Naptime is for suckers

It happened to us the day we brought Nolan home from the hospital .... we became one of those households ruled by a little person.  He literally dictates are daily existence for us.  Usually, we kinda like it.  However, for the past 24 hours a person the size of a bowling ball has been terrorizing his Mama with a refusal to sleep. 

Ray Romano had a quote about this - something about how children are small terrorists and if you don't believe him just wait until YOU have some and they break YOU with sleep deprivation!

8:00 - Nolan wakes up all smiles and we have a full bottle.  We talk and stretch and cuddle in Mama's bed before a diaper change.

8:45 - We head to the living room for time on his playmat.  We do back for some hand-eye coordination and then tummy time for those crawling skills.

9:15 - We sing songs and pull different toys out of the basket until Nolan gets fussy.

9:45 - Diaper change and time for another full bottle.  Kiddo might be a competitive eater when he grows up .....

10:20 - Nolan is swaddled, sleepy and ready for a nap so Mama puts him in the crib.

10:25 - Fully awake and crying ... Mama gives him a pacifier and turns on the mobile.

10:28 - Mobile stops - DAMMIT!

10:29 - Mobile is going again and Nolan looks sleepy.

10:32 - Mobile stops, but Nolan is content and starts talking to himself.

10:55 - Tired of talking to himself, Nolan hollers at Mama until she brings him the pacifier.  He still looks sleepy, so she shushes him for a few minutes in a final attempt at a morning nap.

11:05 - Nolan screams bloody murder because he has spit out the pacifier, but Mama can tell from the video monitor that he is "searching" for it with his tongue in between screams.  She runs back down the hall, trips over her dumbest dog, and pops the pacifier back in.

11:10 - Nolan is sound asleep.

11:18 - The neighbor gets a delivery from UPS causing both dogs to BARK their brains out at the front window.  Our terrorist is awake again.

11:20 - Nolan and Mama sit back down for another full bottle.  He promptly fall asleep, but then plays the "don't take my bottle" game.

11:35 - Nolan hasn't taken a sip in over 5 minutes so Mama really pulls the bottle away.  He responds by spitting an entire mouthful of milk down into his multiple neck creases, his clean pajamas and the clean swaddle.  Then falls into a full-on milk-coma.

11:40 - Mama slienty cries on the inside while trying to decide if she should wake the baby to change his clothes, or risk a CPS-call by putting him back into the crib with a really wet collar. 

11:41 - Wet, sleeping baby is placed in crib, with his new stuffed doggy, and Mama flees the room.

12:00 - Baby wakes up crying and wants his pacifier, Mama runs down the hall to shove it back in.

12:20 - Baby wakes us SCREAMING and Mama briefly considers having a martini for lunch. 

12:25 - World's happiest baby is in the Bjorn, helping Mama in the kitchen, smiling because knows that he has won another major victory in his fight against naps and all things sleep-related.

better post "thankful" before Christmas arrives

Thanksgiving service at Mars Hill Church Bellevue - Nolan barfed on Dad and then yelled at our photographer!

Our family is beyond thankful every day of the year, but especially so on Thursday, November 24th!  We have a roof over our heads, eat plentiful food everyday, Mark is gainfully employed, our families are healthy, our friends are wonderful and ..... there is a new little person at the dinner table!  Thanksgiving was sweet and surreal and definitely memorable for us this year.  Check out our lil' feast for three:

baby's first road trip!

It's fair to say that my relationship with Mark started with several road trips: 

1) I was abandoned in Snoqualmie Pass and initially met Mark when I needed a ride home from a camping trip.  We will address the lasting trauma and drag Dave Klann thru the mud in a later post.

2) I met Mark's family (before we started dating) whilst trying to hitch a ride on a subsequent camping trip.  There was a lot of beer and off-roading prior to any introductions.  We should check in with my sister-in-law to see if enough time has passed for us all to laugh about it ......

3) Mark and I drove all over Washington, Idaho and B.C. while we were dating.  Usually we were headed to some kind of party or wedding or camp out or function that involved craziness and general mayhem.

So last weekend we took another kind of road trip.  Twelve years later it was still just as crazy ... cuz we took a 2 month-old baby with us!  Nolan was great in the car and we had a wonderful time in Winthrop on the eastern side of the state.  Check-out our little traveler taking his first road trip:

ready to hit the road with Daddy!

passed out in the hotel after the long drive

snow suit ... check!

taking our baby to a bar for dinner ... CHECK!

hanging out with Daddy

Nolan was REALLY into the live music

flannel-lined jeans, thermal shirt, snow boots and hat!

brunch on the Methow river

he was SUCH a good baby the entire trip

Nolan goes RETRO

My lil' guy is VERY fashion forward ... this season he is ALL ABOUT vintage!



Here he is at the hospital - wearing the very same jammers that I wore home from the hospital!



And here is jamming out in another set of Mama's jammers!

Okay, same jammers and enjoying Mama's baby quilt!

Mama's hat and baby-blanket as we head out on a walk!

I won't bore you with too much more, other than to say that he is also using all of the receiving blankets saved and carefully stored since my infancy.  They are super soft and have the cutest patterns and designs on them:

 

Thank you to Nana-Pam Ashcom for so lovingly and diligently preserving these things from my childhood.  Sharing them with my son is REALLY special!

Compare and Contrast

The worlds sweetest baby at 3 days old.

Aaaaaand in the same outfit at 6 weeks, 3 days old ....

He's so smiley .... and big!

The folks at Gap Kids made a really cute outfit, too bad my kid is growing out of it!!!!

insert "sad face" here .....     :(

Family Field Trip

This year for my birthday we took a family field trip instead of throwing a party or going out to dinner.

Here we are at Pike Place Market!

Daddy got to rawk the Bjorn for the first time and did a great job.

Of course, Nolan makes it pretty easy because he LUVS the Bjorn!



And look - we were able to show our little Lobster what REAL lobster looks like!

Lunch and a cocktail at the Athenian ... yum

Then we went shopping for Market Spice Tea and seasonal flowers and finally brought home fresh cheese and risotto take make our own gourmet dinner - don't know about you, but I call that a pretty good day!

5 weeks "new"

My baby is now 5 weeks "new" (to borrow a friends terminology) .....  and it's bittersweet.  We ran out of newborn diapers yesterday and were practically devastated to discover that Nolan fits into the size-1 diapers we had stockpiled up in the closet.  No more newborn diapers - SINGLE TEAR.  But he has slept for 4 hours in a row each night for the last 3 nights - OH JOY for this tired Mama!


We brought home a teeny-tiny, gray-eyed newborn five weeks ago:

Now he is a little-bitty, blue-eyed baby:














I'd like to file a complaint with management! This baby is growing up WAY TOO FAST!

Working hard ....

Working hard ... or hardly working.  It was a big joke to ask that of each other when I was still managing the business office at the private school.

Now I just check in with my new co-worker, Nolan, and ask him that question every once in a while.

Today I'd have to say it is the latter:

waiting for 5 years and 9 months ....

We waited a really long time for our son.  And not just the traditional 9 months of pregnancy.  More like 5 years and 9 months .....

Our first miscarriage was in the summer of 2006 and we were devastated.  The subsequent miscarriages after that weren't any easier to cope with.  Neither were the appointments with doctors and specialists who never could give us a solid explanation for any of our losses.  So you can imagine our delight at becoming pregnant, again, in January.  And each week there was a good ultrasound appointment.  And each week the baby got bigger.  And then one week we check on the baby and he is DANCING in my tummy like that crazy Irish guy from Riverdance!  Which makes us think, "Maybe this time will be different!  We've never seen anything like this on an ultrasound before!"

Sure enough - this time was different and Nolan was the DANCING-EST baby I could ever imagine for his entire pregnancy!  He wiggled and moved and shoved and pushed and danced right up to the 39th week and then made his grand debut.

So welcome to the world Nolan Wilton Goetz.  We've been waiting 5 years and 9 months to meet you and bring you home!

An open letter to Baby-Goetz

Dear, sweet, darling Baby-Goetz,

              You are heavy.

              I am tired.

              Get out.

Love,

Your devoted Mother

Republican Dogs

We've joked about it before ... but we have Republican Dogs.  For the past 8 years they have waged a campaign of "Shock and Awe" on the backyard that has yielded numerous victories.  While patrolling the West, North and Eastern borders of their territory they have successfully neutralized insurgents ranging from your standard squirrel, to the occasional mole and even the unsightly possum. 

Their methods are effective and efficient.  Squirrels are particularly easy to detect; Brodi chases them down the fence line while Bailey circles around in front of them and them jumps against the fence hard enough to knock them into the yard.  The moles and possums were caught under cover of darkness so I cannot report on those battles.  However I suspect the attacks were swift and methodical as these unfortunate insurgents are left intact.  O_o

Please note that Mark and I have indoctrinated the dogs concerning any particular political persuasion.  They were adopted, as individuals, during their adolescence, and each seems to have arrived at our home with their political tendencies already established - just like Brodi showed up fearing laundry baskets and Bailey was carrying around a few extra pounds that she never quite shed.  Clearly they have found kindred spirits in each other and that has amplified any passion they had already.

Last night we suffered a friendly-fire accident.  It was horrible - you never think it will happen to your own troops, but it does.  I'm still not speaking to Bailey and have contemplated pulling her off of the front lines for a while.  A day or two in the garage might do her some good.  NATO has been unable to confirm why a front-yard-bunny ventured under the fence into dog territory, however you can imagine the horror for all involved.  Mr. Goetz reports he will inspect and repair the fence, making any necessary arrangements to keep this incident to a one-time event.  For Bailey's sake I hope he is successful.

Nesting .... in the Nursery FINALLY!

It started out a little rough - there was quite a bit to organize and move and clean and sort.  But it is coming together in the most satisfying way!  This little Goetz-Baby is going to have the sweetest nursery ever because so many people helped us create the space:

Best Friend Erin picked out the perfect paint color.

Brother Joe painted the Nursery.

Gramma Jeanne Betsy gave us her childhood bedroom furniture set.

Nana and Papa bought a crib and the glider.

Grams gave us a Bassinett that has seen three generations of babies.

The Dagg Family shared bedding, curtains, a lampshade and a darling mobile with us.

Aunt Carrie and Cousin Jacob gave us a sweet plaque and storage baskets.

And then Daddy put it all together ... just for Baby!