An update, a post, what next!?!?!?! :)

Though you may not have realized it, the heartbeat of Horton Hollow is still strong. That is to say, I'm still kicking. My posts have been sporadic I realize but my heart remains, to write for those that will read my virtualized scrawlings. I'm still getting my feet under me, not being one that adapts quickly to large, sweeping changes in the schedule.

I am ramping up to start back on this blog as well as starting on a business blog of my own. Additionally, I'm beginning a joint-venture business blog wherein some partners and I will be sharing some things about business-building, investing, technology, etc.

It's an exciting time for me! But busy too. Horton Hollow is where my heart is, where I can be "me" and let my (remaining) hair down and write about whatever we like. Before I sign off, let me share some updates:

• Weight loss: still a struggle but I've plenty of fight in me and I'm far too stubborn to quit.
• Business: well see above you silly-head! :) I've lots to share there and things are going well.
• Our out-building: honestly I tried to break this deal and not get it after all. Turns out though, even though I "could" get out of it, I think it's prudent to go through with it. So things are moving there. We have some plans
• Isabella and Josh: well I'm sure you'd not recognize either of them. Josh has quickly become a young man, no longer a child to be sure. And our little Isabella is crawling and trying her darndest to say something we can all understand. She turned 10 months yesterday. The times, they do be a flyin!

You guys are all awesome! Thanks for reading! Keep up the CPR with comments, it helps the writing heartbeat stronger!

The Castle is Back to Normal ... OR ... We Miss our Mamas!

Well Castle Horton has undergone a recent transformation.

We are once again alone. Tis just us four here now. Well and Storm (the canine), and Mercy and Blue (the felines).

My mom headed back to her own castle today. Thus marks the end of our official help since Bella has been born.

Up until now one of our moms has been staying with us to to help out. Heather has been able to catch up on her rest because of them doing this. And we both appreciate it so, so much and have repeatedly hugged them and told them so.

When each grandma had to go back to her own home, it was a tearful farewell for each one. They love us and we them, and they love in particular this shiny new grand-daughter of theirs.

You see, Isabella represents the last grand-child in the family and the ONLY grand-daughter. Bella is kind of a big deal.

So it was hard for the grandparents to leave her/us.

I will admit there is a dual-feeling here of "its nice to have our Castle back to just us" versus the feeling of "we miss having them around to talk to and hang out with".

They helped us with way more than the cooking/cleaning and Bella changing.

They were HERE. Their presence itself was a comfort. The moral support as we got our baby-parenting legs under us again was priceless.

So as I said it's just us again.

But it has been so much fun. Again thank you moms for helping us, for supporting us, for the gifts for Bella, for cooking, for cleaning, for diaper changing, for doing laundry, for doing dishes, for grocery store trips, for talking to us, and just for listening to us too.

Also, lest I forget ...

Thanks to everybody who has been there for us as we got going with this whole having a baby deal. I have friends that I know read this blog but don't usually leave comments ... so to you all as well, thanks so much for your kind words, your encouragements, the things you got for Bella, and well just for being friends.

We've had a lot of help. None of it we deserve to be sure and we feel so blessed to have you all in our lives.

Whew, there are so many to thank and we appreciate you all!

Well, now that everybody has given us a good push-start, well shoot, I guess the next 18-20 years are up to us.

Ready?
Set?
Go!

Getting sleep .. OR .. Have you had your daily allowance of vitamin Z?

I'm labeling this one under a Fatherhood Friday, yes even though its Sunday, cause well ... cause I can. This blog (and my woodshop) are the last two strongholds of "I can do whatever the heck I want, neener neener" that I have left in this world.

Side note: If Jesus really is building me a mansion, I'm okay with it only having just a bathroom and perhaps a garage. If it's got that much, I'm good.

Now what WAS I going to write about?

Sleep. Ah yes (vigorously shakes head), I remember now.

Bella is a hair over a week old now. Time has flown by so fast. I've been reading up on how to hold onto one of our most precious commodities, the sweet slumber of sleep. I came across what Heather and I believe is the best answer to how to deal with the lack of it that parents experience with a newborn.

It's really easy. You just ship them over to a daycare center and let a stranger breastfeed them.

I kid.

Here is actually what I read and so far I agree with.

Here was a our basic to-do list:
* Heather and I figured out how much sleep we need in a given 24-hour period in order to function normally. 8 hours, 9? We figure out that number and commit to it.
* We then decide to put our rest as one of the highest priorities, right up there next to taking care of Izzy B.
* And then its pretty simple. We go to bed on time and start the sleep-cycle.

Now obviously we will have interrupted sleep during the night. Heather much more so than me since she is doing the feeding (can't help ya there dear). But the goal is not to "lose" sleep in that 24 hour period. If she only get 6 hours of sleep during the night, during her normal sleeping hours, well then instead of getting up at her normal time, it's back to bed for my bride.

If it takes until noon for Heather to get her sleep, say 8 hours in total, then so be it. The rest of the house will adjust. Then if at noon or whenever, she's hit her normal amount needed, she then (and only then) is allowed to get up and start her morning ritual like she would have before Bella arrived.

Gotta keep these folks committed to rest right?

I'm thankful to have a 13 year old here to help her out during the day when I'm away at work. He can take the puppy out to play and feed the cats, and himself (pretty well).

So there is our basic plan. Sleep in intervals until you get what you need for the day. THEN start your official day even if it takes till noon. Done and done.

Even though we are raising the most perfect daughter in the history of the universe she still interrupts sleep ... waking to eat, cause hey, she needs her some boob-food.

Speaking of .. I've taken to calling Heather "lefty" (just in front of Bella). Annnnnd I may have just done it right here on the internet.

See, Heather's right side is making WAY too much milk for Bella to keep up with so Heather has to pump that side into a bottle (after bottle, after bottle, after bottle, ahem). Then Bella eats from the left mostly. And that's why I've been telling Bella that, "you'll have to wait just a few more minutes on old lefty there, she's still emptying the right side before you can eat."

Yeah my wife just love those times but part of my charm is bringing the levity to our lives :)

So it's been a fun week all in all. Good times! Although we are tired, and there have been lots of folks here visiting/helping, its been fun :)

P.S. - This is our last week of having full-time official help too. Heather's parents headed back home this morning. Last night my momma showed up and she's staying with us this week to help out. After that though, it's back to being on our own again, way out here in Castle Horton, nestled deep in Horton Hollow.

Twas the night before the due date .. OR .. Sweatin with the Oldies

Well here we are, the night before the due date. Josh was born on his due date. No serious warning signs, just bammo, time for baby. We're expecting this to go the same way.

People keep asking me, "Oh I bet you're so excited" .. "Aren't you nervous?". And I always smile and say "oh sure" or "nah not too nervous". I never know how to respond to those questions really. At times like these I sort of disconnect from extreme emotion.

You see, in situations like this I don't really become excited or nervous. Instead I become intent and focused. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the event or anything. Its not that I'm not fun to be around. And I think (for the most part) I seem the same to everyone else.

But on the inside I'm just very intense. Very focused. I'll stay this way until Bella is here. Until everybody heads back home from visiting with us. I won't really relax until I see it's "just us" again and we're all safe and sound. I suppose it's part of my protective instinct as a guy.

And I think that is (at least partially) why I relate to our German Shepherd so much. She and I see the world in much the same way I think. We're watchful, naturally aloof around new folks, but once you get to know us, we're loyal to the end no matter what.

So here we are. Waiting on the kiddo. Waiting is not my thing. With how I've explained that I feel on the inside, waiting makes me tired because I feel like I'm holding up a great weight.

So am I nervous? Am I dreading the sleepless nights? Do I dread the change of pace?

Um no.

I welcome all that actually. I'm looking forward to it all. Cause then, although sure it will change things and be more work, things will be normal again.

I like normal.

I'm weird that way.

Workbench Day Bed .. OR .. Where Does your baby sleep when you're a slacker?

Ok, ok I hear you clamouring at my virtual door for a tidbit of blogging morsels by which you may find sustenance for your hungry minds. Yeah I know, right? Inflated ego much, Rob?

While nobody truly bugs me (but me) about not blogging for awhile, if I do skip a whole freaking week a few days, I find my brain gets all itchy. The only good scratching that can be done is a bit of writing. So today you all get a two-fer. Baby updates and woodshop rambling. What else is new right?

Baby updates
In an effort to share what is likely far too much information about my wife's nether regions, I'd like to say the doc has reported she is dilated to a good solid 3cm. From what my man brain understands, this means that I am 3cm closer to not being able to sleep late on Sundays anymore. I also grasp that far sooner than I'd like to; I will have to consider the purchase of another car for a sweet sixteen birthday party and hopefully LONG after that I get to pay for a wedding. But its all that much closer.

There is a lot that fits in 3cm folks, believe me.

Thing Two is coming along nicely. Previously on Baywatch (no pun intended there) we said that Bella is in the "go" postion. That hasn't changed, which is good. Additionally there is a new development. Apparently, without the influence of hip-hop music in our home, she has begun an early career in breakdancing.

Ever seen the moves where the dancer just does a headstand and then flails their legs in all sorts of interesting directions? Yeah tis been like that very muchly. I can see these moves from across the room folks. Its horror movie entertaining.

I even had a dream the other night about it. The kind where the kid was pressing against Heather's skin all Alien-like, where you can see the kid's features, and things were stretching way out of proportion. (Sorry dear hadn't told you about that one yet, it just came back to me as I was writing). Fun dream though. Yikes. Ahem.

Moving on.

So we are two weeks out. If this were a Space Shuttle launch, and it may feel like it, this is the part where they are slowly moving the Shuttle down the huge track to position it "just so" before launching. Sounds familiar, no?

All kidding aside things are going swimminlgly. Even the heat this year has coorperated. This is so much different than the last pregnancy. We are constantly talking about it. And its funny that I mentioned those differences cause that's the very next thing I wanted to talk about.

Technology is different that n 13 years ago for sure. To go along with that point, let me hit you all with this idea.

I'm considering live-streaming this birth online.

I dropped that little bomb on Heather this weekend.

See I figure we have this webcam. We have long-distance friends. Why not let them attend the birth, as it were? Tremendous idea, no?

Heather was a little suprised but open to it.

I think my wife's main concern was whether I was planning on letting them attend the birth or the birth CANAL. Sheesh, she just doesn't give me due credit sometimes :) I was thinking something over the shoulder and lighthearted, not all National Geographic.

Anyway, I'm still toying with that idea. The tech to do this didn't even exist when Thing One was born. And this is our last hoorah for baby launching. I kinda want to geek it out a bit while still doing my duties as birth partner. But for sure I will be twittering and facebooking as it goes ... at least those ... with mobile uploads from the phone.

I am thankful for a wife that puts up with my geekiness. I'm also careful to truly not cross any lines. I mean at least I didn't want to live-stream the conception right? So see, I have good boundaries. Ahem.

So moving on from the birthing here is a blurb about the cradle.

Woodshop updates
I'm waaaay behind. I procrastinate. Big time.

Sometimes I even put off procrastinating until it becomes an emergency. Then I wait awhile even so, evaluating it to see how serious things really are. See what I mean? You all are probably always on time and under budget. I however struggle with it.

The cradle is coming along well though.

Primarily becuase I'm now motivated by the fear my daughter will have no place to sleep other than my workbench. But Bella its comfy and sturdy hon. Everything you'd want in a bed. I'm sure it'll be fine. No? Prissy little girls, sheesh. She's already making demands on uber-cuteness and she's not even out of the oven yet. Plus nobody is pinking up my workbench. It's mine and I don't share the shop area. But I kid (seriously no pink in the shop though - unless it's watered down blood from a self-inflicted chisel wound).

But back to the cradle.

I should birth the cradle sometime this week.

Birth the cradle is what I meant too. See us creative-type dads suffer labor in our own way. Oh sure everybody wows and ooo's about the pregnancy. But you try shoving 10 board feet of lumber down the birth canal of your brain and make it meet with everyone's approval, both now and in future years. Uh huh. I think I've made my point. And again I kid.

The day is nearly upon us. And so is the spit up.

So the final checklist goes (partially) like this:

one kid percolating, check
one mom, check
one dad, check
one brother, check
room ready, check
supplies bought, check
time off of work arranged, check
hospital toured, check
cradle ready, the check's in the mail (ha-yuck a yuck yuck)

See what I mean with the procrastnating. I should rename this blog right?

... The Chronicles of Slackia
... The Neverending Slacker
... The Lord of the Waits
... Sloth Wars Episode 6, Return of the Slow Guy

Or perhaps I should just finish my lunch hour, then my day, go home and be busy on the cradle?

Final Baby Pics .. OR .. The Last Tempation of Isabella

On Friday we went in for the last major ultrasound that Heather will have before the baby makes her way down the birth canal and out into the world of taxes, politics, overtime, and debt. Isabella honey, I'll try for as long as I may to tell you only of bunnies, daisies, hugs, and making silly faces.

I got to meet the lady who'd been doing the ultrasounds for some time. I have to say I wish I'd made it to more of them. Karen is really cool. She made the process fun. Honestly from what I remember, back when Josh was being bombarded with sound waves, seeing an ultrasound wasn't all that exciting. The tech we had back then sucked. But good ol Karen had been at this for 29 years ... not Bella's ultrasound only you understand, that number represents the accumulated experience of Karen.

Ok, enough about Karen right? She was cool. She makes this fun. And if you need scanned go see her. Moving on.

I entitled my post as I did because Bella has forever been camera shy. The techs have never gotten a spot on good picture of her yet really. She's always dodging. I choose to believe that because she's beautiful enough to stun us all, she also is in possession of such grace as to have the compassion to spare us the shock of wondering how we will deal with such an angel. That's daddy's story.

So no more good pics of the kids. She is in the "go" position though. That's good news. This girl is ready for launch. Also she is perfectly average in size and weight. More good news.

The little room we were in was very nice too. They dimmed the lights to see the computer screen better, always a plus for me, and it was just pleasant. Josh was sitting there, we were laughing and talking. Karen got Bella's heartbeat up on the monitor after she had made some other measurements. She cranked up the volume. I'd heard Bella's heart before.

But this time it was different.

Maybe I'm old. Maybe it's because the birth is only 3 weeks out. But I just got to thinking about that little heart.

I thought of many of the good things she'll see and many of the bad. I thought how that little heart which is beating now will at times beat for a little girl who will learn from me. Who will depend on me. At times she won't understand me or me her. We'll have ups and we'll have downs. I will protect her at all costs. Provide for her. Try to teach her as best I know how.

I thought of so many things which that (now tiny) heart will beat through.

And suddenly just like that, it all became real to me. A bond formed.

You might think I'm late to the party here. That my bond should have formed the moment I learned Heather was pregnant. And in a way it did. I loved Bella from that moment too. But on Friday things became more "solidified".

It's perhaps hard to convey. I think everyone has that moment wherein the concept/knowledge of having a child, which you love, becomes the realization of their life. Of their future. Hope for them is born. Plans are birthed before the physical birth even happens. You begin to truly dream for them. Expectations for their life arise. You begin to wonder what they will become someday, what interests they will have.

It all becomes real. All of that and more hit me in a moment.

And in closing, yes the room got a little blurry as I began to be thankful for the bond I now knew was there.

T-minus three weeks and counting.

Cool way to check on the munchkin ...

I found this little diddy on the innerwebz and thought it was cool! Sure I had to impersonate my wife over at the social networking site Bellyhood.com but since they excluded guys, I was ok with that.

What? Dads can't be allowed to log in, download a widget for their blog? P'shaw I say! And so here is the little widget for our little gidget.




I bet when you first saw this, knowing me for the geek I am, that you all thought I'd hooked up a sonogram machine (purchased from Ebay for cheap) to our wireless network at home, then strapped the contraption to my wife .. JUST so I could add this feed to my blog .. now would *I* do that? Although ... hey! Come back here honey, this'll just take a minute!

Baby update: 8 weeks to go

Heather has given me permission to blog in full disclosure about our experiences through the rest of this pregnancy. I’m pretty excited!

I mean who can't turn down built in blog-content right? :)

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I honestly got this idea from another dad-blog that I follow called Pacing the Panic Room. It’s a great read and the guy who writes over there is really funny. And I suppose that’s part of what blogging is all about. The writing done sometimes inspired others to get more creative.

Well here I are. Being creative. And don’t worry fearless readers. I will put my own brand of warped-lens-outlook on this baby stuff as I do all other most other things.

Currently as I sit here in my recliner, wondering why a certain friend of mine is ignoring me on chat – had to give you crap Jenn – I’m listening to my son sitting in the dining room, playing his games and practicing his belching.

Yeah it’s a good to be a guy.

And it’s good to be a Dad again.

And it’s good to be helping with another pregnancy though I don’t feel as involved in this one – which is my fault – as I think I should be. Blogging about it here will not only get me thinking about everything but it will be a good record of how things went when we look back on this. I even have permissions to take belly pictures! Whoo hoo!

This week marks Heather’s 32nd week, so 8 weeks to go, more or less. Things are good.

Early on in the pregnancy Heather was really very sick for a good long while. The morning sickness was killer. But that is a distant memory it seems – though I’m sure she doesn’t feel that way about it.

Heather is doing really well other than the general tiredness that goes with having your body stretched out of shape in preparation for another human being to be pulled from one’s nether regions. She’s currently sitting here on the couch eating an ice-cream – when I read her that last part – she laughed. She has the cutest laugh and I love her so much!

Everybody say “awwww”, right?

So next Wednesday Heather starts on her weekly visits to the doc. Well the visits could be 10 days apart but who’s counting right? Anyway as it gets closer to “the time” the doc just wants to watch things closer since this pregnancy is a single-artery umbilical-cord set up instead of the “normal” two artery kind. It’s not a huge deal; folks have healthy kids in this kind of situation all the time. The only bummer about it is that it kind of knocked us out of being able to do a home-birth as we'd planned.

But we’re not concerned about the single artery thing.

And I can say that in all honesty because I’ve met our doc. Dr Lindsey. She’s very cool and won me over on the first (and only) visit I’ve gotten to attend. Doc L is laid back but I can tell she takes this all very very seriously. She put me immediately at ease and that’s no small order with this nerd.

So Isabella is percolating nicely. She’s kicking and moving lots, though she has somehow still avoided me being able to feel it.

Things are well. And we are making lists, checking them twice – all that jazz. The "what we need lists" are beginning to tug at our minds, prompting us to some serious planning. Also, we have painting and stuff to do in the nursery still. Plus, I get to make the cradle in my woodshop. That will be my first major project to design. There is much to do.

So there will be pics of all this thrown up on the blog under a new label.

Isabella.

We’re waiting on you sweetheart. Get your restin done in there kiddo cause there is a whole life full of experiences we want to share with you.

P.S - Sorry about the jump-aroundy-ness of this post. I'll get more organized for the next one I promise and we'll have belly pics too!