Our Baby is Growing up

Well.... it has been a long time since I have posted and for all of my four faithful followers - I am so sorry :) hee hee.  Now that Hayden is 2, everything has gotten busier around the house.  We have toys everywhere and we are working on getting Hayden to pick them up.  Lately, he has been interested in exercising more independence so he has been put in time out more often since his "independence" is more defiance and boundary testing.

This weekend he was a really good boy because we had to install these motorized storage pulleys in our garage which took the whole day on Sunday to install so we let him watch his favorite videos while we worked away in the garage.

Maybe I'll be better at posting... I am thinking of creating a business blog but will have to do a better job of being consistent on that one.

Hayden's got skills

After finishing 3 weeks of swimming lessons at the Y, Hayden loves to swim equally as much as he loves his baths.  He is definitely a little fish.  He likes to go under water, have water poured over his head, put his hands in the sprinkler and sit in big bowls of water. For the days we don't go to the pool, we got a kiddie pool for him to play in for his own little party oasis at home.  The pic below is him playing in the sprinkler not really sure if he likes the cold water splashing on him.  He still prefers warmer water so we have to fill his kiddie pool with some warm water from the faucet.

 

Hayden is walking all over everywhere now.  He has discovered the safety gate at the top of the stairs with the big fan blowing the cold air from downstairs up; we have to visit that gate and look at the fan about 350 million times per day.  By the end of the day, my feet ache from chasing him around.

At Grandma's lake house (Weeks) on Friday 7-19

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Weeks and Aunt Julie on Friday.  We went swimming and then Hayden played in the water on the front porch.  Grandma has a big steel bowl and we filled it with water for more play time.  Hayden decided to fit himself in this bowl to cool off his butt :).  He made a big mess but what the hay, it is just water.  It was a nice visit topped off with my most favorite food in the world; pork ribs!  Hayden was fast asleep 5 minutes after leaving which made for a quiet ride home.

Have a happy day, I know I will!

Hayden

Beedeebeedeebee - bweedabweedabweeda - Memorial Weekend 2013

The main words that Hayden says are in his own language.  Every once in a while an emphatic "daddy" or "byebye" will come out.  Now at 13 months, he has taken several steps and has been pulling himself up and walking along furniture for a couple of months. He has been a bit frustrated because he wants to be independent so mommy bought him a toy to help him along in his mobile efforts.  Every Saturday morning and some nights after work, when not at swim lessons, we are out rolling or walking around with his new toy.  As you can see, he is very proud of his toy and himself.

We bought Hayden a life jacket for the lake and it is one of those that have the crotch strap.  Sara and I were trying it on him and she was pulling the strap up too tight so I was glad to get to swim lessons so the instructor could prove that I was right in loosening the strap!  

(L to R) Sara, Hayden Nicholas, Colton, William, Merlyn (Sara's dad), & Charlie

We went to Sara's folk's lake in Waubay, SD over memorial weekend.  While we were able to visit with her family, Hayden got to meet his cousins, a few not shown (Catherine 12 mo., Matt 14, Samantha 18).  We brought a few toys including a couple of balls.  The kids had a great time because grandpa's house has so much room to toss and bounce them.

I guess that is all for now.  I probably should get ready for work but it is FRIDAY!! And we are going to the Weeks lake house on Saturday for more lake fun.  I got a couple of surprises that not even Sara knows about.  We will see who fights over them cause they're gonna be fun :).

Bubby boy Approaching One Year Old

SHUT UP!

Look at me in my toy box

Ok you can start painting my picture now

KU Won!  Off to the Sweet 16!

Hayden has already become a Jayhawk basketball fan.  The bottom pic is he and me watching the KU/North Carolina game which we won.  Above that, he has his Jayhawks shirt on.

He is pulling himself up on furniture, crawling and getting into everything.  He is such an active little boy and so happy!  He loves people, other kids, eating, toys and of course his mommy and daddy.  And his mommy and daddy just adore him :).

On another note, mommy's YMCA in Raytown and Independence are closing so it will dramatically cut her extracurricular work schedule.  I am sure that Hayden will love it and so will I (don't tell mommy!).

That's all for now.

8.5 Months and Daddy Gets to Stay Home

The holidays were fun this year with our little boy. For Thanksgiving, we went to grandma and grandpa Drake's lake place and we went to grandma and grandpa Weeks' lake house for Christmas.

Hayden has been getting an mouthful of teeth and was cutting 3 of them along with a cold over xmas so he was a mamby pamby clingy boy. Now that his teeth have broken through his gums, he is feeling much better and more of an independent happy boy. The pics of him are playing with his toys and in his pajamas upon seeing his kitty while playing in his toy box.

He is growing so fast so daddy is happy to report that he left his job for a new position with less travel and a better cultural fit so he gets to play with baby boy every night. Yayyy!

Mommy is doing well as always. She is always even steven and still teaching at the YMCA after work. Hayden also loves to go the to the Y with mommy to play with toys and all of the kids there.

We are also redoing all of our floors upstairs with wood floors, tile and new carpet.

More on that including pics later....

Bumbo Seat

Hayden is 25 weeks and will be 6 months next week.
He likes his Bumbo seat ok but it is a bit constrictive for his active little self.

We did break out the bouncy seat and he loves it, especially if Zumba music is playing. He jumped in it so long he just fell asleep in it!

Since I travel so much, I can't seem to tear myself away from little M3 when I am home which is bad for my fitness but good for my soul and his :-). I am always taking pics so we took a pic last week while playing because he likes looking at himself.

Well it has been too long between posts so I hope it won't he won't be a year before my next one.

Til next time bloggy world...

Peace, Loren

Labor Day Weekend - Hayden is 4 months

Mommy and Hayden woke up after a long drive on Friday to her folks' lake house in SD. There was a
Big party and Hayden had a great time.

He is such a cute little boy and a great traveler. Today he got into the lake up to his legs but the water is too cod for a little one.

The New Firsts

Over the last month since the 4th, we have experienced unprecedented heat and since we now have a little one, we haven't made it to the pool much this year since the baby is too little to wear sun screen.  So we are sporting our tanless bodies which I think are probably in fashion anyway.

We went to Minnesota to visit Grandma and Grandpa Drake and for a wedding where Sara was the maid of honor.

So, Hayden experienced his first plane ride:

Mr. Happy on his 1st plane ride

He was very good boy and was enamored with the lady flight attendants :-).

He went for his 1st swim with daddy at the hotel pool:

Hayden's 1st swim

The pool was sort of cold so he didn't get in any further than the top of his diaper suit.

He has grown out of most all of his newborn cloths, sporting bigger jammies, and thinking many things are funny:

Big boy smile

He is losing his baby hair so he is sporting a new older look at the ripe age of 3 months.  He also started his 1st day of school.  Even though it is sort of a day care right now, Sara and I use the term school to keep us from feeling so guilty plus it is a Montessori school.

Hayden's 1st day at Montessori school

Mommy started her 1st day back at work on 8/1.  It was a very tearful day for her but she managed to take the pic above.

Hayden is now sleeping through the night and can sleep for up to about 10 hours giving us much needed rest - especially mommy since Hayden is drinking mommy's milk.

Well that is all for now... maybe at some point, I will begin using this blog or an affiliate blog as my political forum to start a new political party in which I will be running for president - thank you very much.

//Loren

Happy Independence Day 2012

Happy July 4th!  This is my all time favorite holiday and I usually take stacation/vacation this time of year and head out to the lake and/or pool but I don't get vacation this year because I started a new job. 

We did go to the lake for the day last weekend to watch the fireworks display and to celebrate my dad's birthday.  We are destined to be without tan this year since we now have baby Hayden and it has been too hot to keep him in the shade at the pool.  The plan is to take him to the pool later in the evening in the shade but while it is still warm.  I will post an update on his reaction to swimming.

Hayden is now sleeping at a stretch of 5-6 hours at a time.  Since mommy has abandoned nursing, she pumps Hayden's milk and we bottle feed him.  She takes some supplements that have substantially increased her milk production so we have built up quite a supply that will be useful when Sara goes back to work and Hayden goes to Montessori school.

 Here is an updated picture of Hayden.  He is growing so fast!

HAYDEN 8 WEEKS OLD

That's all for now.

Loren

Father's Day 2012

Today is my first Father's Day and it has been great. I woke up and found that Hayden (mommy) gave me a cute father's day card.

I had made some tye dye onesies for Hayden that looked like they were going to come out great until I washed them. The plan was to have matching tye dye shirts as we went out on our escapades today. He wore his tye dye anyway and we sort of matched.

Hayden and Daddy with Tye Dye Shirts on Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day to all of the daddies.

Peace,

Loren

Hayden Video - 3 & 4 Weeks Old - He is growing!

Hayden at 3 Weeks 

Hayden 4 Weeks Old

Grandma and Grandpa Drake Visit

Last weekend Hayden got to meet his grandparents. We had a really good visit and Hayden posed for a few photos. He gets to see them again in July when we fly up to MN for a wedding.

Hayden and Mommy

Hayden and Mommy Sleeping

I could not resist taking this pic.  I had a 5x7 made and put it on my wallpaper on my iPhone.

//Loren

Baby Hayden is Born

Monday last week, baby Hayden decided he was tired of being in mommy's belly so on Sunday, mommy started labor.

1 hour away at the May birthday party at mom and dad's house, mommy wasn't feeling very well so we decided to leave around 5pm or so.  I had asked her if she thought she might be in labor several times but she didn't think so (but I did :).

On the way home, we drove right into the tornado that had touched down in Olathe, KS and moving East toward us.  It had retracted and was slowly rotating.  I was driving really fast (I broke 100 mph) to try and beat it.  I did not realize I was driving so fast and it scared mommy so we exited and found ourselves at a church for cover.

The rotation passed right over the top of us with mommy and I in the basement.  I felt like she was having contractions and they were getting more regular.  An hour and 1/2 later, we left in sheets of rain, got home and started timing her contractions.  When we reached 5 min apart for 1min in duration for 1 hour, we left for the hospital which was 10:30pm on Sunday night.

We spent until 4:30am in the triage room until they finally decided to give mommy an epidural for relief even though she had only dilated by 1cm in 6hrs.  Within 15 minutes of the epidural, mommy's water broke and 3 hours later, she started working to get that baby out!  Mommy pushed for 3 hours but baby's heart rate was going down during the contraction.  What we didn't know was that Hayden's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and underarms so every time he would crown during the push, he would go back in the belly afterward.

He ended up having to be sucked out of mommy during a contraction with mommy's assistance in pushing. So, he had a headache for the 1st day in the world.

Hayden right after birth

Hayden a few hours in the world

At home sleeping on daddy

Mommy and Hayden exhausted

//Loren

The Kill Zone

For the last few posts, I have started off with mommy news as the birth of our baby boy, Hayden Alexander Weeks, draws nearer.  While mommy is doing well and we have had some professional pregnancy pics taken, I will start with uneventful and gross news with our insane tom cat, Catbert.

We believe that we have finally figured out that Catbert is a Main Coon which is why he seems to be different than the other cats; well at least others that I have had.  We resisted allowing him do go outside because Sara was worried about what might happen to him or if he would run off.  I was not worried at all because he has easy food at our house.  Why would he ever run off when he gets fed and has a warm place to nap whenever he wants!  But, Sara being Sara, decided that she would try to put him on a harness and leash him to our hand rail outside so he could get some fresh air and be tortured by not being able to participate in the outdoor action.

Needless to say, Houdini did his trick and was out of the harness in about 5 seconds flat and out and about.  Of course, Sara being stubborn, decided to try it again and again making tighter adjustments, etc to no avail.  So, one day, I decided to stop the insanity and let him out assuring Sara that he would come back when he was hungry.  And, of course, I LOVE being right..... and while he went on a full out killing spree he has always come home like clock work.

We really regret declawing him but what is done is done BUT, it does not seem to hamper his hunting abilities one bit.  He has killed birds, mice, chipmunks, lizzards, other stuff we probably don't know about.  He did try a toad but he got a frothy mouth so he stays away from them now.  He has gone through different phases of killing; only eating the heads, eating the whole thing, eating everything but the stomach, or leaving parts so he can eat it later.  He even eats all of the bird feathers!

We now have a kill zone in our garage where we have a newer remnant piece of carpet meant to wipe our feet before entering the house.  This has become the place where the prey is brought back for the feast.  Unfortunately, mommy gets to be grossed out when coming home from her many fitness teaching sessions at the YMCA or from work or wherever she is coming from because she is an active little thing and is always somewhere (typically the YMCA; her second home away from home).  So here are a few things mommy gets to deal with upon arrival into the garage:

The Kill Zone with the Stomach left over for later

The Stomach

This is a stomach from this morning's kill - Sara has not come home yet so it will be an interesting entrance.  Hee hee.

Relaxing after the big kill

Looking out of the dining room window into the back yard, is a burm where Catbert loves to hide and poop and do whatever else he does skulking around.  See if you can find him in the pic below:

Where's Waldo?

Ok, enough of the crazy cat :-)....  Mommy is now beyond 37 weeks and my new best friend is coming very soon.  Due on May 17th we are on the countdown and mommy is really feeling good with no signs of small contractions.  He is kicking her and she has had a couple of sleepless nights because his activity wasn't very pleasant feeling.  Also, while she has softened (according to the Doc's visit), he hasn't dropped yet so she while she is carrying a smidge lower, she is still having heart burn and can't eat a lot at one time.  We have a collage of sorts on our mantle because we have sonogram pics as well as our trip to Vegas, our wedding pic, anniversary cards and these really cool blocks that Sara's vendor, Dandy Products, gave to her.  Check out our mantle:

The blocks have weeks, months, days, and years, so they can go as long as he lives.  Very Cool Gift!!  Last week we had some professional pregnancy photos shot and I took the opportunity to shoot a pic of the photographer shooting the pics.  Of course, the professional pics are really cool but for some reason, the link she posted them on so we could choose our favorites is not working this morning so I will have to see if my techie wife can access the link or if I am just being a bad pilot.  Here is a couple of pics of the pics :-):

She does not look over 8 mo. pregnant!

This pose didn't even make the cut because front on she doesn't look pregnant.  The blocks spell "Hayden"

This is a crappy pic above with my camera but the pro's pic looked great!  It was only a pic of the belly and the blocks.  If you look real close you can still see mommy's ab muscles on the side.  When they were taking this photo, I told them she didn't look pregnant on a frontal shot so it got canned.

Well, I have taken enough time.....  Have a happy day and if we act like it will be our last we will savor the day.

//Loren

Week 36: We're on the Home Stretch

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to check the position of Hayden.  The two naive parents went into it thinking we were going to see a full baby in the belly and what he looks like.  We thought we would see these fat little cheeks, arms and legs, and find out if he has hair on his head.  Turns out the bigger the baby is, the harder it is to see anything that looks like a baby.  We did recognize the spine though. 

He is currently 5lbs 12 oz. and will be gaining somewhere around 1oz. per day so we think he will be just over 7lbs.  His head is in the down position facing mommy's pelvis.  His rear end is on her left side and his feet are on the right which is why we can see his kicks on her right side.

As you can see in the pic below, mommy does not look 8 months pregnant and you can still see her muscles on the side of her tummy.

Week 36

Mommy has had 2 baby showers so far and I have no idea how many more.  We have a lot of really nice gifts and I have a feeling our 1st born little boy is going to be spoiled.  He has some really cute outfits and some really great toys that will keep him engaged!

As far as everything else, we are doing fine, our cats are crazy as ever.  Catbert killed a bird the other day and ate the whole thing.  It was very crunchy and I video'd the last part of it just for Sara.  You can see the pic below is after he has eaten the bird because he has a little feather stuck to his whisker.

Catbert Feather-face

Well that's all for now.  

Loren

Belly at Week 34 - The Meaning of Easter

At week 34, mommy seems to be doing well.  According to Babycenter.com, she should start to become a bit tired.  Baby Hayden is kicking and every once in a while you will hear Sara exclaim "Wewwwww! This typically means that he has had a hard kick somewhere in the rib section.  As you can see, mommy hardly looks almost 8 months pregnant and you can still see her ab muscles on her sides which, of course, she is proud of :).

34 Weeks Pregnant

The Meaning of Easter

It seems to me that the meaning of Easter is to honor Christ's life and for Christians to recognize his resurrection from his torturous death.  Jesus lived his life loving everyone regardless.  If that is the case, and we strive to live our life the way he did, then why do we have so much bigotry, hypocrisy and down right crime and war in the name of God?

For me, it defies logic to see people or institutions mistreat people in the name of their "religious beliefs or institutional dogma."  Hide or ignore crimes committed to protect the reputation of individuals and/or religious institutions.  Or to ridicule, ostracize or hate anyone who is different. 

My celebration this Easter is to embrace all the diversity in this world.  Understanding that life is imperfectly perfect, that God does not cause disease or suffering because if he did, he would be a sadistic hateful entity.  That heaven is not a place but a state; we are all energy, forming and transforming; we are all connected to each other and "the source" the thing that powers everything, our fellow humans, the animals, the plants, the universe.

I am a Cosmic.  I believe we are all striving for the same thing ultimately discovering who we really are through our physical experience on this planet.

Maybe everyone should eat a peace lilly and may you all have a peaceful Easter.

Loren

Week 33 Belly Shots

Vegas Baby!

Last weekend, Sara and I went to Las Vegas for a quick jaunt before baby comes.  Plus, we had a plane ticket that we had to use that was going to expire if not used.  We arrived on Friday night and Saturday hung out at the pool, went to eat at Harrah's buffet, and then went to see Circ du Soleil "O."

We rented a car through Price Line which I must say for renting cars is sweet because we got the car for 50% of the price we would have normally paid.  On Sunday we drove to Hoover Dam.  If you have never seen this engineering wonder, you must go see it.  It is only 40 minutes away from Las Vegas and is totally worth seeing.

We snapped a few good pics below:

Mama outside Harrah's after dinner 

Mama and me on our way to "O" in front of Caesar

's Palace

The Colorado River on the backside of Hoover Dam

Taking a photo on top of Hoover Dam - Mama looks pretty preggy with baby

The upstream side of Hoover Dam leading to Lake Mead which was created by the Dam in 1935

Straight down on the backside of the Dam

That's all for now.  New belly pics coming soon.  Mama will be at 34 weeks this Tuesday.  Hayden will soon be here!

Loren

Sara's Grandma, Ultrasound, New Belly Pics

Again, I am tardy on posting.  We just got back from MN the 1st part of this week because Sara's grandmother passed away and we went up for the visitation.  Fortunately, we were able to visit her (Dorothy Drake) while we were there for Thanksgiving.  Her grandmother was very astute at the time as she looked at us and said "One of you is quite a bit older than the other" (go figure!).  She then went on to say that we had "matching coats" which were the same brand but different colors.  We think most people might just think we have different coats.  The last memorable thing she said was a funny comment about a woman who was sleeping in a chair across from her/us by the bird cage.  She had slumped down so far that half of her behind was almost off the chair and her neck was cocked close to the corner of the chair where the back meets the seat.  Sara's grandmother said she was "sure gonna have a sore neck when she woke up."  I bet she did!

Sara and I are getting ready to leave for Vegas on a short weekend getaway to see the Circ du Soleil show "O" and then go see the Hoover Dam.  That ought to be dam fun (hahahaha!).  This will be our last trip of any kind before Hayden is born because we are getting close at the 7 week countdown.

Today we had our second ultrasound and he is in the 46% and weighs 4lbs 4oz and is right on track to be around a 7-8lb baby.  Everything looks normal as you can see in the ultrasound photos below if you know what they mean which I don't without someone telling me (unless obvious):

Boy shot, face, profile, and nose & mouth

Below are week 31 and week 32 Pics:

Week 31 on the left; Week 32 on the right

That's all for now.  Time to go to bed.  Sweet dreams bloggy world.

Peace out,

Loren