Our Life

There have been a few things that went on from the last post.

* Chris had a birthday – there  is some complex math there, I think Quantum.

* I have been given another job opportunity at my current employer.

*Corinn has gone to the doctor for 4 mo checkup (read: more shots) and is healthy. There is worry that her hip socket cartilage is not forming right, coz they click, but an ultrasound did not show that this was the case.

* I have a new Job title, making me a Technical Account Manager.

This last part is new, and is frustrating till I can pick up how things work in this department.

There are some ther things I could write, but needed to get back to work…

Had a great time at Corinn’s first Thanksgiving. Momma had the turkey, stuffing, and sweet potato pie…. while Corinn got the Boobie-juice.

More posts later.

CC&C

My Family has been going to this particular spot for vacation for 20+ years (I think). Vacations were a week there… and as my parents got older, they extended it to 2 weeks, with the kids (my sister and I) only invited for the last week. As our collective lives got more complicated (job schedules, family schedules, time off request timing, work load, other obligations) it has come to “We will be down there these weeks, come when you can.”

Chris, Corinn and I went last week. We consulted our friends, family, and extended family for advice on the travels with the WeeOne. Some said “go at night, they will sleep”, others said “dont go at night thinking they will sleep… the car noise and streetlights, etc, will keep them up.” With the advice pretty much 50/50, we went with the gamble of Night Travel. It worked for us. Sure, we got up at 0400 to drive 6 hours… and we were tired. Travel, it seemed, was a piece of cake.

Pics of Corinn at the beach Pics I took at night

What no one did warn us about, was that “Vacation” no longer means what it used to mean. With Corinn @ 10 weeks, and breast feeding exclusively, the “Vacation” was more of a change of location for the backdrop of the same ole same ole. Still the feeding, still the crying, still the changing, everything but “where” was the same except: Grandparents! Whoopie! So, occasionally it was “Feed.. she’s napping! WERE OFF!!”

We would then run down to the beach, and hop in. After a little bit, I would run back to check (I like being in the sun the least between Chris and I) and signal from the deck if Mommy needed to come back in.

The grandparents were funny. We heard them go through the same confusion about Corinn’s crying as we did:

• “Oh, she must be hungry!” nope just fed her…
• “Oh, she needs a diaper change!” nope, was just changed…
• “Oh… uhhh… HERE MOMMY!” hehehehe…

At the end of the week, they found the Groove too.

We didn’t want to leave. We had to, I had to go back to work. We left 2200, after last feeding. She slept the whole 6 hour drive, minus one stop to eat.

And so I went back to work today. All the frustrations, issues, and stresses – waiting for me to return.

Luckily I was warned ahead of time. “Be prepared for the most ‘pierce you in the heart’ cry when she gets shots”. It was true.

She got the shot, and did one of those things where the wind up to the cry to follow was silent… and when the wave crested, the cry that spilled out was agony to hear. Worse still was the face she made.

The doctor needed to put her on her stomach, to check some things, and said “yer not gonna be happy… yer going to be face down on the mat for a bit…” Little did she know Corinn can hold her head up, and hold herself off the ground. She was a bit surprised: not a lot of babies can do that @ 2 months. She was also impressed at the controll she has over her head.

She said that the muscle control, and tone, is a characteristic of high intelligence babies. I see the “why?” game being a challenge for us, later.

As I write this, we are 2 hours away from “1 week old”. Seems like such a short time we were going to the hostpital… getting out of the hospital… getting home… that first sleepless night…

Monday, we had our first Pediatrician’s visit. I really have to give it to Chris’s opinion when she has done research. We found a few Pedi’s in our area, but Chris didn’t just pull one out of a hat or a website, oh no. She called them all. If you did not return her call, yer out. Of the people that returned her call, she asked to speak to the doctor’s directly. Doctor too busy to speak to a new client? yer out. Your office staff may not be the best indicator of you. My doctor, for example, has office people that are a challenge. Once you are in there, he is awesome. So Chris interviewed them, and picked one that matched our values. The interrogation was intense. I will spare you the 10 open-ended questions she asked.

The Pediatrician she chose can most easily be described as a “Hippy”. Corinn has a scab on her head from the Vacume assist attempt, and we were putting Neosporin on it. “I don’t like to use chemicals on the baby unless we have to. Try putting some Tea Tree Oil on it. Its a natural antiseptic, so can help with healing. It also can be applied directly. If you need moisture, use Coconut Oil. Check to see if she is allergic first.” She seemed to be “holistic first, then fall back on medicine if needed”. While the holistic approach can sometimes come of as quackery, she was approaching it purely on a “fewer  man-made chemicals, more natural things”. She was patient, and answered all of our questions, and assured us our first-time-parrent fears are ok. Corinn is doing OK, we are doing OK, if we have any questions please call her.

Corinn has lost some weight, 9Lb3Oz. This is normal, as the baby uses up the stores they put on in the womb. Her sneezes are normal, they are to clear the airways and get everything flowing.  The poop has progressed to the “Gorrin’s Mustard with Sesame Seeds”. I asked what the Sesame Seeds were, but not even modern science knows. This indicates we are surviving off of breast milk. Kinda facinating.

Feeding is coming along. Mom and Baby are getting their teamwork down. She still wants to latch kinda shallow, and bites some. Mom is getting frustrated with these! We have called some family members that did breast feed (a lower amount than you would think!) and the frustrations and fears are all justified, but are really non-issues. It will take time.

The sleepless nights are starting to develop a pattern now. Poop – Cry – boob1 – burp – boob2 – burp – sleep. They are starting to be longer. She feeds longer, she sleeps longer. Long as we watch her for “I’m hungry” signs, we can keep crying to a minimum too. We are all learning.

Weird. Just weird.

I was working on Sunday. Been trying to save up Vacation days, so I didn’t request it off. I call Dad, to tell him I love him, thank him for all the wisdom he has shared and the values instilled within me… and he bursts my self-absorbed state with “so, what about you? Happy Father’s day to you too…”

Whoa. (blink, blink)

It was a though that ripped me out of “work” and into an introspective state that I still can’t yet wrap my head around. I am going to be a father. Granted, it’s still not official. Anything can happen. Until we are safe at home plate, baby safe in our arms, I don’t want to think about it. If all things go well, it’s going to happen. This realization and tactile reminder of what “Life” really means reminds me of the 5th Element “Time not important. Only Life important.”

A co-worker is also about to extend their family. They are due just before we are, so I get to have some insight into what is about to happen in ours by talking with him. We have been catching up every Wednesday on how the pregnancy’s are going, how the wives are feeling, etc. He asked me the other day “So, are you ready?” “Nope…” “Good.. then you are. You realize you are not, and so you are ready. If you said you WERE ready, I would be a little worried. You just can’t plan for it, it just has to happen.” Thank you, Thomas. I appreciate our talks, and your advice.

My boss, who’s son was born about 6 months ago, was telling me of visiting some friends of his who just had a baby. His friend was nervous, didn’t feel confident about all the things one needs to do with a newborn. How to hold them, comfort them, etc. He was showing his friend how to do these things and then thought to himself “Wow… 6 months ago, I was this man. Now, I have answers and advice!” You could see this had an impact on him, as he was smiling ear to ear recounting the story, feeling proud that he could help a new father find his feet in his new role. I look forward to that grin on my face, as well. Thank you, Mike.

An other co-worker one evening, gets a call. His voice turned sweet, like a teenager talking with their crush: “Yea babe. Sure, I can do that. I’ll pick some up on the way home. Awww right. Love ya sweety.” He looked at me, and answered my questioning look: “My daughter… She wants me to pick up some mint leaves so she can make mommy some mint tea for breakfast tomorrow.” I don’t even talk to my loving wife like that. Will my daughter change me that much? I look forward to being that in love with our child. Thank you, Rick.

One of the Managers at work has been checking in with me periodically to see how we are doing. He has passed on this pearl of wisdom to me: “The Next Best Thing”. He warned that you must have a plan going into the hospital.  Your job, as the husband, is to make sure she has what she needs to be comfortable, and happy. If that is ice chips, get them. If its to have the room @ 60 degrees, get a coat and “crank-er-down!” If it is unattainable, get the Next Best Thing. Plan, that any plan you have will not be the Plan that is followed. There will be 3 plans: “the way you planned it”, “the way you expect it” and, “the way it happens”. Roll with it, it will be one of the most memorable times in your lives. Thank you Tony.

My Brother-in-law is a source of personal inspiration to me. We are similar in humor, and outlook on life. He has 3 wonderful kids with my wife’s sister. He retells of laughing at his children when they do something crazy: like the bermuda triangle that exists in their kitchen for one of their boys. Seems no matter what his son is doing, he falls when passing through this zone in the kitchen. He laughs at this. He reminds me that being a father does not mean all-seriousness. There is joy in laughing with, and at, your kids. Thank you, Eric.

It makes me think and appreciate that people around you can be a source of inspiration, and guidance. You just need to be open to the experience. It makes me appreciate that I turned out a good person, with the loving guidance from my parents. I hope that we can do as good a job with our kids. Thank you, Dad.

Happy Father’s day to all of you. I will soon be amongst you.

So far pregnancy has been pretty easy and uneventful. We’ve had some scares, but those scares have been quickly resolved on there own. UNTIL NOW!! I have come to the point where all women who were pregnant before me warned I would end up, tired, and over being pregnant!! I can’t sit to long, can’t stand to long, can’t stay happy or mad to long, and forget looking in a mirror! I have developed signs of preeclampsia, in laymen’s terms, I can swell like nothing you’ve ever seen! IT’s truely a sight to behold!
Tuesday night I went to dinner with my siblings for Pizza and trivia. My doctor had warned me, avoid sodium at all costs. I drank water all day and all night to get rid of the excess sodium. This did not work! I woke the next day having gained 11 pounds, in ONE day! My face so swollen it looked as though I was having an allergic reaction. Unable to see from the puffy eyes, and unable to close my mouth due to my gigantic bottom lip, I had to apply cold compresses for about an hour to be able to go to work. Where everyone asked if I was ok, because my swollen face looked like I had been crying.
Needless to say I’m really a sight right now. We have a doctors appointment tomorrow where we’ll find out if I have preeclampsia, and if so the only cure is to have a baby. Which will mean we’ll be induced early. Not sure how I feel about that, but at least we’ll know where we are. I’ll post the results later.

Yep, I’m a little bit older. June 9 I turned 31. For the young’ins reading this.. yes, that’s old. Have your fun pointing that out. There will be somone younger than you pointing out your are old when you get here too… Its how karma works. For the older readers, yes, this is still the prime of my life. May I recognize that before it passes!

I spent the day with a buddy of mine (Hi Chuck!) digging posts for the fence in the back yard. We discovered the back part of the property will not support fence posts… its sand that is water logged from the creek not 10 yards away. So the dogs won’t get as much space to run around as we’d like. Thats ok, they will survive.

That afternoon we all went to our friend house that were having a birthday cookout, as her birthday is the 7th (Hi Lori!). We two Gemini’s get along. The food was great, and so was the company.  Got to see some former co-workers I haven’t seen in almost 5 years (Hi Patric and John!). We then got to see how uncoordinated geeks can be by playing some Wii.

This day also marks Chris and I’s 11th anniversary. We met on my birthday in a friend’s yard. It feels like a while ago, but not that far. Love ya babe.

The weekend we got back from the babymoon, we needed to find a house. The timeline was getting too close. We close on this house, need to be in another house or just pack our stuff and move to temporary housing. “Appartment?” you think… we have 2 dogs, a cat and a rabbit. We didn’t even check, the deposit would probably kill us. Then there are friends and family (thank you all for opening you homes to us!) … Animals come in to play again… there just didn’t seem to be a good solution other than find our destination house, and quick!
The day we got back, our Realtor had a listing that was juuust listed. It was a New listing, you can only do that for the first 2 weeks a house is on the market. So we went to take a peek. The yard is… a hill. and a good one. The house is awesome! As we are walking in the back yard, the neighbor lady says “you guys should buy this house….” and we chatted a little. The next Thursday, I took my Dad and Mom by. They like it too! man that yard is a hill… And we meet the other neighbor.. She’s cool too. Her husband is a Geek, she is a stay at home mom! Awesome!
So, we put in an offer. It was 9K less than the bank was asking (it’s a foreclosure), and threw in that they pay closing costs, to see what they would say. That was on the friday, we sent in the contract. Our Realtor didn’t tell us we were stupid, but you could tell she wanted to… So we have to wait for a bank not even in Georgia to return the counter… Monday had us both asking each other “think they will take it? or laugh at it?” We finally do get the counter, and it was for 1K less than original offer, + all closing costs. Sweet! We accepted that offer, got an inspection, and are ready to rock and roll.

The day the inspector is looking the house over, the at home-mom neighbor states “we are kinda jealous… you are getting a really great deal” she went on to give me the number the original owners paid for the house, which was $30k+ than the asking price. SWEET DEAL!!!

For those that want to see what it looks like, the pictures are here.

I will be calling on those I will need to help me, as the wife can only pack boxes.

We’ll keep ya posted!

We went on our baby-moon last week. “Baby-moon?” you ask? yep… it’s like a honeymoon, but is the last time you get to go on a vacation without kids (in the figurative sense).

We went on another NCL cruise. We ported out of Charleston, which was a much more paletable drive than to Miami, so was not as long. We spent 4 of the 7 days at sea, but it was ok. We were ready for it.

For the impatient, check out all the pictures here.

In the “Getting there” link, some notes:

Ships captains relinquish control to “Pilots” for each port. Pilots know the ins and outs of the ports, like shifting currents or sand bars, etc. We learned this on our last trip, but didn’t know how the pilots got on or off the boats. Leaving Charleston, I caught a second wake behind us, and saw the Pilot boat flanking us. So, I snapped some pictures. The no-frills hand off looks like this.

In the Grand Cayman:

We went to a private beach/resort. The water was too rough to go snorkeling So I shutter-bugged around. One of my favorites is this one.

In Cozumel:

We bummed around like tourists for a while. We went back to the same corner joint we got rained into last time we were there. Looks like they had made some upgrades. And, we went back to the dive bar, to get some pictures of the ceiling and mural… One of the things that really grabs you about Cozumel is the water. We overheard that on a good day, the visibility can be up to 200 feet underwater. A fact that seems to be illustrated by seeing the daylight under the ship as the sun set behind it.

In Key West:
We went to the Sunset Festival in Mallory Square. It was more a Street Festival than a Sunset one. I was expecting some sort of cohesive moment, like the countdown at New Years, or something. There was nothing. Not even Ooooh’s and Aaaaah’s. Mabey the sound of clicking cameras, at least the “cka-sheeeh” programmed into them .

If ever I am in Key West for another Sunset, I want to check the local forecast and get the sunset time… and @ 5 min till, yell loudly: Ladies and gentlemen, especially the tourists and first timers… Do not take your eyes off the sunset or your beloved to look at me, I am only a time-keeper and a voice… We have 5 minutes left in this day and sunset… We have one minute left of sunset. 10! 9! 8!” Kinda proves you make your moments. So if a moment isn’t quite what you are wanting, change it to what you do. You will never get THAT moment back, so make it count!

Chris’ Cube:

Chris’ co-workers missed her… to the tune of 5 of them spending 3 hours wrapping her cube in aluminum foil. Now, the pictures don’t show it, but they wrapped the change in her drawer, the individual paper clips in her drawer, the individual pieces in a magnetic sculpture, even the phone cord. They missed her.

I wasn’t left out either, but the things they did to my monitor are not family-friendly. But to describe it: I put post-it’s up on my monitor when I need to remember things to check back up on things. There were a few extra when I got back:

• Cliff uses too many post-its
• Shutty rocks! (this is a guy that works with me and was ’squatting’ at my desk while I was gone)
• Shutty is Cliff’s daddy
• The Circle

Thank’s Shutty!

When we got back to Charleston and were walking out of the customs check, the last custom’s official at the door said it best: “Welcome back to reality, sir”

I am starting to dislike selling the house. It’s not that I don’t want a house that our family will fit in, I do. It’s not that I will need to call on friends, as my wife will not be able to assist with moving; I will.

I hate answering the phone to then have to essentially need to vacate our house in ~10 min as an agent (we have never met) brings someone over (who we have never met) to see the house.

I feel worse than Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day off. If you remember the movie, Ferris had a theory that one of Cameron’s issue was that his house was like a museum… Well, our house is like that now. Devoid of “Our” things. Cleaned and arranged so that one looks at it and can imagine themselves living in our house.

We get up, put the dogs out, and make sure the house has that “You could live here!” look. That part was kinda not so annoying. As I suck at cleaning, my job was not to make any mess that Chris would have to clean up. My office – just don’t use it if you have to change anything about it. If you take a CD/DVD in there… you take it back out. My laptop bag goes in the closet. We have to be in a constant state of “you may have to leave any minute”. As if that wasn’t enough, we also have to get out for blocks of time the agent’s give us. “I’d like to show your house tomorrow.. sometime between 1 and 4 PM” ok? so friggin when can _I_ be here? It’s not that big a deal when you aren’t going to be there anyway, like on the weekdays… But on our Saturdays!? it just kinda sucks, ’s all I’m sayin.

For those that are interested, you can see the new carpet, and some pictures of most of our stuff from 3 bedrooms shoved into 2 rooms here.

You can also see what the “Prepped” house looks like here

As a general note, the pictures are large. Don’t even click if you are on dial-up. They will be ginormous.