Hi all,
Just an update to let you all know that we're fine. There was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 25 miles east of Los Angeles today. Actually, it was really close to where we went to college!
I had just gotten home from the gym and was in the shower. Hunter was still in his car seat, on the ledge of the bathtub. As soon as I realized we were having an earthquake I jumped out of the shower, grabbed the carseat and stood in the doorway to the room. Our housekeeper was here and immediately thought to check on the baby. So, she ran upstairs and opened the door to our room...where I was standing in the bathroom doorway, naked and dripping wet. No, I hadn't thought to grab a towel, all I thought was to get somewhere safe with my son.
Irma just stood there for about 2 minutes, staring at me and saying "Sorry Missus, the baby...I was worried about the baby." The more I think about this experience, the funnier it gets to me.
Brian was in a meeting at work and thought nothing of the earthquake. I guess when you're an L.A.native it's just not a big deal. We're all fine though!
Our wonderful family
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Week 11
This week was fun and exciting. Hunter, as usual, grew cuter and cuter. He smiles pretty frequently and even giggles and coos. His cooing has reached new cuteness levels, as we converse back and forth in our very own language. He turned himself over from a flat position (stomach to back) on Friday. I was very excited! When I tried to get him to do it again (so Daddy could see) he refused. I guess a little personality is starting to emerge!
He doesn't love naps anymore. In fact, he gets SUPER over tired and fussy, but refuses to go to sleep. I have to hold him in one particular position and give him his pacifier in order for him to fall asleep/ Actually, now it's even worse than that because I have to swaddle him too. He falls asleep within about 2 minutes after doing that. I've begun naps in the crib, so he sleeps a little bit in the crib so it's not completely new and foreign to him when we move him into his own room (when he's 6 months old).
On Tuesday we went to the Grove with Vicki and Tessa. Here's a picture of me and Mr. Sleepyhead.
Tessa - my adorable niece!
The 4 of us at lunch.
The little man loves to sleep on my pillows. At nighttime he will occassionally fall asleep in my spot. This night his little outfit matched our pillows perfectly and I likedthe way he was positioned. SUCH a cutie!
Nighttime brings all 5 of us in 1 room. You wouldn't know that our house has 5 bedrooms and is WAY too big for the 3 of us + dogs. Anyhow, this is the usual scene before we go to bed at night.
Hunter in his co-sleeper playing peek-a-boo with Daddy.
Peeking!
On Wednesday we had lunch with Jaclyn and Andrew for her birthday. Happy birthday Jaclyn!
This is Hunter getting acquainted with his crib. When I actually put him in it he's all swaddled and contained.
The crib
His name on the wall (I realize most of you haven't seen the nursery yet).
Thor and the rest of the nursery.
Hunter on the ground laughing at all of his adorableness!
The puppies fighting over a bone. How funny are they?!
On Saturday Vicki, Nate and Tessa came over to go in the pool. Here Daddy is taking the Shmunkchkin into the water
Too perfect! Thor also loves the water, so he was sure to pose with Brian, Vicki and the babies.
Vicki and Tessa
A candid of us in the jacuzzi
On Saturday night we went to the beach for some appetizers with my mommy friends and their husbands. This was fun because we hadn't met the husbands yet. However, Brian had forgotten about this and made plans to have dinner with his brother! We only got to stay for about 45 minutes, so I was kind of bummed, but I hope we'll do it again soon. This is Gana, David and Finn (with Brian and Hunter). Oh yea! This was Hunter's first time to the beach, but we have yet to put his little feet in the sand.
Brian, Hunter, Ian and Annabelle. Ian is married to Karen and they are from England.
Annabelle wearing her mom's sunglasses
This is Ryan and Rhett with their daughter Nora.
On the left is Mindi and her husband. You can see Alexander's little face poking out of his carseat. Alexander is George and Ashley's baby.
On Saturday night we put Hunter in his first 3-6 month outfit! He's getting so long! He doesn't fill anything out width-wise (because he's so skinny). Here's the pjs that Aunty Dana W. bought for him
A smiley baby!
Go TROJANS!!!
On Sunday evening we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Stadler. This is my new favorite family photo.
Daddy playing with Shmunchers
Grandma making Hunter smile
Hunter finding Mommy in the room. Mommy making a very silly face.
My BABY!!!!!! He's TOO cute, isn't he? I love that he finds me in the room and then wants to look at me. He's such a good baby.
Thor, wanting a belly rub.
Daddy holding Hunter while he sleeps.
Monday I had a pool party with my 5 mommy friends: Mindi, Ashley, Gana, Ryan and Karen. They brought their babies over and we went in the pool and hung out for the afternoon. I will post pictures of that sometime this week. I'm lucky to have such fun people in my life. The babies range from 6 weeks (Annabelle) to 5 months (Finn, Jasmine and Alexander).
He doesn't love naps anymore. In fact, he gets SUPER over tired and fussy, but refuses to go to sleep. I have to hold him in one particular position and give him his pacifier in order for him to fall asleep/ Actually, now it's even worse than that because I have to swaddle him too. He falls asleep within about 2 minutes after doing that. I've begun naps in the crib, so he sleeps a little bit in the crib so it's not completely new and foreign to him when we move him into his own room (when he's 6 months old).
On Tuesday we went to the Grove with Vicki and Tessa. Here's a picture of me and Mr. Sleepyhead.
Tessa - my adorable niece!
The 4 of us at lunch.
The little man loves to sleep on my pillows. At nighttime he will occassionally fall asleep in my spot. This night his little outfit matched our pillows perfectly and I likedthe way he was positioned. SUCH a cutie!
Nighttime brings all 5 of us in 1 room. You wouldn't know that our house has 5 bedrooms and is WAY too big for the 3 of us + dogs. Anyhow, this is the usual scene before we go to bed at night.
Hunter in his co-sleeper playing peek-a-boo with Daddy.
Peeking!
On Wednesday we had lunch with Jaclyn and Andrew for her birthday. Happy birthday Jaclyn!
This is Hunter getting acquainted with his crib. When I actually put him in it he's all swaddled and contained.
The crib
His name on the wall (I realize most of you haven't seen the nursery yet).
Thor and the rest of the nursery.
Hunter on the ground laughing at all of his adorableness!
The puppies fighting over a bone. How funny are they?!
On Saturday Vicki, Nate and Tessa came over to go in the pool. Here Daddy is taking the Shmunkchkin into the water
Too perfect! Thor also loves the water, so he was sure to pose with Brian, Vicki and the babies.
Vicki and Tessa
A candid of us in the jacuzzi
On Saturday night we went to the beach for some appetizers with my mommy friends and their husbands. This was fun because we hadn't met the husbands yet. However, Brian had forgotten about this and made plans to have dinner with his brother! We only got to stay for about 45 minutes, so I was kind of bummed, but I hope we'll do it again soon. This is Gana, David and Finn (with Brian and Hunter). Oh yea! This was Hunter's first time to the beach, but we have yet to put his little feet in the sand.
Brian, Hunter, Ian and Annabelle. Ian is married to Karen and they are from England.
Annabelle wearing her mom's sunglasses
This is Ryan and Rhett with their daughter Nora.
On the left is Mindi and her husband. You can see Alexander's little face poking out of his carseat. Alexander is George and Ashley's baby.
On Saturday night we put Hunter in his first 3-6 month outfit! He's getting so long! He doesn't fill anything out width-wise (because he's so skinny). Here's the pjs that Aunty Dana W. bought for him
A smiley baby!
Go TROJANS!!!
On Sunday evening we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Stadler. This is my new favorite family photo.
Daddy playing with Shmunchers
Grandma making Hunter smile
Hunter finding Mommy in the room. Mommy making a very silly face.
My BABY!!!!!! He's TOO cute, isn't he? I love that he finds me in the room and then wants to look at me. He's such a good baby.
Thor, wanting a belly rub.
Daddy holding Hunter while he sleeps.
Monday I had a pool party with my 5 mommy friends: Mindi, Ashley, Gana, Ryan and Karen. They brought their babies over and we went in the pool and hung out for the afternoon. I will post pictures of that sometime this week. I'm lucky to have such fun people in my life. The babies range from 6 weeks (Annabelle) to 5 months (Finn, Jasmine and Alexander).
I hope you all had a fantastic week!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Week 10 - I'd do it again!
Week 10...already. How quickly time seems to pass without me so much as opening my dissertation proposal document on my computer. Who really thinks that a DP should be considered when you have an incredible two month old at home who is growing and learning more quickly than I ever could? I try, really I do, but I'm either tired, distracted or playing with my little love shmunchkin.
Hunter had his first shots on Monday. We are doing the "scheduling" which means that we're not doing the traditional route of getting a bunch of shots at once, but rather we're spreading them out over time. This is done so as not to overwhelm the baby's immune system. Anyhow, he cried for about 3 seconds when he got his first shot and then he was done! What a champ, huh? Now look at his a.) cute little diapers and b.) cute little tushy with the tweety band-aid over it! We also found out that he weighed 10 lbs 14.5 ozs and was 21.75 inches long! What growth!
Hunter can do many more things this week. He swats and his smiling is just getting more and more frequent. In fact, when he wakes up from a nap you can count on lots of great smiles! He can sit up as long as you prop something behind his back too. Here he is checking out Thor and Thor is protecting him.
Check out the smile and swat. His hand was in the process of trying to hit the dragonfly thingy.
Hunter was waiting patiently for me to put him in the bath tub. We've begun taking baths together because I'm not afraid of drowning him anymore - he has much more muscle control.
Post bath - we're getting his best "I'm adorable" look. That he is! His hair is falling out like crazy though - I wonder what color it will be when it comes back?
This is Gana and Finn. I spend most of my time with them. We're outside of Peet's Coffee and Tea, a place to find new moms.
He recently discovered his tongue. Amazing. I love watching him play with it.
And another smile!
Sleeping in his co-sleeper. He fell asleep on my pillow, so I moved him with the pillow into the co-sleeper.
Mommy was taking pictures to show just how strong our little man is. He's incredible!
Hunter had his first shots on Monday. We are doing the "scheduling" which means that we're not doing the traditional route of getting a bunch of shots at once, but rather we're spreading them out over time. This is done so as not to overwhelm the baby's immune system. Anyhow, he cried for about 3 seconds when he got his first shot and then he was done! What a champ, huh? Now look at his a.) cute little diapers and b.) cute little tushy with the tweety band-aid over it! We also found out that he weighed 10 lbs 14.5 ozs and was 21.75 inches long! What growth!
Hunter can do many more things this week. He swats and his smiling is just getting more and more frequent. In fact, when he wakes up from a nap you can count on lots of great smiles! He can sit up as long as you prop something behind his back too. Here he is checking out Thor and Thor is protecting him.
Check out the smile and swat. His hand was in the process of trying to hit the dragonfly thingy.
Hunter was waiting patiently for me to put him in the bath tub. We've begun taking baths together because I'm not afraid of drowning him anymore - he has much more muscle control.
Post bath - we're getting his best "I'm adorable" look. That he is! His hair is falling out like crazy though - I wonder what color it will be when it comes back?
This is Gana and Finn. I spend most of my time with them. We're outside of Peet's Coffee and Tea, a place to find new moms.
He recently discovered his tongue. Amazing. I love watching him play with it.
And another smile!
Sleeping in his co-sleeper. He fell asleep on my pillow, so I moved him with the pillow into the co-sleeper.
Mommy was taking pictures to show just how strong our little man is. He's incredible!
He has a vast number of facial expressions - he's just so much fun to watch and experience life with! I know that he will continue to grow at an alarming pace, and I love seeing the new things he can do. I also like enjoying every minute with him at this size, because I know that one day he will be a big guy.
In other news, Brian and I are joining the gym. I am quickly approaching my pre-pregnancy weight but I still have a bit more weight to lose after I get back there. The gym has a great child care system though - they give you a pager and page you immediately if anything happens. Everyone who works there is trained in Infant CPR and first aid. Also, when I go, it's the middle of the day so there's no one else there! So we have 3-4 people working with Hunter. I haven't actually left him there yet, but I'm trying to convince myself that it will be okay.
Brian is the MOST incredible daddy ever. He takes such good care of Hunter and has been letting me have a little bit of time to myself (like to put the dishes away). I love watching them together - it makes me even more sure that I picked the right guy to be my baby's daddy.
In other news, I think you should always stop at lemonade stands. Brian has laughed at me through the years, but now he just rolls his eyes and takes out his wallet. It teaches kids the value of the dollar and an entrepeneurial spirit. If nothing else, it gives you good karma. Today we were on our way home from running errands and there was a lemonade stand set up on the side of the road. As we passed I said "Oh a lemonade stand" - that's code for "Stop and go back please". As I approached these 2 little girls and their 3 parents I saw the sign with the prices. Underneath the prices, it was neatly printed "All proceeds will be donated to the Children's Cancer research fund". As all of you know, cancer has greatly touched my life, and has affected most people I know. I was glad I was wearing sunglasses as my eyes filled up with tears. I asked for 4 cookies at 25 cents each. Then, they computed how much that would cost (it took a minute but was cute to watch). I told them that I was giving them $2 because they weren't charging enough. How sweet is that? I didn't ask their story, and I didn't want to share mine, but I did want to be sure that they knew that I was in full support of their cause. What unique little girls! And how amazing! I just wanted to share this with you because I thought it was incredible. It actually brings tears to my eyes as I type this story for you. It cements my resolution that I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS stop at lemonade stands. You never know what lesson you will learn from 2 5/6 year old girls.
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