geeder

Tough Love

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:10:44 GMT

Evan is four weeks old now. I can't believe it has been one month old already. We are trying to use "Babywise" to get him to sleep in his crib by himself for naps. We are already on a pretty great schedule. He eats about every 3 hours during the day and 4 or 5 hours during the night. He is a great night sleeper and sleeps in the cradle next to our bed. We have no trouble putting him down in that and having him go to sleep, but it is the naps that we are working on. For the first few weeks i would hold him while he would sleep and i would usually sleep too. But, now I need to get things done and can't hold him all the time. The first few times i put him down in his crib, he just cried and cried and then i cried. (i just started this two days ago). Yesterday he cried on and off for 1 and a half hours(with me going in occasionally and giving him his pacifier or calming him down). It was horrible listening to him cry. But, then last night I think he was soooo tired that he slept in his crib from 8-10 without any problems. You are supposed to put them down in the crib while they are sleepy but awake. I usually rock him to sleep or hold him til he is pretty much asleep and then i put him down. It works better for us this way for now and i am okay with it.
He is now asleep in his crib and it has been 30 minutes.. So, we will cross our fingers that he is learning how to sleep by himself. As i am writing this, he is fussing a little. Hopefully he will just go back to sleep...
While he was asleep earlier i actually cleaned out our refrigerator. I have lots of plans to get this house in shape while i am off for 5 months. I get 20 weeks off with maternity leave and FMLA. I don't get paid, but it is okay.. It will be nice to be home that long, but i will probably be ready to go back to work by May.

Evan is here

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:47:15 GMT

Now, that things are a little quieter and Evan is asleep i can finally post. Evan Peter Nekrasz arrived on December 27th, 2008 at 5:49am. He arrived via C section due to me not progressing in labor and after they went in to do the section we found out he was wedged in my pelvis and didn't want to come out.(no wonder he was 5 days late). We came home on the 30th due to spending an extra day at the hospital. The C section was a little rough, so they kept me extra. The thing that sucks is that i can't do much. I can't drive for 2-4 weeks, i can't pick up anything heavier than the baby for 2 weeks and then nothing heavier than him and his carrier for 4 more weeks. I can't vaccum(oh well, not to sad about that) and i am not really supposed to bend down much at all..
Grandma and Grandpa Dotts were here since the 15th waiting for little man to arrive. They are so excited to have a little grandson. They have been so much help with him and now they left this morning. It was very sad to see them go. But, we will go visit in a few months. The months will go by fast and before you know it we will be there.
Things with Evan have been going pretty well. We are having breastfeeding issues, but we are working on them(long boring story). So, i am supplementing him with formula as well until he gains some weight. He also likes to sleep at night and we have to wake him up to feed him(go figure). If he was gaining weight and we were not having issues, i could probably let him go until he woke himself up, but i can't let him go more than 3 hours during the day and 4 at night.
Daddy is getting used to having a baby in the house. He is doing great with Evan as well.
We are happy to be home and start to get into a routine. We have even gone out to eat twice since we have been home. Evan did great. We just have to go during feedings. :)

only 3 more weeks...

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:09:04 GMT

it is the final countdown. Only 3 more weeks until baby gets here(okay 3 weeks and 2 days to be exact). I am getting so excited to meet little Evan Peter Nekrasz. His middle name was his grandpa Nekrasz's middle name. We have almost everything ready for his arrival. Just a few little things left to do.
I have been really sick with a cold/flu this week and have not been to work all week. I have really had a hard time with it since i can't take many drugs to help out my cold. I finally went to the clinic yesterday and the doctor gave me Robitussin with codine. It was a god send last night. So far this morning i am feeling better, but the robitussin has not worn off yet. I am sure i will be ready to go back to work on monday.
We had a nice thanksgiving dinner with Kat and Bengt yesterday.. They cooked some yummy food. It was a nice mellow day. Just what we needed.
i think we are going to work on getting the christmas tree up and the train layout around the tree. it is going to be really nice when we get it done..

good morning

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:10:46 GMT

Me and the girls got up at 7am(which was really like 8am for them so that is impressive). Usually we get up a lot earlier than that. I have had the whole weekend off to relax and get a few things done around the house. I have actually been pretty productive. We are getting the babies room done slowly but surely.. I put away lots of things yesterday and we put up the curtain valance. I also did a few loads of laundry(some baby stuff). We also put together the cradle that will be in our room for awhile. Today we are going to put together the crib and try and carry up the dresser. If it is too heavy then we need to wait for someone else to help Joe move it. I am now 33 weeks. 7 weeks to go(but who is counting) I am starting to get more uncomfortable. The little one is always doing sumersaults and is so active lately. It is so awesome to feel him move around, but it is a little uncomfortable some times. It is kind of weird to have a hard time putting on socks and tying your own shoes... thank goodness for Crocs...(i am wearing them all the time now since i can just slip them on.
I am so excited to meet our new little one. I have a feeling that these next few weeks are going to go by slowly.. The rest of the pregnancy has gone by sooooo fast...
Last weekend i was in CA for my baby shower that Julie and Robyn put on for me. It was great to see everyone and i got so many cute and special things. I definitely have some wonderful friends. Next weekend, the girls at work are having a shower for me. So, that will be great as well.

back to reality

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:04:54 GMT

well-
we just got back from Hawaii last night. We had a great and relaxing time. We spent a lot of time lying on the beach and just relaxing. We didn't do too much sight seeing since we had been there before. This trip was to be lazy and relax.
I am now 27 weeks prego and getting bigger by the day. It was nice to have a last quiet vacation with just the two of us before the baby gets here. Yes, we are having a BOY!!!!! joe is very excited that it is a boy. I am excited as well, but i would have been happy either way. Joe was okay with having a girl as well, but i know he was really excited about the boy. We just got all the bedding for the baby. My mom bought it for us. It is really cute. We are going with a train theme. The bedding we got is T is for train and I really do like it.
Anyways, I got to go back to work tomorrow. Back to the grind... oh well... pretty soon i will get a good 5 months off after the baby is born.

prego

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:41:44 GMT

i am officially starting to feel pregnant. I cooked a nice dinner last night of chicken, potatoes and zucchini and then i could not eat the chicken at all. It made me sick just thinking about eating chicken. That is a first for me. Also, my belly is getting bigger. I am wearing my maternity pants now and they are so much more comfy than my regular pants. I even had to order a few new pairs of scrubs for work so that i will be more comfy and they will fit over my ever expanding belly. I am now just two days shy of the 5 month mark. i am half way there..... it has gone by sooooo fast.

oh boy or girl?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:21:14 GMT

we had our ultrasound last week and baby did not want to reveal him/herself to us. He/she had their legs crossed.. so camera shy... The tech and the radiologist both said "i think i see something" which may or may not mean it is a boy. oh well, we are going to have to wait a few more weeks for our next appointment to see if we can get another ultrasound. The good thing is that it will keep me from buying baby clothes now(saving me money), since i refuse to buy green/yellow things. We have a few themes picked out for the baby's room depending on if it is a boy or a girl

California here i come

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:12:15 GMT

Only a few more days, and I get to go to California. I am so excited to visit. I haven't been to the bay area since December(i think). I get to see my niece for the first time(she is already 4 months old) and i get to see my other niece again.. I sometimes wish we were closer so I could watch them all grow.
Julie's bachelorette party is coming up as well and I know it is going to be so much fun. Even though I will be the designated sober one, I always have fun when there is dancing and friends involved.
As soon as i get back to Washington after the trip, we have a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound. If the baby is behaving we get to find out what we are having. I can't wait to find out what our little peanut is.

what a day

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:51:02 GMT

i had a doctor's appointment today and everything with the baby is great. But, the bad part is that i have had a cold since friday and now it has gone into my eye and so i had to go to the urgent care clinic for my eye. So, i got to go to the doctor twice today. I have viral conjunctivitis(aka pink eye) from my cold. So, no work for me tomorrow since my eye looks horrible and pink eye is extremely contageous. I can't go to work and give it to all of my patients. I think the hospital would frown on that. I don't feel bad except that my eye hurts. So, i have a day off to relax and maybe go shopping.(who knows)

it is sunny!!!!!!!!! WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:25:14 GMT

today has been a nice sunny day. i started out going to Home Depot to buy flowers for the pots on the deck (0930). I came home and then started planting. It didn't take me too long to plant all the pots(7 pots and 7 window boxes). I don't know why, but when i do this task with my husband it takes all day.... he lags. It was nice to do some therapeutic planting.
I ate lunch and took a little break and then put the dogs in the car and we went to Beaver Lake Park for a walk. There is supposed to be an off leash area for the dogs, but i had a hard time finding it. I had only been to Beaver Lake once before and I was not familiar with it. There were also no signs pointing in the right direction. Some other people asked me if i knew where the dog area was, so clearly i was not the only one who was looking for it and couldn't find it. Anyways, we started walking down a trail and it was really muddy. I only had flip flops on, so I decided to turn back.(i think the dog park was down that trail). Maybe next time..... We went back to the lake area and wandered around with all the other people, kids, and dogs..
Now, the girls are passed out on the couch. They are exhausted from their adventure.

Hawaii

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:38:52 GMT

we have been in hawaii for a week now and it has been a beautiful and amazing trip. We couldn't have asked for better weather. only two more days and we are back home to the cold. I did something i said i would never ever do. I went up on a heliocopter to see the volcano on the big island of Hawaii. It was so amazing and i only was a little nervous. we did a trip with the doors off of the copter so that we could take pictures. Me, joe, my dad , and my brother-in-law went. We had a great time and got lots of awesome pics. the lava was flowing into the water. I will post pics on my website when i get home. We did lots of fun things but have not really relaxed. i will need a vacation when i get home.

snow

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 06:07:07 GMT

it is 11pm and we have been playing poker with our friends Brian and Kristin. When we looked outside we realized how much snow we have. We have about 3 1/2 inches of snow right now and we are supposed to get more over night. It is Spring time and we have got the most snow tonight than we have all winter. I am going to be really sad if the tulips we planted ended up freezing and not blooming. Right before the snow came our tulips were just about to open up. I am so excited since this is the first time we planted tulips, but if the snow freezes them, i will be sad.
It will be interesting to see how much snow we get by morning.

Hawaii

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:24:41 GMT

We are going to Hawaii in just 7 short days.(they will probably be long days since i have to work 4 out of those days. But, still it is getting so close. Can't wait to get out of the cold weather. It has actually been snowing in the area. We have a little bit of ice on our deck this morning. I love living in WA, but it is always nice to go some place warm during the winter.

weekend update

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:02:19 GMT

I had a really nice weekend. Finally, i had a few days off in a row. I was off fri,sat,and sunday. My friend Julie Smith and her new baby who is now 3 months old(he was born a week before my niece) were here visiting for the weekend. I picked them up from the airport Thursday night after I got off work and I dropped them off this morning for their 8 am flight. The time was too short, but we did have fun. We went shopping on friday and yesterday julie, joe, zachary, and i went to the museum of flight in Renton. It was really nice. Julie and Joe were so excited about the museum. I could take it or leave it, and Zach slept most of the time. We went out and had dinner and then julie and i watched a movie. Then, bright and early this morning they were off to California. I came back home and took a nap for awhile. Now, i am going to be a bum all day... Tomorrow, i am back to work and next weekend i will be in Memphis for a conference.

puppy

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:00:51 GMT

we brought Bailey home on Sunday. Chloe wasn't too happy at first. She barked at her for about 15 minutes. Now, they are getting along much better. The first day, Chloe tried to bury her in the blankets. They are now wrestling and playing together. I have to watch Chloe because she is a little too rough with Bailey. Bailey weighs 2.9 lbs and Chloe weighs 9 pounds. You can see some pics of the girls on my facebook page or www.geeder.com

California here we come

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:36:14 GMT

We will be in Cali in just a few days. I am excited to visit everyone. It has been awhile since we have been in the bay area, but we saw a lot of friends when they were here for the 4th of July. We went to Kat and Bengt's new house yesterday. It is really nice. Unfortunately, Bengt wasn't there, but Kat's parents and Vicki were there, as well as Kat. We hung out and played their new game Scene It on the X-BOX and we had dinner. It was a nice relaxing evening. Today I have done pretty much nothing. It has been nice to sit and relax. I have been working a lot and i have to go back to work tomorrow for three days before we leave. I do have to work christmas, but it is a great sacrifice so that i will be able to be gone for new years. Unfortunately, hospitals never close for the holidays.

New Addition

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:03:56 GMT

We are getting a new addition to our family in just a few short weeks. We are getting a new puppy. Chloe needs a friend. We went today and picked out a CUTE little red dachshund. She is really funny. She burrowed herself in joe's jacket and all you could see was her little tail wagging. She was also biting on his jacket. At 7 weeks, she has a little personality already... We are going to pick her up on the 6th of January after we get back from California. We actually get back on the 2nd of January, but then i have to work the next three days after that, so we will get her on my first day off. I am excited, but i know it will be alot of work for the first few months with a new puppy.

christmas

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:06:01 GMT

we thought long and hard about putting up our 7 1/2 foot tree in the family room and decided against it. We know that Chloe will probably end up knocking it down or something, so we thought that we would buy a 6 1/2 foot tree and put it up on an end table(our ceilings are 9 feet) so that she can't get into too much trouble with the tree. Unfortunately, so far we have not been able to find one. We do buy fake trees because it is soooo much easier and less mess. But, we did end up buying a 9 foot tree to put up in the living room. We figure we will put it up this year in front of the window because you will really be able to see it from the street. And next year, joe is going to build a wood platform around the tree and we will put a train to run around the tree. it will be really neat. This way, the dog (and down the road, the kids) will not be able to get into the tree in the living room, since we have kid gates and they can't get into the living room. So, we will be decorating a huge tree in a few days. I know we are a little slow on getting a tree up. I am now getting into the christmas spirit. We definately have enough ornaments to decorate a few trees. We inherited lots of amazing ornaments from joe's dad.

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:20:08 GMT

yeah... joe is home. i picked him up from the airport last night. his plane was delayed due to all the crazy weather they are having back east. While he was gone i went to look at a puppy. yes, we are going to get a new puppy sometime. the place i went was to a breeder. she only had two puppies left in this litter, but she has another litter due in three weeks. we have decided to wait and see what puppies are in this next litter. so, we will be waiting patiently. we really want another girl, so we will wait and see what is in this next litter. chloe really needs a friend. i think that life will be crazy with two dachshunds, but i think that chloe really needs another dog since she is way toooo attached to me... So, i will keep you updated on the puppy search.

RAIN!!!!

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:02:54 GMT

First we had snow, and now we have rain. We got about 3 1/2 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. It has been crazy weather. it has practically rained non stop since last night. Joe is still gone and won't be back until the 11th. He is missing our crazy weather. Chloe is not liking the going outside to pee in the rain thing. I need a row boat if anyone has one they want to give me... Just kidding....

more snow

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:29:00 GMT

it warmed up during the night and a lot of the snow on the back deck melted. But, now it is 33 degrees and everything is sort of frozen. It is sleeting right now... i am supposed to go in to Seattle today for a KD meeting, but I think i might pass due to(i am sure) the roads from my house to the freeway are nice and icy...

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:44:19 GMT

It is snowing.... i was at work today and i watched it snow in downtown Seattle almost all day. By the end of the evening(quitting time)it was coming down and even sticking to the street. I put my car in four wheel drive and headed home. The freeway was actually okay, but as soon as i got into town it was 32 degrees and the snow was coming down. I definately needed my four wheel drive. When i got home(safe and sound) i went out to the deck and measured the snow with a ruler. We got 3 inches in about 5 hours. It is still snowing. We will see how much we get overnight. Chloe was out on the deck romping around in the snow. She was having a great time. The reason it snowed is because Joe is out of town. Every time he goes out of town at this time of the year, we have our first snowfall and he misses it. I don't have to work for the next two days, so i can go out and enjoy the snow tomorrow morning.

meatloaf

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:48:31 GMT

well-
our meatloaf was really delicious. If you want the recipe, it is on the food channel under stuffed meatloaf. We didn't make the same stuffing Giada did. We cheated and made Stouffers, but it was still amazing. I recommend the meatloaf to everyone. The secret is the three meats.

Gobble Gobble

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:23:04 GMT

Happy Turkey Day!!!!! Joe, Chloe and I are home by ourselves. We are actually getting ready to make Thanksgiving meatloaf. Yep, i know it is a little odd, but we didn't want to make a big turkey for the two of us. Joe was watching Giada(or big head lady)what ever her name is, on The Food Channel and she made an awesome meatloaf using veal,pork,and hamburger meat. It looked so tasty that we decided to try it for dinner. We still are having stuffing and mashed potatoes and pie, but we are not having turkey. I am going to start dinner in a few minutes and i will let everyone know how it tastes. We took Chloe on a long walk this afternoon. She loved it. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, but it was really cold. I have to work tomorrow, so no shopping for me. I am okay with that. I don't like going out the day after thanksgiving with a million other people. But, Kohls does open at 4am... kind of crazy.

Colorado

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:43:03 GMT

I am at my sister's house in Colorado. The weather has been really nice and sunny and pretty warm. It is a big change from Seattle weather for a few days. But, it is supposed to get cold and possibly snow tomorrow. We will see. I am having a great time hanging out with my sister and brother in law and especially my niece. She is sooooo cute, but she has a little touch of colic and is pretty cranky. My poor sister can't get work done due to Kate wants to be held all the time. Fortunately since i am here she can get things done(since Nate is at work). My sister is back to work(she works from home) but it is hard to get work done with the little peanut being cranky. It is going to be hard for her after i leave when she is trying to work and Kate just screams. Kate is on medicine now for reflux, so hopefully it will be kicking in and will make her feel better.
Today we are off to a friend's house to watch the Broncos play. I am not too excited about football, but us girls will just hang out and chat. Yesterday my friend Jenny and her hubby came to visit. They live in Denver so it was a short trip for them. It was so nice to see them and hang out. I had not seen them since July at their wedding. I miss Jenny lots. I know that Joe and I will probably make a trip here again maybe in March so we can visit everyone again.