Merry Christmas

Baby Thunder Update

Hi all,

Over the past weekend Joslyn has reached some major milestones. She is holding herself up for much longer periods when we have tummy time. Joslyn has also become self-aware. She notices her legs and arms, and reaches for her feet. This past Friday Joslyn noticed herself in the mirror and smiled and laughed at her reflection. It is really cute to see her smile at herself. What can I say, I'm a proud papa! Here are couple more photos of our gal Joslyn.

Thanks for reading

Georgia Aquarium

Yesterday Kate, Joslyn and I joined some good friends of ours from Salt Lake City at the Georgia Aquarium. The Georgia Aquarium is the world’s largest with over 8 million gallons of water and the largest collection of aquatic animals from all over the globe.We all had a wonderful time and I wanted to post some pictures of our trip to downtown Atlanta.

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

The Story of Our Move

I've added posts to outline the story of our move... So the best way to read them is to start about 8 posts back at the post titled "Prologue--Long time coming" and then work your way back to the top. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a comment or two!

Watch for another new post soon on our first week back at work! Love you all!

Kate

Chapter 7--Home Stretch

Monday morning was a leisurely morning as we just had a short drive to Chattanooga on the task list for the day. Which was good, given my exceedingly fragile GI state from my mysterious illness...

Arriving in Chattanooga, we had a great afternoon and evening with our friends Vicki and Crandall who had allowed us to crash at their place for our last night on the road. Amazingly, we were already planning to meet the movers at the house in Roswell early on Tuesday morning. We made it! 2200 miles under our belts in just under a week!

Which leads us to the second great thing about moving with our movers--the unpacking service. So when Rodney and the crew unloaded our stuff at the new house, they not only put the boxes in their proper rooms, but then unpack the boxes, unwrap the items from the gobs of brown packing paper, and cart away the whole mess. Sure it leaves you with piles of stuff everywhere, but at least you don't have to fight with all the boxes! Here's Pete in the kitchen prior to it being put away...


As Pete, Jos, Odessa and I said farewell to Rodney & Crew, we settled into the tasking of making our new house our home:)

Chapter 6--Timing could be better

The fun we had in Rogers was dampened by only one thing--the fact that Saturday night I become ill... It started with a serious session of vomiting, immediately followed by a hardcore body shaking, skin burning, fever. We ruled out food poisoning right away, as we'd all eaten the same stuff in pretty much that last 24 hours... So, it seems to have been just a really unfortunate bout of a quick GI bug.

Because of the fever on Saturday night, I didn't really log more than a couple hours of restless, uncomfortable sleep. As I crawled out of bed on Sunday morning, I seriously considered crawling back in. I could barely see straight, could hardly drink any fluids, and couldn't even stand the thought of eating anything--how was I going to drive the 10 hours to Chattanooga feeling like this?

The only saving grace was that Joslyn had been a great traveler so far. Into to and out of her car seat with minimal fussing, food and fresh diaper every couple hours--she was great! But, that day, neither of us could make the 10 hours, managing about 7 before we stopped at the Nashville La Quinta for the night.

Chapter 5--Another day, another gas station donut

So here we are on the road again... Oddly enough, Arkansas was nothing like I imagined it. I'm not sure what I expected, but I'd always thought AR to be the kind of place where I might slow down, but wouldn't ever want to stop... I was quite pleasantly surprised! The upper corner of Oklahoma and upper Arkansas (where Rogers is) are both very beautiful with steep undulating hills, that are lush and tree covered. And, to top it off, the cool weather that had come through just before us had started the leaves changing, so the hills were twinged with color.

We were excited to get to Rogers, because it meant a night at Mono's house instead of a hotel, and a rest day with no driving on Saturday--a well earned break! We had a great time with Mono: sampling some yummy local Mexican food, watching sports on a sweet TV, exploring the best back country roads I've seen in a long time for a road bike tour, enjoying the beautiful weather at a cool state park (Devil's Den), and last but not least, completely gorging ourselves on true southern BBQ at the Whole Hawg Cafe. Too much fun!

(Look, Jos is having tummy time and not crying hysterically! Wahoo!!!!)

Chapter 4--We're not in Kansas anymore!

Actually, we still are... For all of you out there with a furry canine traveling partner, La Quinta will be your friend on the road. Of our four hotel stays on the trip, three of them were at La Quintas. It's great because they realize that you love your dog, and most likely wouldn't be traveling with them if they were poorly behaved. So, the La Quinta company policy is that chain-wide, they allow dogs of all sizes for no extra cost. That's right! Not a single penny more!

So, after a long day of driving through the remnants of an early season snowstorm across Colorado and Kansas, we were happy to roll into the Witchita La Quinta. And, it was a recently renovated one, so it was very nice with a free hot breakfast. Love it! The bed was great--we would have loved to have had the luxury of sleeping in... but alas, the road beckoned.

Today's push would take us to Rogers, Arkansas. What's in Rogers? Well one, our friend Ryan (aka Mono). And two, you are a stone's throw from greatness--the WalMart Home Office in Bentonville, AR

Chapter 3--The journey is part of the destination

Before we could leave SLC on Wednesday, we had three very important action items we needed to tackle.
1) Meet with the notary to sign all the stacks of documents for the closing (we did it absentee via FedEx).
2) One last visit to Joslyn's doctor for her signature on some papers. It was sad to say goodbye.
3) To vote! We waited in line for just over an hour for the privilege of casting our votes in the presidential election. It was really powerful to see so many people there, so excited to vote! I think we all felt a sense of pride at being a part of this historic event.

With those things accomplished, we headed out--Pete and Odessa in Emzie (the Mazda) and Joslyn and I in the Honda Fit... The journey had begun! Our first destination was supposed to be Denver to spend time with our friends Bob and Sue. But, because of our late start, we just made it as far as Cheyenne for the night. Here's Jos looking happy because she doesn't know what she's in for:)


Arriving in Denver on Thursday morning, we had a great visit with Bob and Sue. But, I regret to say that in the excitement, I completely neglected my photographic responsibilities, so unfortunately, I have no photos to capture the event:(

Back on the road, we headed to Witchita, KS for the night... More to come, I'm off to bed for now:)

Chapter 2--Life is a series of boxes

Our next task was to get the house ready for the movers arriving on Monday, 10/20. In between sorting through closets for keep & move stuff vs donate stuff, we had a great time spending time with all of our friends in Salt Lake. We are going to miss everyone so much!!!!

The movers arrived on Monday. Rodney, the driver, and his two man crew Sandy and Geraldo. It was funny to see this huge truck roll up into our tiny little neighborhood!

We're going to miss the view of the mountains too!

I also included a photo of the SLC house after our yard renovation--we love it and are bummed that we didn't do it three years ago!

Moving through a full-service movers is quite an experience--first off, you can't pack anything because if you pack it, the movers' insurance will not insure it. So, we basically set aside the stuff we planned to carry in our cars and anything else not bolted down was packed up by Rodney and the crew. Our quaint little bungalow in SLC was apparently filled with stuff that had been cleverly hidden, and it turns out that we had more stuff than they thought that we did. It was a strange sense of deja vu to see our life carefully collapsed back into another series of boxes... it felt like just yesterday that we'd arrived here.

It took them just a day and a half to get everything boxed up, and then another day to load it on the truck. And so, Wednesday, 10/23, we hit the road...

Chapter 1--The Process of Buying

In the whirlwind of house hunting at the end of September, we did find a house in Roswell, just north of Atlanta. Not exactly what we'd expected (we'd hoped to be closer to ATL in-town), but we liked the house and the neighborhood was quite nice. So, we put in an offer, and it was accepted prior to us heading back to SLC. Then, however, begins the fun with inspections and other due diligence stuff leading up to our 10/21 closing date.

Joslyn and I headed back to Roswell for a combo home inspection/work transition trip in early October. I was glad that we'd gone back--the home inspection was good, though had one pretty major snag---the roof was aged and had hail damage. So, it failed inspection. Our realtor, Jerry, was great. As soon as he found out that news, he was on the phone getting roofing contractors out for bids. It was crazy--big house, big roof, big bill. There was no way Pete and I were going to go for that and decided to turn it back to the seller. Here's Jos with Realtor Jerry.


The seller decided to work with his insurance company to see if they would cover it because of the hail damage. The trouble was that they didn't send an adjuster out to review the claim until the end of the week prior to closing. Long story short, the insurance did cover it, the roof was replaced, but we ended up delaying closing by two days in order for it to all get done before we took ownership. But, all is well, as we now had a place we could call our own:)

Prologue--Long Time Coming...

Well, this post has been a long time in coming! Pete last updated everyone back on September 30th, and it is now just over a month later. First, a few updated pictures of Miss Joslyn. She is officially about 3.5 months!


Here's Jos hating "tummy time". Notice the big fat tears for effect:)


Big Sister Odessa says "what's all the fuss about?!"


But, this is one of my favorite things--Joslyn has started exploring her vocals. So, she will contentedly hang out making the sweetest cooing and shrieking noises. Pete and I tried to capture some on video, so enjoy!



There's been so much that has happened, so I am going to tackle it all in a series of several posts... So, ready, set, here we go!

New Music Update

Hello,

This is a quick update to inform you the music player has been updated. 10 new songs for you to enjoy while ready the blog. I hope everyone likes it - several people told us how much they loved the last 10 songs - so hopefully you will like these as well.

Thanks again for reading...

Late summer update...

Hi All,

It looks like summer just flew by. The last thing I remember was Joslyn being born and after that life has been a blur. Kate's Mom came out and helped us adapt to our new lives as parents for 2 weeks in August. We got our house ready to put on the market. My parents came out in September and we went to 3 National Parks and 2 National Monuments in 3 Days. We went to Atlanta and found a new home and now finally I can sit down a share with you everything we did over the last 2 months.

The first few weeks after Joslyn was born went pretty smoothly - I think. We kind just enjoyed having her around. We started getting her used to her sling that Kate and I both use. It really comes in handy when you're trying to multi-task. I use mine every Saturday when we go to the farmers market. Kate uses hers everyday! I can't recall if there was any one thing that stood out during those first few weeks. The real excitement started when Kate's Mom showed up.

Grandma Okenatez flew in to Salt Lake just before Joslyn turned 1 month old. We had a great time with grandma in town. We went to the park and the farmers market while she was here. The best was when she agreed to babysit Joslyn so that Kate and I could celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to red Butte Gardens and enjoyed seeing Wilco perform under the stars. It was one of the best Wilco shows I've seen and I was glad grandma was able to take care of Joslyn. Grandma's reward (and early birthday present!) was her own evening under the stars at Red Bute Gardens. Kate, Joslyn and I took her to see "A Prairie Home Companion". 2 great shows back to back. This was Joslyn's first show.

One of the best things Grandma O did for us while she was here was take care of Joslyn. This allowed Kate and I to fine tune the house before we put it on the market. We did about 2 weeks worth of work in one. Thanks again Grandma! Hopefully all goes well and we sell our house! Shortly after we finished working on the house Grandma had to go home.

We now had 2 weeks before my parents would come ou,t and judging by the last 2 weeks, they would go quickly. We spent most of the time with good friends here in Salt Lake and finished the interior of the house.

Now came the arrival of my parents who were also just as excited as Grandma O to see Joslyn. My parents were only going to be in town for a week so we were going to squeeze in as many activities as possible. The first big event was a trip up to Park City and a ride on the Olympic Bobsled. Grandpa was excited to give this a go! So Kate and I joined him for a 1 minute flat death ride. Note - they or I do not recommend this ride if you have a bad back. By the time we hit the 4th turn we traveling at 70 MPH into wall - at that point you turn 180 degrees and pull 4 G's. Here is where the bad back part comes in. When we hit 4 G's I thought by back was going to break - literally! The bad part was I knew I had 11 more turns just like the last one left to go. I held on and made it through. I was sore for about a week and even to this day my lower back is still a little tender and that's 2 weeks after we rode it. Kate and my Dad had a good time and we set the fastest time for the day! In fact, Kate says that she wanted to go faster, so was disappointed that we didn't do it in the winter on ice instead of the summer rollers.

After that we all spent 3 days in a minivan driving 1,000 miles all over southern Utah. We had a great time an saw some amazing things. (see slide show) Sadly my parents time here was way too quick and before you knew it they were back in Wisconsin missing their little granddaughter!

As soon as my parents left Kate, Jos, and I left for Atlanta on a house hunting trip. I need to preface this with "I hate house hunting". But 25 houses later we found one we like and think is really good investment. Joslyn was awesome on the trip--she flew well and traveled in the car just as well. It must of been the 1000 miles we put on in the minivan that warmed her up for this trip. Anyway, she was great and the trip was a success.

Now we are back in UT and are trying to sell our house. The movers are scheduled for the 20th of October - so by the end of the month we should be in Atlanta. As always, you are all welcome to come and visit - we would love to have you.

Thanks again for reading!

ya'll come back now! ya hear?

Our Growin' Gal

Apparently all this eating, pooing and sleeping is serving Miss Joslyn quite well... When we left the hospital on 7/22, she weighed in at 7 lb 8 oz, 20 inches. At her 2 week check in with Dr. Rachel on 8/4 she was surprised us all by measuring in at 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches. Yikes, no wonder she's been hungry! Here she is during our evening "porch sittin' time" the day of her check-up--she's looking nice and plump:)

Then, middle of last week, her feeding style changed--our long 20-25 minute sessions all of a sudden were lasting no longer than 10 or 15 minutes tops. It seemed odd, and then I started thinking (ok, call a duck a duck--I was worrying!) about whether she was getting enough of the richer, more calorie dense hindmilk that comes in towards the end of the feeding that she needs to gain weight. So, yesterday, we went in for a weight check. Apparently, I need not have worried! She is kickin' booty at 9 lbs 4.5 oz! I swear as Jos is laying there on the scale she winked at me as if to say "no worries Momma!"

Perhaps, though, it's not just the amount of eating and sleeping helping her grow... I'd like to think that it is also the large amount of time that she spends out in the fresh air as well! Pete and I agreed over the during a walk this week, that Joslyn must spend way more time outside than the average American baby. We go for a walk everyday, sit under the tree in the backyard few times a week, and spend most evenings on the front porch watching the sunset reflect against the mountains. Plus, this week, she has already attended her first two sporting events! Here's the view from our front porch...
The first event this last Saturday when we went to cheer on Papa Pete as he finished the ULCER, which is a 111 mile bike ride around Utah Lake. It was 85 degrees, sunny, and for a good 1/2 of the ride, hampered by a good stiff head wind. Yet he still did a fantastic job, finished with a smile, and made us proud!


The second was to spend the afternoon with me today at the top of Big Mountain between Park City and SLC cheering on the professional cyclists suffering up this disgusting long, steep (aka fun!) climb in the 90 degree heat during the Tour of Utah bike race. Tomorrow night is the criterium circuit race downtown (think the bike version of Nascar), so we'll be heading to that as well. As you can see from Jos's picture below with the oddly cheerleader-like pose that she obviously already appreciates incredibly fit men in brightly colored spandex:)

Hugs!

Kate

We're Parents!

I had another one of those "moments" today... I'd just changed Joslyn's diaper after a feeding, so was holding her to burp her while on my way to wash my hands. Once in the bathroom, I flicked on the light, and caught sight of myself in the mirror with little Joslyn sweetly draped on my shoulder and thought with a laugh "oh shit! I'm a Mom!". It all still feels a little surreal:)

Hopefully you've had a chance to read Pete's posts about the labor & delivery and the first week. He does speak the truth--everything went fantastically with the birth and life as parents has been just awesome since arriving home! Just a few thoughts on the birth from my end: Hypnobirthing=empowering! It worked beautifully, and I really do think that using these tools is what allowed us to have such a speedy delivery ("speedy" being a relative term!). Natural (unmedicated) Childbirth=amazing! I'm glad that everything went as we'd hoped and we were able to have the option to go naturally. I'd want it no other way and would do it again in a heart beat! Don't get me wrong, it was difficult--and a bit primal!--but with the hypnosis, I never felt it was more than I could handle. And, at the end of the day, with my ability to feel what my body and the baby were telling me, I could change laboring positions and push in ways that made every contraction so much more fruitful. Joslyn=beautiful beyond what I'd ever imagined. We have been truly blessed.

This week was my first week home with Baby Jos and Odessa without Pete, my rock. I was a little apprehensive on Monday--with my hormones still on the swing, I was sad to not have Pete with me... But, Joslyn is so darn cute, I was quickly distracted:) Here's our little punkin at bath time on Tuesday:

Jos is breastfeeding exclusively, so my job is to pretty much be "on call" 24/7. It's been going very well--she's a good eater, and from the start, had a pretty good handle on a proper latch. Still, every once in a while, she'll get really excited when she's hungry and with her mouth gaping like a baby bird, she'll be swingin' her arms in front of her face, trying to suck her fists, and latch on to my breast all at the same time! It makes me laugh just thinking about it!!!

As Pete mentioned, we have started to get into a routine with feeding. During the day, she'll go about every 2-2 1/2 hours between meals. At night, she's actually been really good, usually going about 3 1/2-4 hours between meals. And, still, half the time I need to wake her up to eat, especially at night!

This week has been pretty low key, as I am under strict instructions from Kat (our midwife) to not do "anything" these two weeks to ensure that I have a speedy, complete recovery. Well, you know me and my ability to do "nothing". It is not possible. So, when I spoke with her this week and I told her that I "hadn't been really doing much", she inquired what I considered "much" and then reminded me that my "not much" is decidedly way more than not doing "anything"! UGH!!!! With that coaching in the back of my head, I have made a purposeful attempt--which has been successful!--to follow her orders, and feel great in doing so:) I love and appreciate Pete--he has without pause washed dishes, done load after load of laundry, gone grocery shopping, taken care of Odessa, changed countless really poopy diapers, taken care of me, and somehow found time to go back to work:) What a trooper! Another way in which I have been truly blessed:)

With that, I'll leave you with one last photo--Joslyn enjoying the outdoors in the back yard with big sister Odessa and I. She seemed to like the sound of the wind rustling the leaves around us, and the swaying of the tree branches above us... It's never too early to introduce a love of the earth around us!
Thanks to all of you for your thoughtfulness and generosity from the day we broke the "news" oh so long ago, and especially these last few weeks since our "news" has arrived:) Hugs and love to you all!

Kateo (aka Momma!)

3 - It's the magic number

Well it's been 1 week since the birth of Joslyn and all is well. I wanted to share with all of you my point of view of the birth and the last week at home with Mom and baby.

It was Saturday night around 10:30pm when Kate's water broke. I was pretty calm considering all the anxiety I had felt over the last 9 months. We packed up the car and headed to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital and were checked into our room by 11:30pm. The nurse said because Kate's water had broke that if she could not go naturally they would have to induce. Of course they were going to give her 24 hours before they would induce.

Kate and I were a little concerned because we had been practicing our Hypnobirthing and were excited to put it to use. Maybe excited is the wrong word to use. I was a little worried about being able to use hypnosis on Kate, especially in front of the nurses coming and going. I had my scripts prepared and at bedside and I read them to Kate. These scripts help Kate enter hypnosis and manage her discomfort. I repeat my scripts and she also used her ipod to listen to a couple of other scripts. But generally speaking, they say the hypnosis helps you delivery your baby faster and with less discomfort. In fact during one of our practice sessions a few weeks earlier I tried a test with Kate while she was in hypnosis. The test was that as we went along I told her I was tying large helium filled balloons to her wrist. The balloons lifted her wrist to where she could not keep her arm on the chair. Slowly her arm raised up in the air until I started to cut the balloons one by one. After the practice session Kate told me she was alert to what I was telling her but no matter how hard she tried she could not lower her arm until I told her I was cutting them one by one. At this point I was pretty much convinced that this could work.

Needless to say, I believe the hypnosis worked because when we arrived at the hospital at 11:30 Kate was 2cm dilated and by 4:15am she was 10cm and ready to push. I think the nurse was caught a little off guard by this. We'd asked the nurse to not inform us what Kate's dilation was, so we had no idea how far she along she was already when she said she felt the need to push. The next thing you know it's 4:45am and our midwife has arrived and has given the ok to push. Half an hour later Joslyn was making her first appearance.

She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I shed the first of many tears. Joslyn spent the next hour on Kate's tummy for skin to skin contact and her first breast feeding before they took her away to be given the once over. At this time she was handed to me and I held my baby girl for the first time. Again more tears, alot more tears. It was simply overwhelming the love I felt for Joslyn and Kate at that moment.

The last week has been just a wonderful blur. Kate is starting to feel a lot better and Joslyn seems to be following a little bit of a schedule. Hopefully she will maintain this schedule! I am looking forward to sharing all the wonderful things Joslyn and I will do.

As always thanks for all the support and thanks for reading!

Hello World

My name is Joslyn Adele Mahoney and I am the newest member of the clan! I was born July 20th, 2008 at 5:16 a.m.. I weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. I was so excited to meet my mommy and daddy that I couldn't wait until my due date July 31st. So if you guessed I would be a girl and that I would be early you were correct! My daddy is telling me to thank everyone for checking the blog and that we will be posting more pictures of me and the family in the next couple of days and weeks. But since I've only meet a few people over the past couple of days I'm guessing most of you would like to see a picture of me! I have asked my daddy to help with this because I'm not sure how to do that yet. Daddy assures me that in a few years I will be showing my grandma and grandpa how to work the computer. For now I'm just happy I know how to type! Anyways below is a slide show of a few pictures mommy and daddy took of me. Some aren't very flattering but once I got cleaned up I look pretty cute or at least that's what everyone has been telling me.

Thanks for reading my first post and I look forward to meeting all of you very soon!

Joslyn-

Soon?

Well, it's Friday afternoon, and I'm at home. The last few days have been very weird... Baby Thunder is definitely working her/his way down (lightening), as I can breathe a bit better but walking has become harder and now have to pee every 3 minutes with an urgency I've never before known! I've also been having periodic Braxton-Hicks contractions, which are pretty much painless tightening and release of my uterus, for the last couple weeks. (think "practice" contractions) In the last few days, sleeping has become pretty darn tough because of the frequency and strength of these contractions. Normally they get better during the day, but that too has been escalating the last two days--yesterday at work was not fun!

So, here I am today, hiding out in the basement at home. Other than being uncomfortable, I'm in good spirits. Papa Pete is doing well too, though, it seems to be hitting home with us both that we might actually be close now:)

We'll keep you all posted as things happen.

Love you lots!

Kateo

Stylin' Daddy!

I finally finished Pete's Father's Day gift! The anticipation makes it that much sweeter, right?;) For those that don't know, I like to sew--not clothes really, and definitely nothing with a pattern that I have to buy in the store. I've found that I just don't have the patience for things that require me to follow directions.... Instead, I make things like diaper bags, curtains, funky pillows, etc where I sketch it out before hand and adapt on the fly:) So, each project is different than the last, and I learn something new every time.

So, on to Pete's gift! It's a messenger-style Daddy D-Bag--the colors, materials and external design were all chosen by the man himself, I was just responsible for the assembly. He lovingly calls the main fabric "Bass Boat Red". It's a heavyweight red vinyl w/red glitter sparkles in it, accented with white pleather racing strips; the inside lining/pockets are sport nylon. The final touch is the seat beat clasp on the shoulder strap--I scrounged around a salvage yard here in SLC to find it:) It was a fun project! (note that clicking on an image will allow you to see a bigger version)

SLC to ATL

Hi All,

It looks like the Mahokenatez Clan is on the move! Kate and I along with Baby T will be moving to Atlanta, GA. We will make the move in late October early November. I am guessing we will start to look for housing in September. The upside to the move is that we will now be a 12 hour drive from family and friends back home in Wisconsin. The downside is that we have made so many new friends here in SLC that we will miss. Kate and I have had a hard time making this decision. I even spent a few hours in the ER because the anxiety was too much. But even after all of that we are looking forward to this new opportunity. As details come forward we will be sure to post them here. As always thanks for reading!!

The Fit is go!

After dumping several thousands of dollars into Turbo Negro (turbo black Volvo XC70) and still not having everything fixed. Kate and I have traded her in for 2008 Honda Fit. We picked it up on The 4th and have put a 115 miles on it. This is my first new car! the Honda had 15 miles on it when we picked it up. Below are a few pictures of my new car! I'm excited about the 34 MPG considering the Volvo only got 19! Anyway - thanks for reading and stay tuned - Big news coming up!

Summer Has Arrived

Summer has finally arrived in UT. This last week was solidly in the upper 80's and low 90's--yesterday was 93 and sunny and today hit 91 and sunny. Luckily it's a dry heat;)

So far, I've managed to stay cool (even during the day) without running the air conditioning. A woman from our neighborhood stopped by yesterday afternoon as Pete and I were hanging out on the front porch--she asked if we were running our air conditioning (the front door was wide open). I said "No, it hasn't really been hot enough", and with a look of surprise/disbelief she said that "Well, you must be miserable then!". Actually, no! I'm definitely warmer than normal, but even preggo, I still love the heat--must be my African blood! Plus, we're fortunate that in the evenings as the sun sets, all the cool air sinks down and runs out of the canyons just east of us and creates the most amazing natural air conditioning--as I write this, the temp has dropped down to 71 at the house (a 20 degree drop!). So, we just throw open all the windows, and the house cools down beautifully for sleeping:)

We've been doing lots to get ready for Baby Thunder's arrival. Right now, Pete and I are a little more than halfway though our Hypnobirthing natural childbirth technique class. We didn't know what to expect, but have really been enjoying it. Taught by a local doula (birth assistant), the class focuses on using hypnosis and focused breathing techniques to manage my comfort level during birth (they never refer to pain). The idea that the method is built on is that birthing is a natural process that should be dictated by the reflex of the mother's body. So, instead of Lamaze-like structured breathing and pushing, I've learned how to do breathing that builds on the "natural expulsive reflex" of my body. It's pretty cool stuff:) Plus, Pete has turned out to be quite a champ at putting me "under"--it's his deep, soothing voice:) The added bonus is that because I have not been sleeping well at all lately (can't get comfy), my time in hypnosis is fantastic for helping me feel at least a little more refreshed!

What else have we been doing? Well, the nursery is finally ready. Clothes are washed and put away. We're just about set for cloth diapers--there's one more set on the way, and then everything will be washed and ready to go! We recently ordered the neatest travel "crib" for Baby T--you can check it out at www.mytravelingbuddy.com. It's the Phil and Ted's Travel Cot--total packed weight is 6 lbs and collapses down into a small, easy to carry stuff sack that is perfect for any type of travel. We're pretty stoked about it!!! The one thing pending is the stroller--we've decided on using slings for most out and about (ie the Farmer's Market/grocery store) and the stroller will be the sport oriented Chariot brand. It's a better fit for us. We know what we want, we just need to order it now:) Other than that, the basics are ready to go. It's now just the waiting game! :)

What Happened to May?!?! Warp Speed!

Ok, it's been a while since we've posted. Perhaps that would lead you to think that there's not really much going on worth talking about, but really, that is the farthest from the truth! The month of May was packed--from Florida, to Mother's Day, a trip back to Wisco for the baby shower, all kinds of goings on at work, and endless baby prep at home. I can't believe how fast time is flying by!!!

The trip back to WI for the baby shower was a blast! Held over Memorial Day Weekend, Addie (sis-in-law) and Eileen (Pete's mom) hosted the event for us--lots of family and friends joined us for the afternoon, and we were lucky enough to receive many beautiful, useful, and generous gifts from everyone. Addie, (who is also pregnant and probably used up a week's worth of energy running around organizing everything!) of course, thought of everything! Coloring books for the kids , a name game to help us with our name indecision, and beer-filled baby bottles for the menfolk! :) Who could ask for more at a shower?!

Unbelievably, that trip home was my last Kat (mid-wife) approved travel---I am now far enough along and preggo looking enough that air hosts/hostess seem to be a bit nervous as they see me board the plane:) And, maybe they are right... The trip back to SLC was a tough one--it was a growing day for me (I tend to grow in spurts about 12 hrs long that are very achy, tight, and exhausting) and we had about 4.5 hrs of uncomfortable flying and a jaunt through the Minneapolis airport. Finally arriving home and being able to go lay in my own bed was a beautiful thing that day:)

But, rest assured that I have done everything in my power to make sure that Baby Thunder embodies the same wanderlust as his/her Momma! In 7.5 Months, Baby T has been to:

• Backcountry camping in UT's Red Rocks Country
• Tucson, Arizona
• Georgia (2 times)
• Wisconsin (2 times)
• Up and down Central California Coast
  
• Las Vegas
• Anna Maria Island, Florida

Pete and I are excited to be able to be able to introduce Baby to all the cool places in the world--"Oh the places you will go!".

My 1st Mother's Day...

Has been a great one! Pete was on a roll this weekend, moving/re-arranging/assembling furniture to get Baby Thunder's room ready. Because of the big shift of several other rooms we had to do in order to empty out the upstairs guest bedroom, it was a big project! For that fact alone, I felt like his cheerful willingness to do all the work was the best Mom's Day gift he could have given. Little did I know what else he had up his sleeve!

This morning, he got up earlier with Odessa for her morning food and potty routine. After I got up and got showered, he gave me the sweetest card "from" Baby Thunder, which of course made me weep with controlled happiness:) We're hanging out for a little while, and then Odessa rings her bell to go outside to go potty (it's actually quite the cute yet practical trick!). I open the kitchen door and WHAM!--there under the carport--is the most beautiful cruiser bike from Elektra. And, it's for me!!! At this point, I'm crying so hard I can barely speak:) And, it rides as sweet as it looks! So, make sure you check out this week's photos in the Week-by-Week album so you can see my awesome new ride!!!

Here's some special hugs and love to all my "mom-friends" out there!

kateo

Florida

I surprised Pete with a trip down to Ana Marie Island, FL from 5/3 through 5/7 for some sun-filled quality time together. We've been back for less than a week, and my tan is already fading!! :(

We had a great long weekend 5/3 through 5/7 enjoying the beach, the pool, and general vacation laziness with Pete's parents down at a resort on the Gulf side of FL. It was about 85 and sunny the whole time, with just enough of a breeze that you never really felt hot--it was heavenly! So, if you looked at the week by week slideshow, you'll see me proudly sportin' my "prego-kinni" on the beautiful sandy beach for week 27:)

Lots of fun! But, of course as vacations go, it was not nearly long enough:)

Unexpected

A week ago today (5/2), my poor little car (affectionately named Emzie) had some excitement. I was in in a fender bender that I--unfortunately!--was deemed at fault.

Driving to work on Friday a.m., I was exiting the freeway behind a small SUV on a long merge lane that feeds into the main west-bound lanes. As he continued around the corner and began merging, I looked over into my blind spot and in that spilt second, he had stopped cold in front of me, for reasons never identified. So, I rear-ended him and my little Mazda slid right underneath the back. No airbags went off, but I did go into my seatbelt fairly hard. His car was pretty much fine, but my hood was crunched up and my bumper took some impact.

Pete was home because we were supposed to leave for a wedding that night in Moab. I felt fine, and had a friend take me home a couple hours after the accident. We headed to the hospital so that they could monitor Baby Thunder. S/He sounded great--good heartbeat, lots of movement. I, however, was having some minor contractions. Drinking a bunch of water helped, but they were still happening about 4 or 5 minutes apart. So, they gave me a shot of tribulene to relax my uterus and after five hours, they sent us home with orders for bed rest until we left for Florida on Saturday late morning. Thankfully, all has been well since then.

100 days and counting

100 days and counting - Kate and I are starting to freak out! When you go to the doctor for the first time they send you home with this packet of crap that tells you what to expect and what you will need before the baby arrives. today I looked at the list and realized we had purchased 3 things, 3 things! Really all we did was purchase a crib, mattress and dresser. So needless to say we need to start getting ready. Kate and I have a lot of things going on right now - Kate's job is of course in a state of flux because we know her MFG Plant is closing but where does KC want us to go next. Do we even want to move? We do love SLC! and I have a possible opportunity coming up with Petzl. Which makes this time very stressful for us. "One day at a time and evaluate options as they come our way" that is what Kate says and I have to agree.

Wish us luck!

Visit with Kat

Little Wee One and I had our monthly visit with Kat, our midwife, this last week. Kat happily informs me that so far, our pregnancy is normal.

I haven't felt Baby move yet, but she is not concerned as the placenta is at the front of the womb which provides another layer of "cushion" against the kicks and punches going on in there. I've had good growth and weight gain is on track (though she advises me to not fall prey to the chocolate milk cravings too often!) The weird tingling I've had right at the top center of my abs, just below the high point of my ribs is apparently also normal. I'd thought maybe it was Baby's little tuft of hair tickling me (just kidding!), but Kat says that it is my abs straining and potentially separating. I don't like the sound of that! But, most importantly, Baby Thunder's heartbeat was good and strong, which is always reassuring. So, back we go in another four weeks:)

Oh, and winter continues. More rain/snow and upper 30s/low 40s all week this week. I'm seriously beginning to worry that I will outgrow all of my warm clothes before warmer weather comes! Two more sweaters were retired this last week, so the inventory is quickly diminishing. Luckily, I travel to Roswell GA next week for work, so I'll be able to wear some of the properly fitting clothes that it is still to cold here in SLC to wear!

love you all!
kateom

Nesting?

Not sure what hit me this weekend--think it might have been that elusive "nesting" thing that everyone keeps telling me about. All I know is: a) I was driven by strange forces to be amazingly productive and b) Pete was great--my own personal manual laborer moving shelves, gear, and other heavy stuff.
To house Baby Thunder in the other upstairs bedroom, we are having to shift the guest room to the downstairs office, and the office to the gear room, which in turn becomes the gear room/office. So, this weekend's project was sorting, straightening, and rearranging the gear room to make way for the office "stuff". It was actually kind of fun:)

On a side note, it is amazing for me to look at the pictures of myself as I grow... I know that I feel bigger and can feel a growth spurt coming, but when I see the pictures, I can actually see the difference. In this last week's photo (Week 22), I was a bit bigger than the week before(they weren't lying about the 1/2 inch!)--but, for me the main difference was in how I felt. It was like sometime on Saturday night/Sunday morning, Baby Thunder shifted positions. S/He'd been hanging onto the bottom of my ribs, but by the end of the weekend, it was like s/he'd settled in, and all the pressure/weight was much lower in my tummy. I'm not sure which I prefer! :)

We had snow again today (Monday early a.m.)--about 4 inches at the house--and we're supposed to have highs in the low 40s all week. I need warm spring to arrive sooner than later, as I am rapidly outgrowing all of the sweaters and long sleeves I bought to carry me through to warmer weather. If this cold stuff keeps up, I may actually have to go out and buy a new coat!

Hugs and Love!

kate

New Stuff!

Pete and I have posted a few new things to the blog in the last couple weeks, so be sure to check them out! Along the left side of the page, you'll see a poll, a slide show of our ultrasound pictures, and a slide show of my expanding tummy that we will be updating each week.

We also learned that the blog had been set up so that only "gmail" users could post--we've now changed it to allow anyone to post without signing up! We'd love to hear from you all:)

hugs!

kate

Ultrasound

March 3rd, 2008 - We had our first ultrasound! I have to admit the notion of becoming a father is a little scary. Everyone I talk to about this seems to assure me that everything will be just fine. True enough, my father has managed quite well and has never showed a hint of nervousness about being a father or soon to be grandpa. Now, I know I've heard stories about my father dropping me off at grandma Mahoney's with a fully loaded diaper and asking for a little help. I'm sure there will be plenty of calls asking "how do I do this?" or "am I doing this right?". But so far I seem to be handling it all in stride. Thats why I am happy to post the first pictures of our baby. Before this ultrasound any time I saw ultrasound pictures it all looked like a blurry mess. But now that it's my baby it's all crystal clear. From the tiny button nose to the little throwing arm, it's perfectly clear!

Now that Kate is 20 weeks, we plan to take pictures every week to document the growth of her belly. We have read that she will grow approximately 1/2 inch every week for the next 20 weeks. I think it's cool, but Kate's a little scared by that. We will post it as a slide show for your viewing pleasure, updated weekly.

Food!

Well, whatever was going on with my food issues, seems to have pretty much faded away! Relief! Dairy is agreeable again, so I've now been able to enjoy ice cream, chocolate milk (my latest craving!), and fruit smoothies made even better through the glory of yogurt:) Animal proteins have also been ok lately, though I still have a little bit of a hard time with beef. While I can eat meat again, cooking it is out of the question as the thought/sight of raw meat is wholly unappealing!

I haven't really had any "weird" cravings, though I did crave midget dill pickles, Pearson's Nut Rolls (sweet & salty goodness!), and now I am crazy about cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts, and any cake-like sweets washed down with chocolate milk. I guess it could be worse--greasy foods, fast foods, etc aren't even tempting:)

I do have to laugh though, as I've become like a squirrel. I have food caches everwhere! Since I am hungry at least every hour, I keep food in my desk, in my purse, in the car, in my gym bag, so that I can eat anytime the need strikes:) I'm curious to see what I weigh at at our appt tomorrow:)

Utah = Snow, California = Rain

February started out with good friends Sean and Craig joining us from Wisconsin for 3 days of skiing and boarding. Since Utah has the greatest Snow on Earth Mother Nature did not disappoint. The guys got to experience everything Snowbird has to offer. Their first day here started with an all day blizzard and all canyon roads closed until 3pm for avalanche work. So we did what anyone would do we ate, drank and slept. Friday we woke up to a Blue bird day! That nights storm had dropped another 10" on top of the 90" we had received in the previous 9 days. it wasn't too hard for us to find fresh soft UT powder. Saturday was supposed to be blue bird but a cloud bank had moved in. The top of Snowbird could not be seen. We tried to stick to lower slopes as well as the trees for visibility reasons. Sunday we had another gorgeous day cut short by me going ass over tea kettle and spraining my ankle once again. Kate and I were sad to see the guys go but -1 temps of Wisconsin were calling them home.

Just last week Kate and I rented a VW Eurovan w/ camper and headed to California for 5 days in the sun. However it didn't quite work out as planned. We arrived in CA on Wednesday the 20th after a 14 hour drive from SLC to San Simeon. We camped up on a hillside less than a 1/4 mile from the Pacific Ocean. That night it was really windy and huge waves were rolling up on shore. It sounded like rolling thunder - it was louder than I expected. The camper was great--super convenient, and actually fairly comfortable.

Thursday we woke up to rain and lots of it. We spent most of the morning touring the Hearst Castle. I must say, the Castle is beautiful even in the rain. Kate and I both agreed that if you find yourself in CA, the castle is a must see. After the tour of the castle we were ready for the real reason we came to CA. The Tour of California bike race was starting day 4 of an 8 day race. Today's route would take the riders from the Monterey peninsula along Hwy 1 and into San Luis Obispo. The day would be roughly 135 miles of rolling/mountainous terrain. For any pro cyclist its not the mileage or the climbs that made this stage a death march. It was the stiff headwind, cold rain, torrential at times, bearing down on the riders for an 8 hour ride. We caught the race about 75 miles in, on the 3rd rated climb of the day. As the riders rolled by, they seemed to have that 1000 yard stare that only some who has ridden 75 miles in the cold rain could have, knowing they still have 60 to go. After they rode by, we loaded up the van and drove to S.L.O. for the finish. It all ended with a breakaway. One solo rider managed to stay out in front and win the day's stage.

Friday was not too bad weather-wise. A little sun, a little rain makes for an exciting time trial. This day's stage was in the city of Solvang. Solvang is a quaint Danish town in the heart of Santa Ynez Valley. The city was most recently featured in the movie Sideways. There were wine bars and pastry shops on every block. While we couldn't enjoy the wine, we certainly enjoyed the fine assortment of Danish pastries! Anyways, we had a great time and the start and finish were only a block apart. We were able to see lots of action. The eventual tour champion won this day by a commanding margin of 30 seconds.

Saturday we ventured down to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is nice town located right on the Pacific Ocean. We got down town early for the start of the race that day. Before every race the cyclist all have to sign in and this gives everyone a chance to see them up close and get a autograph or two. I won't bore you with who we saw, but Kate was excited to see so many world champions (and she thinks George Hincapie is hot). This day turned a little epic since Kate started to suffer from a tooth infection. Since she is pregnant and a "little sensitive" we needed to get this taken care of immediately. Since it was a Saturday, we expected it would be difficult to contact our Dentist, and when we found out he was on vacation, we weren't sure what we would do. To make a long story short about 10 phone calls later and few tears shed. Kate's OB/GYN was able to call in a prescription and save the day. However we had spent so much time trying to find a dentist that was open in Moorpark, CA that we had missed the end of the race.

Sunday brought more rain! I believe the Italian cyclists had had enough. Lucky for them, this was the last day. This day would end in Pasadena with 5 laps around the Rose Bowl - in the rain!
All in all we had a great time in California and can't wait to go back with our bikes.

I almost forgot. Our camera stopped working on the first day as the cyclists neared us. So the photos you see below were borrowed from the Rock Racing website.

Stay tuned - Kate's ultrasound is scheduled for March 3rd.