In Loving Memory

We had a rough weekend around here.

Gabe's former boss, dear friend, and mentor lost his fight with colon cancer this weekend. Tom was someone Gabe dearly loved and admired. Tom's wife called Gabe Friday night to tell him he really should come up to the hospital on Saturday to see Tom. I don't know if she told him this might be the last time he'd see Tom, or if Gabe just got that feeling from the tone of the conversation. But he knew he needed to be there. So Saturday Gabe, and the other guys who have worked with and cared about Tom, went up to visit. I don't think any of them were really ready to get news the next morning (Sunday) that Tom was gone.
For Gabe, loosing Tom is like loosing a father. I know this is really hard on Gabe. And it hurts to see someone you love hurting and my heart aches for him. It just not fair. I just don't understand. Why do bad things have to happen to the best people? Is there no justice in the cosmos?

Please keep Tom's wife, Jan, and his two boys, Cooper and Rory, in your thoughts. Cooper and Rory are still young men (15 and 13-I think) and even though it's never easy to loose someone you care about, loosing your dad (at this already challenging time) will be hard for them.

Tom, you will be greatly missed and always remembered.

Laughing Levi

I thought you all might like to check out some of the first laughs from Levi. He's had some giggles, but is just starting to get a real laugh going. Grandma Girard was playing with him last night by trying to get him to eat his feet. He though it was pretty funny.

-Gabe

In Reverse

I feel like we're moving backwards around here. If you would have asked me a month ago how things were going with Levi, I would have told you things were great. A month ago, Levi was sleeping an 8 hour stretch at night and getting up to eat about 4 or 5 in the morning. Then going back to sleep until 9 (there were even a few days he slept till 10). Then he would take a short nap in the morning, and a long nap in the afternoon. He had this great routine that seemed to be really working for him!
Well, that's all been thrown out the window and I don't know what to do with him anymore. Nearly every night this week he's been up 2 or 3 times. He won't go back to sleep. And he won't take naps even though I know he's sleepy. He fights sleep something crazy. All this week he's been really fussy when he's awake because he uses his nap time to wiggle out of his swaddle and suck on his fingers. Yesterday we wouldn't even let me put him down. I'm nearing the end of my rope.
I know this is probably just a phase, and he's probably doing some growing and changing now. (He's 3 months today). But I'm at a loss of what to do with him. How do I get this kid to sleep?! I'm not prepared to let him "cry it out" in his crib yet. He's still too little and I think all that would do is get him even more wound up and less likely to sleep. I think what's frustrating me is that I thought we had grown out of the newborn stage and he was going to start having some consistency and routine. Not to mention that we (Gabe and I) would be getting more sleep. The little glimpse we had of restful nights sleep has been ripped cruelly from our hands. I love this guy but he's got my head spinning.
On a different note, we have had some little laughs and giggles from this little guy. We don't have a video camera but I've been trying to capture him doing it from the video mode on my camera. This kid is camera shy. (I think he was damaged by the paparazzi (that would be his aunts) when he was little.) He'll be smiling and giggling and cooing away, and as soon as I put up the camera he clams up like he's got stage fright. I'll try again this weekend. That is if Levi ever emerges from this funk he's in. I've also had a request to get more pictures up so hopefully I'll be back this weekend with those as well.

Bathroom Face Lift

Since we moved into our house less than a month before Levi was born, and I couldn't do a whole lot in my extremely pregnant state, we still have plenty of projects to complete. For the last few weeks (yes...it's taken me that long) during Levi's nap time, I've been peeling the wall paper border off the walls in our upstairs bathroom. The wall paper wasn't terrible. It just wasn't our style. Here's a picture of what the bathroom looked like before we bought the house. (Notice the Chinese dragons...I like dragons...just not in the bathroom).
I also hate the wall of mirror above the vanity. It seems pretty typical in houses of this generation (since it's in all three of our bathrooms) but I really hate it. Eventually I'd like to replace the flooring and vanity but this was just a face lift. Not a complete overhaul. We have to save the overhaul for the downstairs bathroom with the floor-to-ceiling wall paper and red laminate tile.
So here's my pictures of the process.

And the finished product...It was really a project that I could have done in one weekend BL (before Levi). Trying to find the time between naps was a challenge. Once the wallpaper was down, Gabe helped and we got it mostly done over the weekend. Gabe could work while I fed and entertained Levi. Plus, Gabe's the master painter in this relationship. I don't dare paint anywhere near the floor or ceiling. But his years of experience painting in college have earned him a professional status around here.
Now, does anyone want a really huge mirror? It's perfectly intact looking for a new home. It's a beauty!

Plumper Pumpkin Patch 2009

Turns out we picked the perfect day to visit the pumpkin patch. Actually, somehow we get lucky every year! We've been visiting the Plumper Pumpkin Patch for years and years. (So many years now I've lost track.) We started going there because Gabe's boss was involved in the trebuchet launching. So, all the engineers (who were all really good friends) went up to check it out. And they've been going every year since. Over the years the guys have slowly split up and moved to other jobs but the tradition hasn't died. In fact, Joe even made his own pumpkin launching contraption. Here he is this year shooting pumpkins in his cannon.This is a tradition I hope continues for years to come! Especially since all 4 guys had new additions to their families this year. Here are all the new dads with their little ones. Hopefully we'll have a picture like this next year. We may have a lot more trouble keeping all the little ones in the picture!From left to right (starting at the bottom): Joe with Finn, Enzo is in the stroller, Aaron with Taya. You know the boys at the top left (at least I hope you do!), and Josh with Weston

Can you find my little jack-o-lantern? I lost him in the pumpkin patch!

Found him!

Our Little Cowboy

Isn't he cute?!
His grandparents (being typical grandparents) couldn't come up empty handed. Tom and Joanne gave Levi his first (and probably only) pony when they came up this weekend. I think it's adorable. Gabe isn't to thrilled about it because when you push the years he neighs and moves his head and tail. Levi doesn't need to know about that for awhile. I think we'll just let him discover that one on his own.
This was his first ride last night and as you can see...he loved it. What I think he loved most was trying to get the mane into his mouth!
So...I'm thinking a cowboy hat maybe under the Christmas tree this year.

We're off to our last sign language class today so I better get in the shower quick while the little guy is still napping.

A Visit With Grandparents

Gabe's dad and Joanne came up Saturday afternoon to visit. It was really nice to see them and watch them enjoy their time with Levi. I just love watching other people love on our baby. He's such a lucky guy!
Shortly after arriving, Tom got to work making dinner for all of us. Levi got to help make dinner too! It was nice to talk and laugh while someone else did all the work. Plus, the meal was delicious.Sunday morning Levi (and Grandpa) were up bright and early. I'm use to waking up to Levi's crying...the smell of bacon was a pleasant surprise. After enjoying our waffle bacon breakfast we headed over to the Portland Nursery for their yearly apple tasting. They have a ridiculous amount of apples to taste. I wanted to get some apples to make Levi's first baby food, but since it was the last day they were pretty sold out. We did pick up about 4 lbs and I'll test out a few recipes and get them in the freezer this week. Unfortunately, we won't know for several more months how he likes them!
I hope he likes the apples more than he did his experience at the tasting. This is how he spent his time at the festival.

Our 5th Anniversary

Gabe and I got to take a little time away (by ourselves) to celebrate our 5th anniversary this weekend. Before we went to Las Vegas, Gabe was putting in really long hours at work trying to get a project done. So he decided to take Friday off. We dropped Levi off at Grandpa & Grandma G's house and then took off on our own little wine tour. We wanted to stop and taste at several wineries here in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. We ended up only making it to 4 wineries (Copper Mountain, Oak Knoll, Elk Cove, and Patton Valley) but that really ended up being enough. One can only taste so much Pinot Noir (the specialty of the valley) in one day.

We ended our special day in Forest Grove and stayed the night at the Grand Lodge. We drank some more wine and went down to the basement bar where they had live music. It was fun to spend time together, but I have to admit that we did spend a lot of our time thinking about Levi and wondering how he was doing. We knew his grandparents were taking good care of him...we just missed getting to snuggle him and give him kisses. We enjoyed our time together but were happy to see him Saturday afternoon.

2 Months!

How is it possible that our little guy is 2 months already?
And he's not even little anymore. He had his 2 month check up at the doctor yesterday and he's weighing in at 14 lbs already! He's 24 3/4 inches long (that's over 2 feet!) and his head is 16 1/4. He's our big baby now.
We decided to take a picture like this one every month for the first year. I found these cute little stickers that can just go on any shirt. It will be a nice way to follow his growth and see how much he changes. Plus, it also forces us to get out the camera at least once a month. Overall, I think we're not taking as many pictures as we should be. And I haven't yet captured his talking and smiling on video.

On a different note, the fall (or should I say winter) weather we've been having the last few days has really made me want to curl up and hibernate. It's also made me want to make soup. I love soup in the fall! During Levi's nap this afternoon I started some beef stew. I can't wait to enjoy it, and the beer bread we got from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, for dinner tonight. Although now that I look out the window I see the sun is shining. Oh, well. I'll still enjoy our nice fall meal this evening.

Las Vegas Adventure

Our trip to Las Vegas was a vacation for Levi and me, but work for Gabe. So, unfortunately Gabe missed out on lots of the fun we had. Becky got to take off the first 3 days we were there and join us for some fun adventures. We spent the first afternoon (Saturday) showing Levi around Hoover Dam. He has now been to 3 states. Arizona counts since that's the side of the river we parked on right?Gabe had Sunday free so we had a big breakfast at Becky's house and spent the rest of the day exploring Red Rock Canyon. There's a nice scenic loop you can drive and lots of trails to hike. Gabe and I didn't think to wear our hiking shoes so we only did one short "hike" in our flip flops. Next time we'll make sure we're prepared. It was really windy and Levi wasn't really sure what to make of the whole thing.The rest of the trip Gabe was busy at the conference/trade show. Monday us girls (and Levi) went down to Bellagio. The garden was all decorated for fall. And we enjoyed some gelato while we waited for the fountain show to start.

Monday evening my mom stayed with Levi so that Becky, Gabe and I could go out for dinner. Gabe really wanted to try the Burger Bar. It's the only Hubert Keller restaurant really in our price range. His french restaurant in Mandalay Bay is really spendy. I still didn't feel great about spending $20 on a hamburger. It was a good burger but not that good! They do have a $60 hamburger on the menu. Insane! That's food on the strip for you.
On Tuesday Levi, mom and I went out for lunch and then toured the Shark Reef Aquarium. Levi was awake to see the golden crocodile, komodo dragon, and the reef sharks. I think he fell asleep half way through. He woke up at the end and was ready to eat so we had to make a pretty quick exit. We did pick him up a stuffed shark in the gift shop to help him remember his trip.
Wednesday, our last day, we went to the pool. Mandalay Bay has a really cool pool. I'd go back there again, when Levi's a little older, just for the pool. The wave pool looked really fun but Levi wasn't quite big enough yet to enjoy it. Plus the real sand is a pretty neat touch. Levi did enjoy putting his toes in one of the other 3 pools. And here he is smiling while we relaxed and danced to the music.

It was a fun trip. We all came back pretty tired. Levi has been sleeping in really late and taking long afternoon naps. I know the trip wore me out and I think it wore him out too. We loved seeing aunt Becky but I think everyone is happy to be home. It was great to have my mom with us. She watched Levi several evenings so that Gabe and I could have some time to go to dinner without him. Although the one dinner we did take him to he totally slept through.
My goal for this week is to see if we can get Levi on a schedule of some kind. He pretty much eats and sleeps whenever he wants, but it would be nice to have some routine and a consistent bed time. Seems like he might be getting ready for that now.

First Flight

As it turns out, Levi is a great traveler. All my worrying was for nothing. He did great!
We got to PDX super early and had to wait around for quite a while. I figured it was best to be early the first time I tried this whole flying with baby thing.

The first picture is Levi's first time on an airplane (the trip there). The second picture shows what Levi did the whole flight to Vegas and the whole flight home. (The picture is on the return trip...I think that's why I look so tired too. It's exhausting vacationing with this little guy. I now need a vacation from my vacation. Good thing Gabe and I are going to get away for our anniversary next weekend.)

I'll share more about our adventure in Las Vegas later. I'm still working on the 6 loads of laundry we brought back with us.

Ready or not...

Here we come!
We're heading off to Las Vegas tomorrow afternoon.
Gabe has to go for work (some sort of trade show) and his boss said he could bring the family. When Gabe first told me about it my reaction was...no way. I wasn't sure traveling with a 7 week old was a great idea. But the more I thought about it (being off work now and never being able to go with him like this again, seeing my sister, and not wanting to spend the week without him) the more it sounded like a great idea. As we tossed the idea around my mom said she wanted to come with us too, and that just sealed the deal.
So, tomorrow Levi is taking his first airplane ride and I have to admit that I'm super nervous. It could go really well and he could sleep the whole 2 hours. Or it could go really bad and...enough said. I think we've all been on those flights with the screaming child. I really hope it's not my child.
We'll share all about it when we get back next week. Wish us luck!

Family Outing

We spent most of our Saturday running errands and cleaning up. (Gabe is working on getting the garage unpacked and organized...finally...we just haven't had the time.) I also started a new project in our upstairs bathroom, but I'll share more on that later.
We decided today we needed to get out and enjoy the first weekend of fall. It was a wonderfully beautiful weekend that should not be spent indoors working on projects anyway.
So, we went on a family outing to the Columbia River Gorge. The destination we had in mind was Multnomah Falls. Disappointment hit us when we entered the parking area only to discover not a single available space. I'm not kidding! We took one loop around the parking area hoping (along with the other 10 cars ahead of us and the 20 behind us) someone would soon be leaving and we could have their vacated spot. A second loop around the parking lot never happened because you-know-who woke up from his nap and was literally screaming in the back seat. We jumped on the freeway heading back toward town, and an exit for the old highway. There are so many waterfalls to see, and hike to, that we decided the big falls could be saved for another time. We made a quick stop at Vista House. The wind was blowing fiercely up there. I know the Gorge is windy, but I've never been so afraid I was going to be blown off into the river. Thankfully, Levi was protected from the wind by his daddy. Other than forcing him to be wide awake, and blowing what little hair he has around, I don't think the wind had much impact on the little guy. We ended up exploring Latourell Falls this time. Maybe we'll head out that way again this fall and can stop by Multnomah Falls. Maybe it won't be so busy! I can hope right?

Smiles & Six Weeks

This post is a little late. That's because I was working on it most of last week. I never realized how difficult it is to capture a smile on camera when you can't tell the subject to "smile". I've been working desperately for weeks to capture Levi's first smiles. At first it was so unpredictable I didn't even try (that was about 2 weeks ago now). Just this week he's started to sit, smile and coo with me every time he's done eating. (Which is about every 2 hours during the day...you'd think that would give me lots of chances to catch a smile.) The problem is that I never remember to have the camera handy since he's usually screaming when I start to feed him. At that point, grabbing the camera isn't really a top priority. I did manage to get this picture on Tuesday. It's the best of the bunch I took that day.I know it looks like more of smirk than a smile but I swear it gets bigger.
Here's proof. Gabe finally got this good one this morning.I just love this little face. It melts my heart.
Like I said, with the smiles also come "talking". I wish we had a video camera because his cooing is just so sweet. He's still working on ma-ma and da-da but he'll get there soon! Since he's only six weeks we'll give him some more time on those, a-goo will have to do for now.

Beach Weekend

We left town "early" on Friday. Gabe got home about 1pm and I had every thing almost packed up so we could leave. I had Levi fed and changed...we were good to go!
Levi slept through the entire drive to Pacific City, except for when we hit construction on hwy 6. I was afraid the rest of the trip was going to be miserable but once we got moving again he settled down quickly. He really likes riding in the car. As long as it's moving! Sometimes he'll even start screaming when we stop at traffic lights but will stop as soon as we're moving again. Silly guy.
Anyway, we rented a house in Pacific City that was a few blocks from the beach. The weather was amazing and Levi slept through most of his first time on the beach. We took him on lots of walks anyway. Grandma and Grandpa G even flew kites for him. Sadly, he slept through that too. It was a great weekend. Here's a few pictures of Levi's first time on the Oregon Coast!
Trips to the beach will definitely be more fun next year. He'll be walking around and putting sand in his mouth. He'll find gross dead things to pick up and show us. It will be great.

I am also proud to announce (and somewhat nervous) that Levi is almost sleeping through the night. It started at the beach Friday night. We put him down about 8pm and he didn't wake up until 4am! Then he did nearly the same on Saturday night and last night. That's three nights in a row! That does mean he's eating a lot more during the day to stock up for those long nights. I had to feed him twice in less than 2 hours this morning. But it's totally worth it. Unfortunatlely, each night he's soaked through his cloth diaper. I think it just gets so saturated it starts leaking because the diaper isn't sticking out of the cover at all. (That's what usually causes his leaky diapers.) Does anyone know what I should do? I could just put him in a disposable over night but I'd rather not. How do I prevent the leaking overnight cloth diaper?

First day at school

I took Levi into school today. Everyone's been bugging me to bring him in so they can meet him. I wanted to do it the first week everyone came back without kids but that obviously didn't happen. So, he had his first day at school today. Although...it was really just a few hours. He got to meet lots of new people including a bunch of 8th graders. In my friend Linda's math class, he just looked around at all the faces in amazement. It was pretty cute. My students, for the most part, were pretty excited to see him. He was awake when we first got to school but about half way through was out like a light. Those that saw him sleeping didn't believe me when I told them his cry sounds like a pterodactyl scream.
It was nice to see my kids. I have the same ones from last year so I know most of them. (There's always a few new ones...I met a few today). And as difficult as they are at times (some of them that would be most of the time), I realized today that I really do miss them. And I miss being there laughing with them and teaching them. I'm sure the next few months will go by quickly and then I'll be thinking back to these days I'm spending with Levi in the same way. So, I have to enjoy all the time I have with him now because I'll be back to school before I know it.
I've got a list of things to do a mile long this afternoon. We're going to take off tomorrow afternoon and head to the beach for the weekend. Lots of packing to do. Gone are the days of packing a change of clothes and a cooler of food. I can't believe the amount of stuff we have to take with us! I better get to it or we won't get out of here until midnight tomorrow.

Getting Older

Here I am...having another birthday.
I remember how excited I use to get about my birthday. Not the case any more. I get excited about other people's birthdays but it's hard to get excited about my own.
My family came over last night and we had a little party. It wasn't much of a party between feeding Levi and trying to get him to sleep. My mom did make me a carrot cake. It wouldn't be my birthday without it since it's my FAVORITE!
Gabe bought me this for my birthday. He's going to put together my work out/craft room at some point. Just not sure when we'll have a weekend for him to do it. The room needs to be painted and obviously the elliptical needs to be put together. When it finally gets done I'll post some pictures. I'm more excited for the machine to be put together so I can start using it. I don't see myself ever being able to get to the gym again...so a home gym it is!
Tonight Gabe and I are going to get away for the first time...together. My mom is going to come over and watch Levi so we can go out to dinner. I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't been able to spend time with just each other. It should be really nice. On Thursday, I'm thrilled to be going out with the girls for dinner. I haven't been able to get out on my own yet (Gabe's been out several times with the guys) and it's about time! What better time then in celebration of growing another year older. Not that it's really something to celebrate but I'll take any reason I can get to have some time to myself.
What I really want for my birthday is a nap so I better go take one before the little guy decides his nap time is over!

Time Flies

How can it possibly be Monday already?
It seems like Gabe gets home on Friday evening, we blink and he's getting up on Monday to go to work.
We had a busy weekend. Lots of fun things happening!
Saturday we invited friends and family over to see Levi (and for some...our new house). Lots of people came even though the weather was nice and warm. I wanted the party to spill out onto the deck and yard but it was just too hot. So, the house seemed pretty full most of the day. I enjoyed talking to everyone and I hardly got out the camera. The one time I did it was literally for 30 seconds so I have maybe 5 pictures and none of them are really that good. I'm really disappointed that I missed the photo op of Levi's first party in our new house. Oh, well. I enjoyed the time with friends and family. And Levi was on his best behavior! Other than needing a break from the party to eat twice...he was asleep pretty much the whole time!

Yesterday we attempted an at home newborn photo shoot. Since he's growing so fast and is now one month old, I wanted to get some shots before we lost the chance. Plus, he's already loosing his nice head of hair and the baby acne is starting to pop up. We set up a "studio" in the dinning room because it has the best natural light, and overhead lighting, in the house. We got some pretty cute shots before Levi peed all over. That ended the photo shoot.

In the afternoon we took a trip over to Josh and Danelle's new place to see new baby Weston. I felt stressed out right before Levi came (with the house situation) but I can't imagine what they've been going through. They've been waiting for their house to be built this summer. Weston was born last Saturday and they got the keys to their finished house this week and started moving in this weekend with a baby one week old. They seem to be handling it much better than I would. Weston and Levi took a little time to check each other out. It was really funny. They just sorta stared at each other. Levi was thinking... "Who is this person who's actually smaller than me?" He hasn't had that experience yet! It looks like Levi has just decked Weston in this picture but it isn't really the case. I promise our son isn't a bully. Levi did reach out and touch Weston's arm a few times. I think he was really curious about him. Hopefully it was the start of a long friendship. They are two really cute boys!

Hijacked

Help! Our blog has been hijacked.
Eventually not all of our posts will be about Levi. Right?

3 Weeks!

It's hard to believe that Levi is three weeks today. Time is going by so fast. But it's also been the longest, most exhausting, three weeks of my entire life. Early this week Levi decided that he no longer wanted to sleep. The nice "long" 3-4 hour stretches of sleep suddenly disappeared. And it would take us literally hours to get him to sleep. Now he's sleeping again, but in shorter bursts. He wakes up and wants to eat every 2 hours. I guess he's going through a growth spurt! I know this is all normal but it's exhausting.
My mom has been my savior this week. After a really hard day Monday she came over early Tuesday to take care of Levi (and do some cleaning up) so that I could get some sleep. It was wonderful. The rest of the week has been much better. It's amazing what a little sleep (and an extra hand) can do for a person. I've had several showers cut short by Levi, so it was nice having her here just so I could get some uninterrupted time to bathe.
It was really weird not going back to work this week. I can't believe summer is over so soon. I'm really looking forward to the long weekend. Having Gabe home Monday is going to be great. We don't have any huge plans but I'd like to get out and do something fun. Diapers, feedings, dishes, and laundry aren't fun!
And here's a picture of Levi today. Enjoying some swinging time and celebrating being 3 weeks! I can't wait until he starts to smile. This grumpy face is getting old.

Pool Party

In this case, it was more of a hot tub party than a pool party. We spent the afternoon over at Tricia's apartment and lounged around the pool there. The pool was pretty chilly, and Levi wasn't really into it, but he found the hot tub to be just fine. In the warm water he promptly fell asleep in my lap. After a quick dip in the water we enjoyed the warm sun.

Guess who won't go to sleep?

And it's not me!  I'd gladly be asleep right now!

I'm not sure what Levi's deal is.  Or maybe this is normal in babies who are just 2 weeks old.  He sleeps his longest stretches during the day so that means he wouldn't go to sleep last night at 2, or 5 and now I've been trying to get him asleep for the last 45 minutes.  He's going to be ready to eat again in an hour (maybe 2...if I'm lucky) and I haven't had the chance to crawl back into bed for a little more sleep myself.

I can't believe he's 2 weeks old today!  They've been a long exhausting 2 weeks but at the same time went by so quickly.  Gabe went back to work yesterday and I only called him in tears once.  That was after trying an hour and a half to get Levi to sleep.  My mom came by in the afternoon so I could get in the shower.  She also helped me straighten up the house which was in desperate need of some attention.  Levi has his 2 week checkup at the doctor today so maybe I'll try to post some pictures when we get back.

Oh....I see heavy eyes falling.  Now is my chance!

A walk in the park

Yesterday afternoon we finally put the stroller together and decided to take it (and Levi of course) out for an inaugural spin.We headed out for the park to walk around since it was such a beautiful afternoon. Levi slept through most of the walk but seemed to enjoy the short bit he was actually awake for. We only did one loop around because I was starting to feel tired and sore. The uphill sections were especially painful. When I woke up to feed Levi this morning (after the pain meds I took when we got home had long since worn off) I wasn't feeling so great.
We've been taking it easy today. Levi and I spent some time outside relaxing in the shade while Gabe drained and cleaned out the hot tub. Aunt Becky is going to come over this evening and we're going to pick up some sushi. I can't wait. It's been far too long since I've been able to really enjoy my favorite food! I'm hoping to get in the shower at some point today but Levi has been especially fussy. Between 6 and 10 this morning he wanted to eat almost every hour. So that means I was up about every 30 minutes. Now he won't go to sleep even though I know he's tired...he hasn't slept since noon. Hopefully I'll get a shower in before Becky gets here.

Bath Time

Grandma G came over today and we gave Levi his first bath at home. He liked it...sort of. In the picture he looks a little worried doesn't he? Maybe he's concerned because I didn't really know what I was doing. I've never bathed a baby that small. Hence why we decided to give him the bath when my mom could come over!
When we first put him in he was screaming like crazy, but by the end he didn't seem to mind much. I did take a little long to bath him and I think he got a little chilled. The shivering sorta clued me in. All and all, I think it was a success. The end result was a wonderful smelling baby. What can be better?

So many visitors!

We're finally home from the hospital, which is nice after being cooped up at the hospital for the past few days. Levi liked the car ride, and seemed glad to be home, he promptly settled in for a nap in his crib.

Below are pictures of Levi with all the visitors he had at the hospital.

More updates later!

Nana Winnie

Auntie Jennifer

Aunt Becky

Aunt Tricia

Grandma Barb

Gwompa Steve

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Joey

Levi Erikson West

He finally made it! After contractions starting around 11PM on Tuesday, our little big guy arrived at 12:08AM Thursday. Levi Erikson West weighed in at 9lbs 4oz and was 22 inches long.

As I mentioned, labor started late Tuesday night. Heidi felt like contractions were getting strong enough and coming frequently enough to go to the hospital around 6AM Wednesday. We got checked in shortly there after and settled in for labor and delivery. Unfortunately things didn't quite go as planned. While contractions were strong, and frequent, labor didn't progress with any speed at all. Apparently Levi inherited his dads big head, and he wasn't dropping like he should. By 10:30PM it was clear that this guy wasn't going to come out in a traditional way, and Heidi was prepped for a cesarean section. While not what we wanted, it was clear it was best for Heidi and Levi. Just after midnight, I had a cute baby boy in my arms. He and I got to hang out while Heidi's surgery was finished up. We all were reunited in a recovery room and a couple hours later we finally got to our postpartum room around 4AM. Finally, we could sleep. Well, I could, Heidi was still being monitored every hour and didn't get much sleep.

All the doctors and nurses commented immediately that he was a big guy and that he had the cutest dimpled chin. Without any bias at all I'd say I have to agree. The picture above is Levi at about 3 minutes old, just after being wiped clean and weighed. There will be lots more pictures to come, but right now, I need a nap.

-Gabe

Car Seat Installation 101

While we've been eagerly awaiting any sign or signal the little guy might give us as to his arrival...there was one important thing we had not yet taken car of. The car seat has been sitting in the house waiting to be installed. I did have it sitting in the pile of other things we'll be taking to the hospital with us. I knew that it was something we didn't want to forget since there's no way we'd be taking a baby home with us without it. Something about actually putting it in the car was so final.
It would now be fair to say we are 100% ready for this little guy. Gabe installed the car seat yesterday and that was the last thing we needed to have ready. Any time now buddy!
I sorta wish the doctors wouldn't give you and estimated due DATE. Maybe just a 2 week range. I'm going to be so disappointed if he decides to put off his arrival. Even though the calendar says tomorrow is THE DAY doesn't mean this little guy knows one way or the other. I haven't been able to figure out a way to get him the eviction notice. Hopefully the next time we post we'll have some exciting news and pictures to share...but I could also be here saying the same thing next week.

Little Guy's Nursery

Wow...the weekend went by fast!
We did get all the finishing touches on the nursery. Now all we're waiting for is a baby! The little guy could come just about any time, but I get the feeling he's pretty comfortable still and doesn't feel the need to depart his current residence any time soon.
In looking through pictures, realized I really don't have a great picture of what the nursery looked like before. The only one I have is from when we looked at the house. It has all the furniture and decorations of the previous owner. So here's the only before picture I have. I'm not sure if the star wars theme was really the little boy's choice or maybe it was dads!What this picture fails to show are the Velcro strips on the wall with the window and the opposite wall. Those had to be torn off and we aren't sure what they used to attach them. Gabe's dad spent a lot of time scrubbing with what ever toxic substance we thought might take of the residue. Then Gabe and his dad spackled the stripes and retextured in those areas. Here they are in progress.
It was a big project! As you can see the wood trim all needed to be repainted. What you can't see is the back of the door. Yes...the previous owners painted that as well. I wanted a new door but Gabe vetoed me on that one.
After all that yucky work was done, I got to do the fun stuff. Here's Tricia and me working on getting the crib put together.When we finished the crib we moved onto putting in the finishing touches and arranging the furniture. Here I am putting up the wall decal. It was really easy to put up and will come off without doing any damage to the wall. So when the little guy wants to decorate his own room, we won't have to go through all that work again!And here's the finished product. The room is really dark...probably a good thing for a nursery but not so great for trying to take good pictures.
And one more...this is the side of the room that you can't see in the above picture.
Pretty simple. I wanted to paint something to put on the wall. Something that matched the tree wall decal but that never happened. With moving, and not having access to all my paints, it just wasn't really possible. I figure when he can choose what he wants his room to look like I can put something together. I just really hope he doesn't choose something with a car theme! :) I don't really want to paint the room Subaru rally blue.