Oh the joys of registering! Jeremy and I had an absolute blast on this
adventure. However, I will say we learned a few things along the way.
First of all, becoming parents suddenly removes you from the world of
confident, intelligent adult, to wandering, blabbering idiot. One foot
in the door at Baby's R Us, and even those armed with chapters of
information on good brands of cribs, car seats and pack n plays can be
brought to their knees in insecurities. Second of all, 8 pounds of baby
requires more stuff than we needed to fill our house when we registered
for our wedding!
Our adventure began at Baby's R Us. We filled out a sheet, were given a
booklet and handed a scanner. The lady suggested we register in two
trips. One for all the big stuff like car seats, and another for all
the infant care stuff like diapers and bottles. I know she knew what
she was talking about, but we were prepared. It couldn't possibly be
that bad! We skipped off as she mentioned something about "Most first
time parents spend at least 3 hours putting together their registry." It
wasn't long before I realized just how right she was. Somewhere between
crib sheets, crib pads, changing pads and changing pad covers we had to
do a sanity check before moving onto the bigger stuff. The real brain-numbing issues popped up when we went to register our car seats. We thought if we registered our stroller/travel system and the bases, we'd be good to go. Oh contraire. You should also plan to have a convertible car seat. I am still not 100% sure I have the rules about rear-facing, forward-facing, booster seats figured out, but after walking around aimlessly for 30 minutes, we broke down and asked someone. I think she got everything figured out for us. When she was done I asked her to point to what she recommended and we'll scan it! Dangerous I know. But I was swimming into the waters of hysteria. I swore I was going to have a nightmare about car seats marching in a line through my living room. Okay okay. So it wasn't that bad. But I was happy to leave the car seats and go do something less safety oriented and more fun! Onto the play gyms and toys we went. We registered this adorable play gym by Baby Einstein. It's an ocean adventure one. It matches nothing of our other items, but it had the coolest features! At any rate, by the time we left, we hit all the major players on the registry list.
We recharged with some fuel and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at TGI Friday's. Gotta love their green bean fries. If you've never had them, you gotta try them! By the time we left we had regrouped and were ready for Target. With the holidays around the corner we were able to stay till they closed at 11pm. Nearly 2 hours later we had wrapped up the registry list at Target. Jer was most excited to register the hooded towels. (This all began from an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. One of the girls ran around in a frog hooded towel saying Ribit! Ribit! Jer and I about fell out of bed laughing at her. So cute hooded towels had to make our list!) We found an adorable one that looks like a shark. It has the teeth and everything! I think I fell in love with him all over again just watching him flip out over how cute the towels were!
All in all, registering was a wonderful bonding experience. We are more excited than ever to meet our little wonder. Both lists still need some fine tuning and updating, but they are getting there!
December 13, 2008
Fun Traditions
Jer and I started a tradition last Christmas...we went and got our first real tree and brought it home to our house. This tradition wasn't new to me! It was something my family did for years when I was growing up. But for Jer it was a brand new experience! It has to be one of my favorite holiday traditions hands down. There is just something about going out and picking that perfect tree. As kids Mom and Dad took us to Bartel's Tree Farm. They served all their customers free hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. Every memory I have of doing this, it was absolutely freezing. We'd bundle up in our coats and hats and gloves and off we'd go through the tree farm. I always wanted a tree bigger than what our house could hold. I always thought for sure they'd fit. Dad had to reassure me there wasn't room! We always ended up with awesome trees - even if I wanted the 9 foot tree as big as our living room and we ended up with a 6 foot smaller version! After we cut it down, we'd take it home. Dad would get the stand set up and we'd help Mom put water in the bottom. Then we'd get in our PJ's and play Christmas records (yes I said records) while we decorated the tree. It might be this very tradition that makes me love the holidays so much! As we got older and the holidays got busier we didn't get real trees anymore. But we still decorated the tree in the same way we always did. The four of us together.
I promised myself I would carry that tradition into my own family. So last year I convinced Jer to go on an adventure. As per usual, I picked a tree far too tall for our house. Jer warned me, but didn't say too much more. We strapped it to the Exterra and home we went. When we got home we had to cut nearly 12 inches off the bottom of the tree. Once we got the tree standing, we couldn't keep the cat out of it (she is afraid of nothing) and so the ribbon and pinecone decorations didn't survive the first week. However, the lights were pretty and it smelled amazing!
I was happy!
This year...our adventure truly became an just that...an adventure. A Linoski adventure to be exact! For those of you who are unaware, our best friends are Bryan and Steff Cincoski. They are two people we can get into the most trouble with, survive 9 hour car rides with (broken rum bottles and all), and make the greatest memories with! So the Linoski's set out after lunch last Sunday in search of the perfect tree. Jer and I had the perfect spot picked out for our tree with plans to hang icicle lights and the whole nine yards. 2 hours and 4 burn-outs later, we were cruising home treeless. We scoured two of our areas most well known, but off the beaten path tree lots for trees to no avail. Tree farm number 1, had a sign that said OPEN...right next to a sign that said CLOSED. Which is it people?? Orange fencing around the entire tree lot seemed to signify that CLOSED was the ultimate answer. Enter burn-out #1 as we backed out of the parking lot. Tree farm number 2 boasted 2 giant signs. This seemed promising. Come to us. We have trees fresh for cutting! Well 2 miles past the sign they had a much smaller sign attached to a concrete filled bucket that said...CLOSED. Sold Out. What? It's December 7th. Enter burn-out #2. After leaving and then laughing so hard we were crying, Bryan drove us back to get a picture. Check out Steff's post on her blog for a picture and a hilarious version of this same story! This picture came with a price. Bryan held up 7 cars of fellow tree cutters for us to get this. Enter burn-out's #3 and #4. It's priceless!! We were tempted to cut down the tree we were standing in front of...but something tells me it wouldn't fit where we had in mind! No real tree for the Linley's this year!
At any rate, what does this have to do with a baby blog anyway? The point of this is...these traditions are the ones I want to carry on to our children. The things that make life fun and interesting! I want our kids to appreciate our family as much as I appreciate mine. And help them have wonderful memories to carry on all through their lives and hopefully one day to their children and grandchildren. What's a family tradition you love during the holidays? Respond on our blog and let us know!
I promised myself I would carry that tradition into my own family. So last year I convinced Jer to go on an adventure. As per usual, I picked a tree far too tall for our house. Jer warned me, but didn't say too much more. We strapped it to the Exterra and home we went. When we got home we had to cut nearly 12 inches off the bottom of the tree. Once we got the tree standing, we couldn't keep the cat out of it (she is afraid of nothing) and so the ribbon and pinecone decorations didn't survive the first week. However, the lights were pretty and it smelled amazing!
I was happy!
This year...our adventure truly became an just that...an adventure. A Linoski adventure to be exact! For those of you who are unaware, our best friends are Bryan and Steff Cincoski. They are two people we can get into the most trouble with, survive 9 hour car rides with (broken rum bottles and all), and make the greatest memories with! So the Linoski's set out after lunch last Sunday in search of the perfect tree. Jer and I had the perfect spot picked out for our tree with plans to hang icicle lights and the whole nine yards. 2 hours and 4 burn-outs later, we were cruising home treeless. We scoured two of our areas most well known, but off the beaten path tree lots for trees to no avail. Tree farm number 1, had a sign that said OPEN...right next to a sign that said CLOSED. Which is it people?? Orange fencing around the entire tree lot seemed to signify that CLOSED was the ultimate answer. Enter burn-out #1 as we backed out of the parking lot. Tree farm number 2 boasted 2 giant signs. This seemed promising. Come to us. We have trees fresh for cutting! Well 2 miles past the sign they had a much smaller sign attached to a concrete filled bucket that said...CLOSED. Sold Out. What? It's December 7th. Enter burn-out #2. After leaving and then laughing so hard we were crying, Bryan drove us back to get a picture. Check out Steff's post on her blog for a picture and a hilarious version of this same story! This picture came with a price. Bryan held up 7 cars of fellow tree cutters for us to get this. Enter burn-out's #3 and #4. It's priceless!! We were tempted to cut down the tree we were standing in front of...but something tells me it wouldn't fit where we had in mind! No real tree for the Linley's this year!
At any rate, what does this have to do with a baby blog anyway? The point of this is...these traditions are the ones I want to carry on to our children. The things that make life fun and interesting! I want our kids to appreciate our family as much as I appreciate mine. And help them have wonderful memories to carry on all through their lives and hopefully one day to their children and grandchildren. What's a family tradition you love during the holidays? Respond on our blog and let us know!
December 12, 2008
A pro athlete, better known as Guinness
So just a few short weeks back, Jer and I went to our fourth appointment with Dr. Talsky. I was finding myself only somewhat excited for this appointment. There wasn’t anything too new happening. I wanted to hear the heartbeat again and be reassured my swollen ankles and ever expanding waistline were progressing along as normal. But other than those few things, I didn’t really think the appointment would hold much new fun information. That is where I was totally wrong!
The appointment began with a weight and blood pressure check. According to Dr. Talsky my blood pressure was beautiful. I had just started week 23 and everything looked wonderful. After a few quick house keeping items like signing up for child birth classes and calling to find a pediatrician, he had me lay back so he could measure my belly. After a few seconds of him pushing around and unwinding his tape, he started to laugh. The next words out of his mouth were, “And there are how many in there again?” I laughed nervously and said “One…we think??” He was very impressed and made a point of holding his tape and pushing down to accentuate my belly. He looked at Jer said…”That’s impressive. You’re measuring 27 weeks.” I looked at him and said, “So what does that mean?” He said, “It means you can call the baby Guinness…or pro-athlete. I think I know who the baby will take after.” He then proceeded to laugh himself nearly to tears at his funny little joke. We all had a good laugh and then I asked him again for real, "So what does that mean?" He told us that he wasn’t worried about it at this point. In another month we would come back in and he would measure me again. If by then we were still measuring 4 weeks ahead, it would be time for ultrasound number 2. Yes everyone…ultrasound number 2. We would be in search of multiples. Twins to be exact. I about fell off the examining table and onto the floor. However at this point, the size is more than likely to do with the way I’m carrying the baby. Apparently I’m carrying the baby long in my torso, rather than across my belly and hips. He said that might explain some of the size displacement. He also said we could have some excess fluid in there which could cause the size difference. After we got over our shock, he also informed me that now is the time to start looking for pre-term labor and other things like Braxton Hicks contractions. He explained the difference between the two. I haven’t experienced either that I’m aware of. I’m guessing by Christmas my story might be just a little different. We also learned I’m going to kick off my third and final trimester right around Christmas Day! Our next appointment is December 24th, Christmas Eve at 9:30 in the morning. I go for my glucose screening and hopefully to figure out if I’m still measuring ahead of the game or not.
Aunt Jenni asked us last weekend if we had a nickname for the baby. She told us a great story about a friend of theirs who called their baby “Frosted Flakes.” Jer and I aren’t really great with nicknames so nothing had come to mind yet. Especially nothing original like that. I think the best ones are the ones that make themselves. After today I think we coined our baby’s first nickname. So thank you Dr. Talsky, though it’s not the cutest of nicknames…for now it’s very fitting - Guinness and the rest of the family are doing just fine and anxiously awaiting our next appointment!
The appointment began with a weight and blood pressure check. According to Dr. Talsky my blood pressure was beautiful. I had just started week 23 and everything looked wonderful. After a few quick house keeping items like signing up for child birth classes and calling to find a pediatrician, he had me lay back so he could measure my belly. After a few seconds of him pushing around and unwinding his tape, he started to laugh. The next words out of his mouth were, “And there are how many in there again?” I laughed nervously and said “One…we think??” He was very impressed and made a point of holding his tape and pushing down to accentuate my belly. He looked at Jer said…”That’s impressive. You’re measuring 27 weeks.” I looked at him and said, “So what does that mean?” He said, “It means you can call the baby Guinness…or pro-athlete. I think I know who the baby will take after.” He then proceeded to laugh himself nearly to tears at his funny little joke. We all had a good laugh and then I asked him again for real, "So what does that mean?" He told us that he wasn’t worried about it at this point. In another month we would come back in and he would measure me again. If by then we were still measuring 4 weeks ahead, it would be time for ultrasound number 2. Yes everyone…ultrasound number 2. We would be in search of multiples. Twins to be exact. I about fell off the examining table and onto the floor. However at this point, the size is more than likely to do with the way I’m carrying the baby. Apparently I’m carrying the baby long in my torso, rather than across my belly and hips. He said that might explain some of the size displacement. He also said we could have some excess fluid in there which could cause the size difference. After we got over our shock, he also informed me that now is the time to start looking for pre-term labor and other things like Braxton Hicks contractions. He explained the difference between the two. I haven’t experienced either that I’m aware of. I’m guessing by Christmas my story might be just a little different. We also learned I’m going to kick off my third and final trimester right around Christmas Day! Our next appointment is December 24th, Christmas Eve at 9:30 in the morning. I go for my glucose screening and hopefully to figure out if I’m still measuring ahead of the game or not.
Aunt Jenni asked us last weekend if we had a nickname for the baby. She told us a great story about a friend of theirs who called their baby “Frosted Flakes.” Jer and I aren’t really great with nicknames so nothing had come to mind yet. Especially nothing original like that. I think the best ones are the ones that make themselves. After today I think we coined our baby’s first nickname. So thank you Dr. Talsky, though it’s not the cutest of nicknames…for now it’s very fitting - Guinness and the rest of the family are doing just fine and anxiously awaiting our next appointment!
December 8, 2008
Does it always feel like that?!!?
A few weeks ago I noticed some movements in my stomach that didn’t feel quite like the normal digestion type processes. Slowly but surely they got a little stronger and a little more consistent. I noticed them every time I ate something or sat down after moving around for awhile. Finally at dinner one night I felt the strongest movements yet and my instincts were confirmed. The baby was moving around and I could finally feel it! Over the past few weeks the baby and I have been bonding. I get kicks and bumps at meals times, first thing in the morning when it’s time to get up, and even a few when I’m not expecting them. For awhile it’s been just me and the baby’s little secret. But I was anxious for Jer to feel the baby really moving too.
Finally the other night we sat down to eat our dinner and watch a little T.V. As usual, baby was busy as could be. Moving and shaking after I downed a good helping of Beef and Brocoli from our favorite Chinese place. It was delicious. I’m still not sure whether baby thought it was good or just needed to move to make room for all the rice I ate! I moved over on the couch next to Jer and put his hand on my belly. I told him we would just sit here and watch T.V. If the baby moved, I was sure he’d notice something. Just a few minutes later the baby popped Jer a headbutt right to his hand. I wish I had a camera. His face was priceless. He jerked his head around and looked at me and said, “That was hard! Is it always like that? Does that hurt?” I cracked up laughing. It was a pretty strong little kick. Jer thinks it’s was a headbutt. For now since we can’t see the movement on my belly we’re just guessing. But the whole next day he joked about our future ultimate fighter. I’m starting to see a trend. While I’ve always pictured us with a girl, having a boy is beginning to creep into my thoughts more and more. Even if we have a baby that’s ultimate fighting material, it’s not a sport I want them to play in! Let’s just stick to the fun ones. Hockey, football, soccer. No need for excessive violence right??
Finally the other night we sat down to eat our dinner and watch a little T.V. As usual, baby was busy as could be. Moving and shaking after I downed a good helping of Beef and Brocoli from our favorite Chinese place. It was delicious. I’m still not sure whether baby thought it was good or just needed to move to make room for all the rice I ate! I moved over on the couch next to Jer and put his hand on my belly. I told him we would just sit here and watch T.V. If the baby moved, I was sure he’d notice something. Just a few minutes later the baby popped Jer a headbutt right to his hand. I wish I had a camera. His face was priceless. He jerked his head around and looked at me and said, “That was hard! Is it always like that? Does that hurt?” I cracked up laughing. It was a pretty strong little kick. Jer thinks it’s was a headbutt. For now since we can’t see the movement on my belly we’re just guessing. But the whole next day he joked about our future ultimate fighter. I’m starting to see a trend. While I’ve always pictured us with a girl, having a boy is beginning to creep into my thoughts more and more. Even if we have a baby that’s ultimate fighting material, it’s not a sport I want them to play in! Let’s just stick to the fun ones. Hockey, football, soccer. No need for excessive violence right??
“Good Job! Get ‘em up way high! Gimme, Gimme that high five…” - Dynamo of Volition, Jason Mraz
November 23, 2008
My favorite thing about Jason Mraz is that Jer and I fell in love with his music together. Jer bought me his Mr. A-Z album for Christmas a few years ago and we both were hooked. His music is soulful and funky. It’s inspiring. Each time we listen we hear new things. Even in his older songs. If you don’t own Jason Mraz and enjoy any of his more popular songs, we would both recommend making a purchase. You won’t be disappointed. You can check him out on MySpace at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=4818814
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Jason Mraz’s sold-out concert at the Fox Theatre the weekend before Thanksgiving. I heard about the concert on the radio and immediately purchased them through our recreation office at work the next day. We had just purchased his new CD and couldn’t wait to dive into another musical masterpiece from one of our favorite artist. We decided to make a date out of the evening, starting with dinner at Red Lobster. After dinner we hit the road for downtown St. Louis. We grabbed our usual parking spot and joined a bustling crowd of people all geared up for an evening of good music. The concert started at 7:30. His opening act was Lisa Hannigan. She was from Dublin, Ireland, had an amazing voice, lovely accent and played a very eclectic mix of music. She played for nearly an hour, which was followed by 30 minutes of set up for Jason Mraz’s set.
This pregnant girl is normally in sweats and ready for bed by 9pm at night and our evening was just getting started! Finally right around 9, he made his way to the stage and oh was it worth the wait. It’s hands down the best concert we’ve ever been to. He was high energy, hilarious, and amazingly talented. While doing his song Dynamo of Volition (which is one of our favorites from his newest album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things), he encouraged the crowd to forget how you look and just have fun. He taught us a handful of dance moves to go with the song. There wasn’t one person sitting the rest of the concert! Not only did he knock you out of your chair with his own songs, but his cover of Oh Happy Day and Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” couldn’t have been done better by the original artists themselves. He talked a lot about giving thanks for the little things in life. Like having another day to breathe in and out. He inspired us both with his positive attitude and fun loving presence on stage. We plan to see him in concert as often as we’re lucky enough to go. We didn’t get home until around midnight and the next work day was a bit of an assault on us both. But it was well worth Monday night’s exhaustion!
My favorite thing about Jason Mraz is that Jer and I fell in love with his music together. Jer bought me his Mr. A-Z album for Christmas a few years ago and we both were hooked. His music is soulful and funky. It’s inspiring. Each time we listen we hear new things. Even in his older songs. If you don’t own Jason Mraz and enjoy any of his more popular songs, we would both recommend making a purchase. You won’t be disappointed. You can check him out on MySpace at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=4818814
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Jason Mraz’s sold-out concert at the Fox Theatre the weekend before Thanksgiving. I heard about the concert on the radio and immediately purchased them through our recreation office at work the next day. We had just purchased his new CD and couldn’t wait to dive into another musical masterpiece from one of our favorite artist. We decided to make a date out of the evening, starting with dinner at Red Lobster. After dinner we hit the road for downtown St. Louis. We grabbed our usual parking spot and joined a bustling crowd of people all geared up for an evening of good music. The concert started at 7:30. His opening act was Lisa Hannigan. She was from Dublin, Ireland, had an amazing voice, lovely accent and played a very eclectic mix of music. She played for nearly an hour, which was followed by 30 minutes of set up for Jason Mraz’s set.
This pregnant girl is normally in sweats and ready for bed by 9pm at night and our evening was just getting started! Finally right around 9, he made his way to the stage and oh was it worth the wait. It’s hands down the best concert we’ve ever been to. He was high energy, hilarious, and amazingly talented. While doing his song Dynamo of Volition (which is one of our favorites from his newest album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things), he encouraged the crowd to forget how you look and just have fun. He taught us a handful of dance moves to go with the song. There wasn’t one person sitting the rest of the concert! Not only did he knock you out of your chair with his own songs, but his cover of Oh Happy Day and Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” couldn’t have been done better by the original artists themselves. He talked a lot about giving thanks for the little things in life. Like having another day to breathe in and out. He inspired us both with his positive attitude and fun loving presence on stage. We plan to see him in concert as often as we’re lucky enough to go. We didn’t get home until around midnight and the next work day was a bit of an assault on us both. But it was well worth Monday night’s exhaustion!
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