Happy Holidays!

Not much time to write but wanted to wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We had a GREAT time in California for Christmas. I'll post more later with some photos but Jensen had a wonderful Christmas. She was spoiled rotten by Grammy, Grandad, and all the aunties. She had a great time but was pretty excited when she got home and saw her familiar surroundings!

I'll write more later this week with pictures, I promise :)

SANTA!

SANTA!! SANTA!!!

Friday we took Jensen to see Santa at our local mall. I figured we'd be in the midst of a total meltdown or at least a little pouty lip. But no! Jensen was mesmerized by the "North Pole" and Santa. She thought that this guy looked pretty cool and that he may be able to help her in the future.




Then we got the best baby photo with Santa...smiles and all:


Saturday we wanted to go downtown and see the sights....Macy's windows, the tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Tuba players playing carols...but with the freezing temperatures and the impending snow we hung out around town. It was probably good, Jensen was exhausted since Mom and Dad kept her up way past her bedtime so they could eat dinner Friday at the Cheesecake Factory! Sunday it snowed and snowed...I'll post some pictures later today. We got about 3 inches. Jensen went on a walk in her front pack in it but since we don't have a snow suit for her she just looked. We're home today because of a snow day which is fine with me. With the wind chill it's about 7 degrees. That's just down right cold for this California girl!

We love parties!

Well as you can see I've done some housekeeping here on the blog. I am getting kind of savvy with this stuff. Ok, well I have some competition from my friend Jen. Her blog is so cute and she's very talented...where as I just ramble and figure it out as I go. But she's inspired me so here we are.

Speaking of Jen, her little one Emma turned ONE last week and we were invited to her birthday party at Gymboree. It was SO much fun! Marc and I kept saying on the way home that we'd had way more fun than we were expecting for a first birthday party. Jensen was loving all the babies to play with, the copious amounts of bubbles, and of course the parachute! What baby wouldn't love a parachute being lifted and lowered and lifted and lowered and jumbled all around. They were all so cute and had such a great time. Here's a photos of Jensen eating her birthday hat:



And one of the birthday girl:


Other than that we're just getting ready to head to California next week. We've been in debate over when we should leave. Should we drive half way Thursday night and so we get in at a decent time on Friday? Should we drive straight through Thursday so Jensen sleeps most of the time? Should we just drive as we normally would? I think we've decided to leave really early (like 4:00 am early) Friday morning. Jensen should sleep for the first three hours and we'd still make it the Bay Area before rush hour. So I'll let you know how it goes! We do realize that this is going to be the easiest drive with a child for probably the next 10 years or so. We've already started to save our money to fly next Thanksgiving! ha ha!

We are going to see SANTA tomorrow so I'll post some pictures of that. I am anticipating a very scared and/or screaming baby picture. But you've got to do it!

Happy 7 months...oh and turkey day too!

Whew...we made it! Jensen turned 7 months on Thanksgiving day. And to celebrate we had dinner for 9. We had a wonderful holiday with Judy and Rich, Charmain, Trevor and Taylor, and our friends Sean, Rachel, and Abi. It was such a nice day. I cooked and they cleaned! Ha ha! It was wonderful! But really - it was nice to all get together and enjoy the day. We all had so much fun and Jensen (and Abi!) were so good! Jensen took a nice long nap and then joined us for dinner. She loved sitting in her high chair with the rest of the family! Such a big girl!

The rest of the weekend was busy too. We went wine tasting on Friday - Jensen was such a trooper! Then Saturday we had a nice family day hiking for our Christmas trees. (Yes that's plural...I can't help myself!) We spent the rest of the weekend decorating and relaxing. We went to the doctor's today for more shots...but she did great. A loud cry, a few tears, and then smiles again!

Here are some photos from this past month if you're interested:

Just when you think...

that there's nothing going on, your child surprises you! ha ha! After my post on Tuesday about nothing going on, Jensen and I were playing when she started to roll over. No biggie, you say, she's been doing that for a while. Well, I went into the laundry room to get a load out to fold, and come back and she's moved...about two feet. Interesting...

Then yesterday morning I put her down in my office while I start the day and before I know it, she's rolled under the jumperoo and is pissed because she can't keep going! Ha ha! She's been a steamroller ever since. She even got to the wall the last night and was trying to keep going!

Before:


And After:

Same ol' same ol'

I realized I haven't updated you all in a week or so, so I figured I should say hello. But in reality there isn't much going on around here. It's pretty much status quo until next week. We're working hard and trying to get Jensen to crawl...although I know it will be a case of "be careful what you wish for"! However, last night she was getting a lot further than she has before. She's really trying to get those legs under her and was moving herself in circles. As Judy says, she just needs a little motivation...like a bright shiny Christmas Tree! ha ha!

And speaking of Christmas, have I told you how excited I am? For those of you who know me well, you know that Christmas is my favorite time of year. I'm trying very hard to respect the Turkey this year and wait for Christmas to get here....but to be honest I feel like we're getting cheated! Thanksgiving is SO late this year, so I am making a few exceptions and bumping up a few things. Like Christmas music is allowed in the house starting next week, and I got some peppermint mocha creamer. Ha ha!Take that you Turkey!

We are hosting Thanksgiving this year and we're so excited to have the family here. Marc's parents, the Vigufusson's, and the Cooney's will all be here. Jensen and Abi get to spend their first Thanksgiving together! yeah! I'm on a hunt for the perfect Thanksgiving outfit...we'll see what I find.

Jensen went to her first birthday party last weekend for Brody, our day care provider's son. He turned three and was so excited that Jensen was there. Jensen also got to spend some more time with her buddy Charlie who just turned 1. They are so freaking cute together. Charlie is into hugs and head butts and Jensen just takes it like a champ. She's our little brute that's for sure. I think she gets it from her Auntie Ashley :)

Just like Mommy!

Well I discovered first hand the change of plans that can happen so quickly as a parent last week. On Saturday Jensen and I were going to take our first road trip to Bend to visit my college roommate Aly who is 3 months pregnant. I was so excited to see her and have her meet Jensen. We'd talked Thursday morning and decided that if the snow level was too low, that I'd stay home since Marc wasn't going to come and I didn't think putting chains on by myself with a 6 month old was a wise choice. A few hours after talking with Aly I got an email from Rachel. Abi, Rachel's daughter, was exposed to Fifth Disease on Halloween...meaning Jensen was exposed second hand the next night.

No big deal really, it's a common childhood disease and usually affects children 5-15 with a slight fever and rash. Then I read a little more...it's very dangerous if you're pregnant. GREAT! So I called Jensen's doctor and they advised us to stay home and not visit Aly just in case Jensen is carrying the virus. Sigh. Just like that, plans can change! ha ha!

But we never letting things get in our way, and we had a very nice weekend. We met Abi and Rachel in Lake Oswego for a nice sing-along at the library Saturday morning (oh another bonus, the local radio station had holiday music for the weekend! woo hoo!). Then Jensen and I hit the mall to do some Christmas shopping. Jensen was soooo good! After taking about an hour to get us both fed, she was a little trooper! She was so happy. She smiled at everyone, loved seeing herself in the mirrors and windows, and her favorite, being pushed through the small aisles into the racks of clothes. She found this hilarious! (I apologize to any local women who bought slobbered clothes at Nordstrom. But blame them...they are WAY too close together!)Anyway, Jensen proved once again, that she's like her mommy. She likes to shop...and smiles the whole time :)

Oh and added bonus, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. WOO HOO!

Halloween!

Hey everyone!

Not much time this morning but I wanted to post some photos of Jensen from Halloween. She had a good time...even though she was asleep before most of the trick-or-treaters were out on the prowl. But all in all she was a good sport. She looked so cute in her chick costume! We went to see Noah early in the evening and then Saturday night had a little party with her friends, the skunk and dinosaur. All in all a good time was had!

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. The rain has returned to Portland so we were content to stay inside and sit by the fire. I got Jensen on her hands and knees for about 20 seconds yesterday...she looked so funny before she took a face plant and started laughing! Oh well, it will happen soon.

6 months already!

Hello!

I am now the proud mommy to a SIX MONTH old baby! I just can't believe it. Time went by so fast! I remember when I couldn't wait to be six months pregnant and it took FOREVER! Now, she's getting so big, doing so many new things, and just as cute as a button.

We went to the doctor yesterday and she got a few shots. She screamed but calmed down right away. She weighed 17 lbs. 4.5 oz and was 26.5 inches long. She's in the 75th percentile so she's a big girl! She's already well into her 6-9 month clothes...and I'm hoping that her Christmas stuff will fit her. But after Halloween we'll have to make an exception for wearing Reindeer overalls right??

Ok, so cutest story from last week. Jensen is starting to show affection and it's the cutest thing ever. So we get home from day care on Thursday and I"m taking off her jacket by our coat hook. There's a mirror over the hooks so we usually play the "Look at the cute baby" in the mirror. So we're looking in the mirror and she catches my eye. Then she grabs my face with both hands and leans in to snuggle, forehead to forehead. OMG! She was so happy and smiley and it was the most precious moment I've had in a long time. It's right up there with the first smile of the morning :) It melted my heart...sniff sniff.

Check out her 6 month photo on the side...it's hilarious! She looks so surprised! Here is a photo we took in all the fall leaves this weekend. It was 70 degrees and BEAUTIFUL with all the fall colors so of course I had to take pictures!!

I need a vacation after my vacation!

Marc and I got back from Vegas on Sunday and boy are we still tired. That's the problem with Vegas...you have so much fun but you need a vacation when you're done! But we had a wonderful time and it was so relaxing and nice to get away. We sat by the pool, went sight seeing, ate a ton of really great food, drank a ton of really good alcohol and just had fun. We missed our little pumpkin head terribly but she had a blast with Grammy and Granddad. She was a little upset the first night when she realized Grammy was putting her to bed and not me, but Grammy sang and rocked her and she calmed down and went right to sleep. She slept through the night for them and was a perfect little angel!

I think they all had a great time together and it was so nice to see Jensen with her doting grandparents. Mom was kicking us out of the door on Thursday night! I only called twice a day to check in and even restrained myself (ok, so Marc was restraining me!) from calling when we got in late Thursday night. All in all I was pretty proud of myself. (Not sure if Mom and Dad have a different opinion but I don't really care!)

So now we're back to reality. Marc is back working a lot and I am back to work too. You know the usual, work, day care, laundry, house cleaning, dog walking etc. Oh speaking of the dogs...not such good boys when Grammy and Granddad were here. Davis snapped at my mom when the door bell rang (ah the door bell!!!). So we're now really trying to work with him to get him to calm down. He's just so freaking neurotic. We know what we have to do, it's just a matter of doing it. We now are walking them at least once a day to tire them out and will be trying various things to get him to relax. Our next option is Cesar Milan I think...I wonder if he'd make a house call to Portland?? I bet if he saw a video of the door bell chaos he would. Then again there is always doggie xanax. We know that works too ;)

Our Lil Pumpkin :)

Pumpkin season is here! Yeah! The fall is here, the air is crisp and it's time for pumpkin patches, cold mornings, and yummy apple cider. We got all three this weekend! Marc had Saturday off so we made it a family day. We took Jensen to the pumpkin patch and had so much fun. We got lost in the corn maze (those things are just ridiculous!), watched them make apple cider, went on a hay ride, and of course picked out our pumpkins. Jensen had a great time as far as we could tell. But how can you not when you're strapped to mom or dad and get to look at all this cool stuff! We had such a great time and are already excited to go next year when she'll actually kind of know what's going on :)

Other than that we had a pretty mellow weekend. We're getting ready for Grammy and Grandad to visit on Wednesday. Then we must leave our Lil Pumpkin Head and go to Las Vegas. Ah, so sad. Actually I'm getting very mixed emotions about leaving. I'm so excited to get away but at the same time I hate leaving our little girl. BUT I know she's going to have such a good time with Grammy and Grandad. She's going to be spoiled rotten!

The dog ate it...

So for those of you who didn't hear my rant about the highchair, I'll give you a quick run down. Thursday night we decided to put together our highchair so that we have a more sturdy place to feed Jensen. A little background...I tried and tried to keep the highchair on our registry and failed miserably. Every time I'd put the stupid thing on, it would be out of stock or no longer available. So I just said forget it, we'll get one later. Fast forward to Mike and Nina's shower and they got two of the same highchair that we wanted, so I bought one from them. This was in May.

So I pull out all the pieces of the highchair to get started Thursday night. We get a little interrupted with dinner and putting the baby to bed. I come downstairs and Marc has taken over but is stuck on step 2 because we can't find "G". "G" is the leg brace...can't have a highchair without "G". So we search and search. We take EVERYTHING out of the box three times, we look under the couch, in the office, in the kitchen...places we didn't even go just to make sure we'd searched every where. I called the company on Friday and they tell me that since it's a wooden piece they have to send me a WHOLE NEW CHAIR! Are you kidding?? But first they have to send me a letter so I can send them some parts to ensure that I have the chair in the first place, then once they get that they will send put the new one. All in all, three to four weeks. Sigh...so needless to say I'm not happy.

Last night Marc and I are putting out all the garbage and Marc starts breaking down the highchair box. And the first freaking thing he picks up is "G"!!! Are you kidding!??? We searched that box three times EACH and once together! Where did it come from? How did we BOTH miss it multiple times! I swear, Davis took it and hid it hoping we couldn't put together one more thing for this baby! ha ha! I kind of feel bad for all the bad things I said about this company...so to the universe "I'm sorry". (Trying to help out my Karma here!) Anyway, we put together the highchair "G" and all and it's so nice! Jensen ate it in it this morning for the first time.

All is well in the Goodell house...although Davis isn't talking! I know it was him. Once I got them some rawhides yesterday he felt bad and put it back. I know how that dog operates!!

Pictures, pictures and more pictures...

I can't help myself! She's just too darn cute! ha ha! Anyway, I posted new pictures from her fifth month. She's getting so big, which I know you've heard a million times. But she is! Here are the photos if you haven't seen them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MarcandAmber/Jensen5Months

Other than that not much going on really. Marc and I went out to dinner on Saturday night. It was really nice. We even talked about other things besides Jensen! GASP! I know, craziness! Jensen did pretty good with Sandy. She got some pretty bad gas before bed but once she started to eat and the gas drops were administered she was fine. Although later that night...well actually Sunday morning at about 3:00 am!...she woke up to play. It was so funny. She was WIDE awake in her crib just playing with Coco (her lovey) and Nala and the bunny. Having a grand old time. After about 25 minutes I went in and gave her the pacifier and she fell back to sleep. No crying, no fussing, just a small play time break during the night! At least she wasn't screaming :)

Oh, here's a picture of her first meal...not sure how much actually reached her tummy!



Hope you are all doing well! This weekend Grandpa Harold and Grandma Sandy will be visiting Noah and Jensen. Should be fun!

More shots :(

Our baby is getting so big...but we don't know how big :( I took her in to get the rest of her 4 month shots today but they didn't weigh or measure her :( So sad. Tomorrow I'll put her on our scale and see what that says. All I know is that she's definitely getting bigger! I had to move up both her jumperoo and her exersaucer today because her feet were being dragged down. Her pj's are getting small again too. It's a good thing I ordered her a few (just a few!) new things from Old Navy last week. Oh my gosh, she's going to be so cute this winter!

So this weekend is the big weekend...we're having some rice cereal. I know, you are all jealous of Jensen. Getting to eat that lovely cereal mixed with formula. Yum yum! We'll send out some photos with her 5 month pictures this weekend. Should be interesting. I'll post this weekend and let you know how it goes.

In other news, Jensen gets to stay with a babysitter this Saturday while Marc and I go out to dinner. I can't wait :) Sandy and Ian were more than happy to watch her while we head out for a bit. I just hope she's nice and cooperative. I'm sure she'll be fine, but you never can tell with these little ones. She'd better get used to it, since Grammy and Grandad will be here in three weeks to watch her for the weekend! WOO HOO!! VEGAS BABY! I mean..."oh I'm going to miss her so much!" ha ha! Of course I'll miss her. But Vegas, a pool, and a frosty beverage sound SOOOO good right now!!

Hope all is well with everyone!


Hope you are all doing well!

Gymboree...such fun :)

hello! Well there's so much going on with Jensen these days I can hardly keep up! It just seems that she learns something new every day. She's sitting up unassisted for a few minutes at a time and loves her Jumperoo. She is learning so much and is so strong.

We went to a Gymboree class today. I have been wanting to meet some more moms in the area and wanted to be able to do something fun with Jensen on Friday afternoons now that I'm back to work. So we got an offer for a free class and thought we'd give it a try. It was really fun actually. The class we're in goes up to 6 months so she's one of the oldest in the class. But she LOVED watching all the other babies and was having a lot of fun with the new toys and all the new things to explore. I met a few moms that were really nice. So I think I will continue to go. The next age group meets on Tuesday nights so Marc can take her sometimes after work which will be nice for him. All in all a great day but boy was she tired! She is so active at day care and then to do a 45 minute class...she was wiped out!

She'll be 5 months next Thursday...can you believe it?? She is getting so big. She's doing so many new "baby" things. It's so fun! Everyone said that 4 months is a huge turning point and I have to agree. She has a doctor's appointment on Thursday to get the rest of her 4 month shots. I'm not looking forward to it...she's not going to be a happy girl. I hate when she gets shots...and this time I she's going to SCREAM! Ah, it's going to be terrible. But I'll get to find out how much she's grown...yeah!

Have a great weekend :)

Poop...who knew it could be such a problem!

We finally made our final transition from breast milk to formula last week. I ran out of breast milk on Friday so Jensen is on formula full time. No big deal right?? Guess not! She went from Saturday to Wednesday afternoon poop-less! Friday night she had the worst tummy ache and was up a few times at night. Tuesday night she was up for three hours or so with gas and a tummy ache. I felt so bad. I didn't know what to do to make her feel better. So yesterday I called the nurse and they told me to give her some diluted juice and that should move things right along. After the juice put her in the bath and massage her tummy. She said "It could be a messy bath" but it should work.

So after trying to give her a bottle of just juice...I know, I don't know what I was thinking, I finally put it in a bottle of formula and she downed it. I figured it'd take an hour or so to kick in so I put her in her exersaucer while I made dinner. About 20 minutes later I hear her grunting. She's in her seat with a red face and concentrating so hard! It was so funny! She kept grunting and then when she was done, she'd laugh. Then grunt again! She was cracking me up. Needless to say, she pooped! And I instantly felt better! I was so worried about the little one. She slept so great last night and is moving a lot better now :)

We also got her a new bathtub! Her little infant one was WAY too small for her. She looked so uncomfortable in it and would move herself side ways with her leg hanging out. So I got her the inflatable duck. She loves it. It's actually like a bath...she can play and be covered in water. I'll post some pictures when I download them. I think she's finally going to like the bath now that she can move and play.

Anyway, now that you've read all about her poop problems, I'm sure you're ready for some lunch huh? ha ha!

Talk to you later!

4 months, 1 week

Hello!

Not much going on around here this week. Jensen has decided that napping is totally overrated so she's started a strike at daycare. Luckily she's such a happy baby that even when exhausted she rarely cries. I have been putting her down a little early but that's about it. It's kind of a bummer though because I'll get her home and then put her down for a nap right away...and I don't get to play with her :( But yesterday she napped for 2 hours at Katie's and this morning for an hour and 15 minutes before we left. So I think she's realized one of the following:

1. This is her new schedule and she needs to get with the program.
2. She's going to do something incredible this weekend like start rolling all over the place or sit up!
3. She's growing AGAIN!

So I'll keep you posted on her developments! I have gotten her to sit up with her hands in between her legs like a little tri-pod. She loves it. She's also bringing her legs under her when she's on her tummy. Her arms, not so much but she'll get there! I just can't believe how much she's going to change in the next few months. Heck in the next few weeks! I swear she's going to be going to Kindergarten before I know it. sniff sniff...

Hope all is well!

She's going to be a tall one!

Well, happy four month birthday Jensen...off to the doctor! Actually it wasn't a bad visit. We've split up the shots for her so she gets them every month instead of a bunch every two months. So this time around was the easy ones...an oral and a shot.

So off we went...oh did I mention she'd only slept for 40 minutes total all day? Yeah I was prepared for a nightmare. But we got there and she was a happy baby as usual. She weighs 14 lbs. 14.5 oz (gaining one pound since July 31) and is 25.5 inches long! She grew an entire inch in the month of August! And I think she did it while we were in California! Then came the vaccines. She started to get the pouty lip during the oral. She looked at the nurse and then at me with the lip and started to cry like "why are you letting her do this to me!". It was so sad. Then came the shot, and the scream. Luckily it was only one and I swooped her up and she immediately stopped crying. Thank goodness. I hate it and am NOT looking forward to next month when she gets three shots!

But all is right with the world. She finally got some sleep and then slept like usual last night. This morning we were all smiles and giggles, although still a little drowsy. Hopefully she'll nap well for Katie.

Thank goodness it's Friday huh? It's been such a long week. My baby has been gone all week and I'm so excited to spend some Quality Time with her. Today I pick her up early from day care so we can have a mommy/baby afternoon. I think we'll hit the pool since the nice weather is coming to an end here soon.

Alrighty, well back to work. Have a great long weekend!

4 months...I know I'm sorry!

Ok, ok! I know I've been slacking off but during the nice long maternity leave the last thing I wanted to do was get on the computer once a week. But here I am! YEAH! I am going to work very hard to keep this up weekly so that you all have some status on our little one. I will still send out the monthly photos so if you have a total overload then I totally understand. But I've been getting many requests to start up again so we'll give it a go.

Jensen turned four months yesterday and is doing great. I cannot believe she's growing so much. We have her 4 month appointment today so I'll let y'all know how big she really is! I know for sure she's gotten longer. Just in the week we were in CA she grew out of a bunch of pjs. I swear for as many clothes as I have, she's in and out of them so fast! But I will say she's one very well dressed young lady! It's so fun to put on different things with different bows and shoes. I really hope she's a girly girl...I love it!

We got her in her exersaucer this past weekend and she loves it! She lasts about 15-20 minutes in there and mainly tries to eat the toys, but she enjoys it so who am I to say no? Everything goes in her mouth so I'm going to check with the doctor about cereal and teeth. She drools non-stop so I think they are on the horizon.

We're looking forward to a nice long weekend. I get one extra day with her this week which makes me very happy! I think we'll be on lots of walks and hikes.

Take care.

One month old!

Hello everyone!

Well yesterday Jensen was officially one month old! Woo hoo! I cannot believe it! Time is going by so fast...before I know it she's going to be going to college. Sigh...but we are enjoying every minute of being a family. Jensen is doing so well and is SUCH a great baby. She sleeps in 3-4 hour stretches at night, puts herself to sleep if drowsy and rarely cries. She gets a little fussy around 6 or 7 every evening but it's never too bad. She's so amazing and so cute if I do say so myself!

She's starting to smile a little, although I have yet to capture it on film. She's also really enjoying her mobile and activity mat as she gets to play with more and more things. The dogs have adjusted to her, and will walk by, give her a kiss and then keep on going. I think they've realized that she's not going any where. Davis will come and get me if she's in her crib crying and will turn circles and freak out until I get her calmed down. It's pretty cute.

Other than that we've been doing well. We're still waiting for spring to arrive here in Oregon. It's teasing us here and there but still raining. Our yard is in need of some serious work but we've been unable to get out there. (Oh darn right??!!) Hopefully this weekend I can plant some flowers and get all the weeds pulled. We'll see...luckily I have some sort of an excuse.

Well here are some pictures of Jensen at one month. It's amazing to see the difference in her. I hope you all are doing well :)

9 days old...and oh so tired :)

Hello!

Well I am finally starting to find time to get online and do some things. Although, it just takes a little longer. Jensen is thriving and so cute. I can't get enough of her. Marc and I spend so much time just staring at her. I love when she wakes up and is bright eyed looking around her crib. She loves the polka dots! We're doing well with sleep, she's been on a pretty good 3 hour schedule for the most part. She had some issues last night but we finally got to bed around 1:00 am. Not too bad.

She loves her bouncer chair and we've been on three walks since we had some nice weather around here this weekend. She loves being in her stroller. She's even made it to Costco and Babies R Us! We have been blessed so far with a pretty good baby...although we know that could change in a heartbeat!

Anyway, I'm doing well too. Recovery has been pretty easy. I've been walking with the baby and running errands. I'm trying to get as much sleep as possible but it's been a little hard. I always feel like I have other things to do but luckily Marc is still home and that's helping a lot.

Here are a few pictures...you may have seen them already. I'll post a link to picasa soon when we get everything uploaded!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes!

She's here!

Not much time to update today, but as most of you know she's here! We are doing great! Marc and I are pretty tired but it could be worse. She's put herself on a great 3 hour schedule (although I'm sure it won't last!) but still sleeping in three hour blocks is hard! I'll post some pictures and stuff this weekend!

Thanks for all the well wishes!

No room at the inn!

So I'm getting bigger and bigger. I have been living in Marc's sweatshirts and my maternity sweat pants these days. But yesterday I thought, heck I'll throw on one my favorite shirts (although it's hard to have a favorite these days when you only have like 5 shirts!). I love this shirt because it's so long and comfortable and covers my belly no problem. So on it goes, with my jeans and what happens???? It BARELY covers my belly! WTH??

It is now confirmed, there's no more room. Jensen, needs to vacate her room. It's time to move on to bigger and better things, like a beautiful nursery that is all ready for her. Things are slowly progressing, at least I hope. I am trying my best to stay relaxed so she can get ready to come out. Hopefully it works.

On a good note, my last day of work is on Friday! Woo hoo! I haven't had this much time off since I was 16! You know, because it's going to be so relaxing...like summer vacation. Right? This is what I'm planning on :) ha ha! But I am looking forward to spending so much time with Jensen once she's here. I'm trying not to think about the day care situation just yet. I'm still looking for something so hopefully we'll get it all worked out by August.

Well hopefully the next time I'm on here I'll be posting great news and pictures of our little girl! Hope all is well!!

16 Days to go!

Well hello everyone! I figured I should update you all since I'm starting to get inquiries about how I'm doing. We are getting very anxious to meet Miss Jensen that's for sure. And mommy is about to give her an eviction notice! I am still doing ok, but getting increasingly uncomfortable. I am pretty tired of this whole pregnancy business and cannot wait to feel "normal" again. Let alone look normal.

The weather is getting nicer here and this baby needs to come soon or else Mom isn't going to have any clothes. All my maternity clothes are for winter so I only have a few items to get me through this gorgeous weekend we are going to have. Although, I'd rather wear Marc's t-shirts in the sunshine than continue to watch the rain!

We are all ready to go, my bag is packed and the car seat is installed and has been inspected. So now we wait. I did have dreams all night about my water breaking so maybe it's a sign of things to come? Who knows...although I have a project due at work on April 18th so if I can make it until then I'd be grateful. Then again, they'd figure it out! ha ha!

I'll try to update this more often to let everyone know how it's going. Happy Friday :)

36 weeks - T minus 4 weeks!

So here we are! FOUR weeks to go! Can you believe it? I cannot! It seems like yesterday that we found out and I was in normal clothes! But now I'm down to a few outfits as big as a house! Starting next week I can officially post my eviction notice to get her going! Although, due to my family history I'm not holding my breath but hey, at least I can try!

Sleep has seemed to elude me the past four or five days. Lovely. I guess it's just ramping me up for what I'm going to have to deal with here soon. It is just so difficult. Once I do fall asleep it's just not very good sleep and right when I'm about to really get into a good deep sleep, I wake up to go to the bathroom or (another lovely side effect) Marc is shaking me because I am snoring! I am sooooo looking forward to feeling normal again. I can't seem to get comfortable anywhere so it's going to be a long 4 weeks that's for sure.

Our April 1 deadline has nearly been met. All we need to do is install the car seat which we'll do this week and set up the pack and play. I also need to pack my hospital bag which I am doing this week. I bought some normal (although bigger sized) clothes for when I get home. I tried them on and I can get into them now so I should be ok for when I come home from the hospital. (Which is another pet peeve of mine....why oh why do I still have to look 7 months pregnant when I come home?? Haven't I been tortured enough???)

We're getting so excited to meet Jensen. The dogs start intensive training this week -- meaning the spoiling that's been going on for the last few months will stop. We really need to get them in shape before Jensen gets here so they don't resent her. Should be interesting :)

Marc had a surprise baby shower at work last week! I came into the city to surprise him too! It was very fun and so sweet of his co-workers. He was so happy! We got a lot of cute things that are now all put away in her room. They even made us a diaper cake which was so cute!




Well that's about it from here. I could fill pages with my complaints but I'm trying to stay positive! We shall see how long that lasts. I hope to update weekly for you guys now that we're in the home stretch!

33 weeks 5 days...I know, it's been a while!

Hello! So I didn't want to update until I had good news. Which is the furniture arrived and is all set up! YEAH! I finally feel like I have a baby room! I'm so happy with how everything turned out. We still have some organizing to do but for the most part we're right on track to our April 1 deadline. Now I get to start worrying about what I need in my hospital bag, what I need when I get home, and how the heck I'm going to get this little girl out of me. But, why worry about those things when I have a cute nursery?? ha ha! Here are a few photos:






For all the photos you can look at my album on Picasa:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.goodell/Nursery

So other than getting that all together I've been busy planning a baby shower for my friend Rachel. She is due on May 26th so we could have babies at the same time! It's so fun! I'm doing ok. I finally got "Ok, I'm done with this whole pregnancy thing" this last week. It's getting so hard to move around and get comfortable. I want a martini and I want to stop swelling. My face is starting to get fat and I cannot wear any of my wedding rings anymore. In a few weeks when everything is set up and ready to go, I'll be getting very antsy. I'm sure you'll hear all about it.

At this point I really can't figure out how I'm going to get any bigger. It's a mystery to me that I can get bigger...she's only 4 lbs right now so she'll pack on another 3 or so in the next 5-6 weeks. I think I might just fall over. I have surrendered to the weight gain however. There's really nothing I can do about it and I keep thinking to myself I'll do better with the next pregnancy. Although the thought of doing this again is not appealing right about now! (I think I have a foot in the ribs as I type!) But alas, I know once I hold her in my arms that all these aches and pains will be a distant memory. But she's not here yet so whatever! hee hee!

We are getting so excited for her arrival. It's amazing how much time I spend in her room just looking around. I cannot wait until we get to meet her and hold her. She's going to be one spoiled little girl that's for sure.

Well here are the latest photos...as you can see the face is puffing up from the last photos I posted. Oh joy! Hope all is well with everyone!!

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<img src="http://lh5.google.com/amber.goodell/R9qrJQdV56I/AAAAAAAAAP4/JWcXpy7m8dE/shower%20077.jpg">

31 weeks!

Well we're getting there! Sorry it's taken so long to update. Although you all should be used to it by now :) I had a great time in California! It was BEAUTIFUL! 70 degrees almost each day and crystal clear! The shower was amazing. My mom and sisters did a great job as usual. It was so fun and I think everyone had a great time.

Jensen is a very blessed little girl. She was spoiled rotten at the shower! We have so much stuff and NO FURNITURE! They say it should be here next week, but then I called and they said it may be a few weeks late! I don't know if I can take it! I have piles of things in the closet and all around the room. Oh well, it will get done right? As long as we make our April 1 deadline we'll be fine.

Speaking of the nursery here is a picture of the paint and chair rail:



Marc did a great job with the paint and everything. The chair rail is amazing and looks professionally done. The best part is there were no major injuries to either Sean or Marc so we were happy with it over all.

Here are a few pictures from the shower. I don't have any real belly pictures but I'll post some later this week so you can see how ginormous I am. Yes I get bigger and bigger by the minute. Jensen is over 3 lbs. and about 16 inches long. She's moving all the time now. I can watch my belly for hours as it jumps and bumps around. She has the hiccups about four times a day which aren't so bad now. It's the rolling, kicking, and need to give mommy constant heart burn that is starting to get old. But alas, I'm trying not to think too much about it. On one hand we could be done with this in 7 weeks...on the other hand it could be 10. So I'm putting myself in a happy place. I like to think that the heart burn and tums I eat all day long are good for me. The swelling of my hands and need to keep my engagement ring in my jewelry box is just a fashion statement. The fact that I have a hard time getting off the couch or comfortable when trying to read my book are just funny little routines I like to pull so Marc gets me water and does the dishes.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

Anyway, here are a few pics from the shower:







Here is a link to all the pictures if you are interested:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.goodell/CAShower

A special thank you to everyone who joined us in California for Jensen's shower. We had a wonderful time and we are so happy and blessed to have such a wonderful support system!

29 weeks 1 day...75 days to go!

Greetings from California!

I'm sitting outside in the 70 degree afternoon working and relaxing. Ah, so nice! Things are going good. I'm feeling fine, although with all this running around I'm doing down here I'm getting tired! Oh well, it's worth it. I got in last Friday to attend a wedding on Saturday. The wedding was great (although sober weddings are never as much fun as ones you can drink at!). Now I'm just working in the office and helping mom get ready for the shower. Marc is driving in on Friday. Poor guy! But he'll do anything for Baby J I think :)

Our 3D ultrasound was very cool although our little angel was rather stubborn! She did NOT want to move her hand from her face. She was being very shy...and mom just wanted to reach in there and move it out of the way! But we did get some shots of her, so it wasn't a total loss. Maybe she's just relishing her privacy while she can because once she's born I think she'll have a camera in her face at all times!

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound. Unfortunately a lot of them are the same. But still cool! I'll update you all next week about the showers I'm having down here. My boss is also throwing me a work shower on Wednesday and is flying up from Orange County just for the day! It's so sweet! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! (Yes that includes you!)

Anyway, enjoy Baby J's first photos...in a few months you're going to start deleting my emails with photos of her I'm sure! ha ha!

Light at the end of the tunnel...Third trimester!

Hello everyone!

Well today is a good day. I've completed my 6th month of pregnancy (seems like forever some days and other days it was just yesterday that we found out!). We are now officially in the third trimester! Woo hoo! However, I keep hearing that the second one is the best and to be prepared to start feeling yucky again. Bummer deal. I've been feeling so good for the past few months I don't want it to end. So I am determined to keep a positive attitude even when I feel like a beached whale trying to get out of bed at 2:00 am and 4:00 am to go to the bathroom! Poor Marc :(

I went the to the doctor's on Friday. Everything is looking good. Jensen's heartbeat was beautiful as always and I was measuring right on target...even though I feel like I'm HUGE! I took my glucose test for gestational diabetes. I'm a little worried about it but there's nothing really I can do. Although if I do have it the thought of going without sweets for the next three months scares the crap out of me. That will definitely ruin my positive attitude about the third trimester! ha ha! So I'll keep you all posted.

I thought I'd have photos for you today of a nice painted nursery but alas, we need a third coat on the top. We were disappointed Friday night but with the tan on the walls first and then trying to apply a lighter color it just wasn't cooperating. So we're finishing it up this morning (well Marc is since I'm banished from painting!) and I'll post some photos later this week. We put in (ok, Marc and Sean!) put in the chair rail next Saturday so by this time next week I should have some great photos for you. Even if we don't have furniture.

That's about it from cold, cold Oregon. We are supposed to get an inch of snow tonight. We'll see. They never seem to predict the snow fall correctly around here. It sure is cold enough for it.

Love you all! Talk to you soon!

100 days left!

Today marks the 100 day milestone! 100 days from today Baby J will receive an eviction notice from me (if she's still in there!). Holy moly! I can't believe that it is going by so fast. It's unbelievable!

We're doing well. Baby J is still a little wiggle worm. She likes the sweets like her mom. Once she gets a little taste of those she's moving all over the place. I'm feeling good. I'm a little tired this week but nothing too crazy. We're painting the nursery this weekend! I'll post some pictures next week. We have the whole room cleaned out and are ready to roll. It should be pretty easy. (I say this now of course!) We've painted before so we'll see. Luckily I have a great painter that we use all the time so worst case I call him to fix our mess!

Other than that not much going on. Marc is still working like crazy and I'm trying to enjoy my quiet time. I've been doing a lot of reading (yes more than usual) which has been nice. I'm finally over my sinus infection so that's been a huge relief. That was awful!

So here are some pictures of me today. Sorry they are so blurry. I was having a hard time taking them of myself. I'm 25 weeks 5 days.

24 weeks 4 days

Good morning! Sorry I haven't updated lately, there's just not much to tell. Baby J and I are doing well. She's kicking up a storm although seems to stop every time Dad puts his hand to feel her. I feel really bad that he hasn't felt her yet. The other night she was dancing or something and I actually saw my belly move too! It was so crazy! I love watching my belly jump!

Other than that, I'm sick. And being sick with a head cold and not being able to take the copious amounts of drugs that I usually take really sucks. I'm trying all these home remedies but alas nothing is really working. I have the humidifier now so at least I can sleep but other than that it's horrible!

But on a fun note we're clearing out the nursery this weekend! Yeah! I can't wait. Our friend Sean is going to put the chair rail up for us in a few weeks (with Marc's help) so that will be fun. We're going to try and get the paint and supplies this weekend too so we can start painting next weekend. I can't believe it's starting already! Woo hoo!!

I'll post some more pics of my belly soon. Once my nose goes back to it's normal color and looks a little bit better. Plus we'll put up some pictures of the nursery as it's in progress :)

Have a great weekend!