The day after the shower Johnna brought over Elena to come and visit us. I think it was just to help finish the cake left over for the shower, but it was still a nice visit. You may remember that I posted a blog when Elena was born. She is now six weeks old!
I am also practicing my baby holding techniques. I’m getting better each time. The bobble-head still scares me a bit.
The same day Elena came to visit us, our baby birds in the planter flew away. For the past few weeks we have had four baby birds in the planter on the back porch. We grew accustomed to the the chirping day and night. A few times we went inside so that momma bird would fly over to feed them.
I was working outside when I saw them one by one fly away leaving the nest behind.
Yesterday was the baby shower. That was a strange experience as a guy. Every time a “CUTE” outfit was opened, a series of “ahhhhhhhh’s” could be heard.
Beth and I are very overjoyed with the generosity of you, our friends and family. We recieved a lot of great baby clothes and some much needed baby items (including the Butt Paste.)
I took hundreds of photos at the shower and hours of video. I will have a video posted later in the week. I posted a collection of photos on my flickr account.
When we got home last night, there was another person who was very appreciative of the gift bags. Missy made her self at home in one of the bags. Once again, Beth and I want to thank everybody for their generosity.
We hope you enjoyed yourselves. A few people may not have gotten their shower favors when they left. If you didn’t take one when you left, let us know and we can get you one.
Well it has already happened. Greta was moving and sitting in a weird place last night. Beth was so uncomfortable that she said, and I quote, “Your daughter is really making me uncomfortable right now!” So I guess when she does something wrong or annoys Beth she is MY DAUGHTER. Any other time she is OUR DAUGHTER.
Jess brought over our nephew Josiah for us to meet. Jess came into town a few weeks ago bringing the baby to meet his new family, along with our other nephews Stephen and AJ. This was our first time to meet the little guy, and he was wide awake to greet us.
This was also “my test” to see how I would do in holding a baby. I am not afraid to admit that I am scared to death to hold a new born. The biggest scare is the bobble-head. Josiah however is able to hold up his head pretty well.
The bigger test was “The Missy Test.” Missy has only met one baby in her life. When Stephen began walking he visited us. Missy at the time was not afraid, until he started chasing after her. I saw that the cat was asleep in the bedroom so I took Josiah in to meet her. She stared cautiously.
On an unrelated topic, I won second place for my lizard photograph at the Washington County Fair. I however feel a bit robbed. The first place photo was not very good. It was nice to win though.
Another “future friend” of Greta’s will be Jackson Levi Yeager. Jackson is no longer a baby, but a little boy. He’s a little over 2 1/2 years old and the son of Kristian and Sara Yeager. I went to college with both Kristian and Sara, where they met. In fact one of the first few people I met at Wesleyan was Kristian as he lived down the hall in the dorm.
Jackson was born in November of 2005. He will be three years old in a few short months. The last time we saw Jackson was last October when we visited with Andy and Maggie to meet Oscar. While we were there Jackson put on an a show for us that included a top hat and his sippy cup.
We also missed our opportunity (because of the labor scare) to see Jackson last month as well. Kristian also helps write and review toys for Millionaireplayboy.com. We don’t get to see a lot of Kristian, Sara, and Jackson, something we have to rectify. Kristian sent me a few new photos of their family beach vacation last week. Here is the latest photo of the little guy inside a sharks mouth.
Jackson has an image gallery where you can see photos of him from birth.
Well its been about 10 weeks since our last pregnancy status. Beth is now at 33 weeks. According to BabyCenter.com Greta should weigh about 4 pounds. However, she is most likely bigger than that. About 4 weeks ago she was weighed at 3 pounds 10oz.
Beth also thinks that she has dropped. She is now feeling her movements lower than before.
We had our second birth class last night. We learned the breathing techniqes. All I can say is that they are much cooler when Bill Cosby does it!
This week we had our first child birth class. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The only thing I knew was that Beth would be taught how to “BREATHE.” I remember from the comedy album Bill Cosby: Himself his routine on the breathing. I’m not naive enough to believe that is how it would go, but it did provide us with a way to joke about the class.
We were scheduled to have these classes a few weeks ago. In fact, we were supposed to start the same day Beth went into pre-labor. Luckily we were able to sign up for a different set of classes.
The first class was a basic overview about how the baby grows, pregnancy problems, and signs that you are in labor. I was already confused on when we go to the hospital. Again, pop culture has me believing that I have to rush her to the hospital. This of course is not the case. Again, I’m not that naive, just confused. Well after learning about the signs I still don’t know! Beth however says she knows, and I should just leave it up to her.
At the class a woman talked about when she went into labor. She knew it was happening, but didn’t tell her husband for almost two days. She said that would only “FREAK” him out. I have a feeling Beth will do the same for me. I sometimes have a strong sense of anxiety or worrying (along with a fun stomach condition) The anxiety doesn’t dictate my life, but I do on occasion “FREAK OUT.” I don’t have panic attacks, but I do tend to keep something in my head for long periods of time. Will I start to worry? Probably. The pre-labor situation has already freaked me out a bit. I can’t describe the fear I had for Beth and the baby as I drove to the hospital. Since then I worry about making sure Beth doesn’t exert herself too much.
Well after the first class I found myself still a bit confused about things. I think the biggest reason for the confusion is because I won’t be able to tell when Greta is ready to be born, only Beth will know.
Next week we are to bring our pillows to learn some relaxing techniques (a.k.a BREATHING.) This of course is to help Beth with her natural child birth. She hasn’t ruled out pain meds. I think she is crazy if she doesn’t. Again, this is pop-culture telling me that she will yell at me and tell me how much I suck when she is in labor. I need to stop watching so much TV!
It’s time to meet another future friend of Greta’s. Oscar is the son of my good friend Andy and Maggie Jones. For those of you who don’t know Andy, he was one of the best men at my wedding. I met Andy in college. Since then we have kept in touch, and even started the toy website MillionairePlayboy.com with another college friend Kristian. Andy and Maggie were married in 2004 and last August brought Oscar into their family.
On August 11th, Oscar will be turning one. It’s hard to believe that it has been a year already. We missed out on visiting with Oscar last month because of the labor scare. If you haven’t visited Oscar’s baby blog (his middle name is the password) I encourage you to do it. Andy updates it every few days with photographs and videos. He also includes Oscar in toy reviews for his other website NonToxicReviews.com. Below is one of the videos that includes Oscar going Back To the Future!
Oscar may not be aware yet that he is going to have a new friend yet, but we are sure that they will become friends. Andy has already joked that Greta will be Oscar’s future girlfriend. However, I know what his father was like so I may have to keep my eye on the little guy!
Greta’s best friend has been born (at least we keep saying that they will be)! Elena Grace was born on July 16th. She was 6 pounds 15 ounces.
We got to meet her yesterday for the first time. Of course she slept the entire time, and didn’t know we were even there. For those who don’t know Johnna is a good friend of both myself and Beth. Beth and Johnna were good friends in high school together. After college, I met Johnna through mutual friends and we begun to hang out. I actually met Beth through her. Ray and Johnna got married shortly after we did.
