I know...sorry we've been busy!

Ok - so I'm slacking. Sue me! April was a crazy crazy month and I am just now starting to relax...only to gear up for July and August which will prove to be chaos - but super fun. Anyway, I digress. On to the important stuff.

Jensen and I went to California for Easter and had a great time. Jensen met all of Grammy's friends at work, saw a bunch of relatives, and got to play at a super cool park. Oh yeah - and she got some early birthday presents.



Once we got home we were in birthday mode. Jensen had a fabulous birthday party! She had all her friends and family here and of course lots of cake!



Now we're just settling down from a very busy April. This past weekend was Mother's Day and Marc and Jensen spoiled me rotten. They got me a beautiful necklace with a charm with Jensen's name and birthday. I'm soooo lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Well, sorry it's been so long...hopefully I'll be back soon with walking news!

11 months

We've got a stander...and soon a cruiser! A few days after her amazing feat in the bathtub Jensen figured out how to stand EVERY WHERE! She pretty much does it all the time now and LOVES it! ha ha! She's also starting to get brave enough to move around. Especially when she sees mom's cell phone on the other side of the table. Talk about motivation!

Still working on the top four teeth...they come down, then go up, down and up. I hope she gets them before we leave for California but I am not holding my breath. I am sure she'll cut them on the plane and scream miserably the entire flight. I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst so that when we land I can say, "Oh, that wasn't so bad!"

I shall keep you all posted...but pray for us Tuesday evening!

Standing room only

She stands...or she did once and now still hasn't figured out how to do it again. Jensen has been trying to pull herself up on things, but is pretty much satisfied when she gets up on her knees and can see. However, yesterday during her bath (of all places) she figured it out and she was standing.



As you can see she was pretty proud of herself. Davis and Aggie were rather impressed too! She hasn't matched the feat yet but she sure is trying. She has been hampered by her growing upper teeth though. They have been bugging her all weekend and are slowly making their appearance.

But for now, we're biding our time until we're in for it. Soon she'll be walking...and then running - just in time for summer :)

Getting pretty good with this video stuff.

Here's another video for you all. Jensen and I were playing after dinner the other night and thought we'd share. I am thinking one of the next videos will be of her standing. She's starting to "crawl" in a downward facing dog position...hands and feet on the floor. She finds it very entertaining.

But for now you just get peek-a-boo with the curtains. Fun times at the Goodell house! I missed getting her royal fit on tape from the other night. I was trying to get some photos of her for her birthday invitation and she was NOT having it! She threw herself around and cried actual tears! Poor baby. She went down for a nap shortly thereafter! ha ha!

My baby is so smart!

"So, I know everyone says their kid is gifted...well I know that mine is." This is a Real Housewives of NY reference...not sure if y'all get it! If you get a chance to check it out on Bravo - Alex is a piece of work...especially how she feels about her kids. Anyway, Marc gets it. Ha ha. But it is the premise of my story today.

But I was amazed this morning about how much Jensen is understanding these days. She's really getting the "No" concept down which is great. But beyond that she knows what's going on. This morning we were playing and she started to rub her eyes so I asked her if she was ready for her bottle. She quickly looked to the couch where her bottle was in the cup holder, and then back at me. I said, "Let's have your bottle. Go get it." So she crawled over to the couch, got on her knees...realized she wasn't close enough to get to the bottle, got down crawled over a little and then got up again. She grabbed her bottle out of the cup holder and tried to put in her mouth. She was thwarted however by the top, but I was still so proud! She knew exactly where it was and how to get to it! She's a genius I tell you! Just kidding! No genius here, but definitely a little girl that's absorbing EVERYTHING around her!

TEN Months!

Wow. I know, I know. I keep saying how fast she's growing but it's so true! She's becoming a little girl...and it makes me long for her newborn days (not the 3:00 am feeding though!) when she was so soft and alert and was just discovering things. Of course, she's still discovering many things...like how to get herself unstuck from the bottom of her exersaucer, but you know what I mean!

We all got hit this last week and a half with daycare germs! Yuck...Jensen brought home a very nasty cold that we are all finally getting over. She is back to normal and Marc and I are almost there. Hopefully by this weekend we'll be as good as new.

Jensen is waving all the time now. In fact, she loves to wave to herself in the mirror in the car. She gets SO excited when she gets in her carseat and sees herself in the mirror. She starts to laugh and wave frantically. I don't think she realizes she's waving to herself but it gives her so much pleasure why burst her bubble?

Video!

Well time is going by so fast...it's unbelievable. We've just had our first Valentine's Day which was lovely and our first piece of cake. Which Jensen thought was most likely the most delicious thing she'd ever eaten! She demolished it...like mother like daughter huh?

Jensen is getting stronger every day - today she tried to pull up on the couch to get to my coffee and Saturday she mastered the task of going from crawling to sitting. Such a wonderful skill. So helpful in fact, it helped her hit her head on the coffee table at daycare :) I think we're going to have plenty of bumps and bruises for a while.

Anyway, I'm attempting a video today. I know I've promised for months and months but I finally did it. I loaded the correct software to my laptop and figured this out. This was taken last week of Jensen crawling through the house saying her most favorite "word" - "aga". Enjoy!

9 months...where did the time go?

Ok, so I didn't realize that I hadn't updated this in a while. Sorry! So we've got a lot to catch up on. Jensen is crawling...EVERY WHERE! She's on her knees and elbows but she jams! This morning she got on her hands and knees and actually moved forward a bit before face-planting into the carpet. So I think soon she'll be really crawling and I'll be burning more calories than ever! ha ha!

She's also gotten TWO teeth! She cut her first one about two weeks ago and is cutting her second right now. I actually think it broke through yesterday but she won't let me in there to see. But it feels like it. I can't believe she has two teeth!

AND, she's getting more hair. Now I know you will all think I'm crazy, but it's true. It's starting to grow in and I've actually had to brush it after baths because if I don't it dries funny. So there! Hopefully by her birthday you'll actually see it! I don't think we'll have a pony tail but at least we'll have a little to show off.

Last, but certainly not least...we think she's starting to talk. Now she babbles all the time..."mama" and "dada" and "baba" and whatever else crosses her lips are now being projected very loud (especially when she's not happy) all the time. BUT the past week or so we've noticed that she says "aga" when she sees Aggie (our dog). We thought it was a coincidence until last night. She was in her highchair and kept saying "aga" and looking down for the dog. I got her out and she started chasing Aggie around the kitchen yelling "aga! Aga!" It was crazy! I couldn't believe it. The amazing thing was that she didn't chase or call Davis "aga". Weird. So I called Marc and told him, we were so proud. Then this morning Marc runs into the bathroom and states "I swear, I walked in to get her and she said 'Hi Dada'. I'm not kidding!" He was SO excited! Now we shall see...I mean we've only just gotten her to wave bye-bye and hi but who knows! It's so exciting! I can't believe how big she's getting. These past few weeks (which you can obviously tell) she has developed so much and started doing more and more. What an amazing journey to watch.

So I put her new photos up although I think that everyone who reads this is also bombarded by the monthly email. Don't worry, those will subside at a year :) Then you'll have to read the blog...bwahahahahaha!!

We've got ourselves...a scooter!

The past week and a half Jensen has been working very hard on crawling. Up on the knees, get those arms up and then the minute she's ready to launch forward...face plant. So she's taken to the time honored army crawl. She is slithering around the house with great speed these days. It's so fun to watch her move around. She'll spot off-limits items such as a cell phone or a laptop and then there's no stopping her. She will do whatever it takes, scooting, half crawling, rolling, whatever to get there!

Of course this is a big change for me. I can't just put her on the floor and know that she'll be in that vicinity in 5 minutes. Nope. In a matter of one minute she could be in the next room! It's amazing how fast that little one gets around. The house is slowly being baby-proofed.

The magazines are now put up, the plugs covered, and the baby gate installed. Davis and Aggie aren't too pleased with the new found skill...not only are they now fun moving targets, but the baby gate is a little intimidating. Aggie, for one, thinks it's going to eat him so he runs through it at lightening speed. Davis is a little more relaxed about it, but still gets scared when it closes, hides his tail and goes running. We'll see how they really react when Jensen is even more mobile and their sanctuary of the couch or their beds is not an option any more! Bwahahahaha! They'll be in for it!

Happy New Year

Phew...man it was a lot of work getting through the holidays but here we are on the other side. 2009! I cannot believe it! It seems just like yesterday I was ringing in 2003 with my girlfriends - dancing on the bar and having a grand old time. Or ringing in 2004 with Marc and friends on the boat in the Bay. Now here we are...trying to make it until midnight! AND NOT EVEN DOING IT! We tried, we tried hard. But after a martini and sharing a bottle of wine...11:30 was just fine! We had a nice night in, and wanted to celebrate with Jensen at 6:00 pm but she slept through it, woke up, ate and went back to bed! Apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it??

Saturday night Jensen got to spend some time with Katie, who watches her during the day, while we went out on the town. It was Judy's 60th birthday and Rich got a limo and treated us all to a nice dinner. It was so fun! Of course the no driving for anyone helped with that! We had a great time until 7:15 Sunday morning when Jensen was up and ready to go! ha ha! But it was all worth it to see Judy's face when we presented her with her gift - 4 days of vacation this summer in beautiful Sun River! She was so surprised and so excited. We can't wait...although with the cold and the rain 6 months seems like an eternity!

Jensen is getting VERY close to crawling these days. Yesterday she managed to get on her knees and elbows for a bit and she even propelled herself forward! She is getting very frustrated that she can't move and flaps her arms and legs when on her tummy when she wants to get some where. Sooner or later she'll figure it out. In the mean time, we are putting up baby gates and removing some breakables from low reaching places. As much as I want her to crawl I know I'm going to be in a whole different world chasing her around. It's nice that I can let her down and know she'll at least be in the vicinity (she rolls and scoots to get around). But soon she'll be off and I'll be sweeping and vacuuming all the time!

Here are some photos from that last month. We had a fun month with Christmas in Pleasanton and getting everything ready. Jensen had a great time too. On New Years Day Santa visited her again giving her a new play house to play with. She finds it rather cool and is eager to crawl through the door...but right now she just swings it open and closed. We'll take what we can get I guess!

http://picasaweb.google.com/MarcandAmber/Jensen8Months?feat=directlink

You can also see them in the slide show on the left!

Happy New Year! Many wishes for a prosperous and happy 2009!

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 ;)