meal times alone all day. Quite the change after having two full time companions for a week. It sure is a treat having them here, but the after effects suck!

I knew I was really lucky to grow up with two wonderful sets of grandparents within walking distance, but I'm not sure I ever realized how lucky I was until experiencing the long distance grand parent thing.

So we learn to savour our days together and keep busy trying to fit it all in. We (meaning mostly dad), worked on finishing the baseboards and casing in the basement, we shopped, we played with Zeke, we looked at lots, we ate far too much, we drew floor plans. And through all that I took only 15 pictures. Sucky.

So here are some of those 15 crappy pictures. I've promised myself to document our days together better next time... which isn't until July. Uh.

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T08:08:00.002-06:00

Wishing you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. Ours will be filled with shopping, show homes, kite flying and long walks. Hope your easter bunny is as cute as ours!

Nine Months of Zeke

2010-03-29T22:57:00.003-06:00

You army crawl all over the house especially to chase Sophie.
You weigh 17lbs.
You are saying lots of new "words" and are discovering how loud you can be.
You wave 'hi' and 'bye' to everyone.
You learned to clap, but mostly move your left hand.
You love to walk while holding on to fingers. Especially to chase Sophie.
You are full of smiles and laughs when you see the animals at the zoo.
You are a big fan of finger foods and like to feed yourself.
You still love to jump - all. the. time.
You brush your teeth by yourself every morning.
You love the laptop and are a pro at bringing up the help screen.
You are starting to remember your books and like to touch feel and turn the pages.

You give the best open mouthed good night kisses.

Lunch

2010-03-21T21:09:00.004-06:00

I couldn't help but grab my camera during lunch today. Zeke looked so big sitting there and feeding himself his turkey, cheese, and mandarin oranges. Wasn't it like yesterday I was feeding him with an eye dropper?

Lately he seems to think he is far too grown up for any of that wussy baby food and prefers to feed himself - meaning meal time takes an hour. Luckily, he lets me help or we might be there for a couple of hours. We are trying new foods every day and it is a challenge for me to keep thinking of new things that he might enjoy.

It scares the crap out of me to have two picky eaters in this house so he gets everything and anything thrown his way. He hasn't refused anything yet, but his eyes light up at the site of yogurt and fruit - especially strawberries and kiwi. Taste buds aren't hereditary are they???

Great While it Lasted

2010-03-02T09:38:00.004-07:00

When Zeke was 11 weeks old we went to Reno for a visit. We still had no idea what we were doing with Zeke and were still in somewhat of a triage mode. Keeping the three of us fed, watered and dressed was about all we could manage!

But through this haze I remember watching Zeke's cousin Holden (who was eight months at the time). He sat by himself, he played quietly, and he smiled pleasantly at all who showed him attention. I was amazed, I was in awe, I was jealous, and I was convinced we would never get there!

But, lo and behold Zeke got to be 7 months old and we got this:

A baby who would play independantly. A baby who didn't need to be entertained at all times. A baby who cooed happily at himself. A baby who let his Mama have a little time to herself. We had gotten there. It was bliss.

Yesterday, while I was enjoying a bit of said bliss (aka 1o minutes of resting with my eyes closed) Zeke decided that he was sick of his big bucket of toys and headed out in search of greater adventures. Imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes and my cute little boy was nowhere to be seen. Cue panic. Cue 2.3 seconds of frantic running until I saw his face beaming at me from the bathroom floor.

So I guess happy stationary baby phase is done and we are well on our way to the 'animal' phase. I've been watching Holden change into a cruising, walking, running, climbing boy and I must admit I'm not nearly as envious this time!

PS. I need to quit falling asleep on the job. Remember what happened last time?

8 Months of Zeke

2010-02-22T15:07:00.003-07:00

You cut your first tooth - bottom left - at 7 months 4 days.

Your second tooth came two weeks later.
You tried bacon for the first time and squeeled like a pig. Guess you liked it!
You get up on all fours and rock back and forward but mostly move backwards.
You weigh 16lbs 2oz and have officially fallen off the growth charts.
You have mastered the pinscher grasp and shove puff after puff into your mouth.
You cruise back and forth across the front of the couch and ottoman.
Your favourite toys are the breast pump, a set of old tupperware measuring cups, the barnyard bath book, a plastic glowing olympic coke bottle torch, and the phone.
You are learning to give kisses and wave bye-bye.
You eat three tablespoons of cereal and a jar of food at every meal.
You are starting to associate words with things: Sophie, balloon, Mr. Wolfe.
You play peek-a-boo
You found and like your junk.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-11T10:58:00.001-07:00

Skater Dude

2010-01-30T22:49:00.003-07:00

Josh got a new skateboard for his Birthday, and he couldn't resist giving Zeke his first ride for very long. Zeke was full of smiles as he was pushed from one end of the house to another. I was actually pretty impressed that he could stay sitting by himself the whole time! He will be doing kick flips and shove-its in no time. I think I will be saying 'no thanks' to the backyard skate ramp that I'm sure Josh is already envisioning in his head. You've been there done that honey!

Bath Time

2010-01-26T20:27:00.002-07:00

Zeke loves bath time, and so do I. It is one of my favourite times of the day - and I always look forward to splashing around with him. He loves to have the warm water poured over his back, and has recently started playing with his bath toys. His hair gets all cute and curly and we get a kick out of styling it in all sorts of crazy ways. In my obviously unbiased opinion he is one CUTE little boy!

7 Months of Zeke

2010-01-24T20:35:00.004-07:00

You weigh 14 lbs 13oz and are 26 inches long.

You have hot and sweaty hands and feet - just like your Mama.
You are trying to crawl, but mainly just end up with your face smashed in the rug.
You love green apples. Not surprising, I ate a million while you were in my belly.
You started swimming lessons and are the littlest fish in your class.
You had your first taste of sour candy, gave us a happy little smile, and reached for more.
You love stuffed animals. They always make you laugh and kick your feet.
You suck on your bottom lip. You have dimples on your top lip.
You like to walk while we hold your hands.
You love your weekly visits to CIP and smile at all the friendly faces.
You reach your arms out to be picked up or held.
You fart at least once in the first two minutes every time you wake up....and then laugh.
You like to pull hair. Mama's, Papa's, Sophie's and sometimes even your own.
You make us laugh and keep our days new and exciting.

What has Zeke been up to Lately?

2010-01-16T14:54:00.006-07:00

He LOVES his nibbler. We LOVE his nibbler. It entertains him, and gives us a few minutes of quiet while we eat. We fill it with bread, fruit, muffin, vegetables - anything that he can gnaw on. Who knew we could eat out at a restaurant without a PEEP out of the boy

He is a strong kid. Toys are not meant to be played with, they are meant to be lifted in the air..don't ya know!?! His laugh and learn table is the most fun when he is lifting it off the ground, and the other day when i came downstairs he had his playmat pulled upside down on top of him life a fort.

We now eat like a little family at the table. Zeke loves his new highchair (and his nibbler). We have found some sort of normal rythm and can manage to get a real meal on the table nearly every night...even if we do still use paper plates sometimes!

Ready, Set, Swim!

2010-01-11T10:55:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow Zeke and I start swim class. It is a Mommy and Me aquasize class for babies 6-18 months and should be interesting. Zeke loves his bath so hopefully he loves this BIG bathtub just as much. I keep making his evening bath cooler and cooler in hopes that I can toughen him up for the pool!

His stylin' little swim trunks were too cute not to share. Those are some short little legs peeking out from the bottom hey? The trunks are 3-6 months and swimming on him. I think i will need to sew in the sides or they will end up falling off! I keep telling him that he is nearly 7 months old and he should soon decide to grow big enough to at least fit his 3-6 month clothes! And the little swimmers diapers that are mandatory in the pool - yeah those are HUGE too. Little runt!

Christmas

2010-01-08T10:12:00.008-07:00

I know most of you have moved on from Christmas, but I am still lingering. I had so much of my bored and lonely energy tied up in shopping, decorating, baking, and general preparations that I'm not really sure what to move on to. So our tree is still up, the front of the house screams "Merry Christmas" and Zeke and I are still dancing around the house to our Evie Christmas album. It is hard to move on when we had such a wonderful 10 days in Morden. Zeke's first Christmas was everything we could have hoped it to be. Let's take a peek at what we did:

Grandpa bought Zeke a funny little Santa suit,

so we played dressup...

We gifted...

We played outside...

and we napped. Sweet. Glorious. Naps.

The good news is that last night while I was rocking Zeke to sleep my mind started to wander to thoughts of tulip bulbs and spring. Looks like I found something to move on to after we shove Christmas back into the basement this weekend!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T11:23:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Hope your hearts were filled with love, laughter, and joy!

Six months of Zeke

2009-12-21T11:07:00.004-07:00

You weigh 14lbs 7oz and are 26 inches long.

You scoot backwards across the floor on your back.

You chew on everything and anything.

You sit up all by yourself and put your arms out to catch yourself.

You have a long lizard tongue and love to stick it out.

You get the cutest look on your face as you study something and try to do it yourself.

You still love the frog song. It makes you smile every time.

You have pretty much given up sleeping at night. A nap from 7:30 to 10:30pm and you are set.

You love Sophie and have started to reach for fistfulls of hair. She is learning to tolerate you.

You eat fruits and veggies like a champ. Orange veggies are your favourite.

You make us laugh - even through our exhaustion.

A few bonus six month pictures because A)they are cute, and B)the pee on the couch would be in vain if i didn't share the pictures

Snowy Weekend with Grandma

2009-12-06T18:58:00.006-07:00

This weekend two things happened: a blizzard and a visit from Grandma. One tried to ruin the other, but we were all troopers and continued our weekend plans in the three foot snow drifts that had (and still do in some places) engulfed the city. Friday night Grandma played babysitter while Josh and I headed out to Josh's work Christmas party. I think I forgot to kiss the little guy goodbye I was so excited to go have a night out on our own!

Saturday morning we watched all of our neighbours get stuck, slide backwards, and dig their way through snow drifts out our front window. By noon we were ready to brave the weather ourselves and set out for the mall. After all, Santa was waiting for Zeke to visit! And what a good visit they had. Zeke was very curious, and spent most of the time staring up at Santa.
Saturday evening, it was a balmy -16C (3F) so we bundled up and headed to zoo lights. It was part of our plan and a little cold weather wasn't ruining our plans! I think we were all a little on the chilly side (except zeke, he was like a furnace), but the lights were pretty and we entertained ourselves singing karaoke.

Sunday morning the temperature had fallen to -20C (-5F). Just the perfect temperature for a little cruise around the neighbourhood in Zeke's new sled. So once again, we all donned our winter bundles and set out in the snow. I'm pretty sure Zeke was confused why he couldn't move any of his limbs. He better get used to it, the winter fun has just begun!

Santa Baby

2009-12-03T09:05:00.002-07:00

Christmas is in full swing around here and we have our own in house santa! Isn't he too cute? My mom is coming to visit this weekend so we are going to be busy doing christmassy stuff all weekend - visiting Santa, going to zoo lights, doing some baking. It will be a jam packed weekend of festivities!

5 Months of Zeke

2009-11-26T08:56:00.002-07:00

You sit up all by yourself
You are working on mastering the roll from back to front
You are a happy easy going baby
You had your first food - peas, at exactly 5 months
You still love to jump
You get up 5 times a night
You love to take a bath and have graduated to the big tub
You weigh 13 lbs 13 oz and are 26" long
You finally have leg chub. and it is really cute!
You love your stuffed Santa toy - it is your favourite right now
You love to be in the baby bjorn and look around
You are fun - you laugh and giggle and smile and make faces
You are working on mastering the hugs and kisses.
You are loved!

Getting ready

2009-11-21T18:45:00.003-07:00

We started to bring Christmas to life at our house today. We managed to get all the outside decorations up and about half of the inside done. Even Zeke helped! We moved his jumperoo outside into the front yard so he could be part of the action. It was +5 and nice and warm in the sun. Zeke enjoyed jumping his little butt off and watching his Papa climbing high on the ladder. We got scolded by our neighbour for having the baby out in the cold -apparently she didn't get the memo that this is Canada and if we didn't go outside when it was +5 we'd be stuck inside for 8 months of the year!

Now for a quick bath and bed for Zeke and then Josh and I will attack the christmas tree and village. Only 33 more sleeps!

Baby Boy!

2009-11-11T19:47:00.003-07:00

When I was little Nan would sew coats. Lots of little girls in Morden wore the warm winter coats hand sewn by her. We had white coats, jean coats, knit coats, satin coats - all with lots of lace, bows, and the cutest matching hats. Years ago my mom put away a few of them for future granbabies. I'm not sure Zeke was the grandbaby she had in mind, but he had to try out the coat anyway! He sure was happy to be in such a pretty (aka girly) piece of clothing. He would have made a cute little girl eh?

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T19:59:00.002-06:00

Too cute not to share

2009-10-29T12:11:00.004-06:00

I have a pretty healthy Etsy obsession and spent at least a few minutes each day browsing for stuff I don't really need. Right now I've got my eye on this, this and these. My latest buy for Zeke was this FAR TOO CUTE to resist hat. He was a little sceptical at first but now enjoys the attention from strangers that wearing such a cute hat brings!

Yesterday we put on that hat - plus about four layers of clothing and set out on a long walk. Zeke has been sleeping like crap at night and I thought a wee bit of fresh air during the day may make him sleep better at night - I know it works for me! But apparently Zeke is immune to fresh air because he was up five times again last night - but he did sleep most of the way through our walk. I'm not willing to give up on the idea just yet, so Zeke and I are headed outside again in a few. If Nan was here I'm pretty sure she would tell me just to bundle him up and let him sleep outside. Tempting... very tempting!

Four Months of Zeke

2009-10-20T09:13:00.005-06:00

You found your toes and love to hang on to them

You can tripod sit all by yourself

You love your toys that let you stand and jump

You smile everytime you hear the word PooPoo

You take a break from eating just to look up and coo at your Mama.

You reach for anything put in front of you and try to put it straight in your mounth

You have a bed time routine that starts at 7:15 - bath, jammies, eat, bed.

You still sleep swaddled up tight like a baby burrito.

You love to smile at yourself in the mirror

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-13T15:27:00.003-06:00

So much to be thankful for this year - especially a happy, healthy, growing baby boy! My parents are visiting for the week so we headed out for our traditional Thanksgiving walk. It was cold and snowy, so we bundled up and headed out the the mountains. It was Zeke's first time out in the cold and I'm not sure he loved it. He tolerated our walk, but I'm not sure he had fun! But the rest of us did - it was good to be out of the city and enjoy a walk around the falls. Hope you we all as lucky as us to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving with family!

Pukey Day

2009-10-02T16:34:00.006-06:00

This afternoon I was feeling pretty crappy - tired, cold, and achey - so I decided to put Zeke in the toy of neglect (aka the jolly jumper) for a few minutes of quiet time on the couch. He was happily jumping and talking to himself so I closed my eyes for just a second. Well, 40 minutes later I opened my eyes, sat straight up and freaked out wondered where the heck my baby was. I looked up and saw this: baby boy still jumping away. Whew!

As I got up to go play with him to make up for the 40 minutes of neglect, I saw this:

Poor kid was jumping and splashing barefoot in a puddle of puke on the floor. Grosse. His feet were wet little pukescicles, and his face and shirt were dripping - but at least he was still smiling. Ah, the Mama guilt.

Three Months of Zeke

2009-09-21T21:45:00.003-06:00

You found your hands and chew on them constantly

You put toys into your mouth and chew on those too
You pull yourself up to stand
You love to hold on to our fingers
You found your voice and love to talk

You weigh 10lbs 15oz and are 23 inches long
You still eat every three hours at night - sometimes every two just for fun
You love bath time and try to flood the floor with your body slams
You have started to notice Sophie
You sit through an entire episode of baby einstein
You smile when we walk into the room

Go Flames Go

2009-09-17T08:55:00.003-06:00

Tuesday night was the pre-season opener at the dome, and it was also Zeke's first hockey game! Like normal he was on his best public appearance behaviour. The whole first period he just sat wide eyed staring at everything around him. He showed a lot of love for the big TV. Imagine how happy he would have been if that thing was showing baby einstien! He hammed it up with smiles and coos for the ladies in the next box, and looked far too cute in his official little jersey.

It was a good night out for both baby and Mom - made me feel somewhat normal to hang out with friends, enjoy the game, and get out of the house for something other than shopping and doctors appointments. We will have to make plans to go again soon!

Beepin Boppin and Bimmin

2009-09-04T12:19:00.003-06:00

When I was little the three things that occupied my time were BEEPIN, BOPPIN, and BIMMIN - sleeping, shopping, and swimming! Shopping at the SAAN store with my mom and swimming like a fish in Nan and Ops's pool. While my parents were visiting ths past weekend Zeke had his first official BEEPIN, BOPPIN, and BIMMIN filled day. We shopped up a storm for four hours at the big new mall that just opened, visited the lake to take a quick dip, and watched Zeke switch between napping and smiling. He must have enjoyed BEEPIN, BOPPIN, and BIMMIN too, 'cause he was such a JOY the whole day!

Two Months of Zeke

2009-08-22T20:57:00.004-06:00

You love looking at yourself in the mirror.
You let our a big yell before you sneeze.
You find fake sneezes and yawns absolutely hilarious.
You love to watch our mouths move.
You weigh 9lbs 13oz and are 22 inches long.
You enjoy getting your parents up twice a night.
You found your hands and decided they taste good.
You learned to arch your back to try and get out of your car seat.
Your nicknames include toots, boots, tzatziki, and LB.
You grunt after you fart. Very funny.

You are full smiles and giggles.

8 things

2009-08-20T08:36:00.004-06:00

8 things i did today:
1. picked raspberries
2. had lunch at a friends house
3. hung out with Alana, Sharae, Tasia and Lexi
4. photoshoot with Zeke
5. killed fruitflies at Josh's office
6. got a quote for finishing the mud/taping in the basement
7. stood in the basement and contemplated muding and taping ourselves. NO THANKS!
8. bought a new vehicle

8 things i wish i could do:
1. sleep through the night
2. walk down the street to get to my parents house
3. putter in the yard rather than the 20 minute yard marathon i've been doing lately.
4. go to the beach
5. learn to decorate cakes
6. get out of the city for a day. Maybe a trip to the mountains is in order. Baby needs to see/sleep through banff or Lake Louise. I might actually be able to make this wish come true!
7. see into the future, just for a moment.
8. go golfing with Josh

8 things to be grateful for:
1. a husband who took care of Zeke while he got ready for work this morning so i could sleep for an extra hour.
2. nice weather. finally
3. that Zeke is starting to fit into all his cute summer clothes
4. In the next 3 weeks we get to see each and every one of our families and introduce Zeke to all his Aunts, Uncles and cousins.
5. Facebook. Lame i know, but it is like a view to the outside world when i start to feel cooped up and lonely.
6. That Josh puts up with my weekly late friday afternoon visits to his office just to hang out. Even more grateful that his coworkers and boss put up with me!
7. 9 sleeps until my parents arrive. And their willingness to babysit so Josh and I can go enjoy The Lion King broadway show. Our first time out without the baby
8. That Josh and I work well together and are finally figuring out our new expectations of each other as a family of three. Not a well oiled team yet, but not the rusty one we were at the start either.

And just because a pictureless post is Josh's style, not mine - here is a new picture of Zeke looking all grown up in his first pair of jeans!

Ten on Tuesday

2009-08-11T21:53:00.002-06:00

Just ten random...

1. If they were invented today, would ghettoblasters be called ghettoblasters? We can hardly believe they would. The connotation would obviously be considered derogatory.

2. People always ask how things are going with the new baby to which we typically reply 'pretty good' or something similar. A standard follow up from them may be "getting enough sleep?" My response is usually "no" followed quickly by a "probably, just in smaller chunks than I'd like." The only way I can describe this in terms most people can understand is - imagine you snacked all day. At the end of the day you would have eaten enough to sustain yourself, but probably not feel like you ever really ate.

3. That being said, seven weeks into Zeke's life things are going quite well. Karly has gotten very proficient at feeding Zeke at night so I often get to sleep right through it. I do have feelings of guilt and try to wake up for diaper changing, burping, or putting him back down. I look forward to the day we both get the pleasure of sleeping through the night.

4. For those of you who have already been "made", do you remember the day you joined the minivan mafia? Loading the car (Pontiac Torrent SUV) for our trip to Manitoba last month I decided we're definitely going to need a bigger vehicle. Our choices are a larger SUV or joining the mafia. Not sure we're quite there yet, luckily there's a year left in our current lease.

5. A shout out to moms everywhere. My mom, Karly, her mom, all of them. As a matter of fact make it women in general. There's something in your DNA, a soothing nurturing quality that makes us guys very lucky you're around.

6. My brain is confused. It's very strange but I normally think about Canadian temperature in Celsius and US temperatures in Fahrenheit. I also think about distance in kilometers and miles respectively. The stranger thing is I can and do compare the different scales in my head. I suppose it's a gift? hahaha

7. The number of weeks Zeke has been with us. Have we mentioned he is now 9lbs 2ozs and 21.5" long? Still just a cool little guy, but 2" longer and around 35% heavier than he started.

8. For anyone who has our family calendar, have you ever noticed? And for those who don't I'll just throw Karly under he bus and tell you. Tomorrow is Karly's birthday, and being the creator of the calendar she took it as her female duty to turn 27 again this year. Sorry Karly, you will be 28 no matter how hard you try not to be.

9. One month from tomorrow until the Goodrich family reunion *coughpops60thcough*. We are very excited to come see everyone even if flying five hours with a connecting flight/layover with a two month old in tow does seem like a daunting task. Adventure ahoy!

10. If you need more than nine, read #1 again.

J

Six for Sunday?

2009-08-02T18:03:00.014-06:00

#1. For the past week I've eaten lunch in the back corner of our yard standing in the middle of our little raspberry patch enjoying the berries straight off the bush. After our afternoon walk I ditch Zeke in the shade and head back there. They are the perfect temperature and have so much flavour! There are not enough to warrant a pail for picking, so instead i will enjoy the instant gratification of the 20 or 30 or so I can eat each day.

#2. In spite of being next to ignored our yard is full of beautiful blooms. I've spent a few minutes here and there weeding and sneak in time to water my pots of flowers each day, but the love and attention has been lacking for the poor plants. Apparently they don't care! They are blooming up a storm. Such a wonderful and happy thing to see each time i look out the window.

#3. Has anybody ever had a passport picture taken for an infant? It is quite the process! It took us a few phone calls around town to even find a place that would do the picture for such a small baby. Luckily, the picture studio at Walmart was up for the challenge. The rules say that the eyes have to be open, mouth closed, and both ears fully visible. Ummm...do we tell Zeke the rules and hope he just follows along?? Luckily, our baby is a super star and it only took about six shots to get the job done. I'm sure watching the two of us - Josh with his hands up the front and back of Zeke's outfit to make him sit, and me acting like an idiot trying to get him to look in the right direction - was a pretty entertaining sight. My favourite part? His "Big Kahuna" outfit. Obviously I wasn't really thinking when we got him dressed! I laugh every time i look at the picture!

#4. Last Thursday I got the best surprise when i showed up at Josh's office to meet him for lunch - his office had planned a surprise baby shower. Complete with lunch, decorations, presents and lots of smiling faces. I was so honoured that they would take the time to plan such a great party for us. Both Josh and I are extremely lucky that he works with such great people all day.

#5. This weekend is August Long weekend and it felt like everybody and their dog had left town to do something exciting. So trying to find just a wee bit of pre-baby normalcy we packed ourselves up and headed to the mountains for the day. It felt so good to be out of the city and out into the fresh air. We visited Barrier Lake and watched people enjoy the beach and water. Then we headed to Mt. Lorrette ponds and took a leisurely walk around the two big ponds at the base of the mountain. We had never been there before and was fun to explore a new place. I would love to tell you that Zeke was wide eyed at the splendor of the mountains, but he slept through the whole trip except for about 30 minutes to fill his belly! It was a good day.

#6. When were we in Manitoba a few of my aunta and uncles bought Zeke a playmat - what a perfect gift. The boy LOVES it! He lays under it for a good half an hour squeeling, laughing, and smiling at all the toys and lights. His little legs just kick, kick, kick. It is so fun to watch him interact - almost like a real little human! The smiling sure adds a whole new element to the shit, sleep, eat routine.

Trip to Manitoba

2009-07-31T10:33:00.003-06:00

Last week we were brave and headed out on a 12 hour car ride with the little guy. Thankfully, he was a WONDERFUL traveller (at this age) and slept for 10 out of the 12 hours of the trip. Amazing how the car can just lul them to sleep huh?

The reason for our trip was really a golf tournament that Josh and Dad had been planning on since last summer - before we even knew Zeke was on the way - but it turned into a really convenient trip for everyone at home to meet the new babe. And meet people he did! He got to meet all three great granparents and about 30 great aunts, uncles and cousins that came over for a wee bit of a 'welcome baby' party.

While Josh and Dad golfed their butts off, Mom and I hung out with the baby, did a little shopping, and enjoyed a leisurely trip to the greenhouse while the boy slept. It was so nice to have somebody to spend the day with! It has been a rough adjustment to being alone 80% of the day again. Also a rough adjustment trying to feed myself again - we were extremely spoiled and well taken care of while at home! I'm sure Josh is going to wish the visits would end cause I'm pretty much an emotional basketcase while I adjust back to everyday 'normal' life. Is it bad that I'm counting down the 29 sleeps until our next visit already?

Overall it was a wonderful trip! I loved seeing the fields of blooming flax, I love that Josh got to have a good time golfing, I loved relaxing and living in the gazeebo all afternoon, I loved seeing my family, and I loved watching my family with little Zeke.

Firsts

2009-07-10T09:18:00.006-06:00

First Stampede Party: Living in Calgary, I imagine this kid will take part in a bazillion Stampede festivities in his life. He started early - just 2.5 weeks at his first party. Josh's office had their annual stampede party last night and I took Zeke down for a little while. As expected everyone oohed and ahhhed over the baby. Zeke slept comfortably for four hours in Sam's (the owner's wife) arms. Lookin' that cute must be hard work. Other firsts for the evening: First outfit, and the first time he got fed out of the house. Woohoo for both of us!

First Outing on our own: On Wednesday afternoon Zeke and I ventured out by ourselves for the first time beyond the doctors office. I had to run down to a health food store about 15 minutes away - just a nice, short little outing. We managed to make it out the door with no issues. Success number one! But success was short lived. As we pulled in the parking lot I realized I had forgotten my wallet at home. Luckily, this place is just a few minutes from Josh's office and he drove up to bail me out. Heading back to the car with our purchases, there was a nice lady standing by our car. "Is this your car?" she asked. "The back door was left wide open." OH GEEZ. Apparently I got Zeke out of the backseat, hooked him on the stroller, and took off leaving the door open. Oh boy. Luckily, nothing was missing from the car.

As for the boy - he slept through the whole experience. He only opened his one eye once or twice to stare up at me. I think he was checking on his Mama's stress level! Not wanting my first outing experience to be such a gong show I stopped at WalMart on the way home - and I even managed to remember to close all the doors.

First time in his rocking chair: When my parents came to visit they brought Zeke the little old rocking chair that Nan had bought when my mom and Aunty Senta were little. I couldn't help myself from putting the little guy in the chair and taking his picture. He was so scared..as you can tell from his face! I can hardly wait until he can sit up a little on his own...I have big visions for a photoshoot in the back yard!

5 on Tuesday..cause 10 is a lot for today.

2009-06-30T11:11:00.005-06:00

#1. Zeke wears his emotions on his face, just like his Mama. Watching his little lips, eyes, nose and forehead scrunch and move is daily entertainment. The poop face, the euphoric face, the rosebud lips, the pathetic "i can't do anything for myself face." They are all good!

#2. Watching my parents with Zeke has been one of the best parts of our first week together. How they both lean over to watch every movement and every noise is so sweet. How they (well mostly mom) poke and touch, and sing and kiss on every little part of him. I'm pretty sure they waited patiently for each hour after Zeke was fed and somewhat awake for their chance to love on him. And I'm very sure Zeke missed them yesterday after they left. I know I did.

#3. Breasfeeding is hard. I've got a baby who won't latch without a shield, a milk supply that won't come in, and a LONG hour and 15 minute feeding routine. Each time we try to nurse for 30 minutes, pump for another 20, and then supplement with formula for another 15-20 minutes. Challenging to say the least. Hopefully the extra pumping and milk producing drugs the doctor put me on will help us move in the right direction.

#4. We went on our first outings beyond the doctors office this weekend. Saturday we headed out to the farmers markets, and the babe slept through the whole thing and was a perfect angel. I was SO nervous about taking him our in public. Not for him, but for myself. What if he cries, what if i can't feed him, what if....what if... I'm a planner. Don't find comfort in the unknown. Sunday we set out to go to Bowness park for a walk, but apparently so did everyone else in Calgary. The place was packed so we headed down to the river for ice cream instead. This time, Zeke stayed awake through the entire three hour experience. He didn't cry, didn't really fuss - just laid there in his half awake state. It was the longest he has been awake since birth! So two different outings with much different experiences. But both were fun and both were survived. Hopefully I will find the confidence to head out into the world on our own soon.

#5. I have ankles. For anybody who has seen my legs and ankles for the past four months this is HUGE news! I keep looking down and marveling at that lovely ankle bones. I missed you guys!

Introducing...

2009-06-24T23:52:00.007-06:00

Introducing...

Zeke Henry Goodrich

June 20, 2009
2:18PM

6 lbs. 9 oz.

19.5"

2009-06-19T08:55:00.003-06:00

Still Here. Still Pregnant. Still no signs of impending labour. Now officially 10 days overdue.

We are waiting by the phone for an induction date.

At least my parents arrived Wednesday evening to alleviate some of the boredom, anxiousness, and nerves that were building. Josh took off of work not to miss the call that says "bring wife to hospital pronto." Now we all just hang out and wait together.

Yesterday we attacked the mall with a vengence. Today we do the greenhouse. Or maybe the phone will ring and we will attack the hospital. One can only hope.

Ten for just because there's no baby yet.

2009-06-07T20:35:00.002-06:00

1. There is no elegant, attractive, cool way way to choke in public. There just isn't.

B. It's fun to make your points alphanumerically, or numericalphabetically.

3. Apparently some people, *coughKarlycough*, have a gag reflex IN their ear and a Q-Tip is the trigger. Very entertaining to watch and no, not pregnancy related.

4. Somehow we've accumulated more TV's than feasable rooms in our house to watch them. It sounds like a form of hoarding but I assure you it just happened and, though they all work, this will not be the case for long.

5. Yesterday I woke up and thought, "Hey, it's June 6th, it's supposed to snow today right?" Right. Yes Calgary broke a 41 year standing record for snowfall in June. Anyone who has visited us in June might not be that surprised.

6. Every weekend should be three days long.

7. Have you ever noticed your neighbors who don't seem to care about their yards almost always put up a for sale sign the day after they actually do some work? Frustrating to say the least, but there's always hope for the new owners. Unfortunately our experience here hasn't always been positive with changing neighbors.

8. Tomorrow is our last official day of freedom. Monday night at midnight I expect the anticipation, excitement, and maybe but hopefully not nerves to start building. Karly has been very patient but has said that will begin to change on the 9th. We feel well prepared so bring it on little guy.

9. Making fun of people is just that, fun. I say that in more of a people watching sense than a we don't like you sense. We would never say anything to hurt someone's feelings on purpose, but simply observing others quirks sure can be entertaining.

10. Movies should all be filmed in the same aspect ratio, 16:9, so they fit widescreen TV's properly. The black letterbox lines were okay on 4:3 picture tube TV's, but fancy new widescreen TV's just really need to be viewed in full.

Hope you enjoyed the filler and maybe the next post will be "meet the baby" so stay tuned.
Josh

Finally!

2009-05-26T17:13:00.006-06:00

Spring has been rather elusive in Calgary this year. We had three days about a month ago that felt something like spring, but since then it has been days upon days of freezing rain, snow, frost warnings, and gloomy skies. BUT this weekend SPRING decided to arrive. The air felt warm, the sun turned our skin pink, and the weather man promised our tender annuals would finally be safe outside.

So Josh and I set to work cleaning up the yard - freeing the plants and grass from their winter coats of dirt and weeds, and filling the window boxes and pots with colourful new flowers. It is amazing the difference two good days of work can make! Too bad the yard is a never ending project and the list of things to fix, clean, plant, or transplant grew longer rather than shorter!

Thankfully we've got a couple more weeks before this kid makes an arrival - lots of time for edging, spreading wood chips and cleaning out the pond. And even better - I've got a whole summer at home to enjoy our hard work!

The Last Day

2009-05-24T00:43:00.000-06:00

No no not for Karly being pregnant. Rather the last day for making a guess or changing the one you've already entered in our baby pool. Remember, there is a prize and it may be naming rights to our anxiously anticipated "guy". If you need to change your guess and did not register (and are therefore not able) please just comment your adjustments and we will update for you. I'm not saying any of you are wrong, but Jeff this is your last chance to have a shot at winning.

Anyway, Karly and "the guy" are doing great. I'm not entirely sure Karly is feeling any ill effects and may simply be using pregnancy as a front to get more back rubs. A small price for me to pay given the work she's been putting in for eight and a half months and counting. Weekly visits to the doctor bring excitement in hearing the heartbeat and comfort knowing all appears normal. This week the doctor felt Karly's stomach and said the baby's head is still 'wiggling around', in other words not dropped down or engaged into the pelvis in preparation for labor and delivery. I asked the doctor "if the head dropping means we're close to having a baby?" to which she quickly replied "no" and added that "when it hasn't, it does mean you're far". So close yet apparently so very far away.

That's OK though because I think currently, with the exception of one overly enthusiastic co-worker, everyone is good waiting the remaining two weeks for "the guy" to arrive. There are still many things to accomplish before our life as we know it changes forever. From my experiences I find many people fear the unknown and are largely very resistant to change, but not me, I can't wait. Change is opportunity. The status quo usually just won't do. And really, what's fun about same same besides saying it with a Pat Morita Japanese accent? (excuse the slightly obscure 80's movie reference)

Well I think that's all for now. It's officially the last day for guessing and only 16 sleeps until expected D-day. I should go join Karly and get some sleep because who knows, tomorrow could feasibly be our last "free" weekend day for a long long time.

2009-05-10T17:07:00.003-06:00

I might only be the Mama to an 'inside' baby and a spoiled cat, but I was still treated like a queen today! Sophie gifted me with a new watering can and 'the guy' was kind enough to fill my camera bag with a new lens. I guess he/she knew that the camera will be pointed at them an awful lot and is hoping for some nice results! Josh gave me the gift of patience while picking out annuals at Costco - he helped me pick the perfect plants and even made me believe he truly cared whether we had purple pansies or white violas!

After Costco and a rather long trip to the mall to pick out some new pajamas and a housecoat for my impending hospital stay we headed up to the nursery to put on a few more finishing touches. Definetely not the final finishing touches, but a step in the right direction. We still need to find some blinds/curtains, invent or create something to hang on all the empty walls, and find the perfect set of hooks for behind the door. A few pictures of the progress:

And now as I sit here playing on the computer with my feet up enjoying a glass of iced tea, Josh is upstairs vaccumming and doing laundry. And I've been promised home made tacos and an after supper stroll around the neighborhood. Spoiled much??

Attention Whore Alert

2009-04-30T21:30:00.004-06:00

Two weekends ago Josh took off to Las Vegas with the boys for what he swears was a very important 'work convention.' This makes me laugh, because interestingly his stories from the weekend have NOTHING to do with work. But, i'm glad he got to go have a little fun, blow off a little steam, and enjoy some time away from home before he has to turn into a boring, responsible father type!

So rather than sit at home lonely and jealous during Josh's weekend away my friend Anna came to Calgary and we had our own fun weekend. Everytime Anna rolls into town you can count on us doing three things: spending too much money, taking pictures, and eating cheesecake. And this weekend was no exception -we shopped up a storm, indulged in dessert, and spent 4 hours out and about on a maternity photo shoot.

So with the understanding that this is a TOTAL attention whore post - please accept a bunch of pictures of pregnant old ME. Anna and I had fun laughing at my self conscious self trying to figure out how to stand and what to do with my hands. I find it creepy when pregnant people touch their bellies in public, and this was no exception! So, enjoy!

Thanks for the company Anna - See you June 12th for the baby shoot.

3D Baby

2009-04-14T10:32:00.002-06:00

Last week we got to spend a very special hour with our little one - watching him/her move, yawn, suck their thumb, and make funny faces. What a cool experience! My parents were here visiting for Easter so they got to enjoy too - they couldn't believe how busy the baby was and how much he/she moved around. Josh's parents also got to take part via live video broadcast. It was pretty sureal to see the perfect little person that I've been feeling booting me from the insides in such a lifelike form. I wonder how much he/she will look like these pictures when they are born? I hope they keep those fat little cheeks - too cute!

In the spirit of March Madness...

2009-03-24T23:23:00.000-06:00

...we thought it would be fun to start a pool of our own.

Come one come all, everyone is invited! Click the link below or on the sidebar and guess the who what when of our baby. The rules of the game and some details about both of our births are listed to assist your guessing. We've both guessed and would love to see all of your predictions. There will be a prize for the winner, we just haven't decided what it is yet. Maybe the winner can name the baby???

Anyway, have fun, good luck, and make sure we know who you are so we can award the final prize appropriately. You don't have to register to guess, only if you want to make changes later.

Ten on Tuesday Episode The Same

2009-03-10T22:25:00.006-06:00

1. I figured since it's Tuesday the 10th, and the last time we posted was also Tuesday the 10th, why not?

2. In 60 hours from now we should be making "our final descent" into LAX for a vacation that may be "our final descent". Hopefully it won't be too bumpy. Yes a crappy metaphor but it's 11:00pm and I'm bored.

3. The 96 hours after that should be a great time. Maybe most likely a mellow trip to Disneyland. A visit with Whit and Jake (and maybe Ross, Darin, Toby, and Holden). Some beach time. Some shopping. Some, well maybe lots of, In-n-Out. Shopping. Relaxation. Stroll'ers on the beach.

4. If 2 and 3 haven't added up for you yet, I'll do the math. This trip is our "babymoon". Kind of like honeymoon is the first trip after marriage, babymoon is the last trip of "freedom" before baby is born.

5. A co-workers parents came in to our office for a visit a week or so ago. Her mother sat in my office for a bit and we had a good chat where I mentioned our babymoon. She said they had never thought of such an idea but wished maybe they had. Further she suggested maybe we were on to a business idea. A travel agency of sorts dedicated to parents-to-be booking trips dedicated and planned around acceptable activities for pregnant women. Well, good idea or not, we won't be starting said business so feel free to have at it.

6. For the record we didn't by any stretch invent the babymoon, we're just using the term and attempting to spread it's joy.

7. Maybe the funnest thing about the babymoon is the fact it means we are that much closer to "the guy" making an entrance - by means of an exit which is somewhat ironic to me as I sit here giggling about it.

8. Anyone caught the general theme of this Ten on Tuesday? Again I can do the math for those not so ept at picking up on my not-so-subtle hints. It's all baby. ;-)

9. Today is 3 months until due date, or 6 months from day one. Many have asked to see pictures of the bump, so here it is. I think it's great. So cute. So amazing. So exciting. You name a good word and I bet it's that too. Karly calls this picture goodbye toes.

10. Just be sure, and for Karly's peace of mind, this post is from Josh. Did anyone really not guess that yet? Good.

Ten on Tuesday

2009-02-10T16:14:00.013-07:00

#1. It has been a really long time since we've updated this blog so some of these things might be a little old. Particularly this first one - he turned OLD on January 28th. We had cupcakes for breakfast, went out for supper, and had a relaxed evening of present opening and phones calls at home.

#2. We completed project closet last weekend. After far too many frustrating trips to ikea (tip: don't trust their online inventory system) I think it is done. At least we got cheap hotdogs and $1 breakfast out of the deal. Oh and look, the closet already filled itself. How kind.

#3. The crib has arrived and it is even prettier in our house than it was at the store. We unpacked it from the box just to make sure there was no damage, but haven't set it up yet. We have some room painting to do first. Maybe I'll paint over the upcoming long weekend. Besides, what fun is a kid without a few early inhaled paint fumes right?

#4. Moving on from baby. Josh and I headed to Canada Olympic Park last weekend for the Burton Canadian Open. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and we watched some pretty amazing riders compete in the half pipe competition. Being there made me rather nostalgic for the days when both of us used to spend most weekends out in the snow on some hill/mountain.

#5. If you've ever wondered what I see out my window at work all day this is a glimpse from the month of January. We are building/designing a new library building and it is pretty cool to be able to watch the physical work each day coincide with our committee planning work. I've some how lucked out and have gotten to be a part of the actual space planning/design, technology, and learning services. What this really means is that i get to help pick out furniture, flat screens, and design student use spaces. Kinda right up my alley!

#6. I think i'm done wearing socks for the winter. No sandals yet, but definitely lots of slip on flats. As much as i hate socks, this was not a very good idea when we got a freak 1 1/2 inches of snow and slush this morning. My feet were a wee bit wet.

#7. 31 more sleeps until the beach. Ahhhhh. My whole body relaxes just by writing that sentance.

#8. Friday is pay day and I'm excited. Know why? Cause every payday we get to go to the bookstore and pick out one book to add to the baby's collection. I've given myself this restriction as an attempt to curb spending on cute and frivilous gender oriented baby items. It sure makes payday extra special and FUN! Last week we got this one. Any suggestions for this week?

#9. Today I walked out of the bathroom and like any sane person reached down to make sure my fly was closed. But, low and behold, my pants had no fly. One more reason to like stretchy maternity pants. Nobody yelling "XYZ" as you walk by.

#10. Anybody else notice that at #4 I announced I was moving on from baby, but by #8 we were right back there? I think this pretty acurately displays our frame of mind these days.

Random

2009-01-18T10:19:00.003-07:00

Somebody reminded me that is has been a really long time since I've posted anything of value on the blog. So Alana, here is an update for you..and anybody else who might be wondering what we've been up to.

#1. Being pregnant is good. I'm back to feeling more like myself - puking has subsided, i can stay up past 9:00, the thought of cooking supper doesn't disgust me, and after being congested for three months i can nearly breath normally again. And the best part of all I can eat pizza, ice cream, lasagna and other wonderfully lactose full dishes without getting sick. All things that i should be eating right??

#2. We had out 19 week ultrasound on Monday and all seems well. Other than the fact that the baby is far from cute and the crazy ultrasound lady refused to give us any pictures other than video's of the skin and bone 3D images. Seriously, at 19 weeks babies are far from being ready to be viewed in 3D. But the whole ultrasound process was pretty entertaining. There was a girl doing her practicum from a local college and listening to her and her instructor talk back and forth about the whole process was cool and educational.

#3. Our house has been turned upside down the last three weekends. I feel the need to get rid of everything that is just clogging up space and not really used anymore. Last weekend we tackled the storage room in the basement and this weekend it was the closests in the spare bedroom (nursery) and office. Needless to say there was a FULL truckload of clothes, old house decorations, christmas stuff, and other randoms delivered the the MCC. Hopefully they will find a good home. It is amazing how much space we have now in those two closets.

#4. Our first nursery project was putting together some closet systems we got from Ikea. We've got a pretty cool drawer, shelf, hanging room concept all designed and I will have to take pictures when it is all done. Putting together ikea stuff is always entertaining, and yesterday was no exception. Today's project is trying to pick the perfect paint colour: wish us luck!

So if you can't tell our life beyond work has become a series of events tied to baby preparations. But today it is beautiful outside - sun in shining, snow is melting, and it is nearing 60 degrees - so we are headed outside for a long walk down by the river. I think we'll even take the new camera and have fun trying it out in the sunshine.

65 More Sleeps

2009-01-07T16:51:00.003-07:00

Scrap nursery painting, thesis writing, or basement finishing - we are going on VACATION instead. Sounds like a lot more fun right? And only 65 days away. Or if we were to count time like Nan (who never includes the current month, or the vacation month) this means the beach is only one month away! :)
One last vacation with just the two of us. We laugh at each other all the time because every place we've been for the past two years was supposed to be the "one last big vacation." It was pretty exciting booking flights and hotels knowing that this was actually going to be our one last fun adventure as just the two of us. Come June, traveling will be a whole new adventure in itself.
We are heading down to huntington beach in hopes of doing a whole lot of nothing. Fires on the beach, hopefully catching a grunion run, eating strips at the pier, and other general laziness. We are hoping to catch up with Whit and Jake (SURPRISE, Whit!) and spend some time with them too. And i know what you are all thinking... the beach? In March? Well, their average temperature in March is 68 and ours in only 38 - it will be warm to us! :) Bring on the flip flops!

Christmas and Winter in Pictures

2008-12-14T11:58:00.006-07:00

We've been getting blasted by winter the past couple of weeks, but it sure is making it feel like Christmas. We've reached our high temperature for the day at -28 C, or a balmy -19 F. That is without the added windchill of -40 which is the same temperature in both celcius and fahrenheit. Anybody wanna come for a visit???

Merry Christmas Josh

2008-12-12T16:52:00.002-07:00

Look what I found in my inbox today - a special message for Joshua from Santa. Sounds like he's been a pretty good boy this year!

CLICK HERE!

Flashback Friday

2008-12-05T22:00:00.005-07:00

I've seen a few bloggers taking part in 'flashback friday' so I decided to give it a try. And with christmas coming, how about a Goodrich and Sawatzky Christmas flashback? As far as we can tell both of these pictures were taken in '99, and words can't really do them justice! Enjoy!

Hail Mary

2008-12-02T20:16:00.008-07:00

Hail Mary:

A play in American football made in desperation, with only a small chance of success.

If our life were a football game we definetly just pulled off the biggest hail mary play in the book. Why you ask? Well, feast your eyes on this!

Pretty cute huh? About a week before I was to be sent for some lovely and invasive infertility testing we found out about this little dude. Talk about one last lucky shot in the dark! I guess the 19th try is the charm?

I am about 13 weeks along and the new little boy or girl should be making an appearance in early June. We've decided not to find out what we are having, so for now the baby is refered to as 'the guy' - a term used to describe anyone and everyone around here! I will spare you all the details of the puke fest that has been my life for the past three months - but just know there are some good and funny stories! But at least most of the time the puking is followed by laughter and absolute amazement that this is actually happening!

Travel Trivia

2008-12-01T16:56:00.015-07:00

Just a quick travel trivia questions from our trek home from Utah this weekend...

What do the following 4 groups have in common?

Three deer - one without a head, one moose laying on his back spread eagle, one deer head without a body, and three more deer.

Give up yet?

Well, these are things spotted while driving in the great state of Montana. Respectively, roped on top of a minivan driven by a dad, mom, and daughter - yes one had no head just a spot where a head should have been. In the bed of a pick-up truck, legs hanging over both sides of the bed. On top of an SUV partially covered by a tarp, but not enough to not notice it was a fresh head (maybe it belonged to the minivan?). And on another SUV loaded with hunters. What a place.

Good Canadian Cat

2008-11-18T21:50:00.004-07:00

We can't help but laugh at our stupid cat when she sits RIGHT in front of the TV to enjoy a hockey game every now and then. We've never caught her watching anything else - so there must be something special about hockey. We crack up everytime her head goes from left to right watching the puck move across the ice. And she doesn't even need that stupid trailing purple puck like her crazy yankee neighbours to the south. What a good Canadian Cat!

2008-11-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful day! A random middle of the week day off from work - a rare treat. I slept in, cuddled with the cat, watched Regis and Kelly, paid my respects for Remembrance day with two minutes of silence at 11:00, and then headed to the basement.

Why the basement? 'Cause that's where the Christmas decorations are....duh! We made it through Thanksgiving, Halloween and now Remembrance day which means we are officially on the home stretch to Christmas. Time to deck the halls, don our gay apparel, and join the chorus! Fa la la la la, la la la la.

In a matter of 4 hours the house has been transformed into our Christmas wonderland - filled with sparkles, glitter, twinkling lights, shiny ornaments, miniature houses, snowflakes and more glitter. Completely disturbed by the amount of glitter and sparkles that had been strewn about the floor during the process Josh said to me, "is it possible for one girl to love glitter and sparkles as much as you?" Yes Josh it is.. the more sparkle the better!

So now we are settled in on the couch enjoying the glow of the tree and munching on Christmas oranges...doesn't get much better!

Josh's Favorite Commercials

2008-11-09T22:13:00.007-07:00

#1 goes to Discovery Channel...

...and #2 to my home state of California.

Scary times in Colorado

2008-11-03T10:58:00.009-07:00

I have a friend, from an online support group for those having trouble trying to conceive. This morning, after six weeks of drugs, needles, and ultrasounds, she was told by her Reproductive Endocrinologist that her in-vitro fertilization cycle would have to be cancelled due to Amendment 48 currently on the Colorado ballot.

Why you ask? Well, Amendment 48 would define the term 'person' to include a fertilized egg - before implantation or pregnancy begins. So in a quick and dirty run down of the IVF procedure: when a woman has finished her hormone therapy to induce the production of eggs, the doctor removes (on average) about 10-12 mature eggs from the womans ovaries. These eggs are then mixed with sperm in an attempt to fertilize naturally, or one individual sperm is injected into each egg to increase the chances of fertilization. So in the best of circumstances the couple is left with 10-12 (and in the worst, zero) fertilized eggs in which the cells start to divide. Chances are some of these fertilized eggs will arrest in their development, but some (lets say 7) continue to divide and develop normally. So, three days later - the day most women will have the fertilized eggs transfered back into their uterus, the fertilized eggs are now between four and 10 cells each.

Great News.. this means seven potential viable embryos. But any doctor in their right mind would never put more than between 1-3 eggs back into an otherwise healthy woman. So what happens to the other 4-6 eggs that have not been chosen to be put back? They are left to continue developing until day six, and if still healthy then sent to be frozen for potential future use. Fact is, many eggs stop their development and don't make it to freezing.

So what's the problem? Well, my friends doctor could be held criminally liable for creating 10-12 fertilized eggs, of which he only has the intention of giving 1-3 a chance at life. Essentially, frozen eggs would be viewed as captives. And those eggs that stop developing between day three and six would be considered manslaughter.

Another friend of mine, and thousands like her each year in the US, suffered an ectopic pregnancy. A not so rare, and potentially deadly case in which the fertilized egg implants itself into the fallopian tube rather than the uterus. Without proper treatment - normally a standard abortion procedure - the egg begins to develop causing the fallopain tube to burst and create massive internal bleeding in the mother. In 2006, 1 in 2000 ectopic pregnancies ended in death for the mother. Between 40 and 50 deaths total. Could you imagine the number of young women lost if Amendment 48 made it illegal to end the development of the fertilized egg?

So for me, it is scary times in Colorado. Scared that such a legislation could lay the groundwork for outlawing IVF, scared that my own health would be jeopardized in an attempt to save a 100% non-viable pregnancy, scared that my choice of birth control which inhibits implantation could be taken away, and scared for the loss of individual choice in the care of my body.

So lets hope the people of Colorado can see this bill for what it really is: extreme.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T21:43:00.005-06:00

Oh how time flies...wasn't yesterday September? Anyhoo, this week Karly and I finally dug out the Halloween decorations and tonight we carved our pumpkins. Bet you can't guess which one is Karly's and which is mine!

We're Back...maybe

2008-10-05T21:23:00.001-06:00

We are back - from the land of busy, unmotivated, and preoccupied! It is not such a great place to visit and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. And although the last couple weeks has been filled with stupid challenges, I'm sure there are a few interesting things we can share.

#1. What do you do when you need something sweet and there is nothing in the house? Well, you make smores of course! We had supplies left over from a campfire a few weeks before and it was almost as fun to make them inside as outside...after Josh got over what a strange idea I had come up with that is!

#2. Dearest Sophie. You are not even allowed outside so how the heck did you make it out by the garage? She was having so much fun exploring from the deck down the stone path on the garage I couldn't make her come inside. Unfortunetly, she has taken this to mean that everytime the door opens she should take a quick stroll outside. Good thing the snow should be flying soon and she'll run from the door as soon as she feels the cold!

#3. Have we told you about our back of house saga? Well...in July the city lawnmower was cutting the green belt behind our house and we heard a rock hit the blade of the mower, and then a loud SMASH. Low and behold a rock, the size of a sharp tennis ball, had flown 120 feet through/over our backyard and pierced the back of the house - through the siding, through the house wrap, and took a good chunk out of the OSB. SCARY! There were four of us out in the backyard and I think we were pretty lucky that nobody was hurt - that flying rock could have killed somebody. Even scarier that Nan had been sitting right in the path of the rock less than two hours earlier. So after a couple of months working with the city, the city's insurance company, and the siding guy, the house is fixed and back to normal.

#4. Josh had to say goodbye to his old office on Friday. They have moved to a new location about a block closer to downtown. I had to take his picture outside the building because I'm a nostalgic freak. We have a lot of memories in that place - Josh's first real job in Calgary, long nights of Josh working with me writing papers, and painting the walls to earn money for a honeymoon. The new office is pretty nice, but it sure has been a lot of work for Josh!

#5. I had big plans for our apple harvest this year: apple pie, apple cider, apple butter, dried apples, fruit leather. Think bubba gump with apples! Too bad this one lonely apple was the extent of our harvest. So we enjoyed this apple in all its straight off the tree goodness and will save our big plans for next year.

Ten on Tuesday

2008-09-16T21:33:00.009-06:00

#1. I am taking a french class. I know what you are all thinking.. ohhh how cultured of me! :) Yeah, i wish. Instead, it is my attempt to remember enough from my 10 years of french in school to be able to pass a language exam required to complete my MA. Although I'm pretty sure i enrolled in the wrong class. So far (in four classes) we spent a lot of time grunting out french sounds, counting to ten, reciting the alphabet, and inquiring how our seat mate is feeling. As strange as the class may be the instructor totally makes up for it - his name in Alajendro Penzone. He is from Columbia, speaks spanish, french and English with a thick spanish accent. Very interesting!

#2. Our first appointment at the clinic today was almost surreal. We've been thinking about it for so long that it was pretty strange to be past the thinking and actually be doing. The meeting with the doctor was only about 20 information filled minutes and we spent another 20 or so minutes with the nurse. He is what we learned:

A) Josh has wonder balls! He won't be the problem in this equation.

B) I on the other hand SUCK. And as a reward for my suckage I get to undergo a barage of tests. HSG, ultrasound, and blood tests, OH MY! The doctor is pretty sure I have this: PCOS.

The good thing about this appointment was that none of what we learned was a real surprise. We've suspected this for quite some time. We have another appointment in six weeks after all the tests are complete.

#3. Our September 4th we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. No major plans - just a nice dinner out and some home depot shopping. Nothing says romance like Home Depot! Josh got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and I loved him even more for putting together his own bouquet rather than the pre arranged...he knows me far to well. And because i know him far to well, he got a box of cookies from Cookie Occasion delivered to work!

#4.We have been having a beautiful end of summer, so we've been making the most of it. Three weeks ago we did what all Calgarians do when it gets HOT, (this means anything above 80 degrees) we packed up our blow up boats and headed down to the river. Josh and I just hung out on shore, sat in the water and people watched but the number of people floating down the river was amazing!

#5. Sophie's new favorite toy is a seashell from our summer trip to California. And her favourite time to play with said toy is FIVE AM! She chaces it all around, pushes it under doors, and bashes it into walls. Who knew a wee little seashell could be so loud? Who knew Sophie could cry for help so loud after pushing it under the bath mat? Makes for an interesting early morning.

#6. For my birthday my grandma gave me money that was to go towards a rail barrell. We've looked all over the city and have seen all sorts of ugly plastic barrells. Functional, yes. But also somewhat of an eyesore. So the other day I found THIS ONE. This rain barrel is my peace offering to mother nature after she had to listen to the DRILL BABY DRILL chanting at the Republican National Convention!

#7. My parents are working on the coolest project right now, and I am so jelous! They are building a gazeebo in the backyard and it is going to be the most perfect place. While I was home at the end of August I spent a lot of time sitting inside the gazeebo while Dad worked on the cedar shakes, and trust me, it is the most wonderful place for an afternoon nap on a cool day. I wish we had a place like this in our yard!

#8. I love my Wii! And I love the original nintendo games that we downloaded to play on the Wii. Nothing beats a good game of Original Mario Brothers of bubble bobble. The other day I had major flashbacks to living in residence at the University when Chrissie and I would spend HOURS (like 5 or 6) sacked out on a air mattress in the living room play bubble bobble. I can hardly wait to bring the Wii home at christmas and play and little four on four tennis with my parents...should be a hoot.

#9. Sticking with the cool things on our TV theme....we hooked up our new blu ray player through HDMI cables the other and were AMAZED at the picture clarity. There was a noticable difference from our DVD player. But the coolest thing was hooking the lap top up to the TV through the HDMI cables and having a 40 inch crystal clear computer monitor. The TV picture is by far superior to the regular computer monitor.

#10. I've started the 2009 Goodrich Family Calendar. So all my sister-in-laws out there please keep in mind that I will be asking for pictures by mid-October sometime. Last years was a hit so hopefully the same will be said for this year. It is looking good so far!

All in Bloom

2008-09-08T21:13:00.001-06:00

One great thing about our cool and wet summer is an unusually green September. The grass is as green now as it was in July, and nearly everything is blooming. So in a few spare minutes this weekend I decided to document all the September beauty. Who knows when you'll need a close up picture of a random daisy right? We've been savouring our end of summer days because before too long they will seen a distant memory.

A New Chapter

2008-09-02T23:00:00.007-06:00

Last Thursday we got a phone call that we have been waiting for for five long months! It was the Regional Fertility Clinic in Calgary letting us know that they had an opening for us on September 16th for an initial consultation. So after nearly two years of fruitless fun we are seeking professional help in hopes of making our family a little more .... fruity? We are so ready to start this new chapter.

Two years ago we were in such a different place. We were excited, we were energetic, and we believed whole heartedly that in a few short months we would be parents. We would look through the baby section of stores scopping out the perfect stroller, giddy with anticipation. We filled tubs with irresitably cute baby clothing, poured over the new pottery-barn kids catalog, and threw around the perfect baby names. Baby showers were a chance to scope out the perfect gift, and pregnancy announcements of friends and family made us excited that our kids would have friends and cousins the same age - cause we knew we were next! We dreamed about the perfect plan to tell everyone the exciting news and lived christmas, mothers/fathers day, vacations as our last one as just the two of us.

Now here we are with a much different outlook on the future. We are still excited about the possibilities, but time and continual disapointment has tainted our excitement. The baby clothes have been shoved to the back of the storage closet, we've gone ahead and redecorated rooms we were saving for a nursery, and we steer clear of the baby section in stores. We've learned to blink back tears and fight off jelousy at the announcement of another baby on the way. Learned to fake our way through it on the outside.

But we are HOPEFUL

Hopeful that a visit to this new clinic will help us move forward.

We've talked a lot about how much we want to share this process with friends and family, and have decided that we need the people that we love to know what is going on. We don't want to end up feeling withdrawn, shut in, or alone at a time that we really need the support of those closest to us. So we are pretty much an open book. Your questions and concerns are welcome, and we will try to answer as best we can. When we started this journey nearly two years ago we too were clueless, uneducated, and had no idea the amount of physical and emotional stress infertility can cause. So, if you're feeling curious fertilitycanada.com is a wonderful source of information about the journey we are about to embark on.

So hang on. 'Cause here we go!

Hooray!

2008-09-01T22:55:00.010-06:00

Karly comes home tomorrow from her six day visit to Manitoba. I am so excited to see her. I don't mind sharing her with her parents and Nan every now and then, but it's sure going to be nice having her back.

Just thought I'd share my excitement while pulling double duty explaining our lack of posts in the last week. Look for something better soon.

Home

2008-08-19T09:39:00.000-06:00

I was flipping through an old friends facebook page this morning and came across this photo. And what did i do? I cried. At my desk. At work. Big fat homesick tears.

I wanna go home.

4 Months, 129 Days, 3108 Hours....

2008-08-16T17:38:00.007-06:00

...or 130 sleeps until CHRISTMAS! And in honor of 4 months, 129 days, and 3108 hours I bought my first christmas present today! As we were getting ready for the day this morning Josh and I were talking about what needed to get done this weekend beyond the normal thesis, basement, yardwork routine and we couldn't come up with anything. So Josh, being the smartass that he tends to be says, "well, you could start christmas shopping seeing how it is after your birthday." So being the smartass that I am, I answered back with a couple quick swipes of the ol' credit card! A little ironic that I bought something for him eh?

In the News

2008-08-09T20:17:00.001-06:00

This is a pretty cool article about Josh's office that was published in the Calgary Herald recently. Steve (the owner) keeps the office REALLY well stocked with cool old stuff, and there is always something new to look at or something new to play with. We went there today, and lo and behold, there were two new arcade games! Hopefully this article will blow up big enough to read.

Opening Ceremonies

2008-08-08T22:11:00.005-06:00

Did anybody else take the time to watch the opening ceremonies in Beijing this morning/evening? Absolutely AMAZING! 15,000 people moving in the most precise, detailed and scrupulous formations. I couldn't quit being awed by how straight their lines were - and trust me, I skated precision for 8 year, getting 10 people in a straight line is hard enough - let alone groups of 2008! Those Tai Chi guys moving in perfect circle formations - VERY COOL! Isn't it so amazing how music, people, and movement can tell such beautiful stories?

Summer in Words

2008-08-05T14:02:00.004-06:00

I stumbled across THIS website today and was giddy with all the creative possibilities! So I ran a quick feed from our blog to see what our life looked like broken down into words and colours. Amazingly, our summer looks almost as fun on paper as it was in person!
So WORDLE your blog, your favorite poem, your favourite song, your favorite memory and get ready to be amazed and inspired!

Another Mama for Obama

2008-08-02T20:58:00.008-06:00

Any guesses who was wearing this pin?

Believe it or not, I found it proudly pinned to the front of Nan's jacket. My normally fairly conservative, Bush loving, Clinton hating grandma has fallen head over heels in political love with Obama. I wonder if Senator Obama knows that one of his most ardent supporters is an 87 year old great grandmother from CANADA? I'm not so convined she agrees with in all his political policies, but she 100% believes he is the right leader, with the right morals and values to lead the United States in a new direction. And this she will debate anybody willing!

I was trying to take a nice picture of my mom and Nan, and she quickly made sure that Obama found his place within the picture too! Crazy lady - can't help but love her! I keep wondering where she got this pin? I have my sneaking suspicions that she must have found it on her trip to Kansas in May!

More Visitors and Vacation

2008-07-28T19:58:00.015-06:00

To end the crazy spring/summer of visitors and vacationing, my parents made their way out to Calgary for 10 days. For once we didn't have any big yard or house projects planned - just a family wedding, shopping, relaxing, and a WEE bit of work.

First we headed out to play Kananaskis Country Golf Course. A beautiful course set right in the mountains about an hour from Calgary. Good thing it was such a spectacular setting 'cause my golfing was anything but! The mountains, deer on the greens, and fasts flowing rivers more than made up for the 140 sand traps, 9 lost balls, and Mom's blister covered feet! We all had a super time, especially Josh who got to try out his new clubs for the first time.

After a couple of days as the four of us my Uncle Kurt and Nan flew in to travel with us to my cousin Johnny's wedding. We loaded the six of us in a van and took off on the seven hour drive west into the interior of BC. Other than a wee bit of car sick, some strange car conversations (mostly from Nan!), a couple of roadside potty/flower picking breaks, and many changes of scenery we made it safely to Riondel.

While in Riondel (a town of about 140 people in winter, 500 in summer located at the dead end of a WINDING highway), we stayed at a bible camp where the wedding was being held. What a gorgeous place! Right on the Kootenay Lake - 90 miles long and 500 feet deep of the clearest water. We walked on the beach, climbed on the rocks, played in the water,canoed to watch the beginnings of a forest fire, and enjoyed the view of the surrounding mountains off the deck. I even convinced Nan and my Dad to brave the cold water and come swimming with me!

The day of the wedding was gorgeous and warm. The Guenther contingent put our decorating skills to the test and got everything ready for the ceremony.

The bride and groom made a dashing couple and Aria and Miles did an excellent job as the flower girl and ring bearer. Everything was beautiful, everyone was happy, and all things seemed to go off without a hitch. It was so great to be able to share in their special day.
It was a treat to be able to spend time with extended family - lots of new memories. I wasn't too sure about the six of us in a van together for the long drive but it turned out to be lots of fun - mostly cause i was just giddy to get to spend any amount of time with Nan! On our drive home we made a quick detour up to Morain Lake because as Nan told us, "this will be my one last chance to see the mountains." Really, how could anyone ever say no to that kind of reasoning?

Together

2008-07-12T22:46:00.014-06:00

I can't believe nearly two weeks has passed since Ross, Darin and Toby flew up to Calgary for a visit. Their time here went by AMAZINGLY fast (well, at least we think so), and we are still pretty giddy over the fact that they took the time and effort to come and visit little old us! So here is our week in pictures:

We decided to do an overnight trip to Lake Louise and our first stop was a trek up Johnston Canyon. Being Canada Day long weekend and the first weekend of summer everywhere we went was BUSY - and the canyon was no exception.

We checked into our Hotel/Lodge, bbq'd some supper and enjoyed the amazing view of the mountains from our deck. After a quick nap for Toby we headed 5 minutes up the road to check out Lake Louise. Apparently heading up there in the evening was a SMART move as a few fellow travellers had told us how crazy busy the lake had been during day. After the lake we had a ROUSING game of scrabble, which Darin pretty much wrapped up by using all his letters in the first turn.

Up at Lake Louise we enjoyed the slowly sinking sun and putting our toes in the cold water. I'm still awed by the clear, clean blue/green water. Of course, Ross and Josh had to have a wee bit of inappropriate fun- how did you take all those kids of vacation at once Becky? I wonder if they even turned around to read the signs after defiling them?

The next day we headed up to Moraine Lake, about 10 minutes up the road from Lake Louise. Josh and I have never visited before -and boy were we missing out. I think we unanimously agreed that we liked Moraine Lake better than Lake Louise. It was more intimate, less touristy, and had a better walking path around the lake. The ten peaks and glacier that surround the lake were absolutely breathtaking, and the water was A LOT colder than lake louise. Ross and Darin rented a conoe and pandled all the way out to the far point of the lake....

...and left Toby to suffer an hour alone with the two of us! We had fun splashing in the water, walking across logs, and letting the curious foriegn urists take pictures of cute chubby cheeked Toby.

After a quick car picnic lunch we headed back to the lake to explore some more. Josh and Darin used their mountain goat skills and climbed to the tip top of the HUGE rock hill. Without the zoom on the camera we could barely make out the two of them on the top. Toby took a nap in the stroller - and the rest of us took a walk along the edge of the Lake. Darin and I waded into the water as far as our rolled up pants would allow - felt good on a pretty warm day. And in true Josh fashion, he couldn't resist picking up the biggest thing in site to throw into the lake.

And before you think we did nothing but RUN RUN RUN the whole time they were here, I promise we did take some time to relax. We introduced Darin to 5 pin bowling (a truly Canadian sport, apparently!), had a fire and hotdogs in the backyard, and enjoyed relaxing on the deck. On their last day in town we went down to our neighbourhood lake/beach/park for some fishing and canoeing. Apparently we like lakes?!? Ross taught us all how to fish, Toby played in the water, and Josh and I took our turn on a canoe. A perfect, cloudy, slow paced way to end our visit after a couple of full, hot, busy days.

And now we are left content, and filled with memories. We realize spending time together is a gift - one that we are not given very often - so we will cherish it accordingly! Can't wait until the next time!

Back Up

2008-07-06T21:57:00.003-06:00

Two weeks ago we took a quick extended weekend trip to Manitoba for my Grandparent's 60th Wedding anniversary. What a long time huh? A pretty big feat, considering Josh will be 90 years old by the time we reach our 60th anniversary! It was a great weekend - such a treat to catch up with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins I haven't seen in a few years. All of my Dad's brothers and sisters were able to make the trip, and my Grandparents looked pretty happy to have them all in one place. We stayed out at Clear Lake - about 3 hours north west of Morden - and enjoyed shopping, golfing, and lots of visiting.

We even managed to get a decent family picture- with only about 10 missing! Another pretty big feat!

Twenty bucks to the first person who can figure out what we are trying to spell...

Days 4 & 5

2008-06-17T21:28:00.017-06:00

After we left CC's house on Sunday morning we drove down the coast to Crescent City. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL drive! We didn't make too many stops along the way in hopes of getting all the time we could later in the day to enjoy the sites in Crescent City. We got there about 1:00pm and quickly headed out to the lighthouse. Josh has some strange childhood memories of this place - and i was excited to see the place where Will's infamous 'turd' incident took place so many years ago. I enjoyed the tide pools and sitting on the rocks staring out into the ocean - such a overwhelming, humbling sight. You never feel more insignificant than when staring out into that vastness. In strange ways it is much like staring across an endless field in Manitoba. Josh on the other hand was more adventurous and climbed down on the rocks to visit the exact spot of said 'turd' incident.

After the light house we headed up a seemingly deserted gravel road into what google had promised to be one of the most lush groves of redwoods in the world. And once again, google did not disappoint! We had the road all to ourselves -good thing 'cause in most places it was too narrow for two cars to pass - as we wound our way through the lushness. The trees were amazingly big and we found ourselves running from tree to tree in somewhat of a state of shock! You don't realize just how big those suckers are till you are standing right up beside them. A stump just looks like a normal stump until you see how it dwarfs a person!

The next day we started our drive from Crescent City to Half Moon Bay. We stopped at a lot of cool places along the way, but our favorite by far was Fern Canyon. A low running river valley that is surrounded by 50 foot walls covered in ferns and moss. Even the ride to get into the valley was an experience! We looked at each other and wondered what we had gotten into when the park ranger told us, "just drive slowly through the small rivers you need to traverse" Um, what? Our poor little Toyota 'Adam' Corolla (as our faithful rental car was so lovingly named by CC) had a pretty exciting ride!

The drive in was TOTALLY worth the experience of fern canyon! Upon arriving at the trail head we were greeted by 15-20 HUGE Elk roaming around on the beach. Who knew that elk liked the ocean? It was a pretty strange site to see. After a 15 minute walk into the canyon we came around a corner that took my breath away! It was lush, and beautiful, and fresh, and wet, and FUN. Later in the summer there are small bridges that wind their way across the creek, but being fairly in the tourist season we made our way into the canyon across fallen trees. Josh managed to keep his shoes completely dry! Me, i gave in and sloshed through the water. By the time we left I was pretty much soaked! I couldn't pass up standing under the waterfall that was trickling down the side of the canyon. The after pictures are much wetter than the before one you're seeing here! This place was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Stay Tuned - the last 4 days of our trip coming up SOON!

Days One, Two, Three

2008-06-09T21:28:00.018-06:00

Day one, Thursday, off to Portland to spend some time with CC. We rode on the strangest prop plane from Vancouver to Portland. 13 rows, we had seats 13A and 13C, and the other 12 rows were all facing backwards. You'll notice this cool picture Karly took is facing back toward the engine from row 13, aka the very first row of the plane facing the other 12 rows. It was an odd feeling to watch others and be watched the whole flight. Anyone who ever had the chance to fly Southwest before they changed might understand.

Friday CC started our 2 day tour of Portland's sites. We had breakfast at Noah's Bagels, shopped around Hawthorne, then headed to the Rose Garden, unfortunately about 5 days worth of sun early. Some of the roses were in bloom, but most were just oh-so-close to ready to pop open. It is a beautiful park without all the roses and we can hardly imagine it at it's peak. We had fun with a Goodrich kid tradition - rose bush rhino horns, looking at all the flowers, and of course plenty of goofing off. Then we drove up the road to a great view of Portland from Pittock Mansion and a big loop south to the burbs and a drive by of CC and Ross's original digs in Tualatin.

Karly says, "Josh even took a little time to smell the roses."

I say this falls under the before mentioned goofing off and that I obviously should have been an actor or model - this is an incredibly believable pose.

Friday night after a very scenic dinner at the Portland City Grill we walked onto one the many bridges near CC's house to watch the Rose Festival opening fireworks. They were quite impressive. Every time you thought the finale had come and the show was over it continued. I think the show was nearly 30 minutes and totally worth almost getting killed J-walking across 7 or 8 lanes of bridge traffic. Photographer's note - the self portrait of Karly and I was the random cool effect of not switching camera settings from night mode, using the flash, and then moving the camera right away.

Saturday we went, ironically, to the Saturday market. Basically a local flea market/swap meet with an artsy Portland flare. We had a quick bite and checked out all the boothes. I think Karly found a bag *coughpursecough*, oh sorry excuse me, that we will likely order from the vendor's Etsy site some day. After that we headed across the river and under the bridge to Burnside skate park...uh we go, I guess. I've always wanted to see it, and being just 3 or 4 blocks from CC's house it was a must. And, in true you're-with-CC-under-a-bridge-in-a-big-city fashion, yes there was luckily human poop present. I opted for a high vantage point in the shade and Karly and CC sat out in the sun. That night we went to McMenamins Kennedy Elementary School, a very cool transformation, for dinner on the patio.

Other than that we just spent some time hanging out, we played a few songs on guitar hero, took that good boy Murphy on a few walks, checked out two-story-Target, and went on a quest to Kaiser Permanente to fill CC's prescription where I found some new wheels. I was showing off my skills, see picture, which was shortly followed by a death spiral spin to a special move I like to call, back splat. Luckily it's happened before so I've perfected the landing and there was no further need for Kaiser's (emergency) services. It was a great visit and we can't wait to go back. Thanks to CC and Murphy for being such great hosts.

We are OFF!

2008-05-29T13:29:00.006-06:00

Our much anticipated trip to Portland/San Francisco/Half Moon Bay has FINALLY arrived - and we are beyond excited! We have been planning, researching cool places, and dreaming of our toes in the sand for months. And being the geek that I am we have a pretty detailed itinerary set out. Nothing set in stone, but definetly a list of great things to do, great places to eat, cool places to explore that will keep up beyond busy. I've even marked and labelled the applicable pages in our atlast... so GEEKY, i know.

And on the advice of Erin over at THE PIGBEAR, i bought myself a new book to devour during our trip. I've promised myself that I will being tolearn how exposure, aperature, light, and shutter speed all work before i take the plunge and buy a DSLR. Here's to hoping I will learn something, and be able to take pictures half as beautiful as Erin's. And if you do pop over to Erin's blog (which you should cause she's great) check out how she totally made me blush this morning. I've been caught - i'm such a blog stalker! :) But really, who doesn't LOVE that hat?

Bread Maker

2008-05-25T21:14:00.003-06:00

We haven't seen the sun in six days. Just rain, rain, and more rain. Don't get me wrong - i love rain - but after six days of 'inside' activities i was getting a wee bit bored. After walking around the house wishing my bag of knitting and cross stitching was in Calgary rather than Manitoba, i dug out this little beauty to entertain myself instead. It made the house smell so good!

What a difference...

2008-05-25T21:05:00.008-06:00

...a couple of weeks can make. One filled with sunshine and the other with rain made our new sticks turn into trees. Even only two weeks later it is hard to believe the yard was as brown as it was. Gotta love spring!

Be Thankful...

2008-05-17T22:15:00.006-06:00

that you are not our neighbours 'cause this would have been your view all day! Probably a few less polka dots - but you get the idea. Bent over digging, bent over pulling weeds, bent over ripping out sod, bent over planting flowers - just a lot of time bent over. So to my neighbours - we will try to show you more of our better side tomorrow. But I make no promises!

Snipets

2008-05-11T10:42:00.020-06:00

#1. Last weekend 7 new columnar aspens were planted in the backyard. Hopefully they will find our yard suitable to their liking, and grow into a beautiful wind block. AKA Motorhome screen!

#2. Last year my mom and dad picked up this cabinet for us at an auction in Manitoba. After a few trips back and forth to MB with cars too full to fit this monster, it finally made it's way here at Easter this year. It is old, well loved, and full of stories - absolutely perfect!

#3. Josh was so frustrated with work last week that he felt the need to rip a phone book in half. I thought this was such a silly way to deal with frustration that I had to document it - while trying to hold the camera still because I was laughing so hard. He quietly complained afterwards that he might have hurt a muscle - serves ya right idiot!

#4. This little bird absolutely made my day today. Newer subdivision = no trees = no birds. I actually thought his beautiful song was on the TV before I looked out the window and saw him perched in the tree outfront. I call him 'he' because after a quick google search to figure out what kind of bird it was I learned that only the male "house finch" has a red head. The best part about this bird was that it sang the same song that Nan always used to whistle!

#5. I'm impatient - but hopefully my flowers are not! I gave in, and bought a good portion of my annuals this weekend - two weeks before recommended planting. They were amazingly cheap at Costco and I couldn't say no. Hopefully we saw that last of our snow last weekend.

#6. I believe our pond fish should go in the guiness book of world records for the longest living 10 cent feeder fish. I'm pretty sure we saw big smiles on their little fish faces when we put them back outside in the pond today.

#7. A lady at my work has had a few pussy willow sticks in her office all spring as decorations, and just before she was throwing them in the garbage I noticed they were letting out green leaves and had forced out a few roots. So....my genes forced me to bring these sticks home to give them a chance at becoming a tree. I gave a couple to our neighbours, and then we walked out to the marshy land behind our house to plant a few more. If all goes as planned next year I can bring the lady in my office new spring decorations!