14 years ago
Saturday, May 23, 2009
we're back!
we made it home a few days ago - thursday - with an uneventful flight. lots of family since then, and somehow i made it out with the guys from CG for a beer at scuttlebutt and then sharing some scuttlebutt on jamie's yacht on the everett marina.
we'll share more later, but we are excited to introduce our daughter to everybody. in the meanwhile, there are a lot of new pictures on flickr and even a video. enjoy!
we'll share more later, but we are excited to introduce our daughter to everybody. in the meanwhile, there are a lot of new pictures on flickr and even a video. enjoy!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
rockstar parenting tips
its been a whirlwind week. we've spent the bulk of our time locked tight in our hotel room, and we are both getting cabin fever. tegan so far seems immune - her routine consists of 3-4oz bottle, diaper change, 3-4hrs of sleep, repeat. we've gotten to know her pretty well though and she is a really sweet, really alert little girl.
we, and the pediatrician she saw on friday, have noticed that she seems to be looking at things - not just throwing her eyes around. we've caught her studying patterns on the wall, and she is quick to lock into a stare with us when we're talking to her. we are pretty stoked about this and it makes it a lot of fun to talk to her when she is awake.
parenting a newborn in texas is tough - lots of things to fret about! this morning our chief worry is fluoride: up until now we've been using tap water for the bottle, but after reading a book this morning we are concerned about its fluoride content. so, we are waiting a call back from the doctor's office.
last night we thought we'd try a little dinner out. we've been eating frozen dinners and drive through all week and wanted to sit down at the cracker barrel next door. we got a seat and were having a good time until we saw the cigarette smoke wafting towards us in billowing blue clouds. panic immediately, and we asked to be moved to the other end of the restaurant. once we sat down there we noticed about a dozen kids running around - all their mouths and noses right at Tegan's carseat level. we promptly got our dinner boxed up and headed back across the parking lot to the hotel. it looks like we're back to frozen dinners and drive through!
this girl is pretty amazing. she is sleeping on a little "snuggle nest" between our pillows at night. its a blessing because we get to watch and listen to her sleep, and when she is awake she looks at us. its also a bit of a curse - every fit and start she makes while sleeping startles us, and the other night i woke up and couldn't see or hear her breathing and flew into a full on panic - hit the lightswitch and stuck my face right up close to hers. of course she was fine and just sleeping, but it freaked me out.
what else to share... she's a really good eater. just like her dad right? she eats between 3 and 4oz at a time now, and usually just needs one good burp and very little spitup. we're stoked about that - makes cleanup easy! she also does this really cute thing when we burp her - she is usually so milk drunk that she sort've just slumps right over the burp rag and dozes. we love it!
legally - we aren't quite sure where things are. we hope that the paperwork was filed with the state of texas last thursday or friday and that it will be done by the end of this week. we are pretty sure that we'll be here through memorial day weekend though, which is a huge bummer: we really wanted to go to the LBGs first birthday party!
if anybody wants to do some skyping, shoot me an email. its been a great way to break some of the humdrum of hotel living.
we, and the pediatrician she saw on friday, have noticed that she seems to be looking at things - not just throwing her eyes around. we've caught her studying patterns on the wall, and she is quick to lock into a stare with us when we're talking to her. we are pretty stoked about this and it makes it a lot of fun to talk to her when she is awake.
parenting a newborn in texas is tough - lots of things to fret about! this morning our chief worry is fluoride: up until now we've been using tap water for the bottle, but after reading a book this morning we are concerned about its fluoride content. so, we are waiting a call back from the doctor's office.
last night we thought we'd try a little dinner out. we've been eating frozen dinners and drive through all week and wanted to sit down at the cracker barrel next door. we got a seat and were having a good time until we saw the cigarette smoke wafting towards us in billowing blue clouds. panic immediately, and we asked to be moved to the other end of the restaurant. once we sat down there we noticed about a dozen kids running around - all their mouths and noses right at Tegan's carseat level. we promptly got our dinner boxed up and headed back across the parking lot to the hotel. it looks like we're back to frozen dinners and drive through!
this girl is pretty amazing. she is sleeping on a little "snuggle nest" between our pillows at night. its a blessing because we get to watch and listen to her sleep, and when she is awake she looks at us. its also a bit of a curse - every fit and start she makes while sleeping startles us, and the other night i woke up and couldn't see or hear her breathing and flew into a full on panic - hit the lightswitch and stuck my face right up close to hers. of course she was fine and just sleeping, but it freaked me out.
what else to share... she's a really good eater. just like her dad right? she eats between 3 and 4oz at a time now, and usually just needs one good burp and very little spitup. we're stoked about that - makes cleanup easy! she also does this really cute thing when we burp her - she is usually so milk drunk that she sort've just slumps right over the burp rag and dozes. we love it!
legally - we aren't quite sure where things are. we hope that the paperwork was filed with the state of texas last thursday or friday and that it will be done by the end of this week. we are pretty sure that we'll be here through memorial day weekend though, which is a huge bummer: we really wanted to go to the LBGs first birthday party!
if anybody wants to do some skyping, shoot me an email. its been a great way to break some of the humdrum of hotel living.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Videos
we uploaded a couple of videos to our youtube channel. we hope you enjoy!
by the way, it didn't take sweet little Tegan too long to poo on her dad. I was changing her diaper earlier and it was a #1 - as i was doing a little cleanup she totally pooped all over the changing pad, my hand, and then while i was freaking out it seeped up her back onto her shirt. OOPS! we got her cleaned up and changed and fed, hopefully i don't have to pay a counsellor in 15 years to help her figure out why i let that happen.
okay - back to LOST. its a pretty insane episode - we are finishing it up just as you all are getting ready to watch it. i won't give anything away, but i want you to ponder the question "what lies in the shadow of the statue?"
hah - did you catch my 'you all'? a few more days and i'll be Texan!
by the way, it didn't take sweet little Tegan too long to poo on her dad. I was changing her diaper earlier and it was a #1 - as i was doing a little cleanup she totally pooped all over the changing pad, my hand, and then while i was freaking out it seeped up her back onto her shirt. OOPS! we got her cleaned up and changed and fed, hopefully i don't have to pay a counsellor in 15 years to help her figure out why i let that happen.
okay - back to LOST. its a pretty insane episode - we are finishing it up just as you all are getting ready to watch it. i won't give anything away, but i want you to ponder the question "what lies in the shadow of the statue?"
hah - did you catch my 'you all'? a few more days and i'll be Texan!
more baby girl pictures
here you go! we'll write more later, but we have some paperwork to fax. always with the paperwork!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Baby girl time!
gorgeous, and we love her! Please meet Tegan Grace:
Sunday, May 10, 2009
roadtrip
we needed a distraction today, so after running some practice routes (hospital, starbucks, babies r us) we decided to drive down to galveston and see the gulf of mexico. the drive, though long and a bit trafficky, was what we needed. we stayed in galveston for about an hour - wandering down the seawall sidewalk and then walking back up the beach.
we were pretty amazed at how ruined a lot of galveston is. we drove down the main street and saw a lot of businesses and homes that looked really beaten or were boarded up and abandoned. driving down the seawall boulevard we saw much more of the same.
one of two pretty dramatic images was the flagship hotel - a hotel built on a pier jutting perpendicularly off of seawall blvd - that showed visible serious damage. all of the ramps and walkways leading to it were broken up and it was kind've just sitting there decaying in the surf. the place is immense too - imagine watching a bigger edgewater slowly disintegrate.
this was the second startling visible reminder of a hurricane's force:
here are a few more pics:
we were pretty amazed at how ruined a lot of galveston is. we drove down the main street and saw a lot of businesses and homes that looked really beaten or were boarded up and abandoned. driving down the seawall boulevard we saw much more of the same.
one of two pretty dramatic images was the flagship hotel - a hotel built on a pier jutting perpendicularly off of seawall blvd - that showed visible serious damage. all of the ramps and walkways leading to it were broken up and it was kind've just sitting there decaying in the surf. the place is immense too - imagine watching a bigger edgewater slowly disintegrate.
this was the second startling visible reminder of a hurricane's force:
here are a few more pics:
Saturday, May 9, 2009
texas
we made it to texas without any hitches, hiccups, flareups, etc... the flight was broken up into two ~2hr chunks which made it very manageable - lots of reading and listening to music. our car is a fairly new chevy impala - the thing is the biggest car i've driven in a while! it feels solid and is a pretty good looking vehicle: i'm going to feel good driving a baby around in it. our hotel is also pretty good. no serious luxuries here, but the rooms are very clean and in great shape (think the place was very recently remodeled) and we have a seperate sitting area, frig, AC, etc... many things that will make living out of the room for 10-14days with an infant very manageable.
so, all we're waiting on now is word of the baby. i know thats all you faithful readers really care about anyways. we'll tweet as soon as we hear something. thanks for all of your prayers! they're working!
ps - we ate dinner at "whattaburger" and i was asked if i wanted to "whattasize" my meal. seriously.
okay tangent time - people in texas are really polite - NICE even. the guy at the enterprise counter reached over to shake my hand when he learned i was from seattle (he had lived there). there was another woman at the counter not helping customers and instead decided to engage us in polite conversation. these small things seem seriously huge to a seattleite. the guy at the front desk of our hotel couldn't be nicer, more polite, or more helpful. kryssa has already dropped the "if not for the heat, i could live in the south easily!" bomb once. tangent time over. i love texas.
i lied: one more thing. a big window decal at the whattaburger read "and one nation UNDER GOD indivisible". we're not in seattle anymore!
so, all we're waiting on now is word of the baby. i know thats all you faithful readers really care about anyways. we'll tweet as soon as we hear something. thanks for all of your prayers! they're working!
ps - we ate dinner at "whattaburger" and i was asked if i wanted to "whattasize" my meal. seriously.
okay tangent time - people in texas are really polite - NICE even. the guy at the enterprise counter reached over to shake my hand when he learned i was from seattle (he had lived there). there was another woman at the counter not helping customers and instead decided to engage us in polite conversation. these small things seem seriously huge to a seattleite. the guy at the front desk of our hotel couldn't be nicer, more polite, or more helpful. kryssa has already dropped the "if not for the heat, i could live in the south easily!" bomb once. tangent time over. i love texas.
i lied: one more thing. a big window decal at the whattaburger read "and one nation UNDER GOD indivisible". we're not in seattle anymore!
Friday, May 8, 2009
countdown
so, the journey begins. Kryssa is upstairs packing and i'm about to join her. we leave tomorrow for the great lonestar state and an entirely new adventure in marriage: parenthood.
we were matched for adoption last week, and this week were given an updated due date - "now" - so off we are to meet our newborn. we don't know the gender, the personality, don't even have an ultrasound - but we know we love this baby already and the loving decision that has brought it to our family. there isn't an easy way to encapsulate the nerves, stress, excitement, and awe at God's good grace surrounding this adoption - but we'll try.
each evening we'll make an effort to drop pictures and video onto the interweb for everybody at home to enjoy. more frequently we'll be updating through twitter - www.twitter.com/chogunn - especially while we are visiting at the hospital.
so, stay tuned! this adventure hasn't even started.
we were matched for adoption last week, and this week were given an updated due date - "now" - so off we are to meet our newborn. we don't know the gender, the personality, don't even have an ultrasound - but we know we love this baby already and the loving decision that has brought it to our family. there isn't an easy way to encapsulate the nerves, stress, excitement, and awe at God's good grace surrounding this adoption - but we'll try.
each evening we'll make an effort to drop pictures and video onto the interweb for everybody at home to enjoy. more frequently we'll be updating through twitter - www.twitter.com/chogunn - especially while we are visiting at the hospital.
so, stay tuned! this adventure hasn't even started.
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