Deegan Matthew Silbernagel

Congrats to Chad and Marci who welcomed Deegan Matthew this morning at 1:51am. He was a full month early at 4lbs 9oz and 17 3/4" long. I can't wait to meet this little guy!

New Arrival

Welcome to Danica Grace Dinsmore born Monday March 1st at 4:37pm after 3 pushes. Baby girl weighed in at 9lbs even and 20.25" long.

 Here is the banner I made for Danica's baby shower back in January...

 I still have a bunch of pictures from the shower and hope to get them up in the next couple of days..

Flavor Time!

Mark Novemeber 26th on your calenders as Baby Chaney 2.0 Flaver Day. My appointment is at 8am and we should find out if our intuitions are correct or not. Don't forget to vote on your thought of the flavor on the side bar.

New and Improved Cooking Time

This morning I had a Dorctor's appointment and we now know an actaul gestational age, it will be so much easier now when people "ask how far along?" and "when are you due?" The new little munchkin is cooked 15 Weeks 5 Days meaning that Sunday I will be 16 weeks. The new ETA is April 19th. Both Graham and I have a feeling that I will end up with another C-Section and that this little "lady" will be coming closer if not ON his birthday. We always knew that Oliver was a boy, that I was going to have a C-section, and no matter how much I wanted an October Baby he was going to be early. With this one we are having equally strong feelings, i think it is parent's intuition. Within the next few weeks I should start to feel movement, my FAVORITE part, I even dreamed about it the other night and it felt so real. In about a month I will have my Mid-pregnancy ultrasound where we will finally find out the flavor of 2.0 and my next appointment will be Dec. 5th. Today also marked the first time our little family has ever had the flu shot and we are a little wary and curious as to if there will be a reaction. We all got an inactive strain so I think we will all be OK

This pregnancy has been so easy it is kinda creepy for me, I almost expect something bad or weird to happen at any moment...

Only a week tops of feeling sick and at 6 weeks, I am eating meat again (SHOCK!) it's been about 14 year I think, besides a few pieces of turkey a couple years ago. I find that I am just eating whatever sounds good to me at that moment and most of the time I won't know until right before that meal. I have only gained 2 pounds total and none in my last 3 visits. That makes me feel good, wish my body reacted this way when I am NOT preggers! The little one's heart beat was also very strong like Big Brothers was and a good 144 beats per minute.

All is going well and I can wait to actually start showing more.

That's all for now!

The New Adventures in Babysitting

Tuesday was Oliver's first day with his new sitter. She has a 2 1/2 year old daughter and currently watches a sweet little 9 month old little girl. After the first day, I already noticed changes in O. WE mentioned some things we were working on, like walking, and she told Graham, we'll get right on that and get hims walking in no time! Already by Wednesday he was taking steps and each day he is progressing and getting more confident setting out on his 2 feet. Oliver origianlly started taking steps the week before his birthday when Graham had a week off with him. The next week when he went back to the sitters, he started refusing to even stand while you helf his hands. We mentioned this to her and she didn't seem too interested, she was quite content on just holding him all day. She would say, I tried to get him to walk but he wouldn't. We thought it was odd and a little concerning.
Some wonderful things our new sitter does you would think ALL sitters would do, but to use they seem a luxury.
1. She tells me how many and what kind of diapers he had.
2. How much and what he ate for Lunch and a snack. (our previous girl often would tell me he wouldn't eat anything (all day?)
3. She tells me how long he slept. (the other girl did that too, but often it was not at all or 30 mins.)
4. She also keeps track of her hours (she is hourly, before it was by the day) and gives me a post it on Thursdays with her times.
5. She will be providing me with reciepts!
6. She will be giving me a card to fill out with his shots, physician information and such. what a novel idea!
7. She follows the state regulations and mentions it frequently. This makes me at ease since I don't know what the rules are and I know that she is responsible and following them.

All in all it has been a great week, O is loving it at his new daycare and seems to be gorwing a progressing at a faster rate.

Guess that teaches you that parent's first intincts are usually right!

Baby Chaney 2.0

Wednesday morning I had my first formal ultrasound on the new bambino (i think of her as Stella...) Anyhoo, my doctor ordered the ultrasound to help get a better gestational age. I haven't heard back from my doc or the radiologist but I think I am about 12 weeks give or take a few days. The first ultrasound I had wasn't much of a picture, so with no further ado...here is Baby Chaney 2.0.

 

Face

 

Profile

 

Foot

 

What Happened to my Child?

Graham and I have both adapted and gotten used to Oliver's personality and temperment. We always hear from others how he is such a good boy and so well behaved. I believe this to be mostly true though those people rarely see him often and for some reason his is on his best behavior. 

A typical evening for me is picking him up at the sitters, finding a snack, any snack to keep him happy on the way home, crying when I set him in the corral, more crying, dinner, throwing food on the floor, more crying mixed with play, then bedtime and crying when he sees the crib and a sippy cup, 10 mins of crying then sleep. (He has for the most part been sleeping through the night which is AMAZING!) 

Tonight, he fussed the tiniest bit when I put him in the car. Found a fruit leather, that he devoured, and poured some cheerios into his cup holder (you do not want to see the back seat of my car...) He was happy the whole way home, stuffing his face with cheerios and chatting. Mom got him a set of 26 Baby Einstein DVD's and I showed them to him at a stop light. He played with that for the last 5 mins of the drive. Once we got home he threw a fit for a couple seconds since I took them away from him. We went in the house and he was still a little fussy, I set him down and went to the DVD player, he instantly calmed down (Baby or Little Einstein ALWAYS calms him down) I put him in his bouncy with a couple of toys and turned on Neighborhood Animals. I was able to get a few things done, look at the mail, check my email, put the dog out, water the cat, etc. I came back, still in a great mood. Set him up in his high chair and gave him a banana, ate the entire thing! (as some people know, he has started a habit of throwing his food on the floor which is the funniest thing in the world to him.) Next I made us both Grilled Cheese sandwiches. He ate most, and then threw the rest on the floor. But he kept his sippy on his tray fro most of the meal! Next was time for jammies. He has also decided that it is super fun to be naked and crawls all around his crib and lays on his tummy when I have a diaper, or baby wipe, or pajamas. He giggles with delight. Got him dressed and put him in the corral with a bunch of his new birthday books. No crying. Just content and delight with his books. For 2 hours, pure bliss, happiest baby on the planet! Not sure what happened today but LOVE it!! 

I didn't want to ruin this sweet happiness and let him stay up until 9pm since he wasn't showing any signs of being tired or crankiness. I made a sippy of milk, grabbed a soft book and then Oliver and took him to bed. He let out a whimper when he realized what was happening. I looked threw the book with him, set his cup down, and say good night. Not a peep. I checked my email as I didn't want to sit in the Living Room listening to his cries, went back up after about 10 mins, still quiet. Now I don't know if he is asleep, reading, or playing, but I just can't believe the 180 he has done today. I don't expect it to last, but could you imagine if my sweet little boy came back? And for good?!

Just for Scuz

 

I'm One. 

Or is that I'm #1? 

He is wearing Beaver Orange!

  

Just the cutest boy in the whole wide world...

 

Losing my mind...

I am afraid of what I will be like come summer. Since I got pregnant with Oliver I have aquired Mush Brain. Originally I attributed it to my body having to now think of growing another person, but it has stayed...things that you would think are simple to come up with don't even occure to me. (Example: Last year when Oliver was still an infant and getting baths in the special baby tub, i could never figure out how to get all the water out through the drainage holes...one day Graham watched me and suggested turning the whole tub over to dump the water out...duh.) Mom suggested that maybe it is lack of sleep which I am inclined to agree with...

This post comes from an incident this morning. I got up, got Graham and Oliver up and we loaded in the car to go to my Dr. Appt for "Baby Amelie". Mind you, this appointment was for 8:15 am in Gresham. We got there on time, went to check in, and the woman looked at me and asked, why are you here? I told I had an appointment, she of course said  no, you have one on Friday the 3rd. I had the day of the week AND the month wrong. For weeks now I have been certain it was on the 25th. Not sure where that came from...

So this leaves me pondering...what will I be like come summer? After another bambino saps my brain energy and most likely even less sleep. I am starting to think I may be institutionalized or just a drooling lump on the couch.

One more sacrifice for being a mommy.

No Day at the Beach

On Oliver's 11 month birthday we packed up and headed to Pacific City for a day of sand and surf. Graham tied the surf board to the top of the car, we all piled in, including Roxy, and got on our way. The forcast for the day was to be mid 70's and sunny by afternoon. When we arrived it was maybe 60 degrees and windy! the waves weren't very good either. Graham didn't bring a sweatshirt and so we decided if it was too cold for him is was WAY to cold for Oliver. We played in the sand for a few minutes and then got back in the car and headed toward Tillamook to the Cheese factory. It has been years since I have been there and I am always surprised at how busy it is. When I was little I spent a summer or two hanign out in the Land of Cows and we used to visit the Cheese factroy frequently. This day you must have had to wait in line for 1/2 hour before even ordering your ice cream, then people moved over the the cheese line while eating thier cone! We took a bring look around and got back in our car and drove home.

 

Got the Dog and the Board, ready to go...

 

  

Look at my teeth coming in!

 Stop! In the naamme of loove....

 

Toes in the sand.

This is what happens....

when you only take one 45 minute nap.

The little man woke up at his new usual time of 9 am and like normal did not take a morning nap either. He took his afternoon nap at the new regular time of 1pm but only slept for 45 minutes, nothing could get him back to sleep. We went on our walk (in the 90 degree heat) early to try to lull him back to sleep and that did not work. We had dinner at our new earlier time of 8pm and he ate his yogurt with his eyes closed! Next, a few sips of milk and he was a goner!

Guess having daddy home sick threw him for a loop...

Welcome Baby Kuhns!

Friends of ours, Dena & Shawn Kuhns just welcomed their first baby girl Friday June 13th. She weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz.

Welcome Addison Olivia Kuhns! Oliver can't wait to meet his NEW girlfriend!

mama and baby

Season for Strawberries

I think I have always taken Oregon strawberries for granted, that is until we moved to San Francisco. The strawberries there were never a juicy, or sweet or even very strawberry-ie. Graham used to rave all the time to the people at the Ritz about Oregon berries and they often just shrugged him off. Last June while I was visiting for Ann's baby shower I picked up a flat of fresh picked berries in Lebanon, packed the best ones in tupperware and flew them back to SF in my suitcase! Graham finally convinced all those Californians that Oregon has the best strawberries.
Growing up I never really thought of there being a strawberry season (usually I just knew that they were in the garden ready to be picked and eaten and we ate a lot of strawberry shortcake) even though I attended the Strawberry Parade and Festival religiously every year! Living in CA opened my eyes to another one of Oregon's great pleasures and we are very happy to be sharing that with Oliver.

First bite is always a sour face.