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.