It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Well, we got our tree out...yes, it is a fake tree, but it looks quite pretty with all of our special ornaments. One of our traditions is to buy an ornament when we go on vacation, so when we decorate the tree each year we can remember all the places we've been and all the fun we had. After debating with myself about weather or not to put up the tree this year since we will be away visiting family and friends in PA for most of the holiday season, I decided there was no point in even having a tree if we didn't put it up once per year, so here it is in all its glory!

And to celebrate the season that is now upon us, DH's university held a Campus Candlelight Ceremony the other evening with wagon rides, refreshments, and caroling fun. One particular station had reindeer antlers to decorate. DS didn't know what hit him; although, he was quite a hit all bundled up with his antlers on. He also had his first experience sitting on Santa's lap. I decided that all the fun this year is more for us as parents since Noah won't remember these days...but boy, is it fun to get pictures for him to look back at when he is older. I can just hear him now, "Oh, Mom...what were you thinking? That's so embarrassing." :)

Thanksgiving Weekend Photo Gallary

First is a matter of business: If anyone would like to automatically receive each new blog entry by email, please let me know (by leaving me a comment...click where it says "0 comments" at the end of this entry...and let me know what email address you would like me to use...FYI, it will not be posted on the blog for everyone to see for your security). DH keeps teaching me new things that these programs can do...It adds wrinkles to my brain. (PS. Wrinkles in your brain is a good thing...the more wrinkles you have in your brain, the smarter you are...DH has many, many wrinkles...and he just takes the time to putz around with it to figure it all out. ;)

Second order of business: Happy Thanksgiving!!
We spent the evening with some friends of ours that moved here this summer from Idaho. Since we were both family-less for the holiday, we got together for our own big turkey dinner. We had a lot of fun hanging out and playing some games. They have two children ages 1 and 3. DH and I kept thinking, "Pretty soon, Noah will be running around and making us laugh like this." It was quite fun. Noah got to wear his precious Thanksgiving outfit sent from his dear Aunt Susan.

Every person needs a happy-little-naked-baby picture of themselves in the bath tub to look back on...This one is "family-friendly". DS thoroughly enjoyed kicking and splashing in the bath tub this morning.

Amidst their jealously of our constant attention being saved for DS, poor Ollie and Beau have begun to console each other--when they aren't fighting over their bone, that is. They are not particularly enjoying the cold rain, but that is just something they will have to get used to.

I have been working hard at compiling all of our contact information for everyone that we know. Instead of having some information listed in one place, other info in another place, and many other peoples' contact info on pieces of scrap paper lying here and there, we decided to organize our lives a bit better using Google. (I really am liking the way Google has provided all kinds of tools to organize my life...and it is all free.) It has been a tedious process. At times, I felt like pulling my hair out...But, I think we are almost done. We may be asking some of you for some of your contact info. Just because we ask doesn't mean we don't already have it. It just means we can't find it right now. :)

And a couple smiley Noah pics for fun...

With Pleasure, I Introduce To You: Dr. DH

The day has (finally) arrived. This week, DH's thesis was submitted to the library, which was the final step for his PhD. After celebrating the almost completion by taking part in the commencement ceremony, he still had some work to do. On August 1, he defended the thesis by presenting to a defense committee of professors who were experts in his field. Then, there were some finishing touches to work through. And finally, the printing, binding, and submission of the final draft.

Today, we celebrate!

Yea, Rah, Hockey!

There was a cheer we used to do on my high school hockey team that ended with "Yea, Rah, Hockey!" but I forget the rest of it... Some of you may remember that I was a cheerleader in 5th grade--we cheered for the midget football teams...not something I announce very often. That was before I found a REAL sport where you actually have to run and stuff!

Anyway, I left DS with DH Saturday morning and ventured into Portland to make some new friends. I arrived at the designated artificial turf field, which was covered with little football players. Apparently, they had a final game on Sunday and were getting in one last practice. So, we found a grass soccer field close by that would do for the day. (P.S. Grass fields in Portland--not a good idea...especially during the rainy season.) We were slipping and sliding all over the muddy field. Friday night when I went to bed it had been pouring down rain, but I awoke Saturday morning to a beautiful sunny day and we were determined to make the most of it.

I might have mentioned before that this team that I found is made up of a bunch of people who moved here from the east coast and places outside of the US since people of Oregon don't seem to know that there is a sport called Field Hockey. "What's That??" Also, P.S., in other countries, Field Hockey is also a men's sport. The US is the only country where it is really considered to be a women's sport. So, I got to play with a couple guys from Bangladesh, a girl who played in the UK, a couple that I think was from Puerto Rico, some others guys and girls that I'm not sure where they are from, and a girl from Cortland. (That would be SUNY Cortand, the team we faced in the 2001 NCAA Field Hockey National Championship. For those of you who don't know, we lost the game 1-0, coming in 2nd in the nation for NCAA Division 3 Field Hockey. I still crinkle my nose and growl when I think of Cortland...Grrr.) But, she was very nice and I am not bitter. She graduated 2 years before I did, so I never actually played against her.

Anyway, it was an exciting time of hockey. I still hurt 3 days later...the pain should be all gone just in time to do it all again this Saturday!!! Yea, Rah, Hockey!!!

Exhilerating Excursions

My mother came to town for a few days. I like to believe she came to visit me, but let's face it, Noah was the real reason she made the journey out here. :) It was an eventful few days. DH and I were able to get out for a hiking date...something we haven't been able to do since we got here. Grandma was happy for the chance to babysit. On Monday, we spent all day cleaning my house and making some food for the company we were expecting in the evening. For those of you who don't know, I am getting started with a home based business as an Arbonne Consultant. It is a really great company with really awesome Swiss-formulated pure skin care products. Seriously, it is the best stuff I have ever tried...and I've tried a lot of stuff. So, we had a fun Arbonne party that night. On Tuesday, we headed to the coast...and what a day we had!

First of all, Oregon is just beautiful everywhere! We started out heading toward a town called Tillamook on a winding mountainous road through the Coastal Range. We made one stop along the way so DS could eat, pulling off at one of the few random spots that had enough space for a car off the road. (Much of the road had no guard rail with a severe cliff-drop-off directly beside my car...Don't get too close!) When I got out of the car to be able to walk around to encourage Noah to burp...and boy, did he have a big one!...we realized there was a trail leading back into the woods to the origin of the refreshing sound of a creek flowing through the wooded mountains. After just a few minutes of exploring, we got back in the car and headed on our way. It was a long drive over the mountains due to the seemingly endless winding road that didn't even get enough traffic to blow the leaves to the side. What a pretty drive it was. When we got to Tillamook, we stopped for a quick lunch before heading to my mom's new friend's house--who she met on the airplane on the way here from Pennsylvania. This lady has a daughter who had a baby 2 weeks ago and she was coming out to visit her and help with the baby. This daughter of hers is my age, so she invited us over to meet her. After that quick stop, we headed down the road referred to as Three Capes Drive. This is a road that runs along the coast from a town called Pacific City (one of the most beautiful Oregon beaches) north past three different capes. We stopped for multiple photo-ops to attempt to catch the experience on camera. Pictures just don't do it justice. After watching the sun set over the Pacific at our last stop, we dropped my mom's friend off back at her house and headed home. On the way home, we took a faster, straighter route back so we could avoid the windy mountain road in the pitch black night. As we drove along, chatting away, suddenly there was a deer directly in front of my car. With a quick swerve, I avoided hitting it head-on, but it bounced off the side of my car with a loud thud. I was so sure I would have a big old dent to show DH when I got home. After pulling off and catching my breath, we decided to continue down the road and find a place that wasn't completely dark to inspect the damages. When we found light, there was no dent in sight--not even a scratch. Miracles do happen...there is no way I could have hit that deer like I did without leaving a mark--on the car, that is. I'm pretty sure that if I had inspected the deer like I inspected the car, we would not have found similar results. I never realized deer hunting could be so easy! We finally returned home exhausted and still in disbelief.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one week, we woke up on Wednesday and decided to finally go through and organize the rest of the boxes and stuff piled in the garage that we really hadn't touched much since the big move. Now, I can back into the garage without worrying as much about hitting stuff. I seem to have trouble backing straight.

Thursday morning, we headed to the airport so my mom could meet the plane. Today, I crashed...on the couch, that is...

Breakthrough!

I have been waiting for this day for about 8 weeks now. DS slept 7 3/4 hours through the night on Thursday night, waking up at 7:15 am Friday morning. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much because Thursday was his 2 month doctor visit where he got a few shots and I gave him some Tylenol to help with the pain and feverishness that usually follows. Needless to say, he was out like a light. But, I am hopeful because Friday night, he again slept for almost 8 hours. I woke up this morning thinking, "Can it be so?!?" I haven't felt this rested for a long time! So, if tonight works out the same, I will consider it the new trend. Oh, sweet slumber.

The visit to the pediatrician went well...aside from the instant DS got his shots and his face turned bright red for a second before the wail came. Growth Chart figures are as follows:
Weight: 13 lbs., 3 1/2 oz., 90th percentile
Length: 24 in., 90th percentile
Head Circumference: 38 cm, 15th percentile
Conclusion: Small head.

Doctor said everything looks well. He does have an ever so slight flat-ish spot on his head...apparently he favors looking to the right when he is lying on his back. Instructions were to try to get him to look the other way so it doesn't get worse. Don't want a flat head, now, do we? On the way out, I got my flu shot...Just a day of shots all around!

Tonight is game 3 of the World Series. Hasn't been much of a nail-biter series so far, but you never know how the rest will go. DH is enjoying taking a quick break from his class lecture-writing to watch the game.

Week Seven Challenge: Smiles Caught on Camara

I found a club field hockey league here in Portland, which apparently is made up of a bunch of people who moved here from the east coast and international players...other than this league, hockey is pretty much non-existent here. So, I am grateful for the league and it gives me something to work toward with getting back into good shape.

I had a conversation the other day about the beautiful Oregon coastline. Apparently, it seems to have a mind of its own. When I see a large body of water like that, I automatically think, "Let's go swimming!!" Well, it seems that, aside from being ice-cold, it is a bit of a monster with very strong undercurrents and random floating trees that together can cause quite a fatal situation. I was told of several stories where people were sitting by the water for some serenity when a huge wave all of a sudden came up, whacking the unsuspecting victims on the head with a log and dragging them out to sea. The word of caution followed, "Never turn your back on the Oregon ocean." Perhaps a wise word of advice.

DS is becoming quite smiley these days...most days, that is. And he likes to talk a lot...of course, most of the time it comes out as, "Ahhhhh, guuhhh, uhhh..." It's a start! Some of you may recognize the blue jacket in the third picture...That's right, it is one that DH wore when he was that size!!

Tid Bits

After careful assessment of DS's excessive fussiness, extreme gassiness, and sudden outbreak of severe diaper rash (great visual, huh?), we have decided that poor Noah was reacting to the dairy in my diet. Therefore, we eliminated the dairy, got back on schedule and he is as happy as can be!! What a difference it has made...yea for solving gassy problems!!

I have been reading a book called Extraordinary Faith by Sheila Walsh. She is one of the Women of Faith speakers... I attended one of the conventions a couple years ago where I picked up this book. It is too bad that it took a move across the country and the birth of a child to get to the point where a little voice told me, "Gee, maybe you should actually read it!" ...which I fully intended to do way back when I brought it home...after all, isn't that the reason for buying a book--to read it?? (Just had to state the obvious...) Anyway, I am amazed at her insight. Of course, some of it just may have come from attending seminary... In this book, Sheila takes you through some of the events that occurred throughout the generations leading to the birth of Christ and the evidence of God's faithfulness amongst it all. It is really quite inspiring...Yea for spiritual insight!!

I was invited to a dinner the other night at the house of the University president hosted by the First Lady. It was a dinner for all of the women of the University where DH works. I headed out and left DH and DS home for a guys' night in. This was my first evening out without DS. I kept thinking I was forgetting something. But, it was nice to get out and meet some other people...yea for free food and lots of people to meet!!

Parenting 101

I have read that the sixth week of a baby's life tends to be the fussiest. DS has proven that to be true. I have searched many options in attempts to figure out what could be the problem. Is he getting enough sleep? Is he hungry? Do I need to add an additional feeding time? Perhaps he is reacting to something I am eating...

There are about a million different books out there with all kinds of different theories on how to respond and how to approach the whole parenting thing. The mission is to better equip new parents to respond in the healthiest way for the child to better promote brain development, blah, blah, blah. I have come full circle to the same conclusion I had before I was a parent: Babies eat, sleep, poop, and cry and that pretty much sums it up!

Seriously, different methods work for different people and in the end, they all turn out okay--eventually, by God's grace! For my sanity (after all, what would become of poor Noah if I was locked up in the loony bin!) I have adopted a "flexible routine" as is described in a book called On Becoming Babywise that is written by a man named Gary Ezzo. It is backed by a lot of research and experience and the goal is to promote healthy eating and sleeping habits. In the book, he talks about discerning a baby's cry and taking the appropriate action. EASIER SAID THAN DONE! He also talks about how sometimes it is necessary to let your baby cry. That has been a rough piece of advice this week during his "fussy week". But, his sixth week of life is almost over and after that it should start to get better...Of course, this is coming from a first-time-mom (of 5 1/2 weeks) who sometimes wonders what the heck she is doing and who has dreams that in her tired state she lays the baby down in bed and actually wakes up wondering where the baby is when all along, he has been sleeping safely and soundly in his crib! Suddenly, that loony bin seems like it isn't so far away...

The purple seat in the picture is called a Bumbo Seat...cutest thing ever!! He still needs to get a little more head control before he sits in the seat for long periods of time, but I just had to try it out...and he seemed to like it...until he got tired and started fussing again. :)

Raindrops on Roses

The Oregon rains have started. I have heard that when they start they don't really stop until Spring. I suppose this is something I will become quite accustomed to. So, to celebrate, we ventured out on a field trip to the International Rose Test Garden. For those of you who don't know, Portland is nicknamed "The City of Roses." The International Rose Test Garden is the famous rose garden of Portland where there are rows and rows and rows of hundreds of different kinds and colors of roses. With such intricate detail, each bush was specially cultivated with uniqueness...kinda like us!! Each one has it's own characteristics and beauty and no two are alike. Makes you feel kinda special, huh?

And, of course this was our first field trip with DS (By the way, that stands for Dear Son, for those of you who are new to the blog scene...and DH is Dear Husband, for future reference.) Now 4 1/2 weeks old, he is growing like a bamboo shoot! With a rough weighing (where I weigh myself and then weigh me holding him, then subtract the difference), we are estimating almost 12 pounds...up from his 7 lb. 12 oz. birth weight. He stays awake longer now and takes it all in. He has started to enjoy his "Jungle Gym" with colored lights and toys to look at, as well as his snuggly swing--which tends to be a good option for evening fussy-ish time.

This morning, we got out for our first post-birth jog. What a handy contraption these jogging strollers are!! Noah just rode along contently...most of the time. Although, he did take a longer nap this afternoon...as did I. I think the fresh air was probably good for us both. I just may need to figure out a way to attach an umbrella.

Welcome

How do I start my first Blog entry EVER? I originally thought this was a bit of a silly idea, as I tend to be resistant to new technology and ideas. What's wrong with the way we have always done it? I can't tell you how long it took me to actually consider getting a digital camera. Or, how many years it took me to get an email address. But, now I have finally agreed to attempt to keep up with the times and the age of information. Of course, as soon as I finally embrace a change, it changes again...as is Life, I suppose....change is inevitable.

Speaking of change, 2007 has been known as "The Year of Transition" in the Foster household. We started the year with the announcement of our first baby on the way...and the excitement grew as DH embarked on a quest for employment with his upcoming completion of his PhD work. When he landed a job just outside of Portland, Oregon, we knew we were in for quite a year. Packing began and our stack of boxes grew while my belly did the same. As we prepared to leave from our Pennsylvania home, it struck me how much I was leaving behind. I suppose it isn't possible to go on a journey and stay behind at the same time. So, the time came and we packed up our trusty Penske truck and said our farewells. Family, friends, jobs--everything I was familiar with and so grew to love was changing--for good. With the journey ahead, it was easy to look forward and not back.

Our week-long trek across the country was an experience of a lifetime--probably not something I would do again soon, but a fun trip nonetheless. I never realized how big, flat, and dry our country is--of course, what I saw of our country was a view from Interstates 80 and 84 and a short detour in search of a place to have lunch on a lonely road leading to Elk Horn, Iowa...where we found no lunch. To sum up the trip: Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are not a whole lot different from Pennsylvania, except for the gradual increase in flatness. (Yes, that is now a word.) There is nothing in Iowa; and Nebraska is flat where you can see for miles, while you drive for many, many, many more miles. Finally, Wyoming greeted us with mountains, which was highly more entertaining as we faithfully followed Penske...and followed, and followed, and followed. Into Utah we went for a short jaunt, with more entertaining mountains. Back to the flatlands we went as we headed through Idaho and into Oregon. Ironically, with the fame of the northwest rains and its association with the state of Oregon, one would assume the state would be green. Much to our amusement, the east 2/3 of the state can be characterized as "desert". It wasn't until we were heading down the Columbia River Gorge that we actually saw trees. I almost forgot what they looked like.

A few hours later, we pulled into our new driveway, where the sun was shining; the air was fresh; and the grass, trees, and flowers were lush and green. This was the smell of "new."

After about 5 weeks or so of unpacking and organizing...and realizing how few people I knew, our son, Noah, was born on August 29. What a joy it is to become a mother!! I am amazed every day by this incredible blessing that is this little man. It crossed my mind during one 2:00 am feeding that having a baby is a little like having a new pet--a very high maintenance pet. Okay, okay, not the best of analogies, but what do you expect from a sleep-deprived mother at 2:00 am?

Welp, I suppose that is enough for the first entry. I imagine they will not all be this long. DS needs a bath and soon a bed, so farewell for now.