A week of Christmas

Our adventures started on Monday (probably should insert a photo of the packed-full Hyundai, if I had one) as we loaded up our vehicle, dog, and child and headed North to Seabeck.  Over the mountains and through the woods, to Grammy's house we went.

We enjoyed lots of food!  As you can see to the left, Dave cooked up a great-tasting turkey for dinner.  On another night, we made lots of Thai food: Drunken noodles, Pad Thai, and homemade PF Changs lettuce wraps.

The game closet got cleaned out as we explored each and every game held deep within.  A stimulating game of Outburst, a tense game of Jenga, Tribond, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Headbanz.

Sweet Naptime

Yesterday Michaela was showing off her moves - see, she almost rolled all the way over!




























Today Kenji decided naptime is better with a buddy.

Four Months of Fun

According to our doctor, Michaela is growing well and is a healthy little gal. At her 4-month appointment today, Michaela weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds, 15 ounces (apparently I've been exaggerating how heavy Michaela is to those of you who have asked recently!) and is exactly 2 feet tall. We were told we should be expecting to see some rocking and rolling moves on Michaela's part in the next month or so. At this point it seems Michaela prefers rocking on her tummy like a beached whale to pushing herself up on her arms or rolling from back to front or front to back. That's okay, though, because for now I know that if I put her down in one spot, she will be there when I turn around again.

The official unofficial 4 month photos:

"Oh, hi Mom! It's great to see you!" (It's been so long...?)

"Looks like you won't put the camera down until I make some sort of cute face..."

"I am so bored of this photo shoot right now, and I'm on the verge of breaking down into tired hysterics as a result of my shots this morning."

And last but not least, just because some folks didn't believe me when I said I'd put Michaela in the laundry basket for safekeeping while I changed the sheets on our bed:

Christmas Lights

Baby Yoga

Happy Friday, everyone! In honor of the impending weekend, Michaela and I decided to try something new and fun today. At one of my baby showers I was gifted a yoga-for-babies DVD. It looked interesting, so I spread out the yoga mat and popped it in. What should have been an indication to me right away was Kenji's reaction to the menu screen. It pictured a cute little baby sitting in what is apparently "baby ready for yoga" pose. Kenji took one look at the TV and began growling fiercely, fur standing up all along her back. I tried to reassure her that the baby was not actually dangerous, but Kenji would not be convinced and I had to put her outside.

But back to the DVD... the intro has a professional yoga mother with every highlighted hair perfectly in place talking about how these exercises encourage bonding (great), help babies' digestion (Michaela doesn't have much of a problem with this) and take "nearly twice as long of naps" as they do without the yoga routine (greater still!). As we followed the short routines along with the mothers and their beautiful, sweetly cooing babies on the screen, I began to notice a disparity between the TV babies and my own. My own refused to bend her knees and thus form the "chair pose." She began cackling mischievously as I encouraged her to do the chair pose, and stuck her legs out even straighter. While TV babies looked lovingly at their mommies, Michaela began to wiggle and complain, looking as if she would rather be elsewhere. During what was supposed to be calming and soothing for the babies while they lie on mommy's tummy and listen to her heartbeat, Michaela began grunting and started scooting her way up towards my face. I put her back on my tummy and she courageously began the climb again. When all was said and done, Michaela was crying, not cooing. It also turns out today wasn't the day for the double-length nap. It took her 45 minutes to calm down and then she only slept for another fitful 45 minutes. Hmmm. Maybe we'll try again another day, or maybe we'll stick with our own exercise plan.

The past few days have been full of excitement. For example, today Michaela and I took our first trip to the car dealership together to get the oil changed. Thrills and excitement for everyone. On another day, the natural-born shopper in our family revealed his true colors by bringing home a cute Blazers onesie outfit. (A sidenote: I figured out that bibs really are helpful for something and not just fashion accessories. They make quick work of substantial baby drool.) Thanks to her daddy Michaela was able to strut her stuff and cheer loudly for her favorite team...although she's not allowed to watch any TV, so we had to give her the play-by-play so she would know when to yell and/or cheer. Look how cute my favorite Blazers fans are! Aunt Abbey and Uncle Dave came down for a weekend visit, and Michaela was spoiled by being held (a lot). She doesn't seem to mind. The grim face in the picture isn't an accurate depiction of Michaela's feelings, I'm sure. She grinned at Abbey a lot, too! We also had the fun of going to our friends' home for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner together - something we hope to make a tradition. This year we are all blessed with the addition, or impending addition, of children. Thanksgiving next year is going to be a noisier, messier, but just as joyful affair.

Three Months of Mommyhood

Over the weekend, Michaela reached another milestone - 3 months of age! Adam and I are also celebrating. We figure it should be easier from here on out - or at least less sleep deprived, right?! So, at 3 months, what is Michaela doing? Well, as seen above, she loves to show how strong she is... she can support her entire bodyweight on her stiff little legs. She is also proving to be a little thumb-sucker. Don't let the sleeping angelic face fool you, though - right now she has awakened from her all-too-short nap in the next room and is screaming her head off. I'm trying to tell myself it's just because she misses her mommy. Lastly, Michaela participated in her first game of Bunco on Sunday. Granted, after being oohed and aahed over for about 15 minutes, she proceeded to fall fast asleep on my shoulder, but no one should take that as a commentary on how exciting Bunco is.

Happy Halloween!

Winterbloom Makeover

For those of you have been to our house in the past year or so, you know that landscaping is not considered to be our strong point. But in full disclosure, it was never completely our fault as our contractors built our front yard on a pile of gravel and construction debris.

This fall, we decided that it was time to make our front yard pretty again. So we hired Phil Thornburg and his company Winterbloom, Inc. to redo our front yard. Check out Winterbloom's website at www.winterbloominc.com. We think he did a beautful job! The pictures don't do it justice.



Day One: Take out sod that remained and all the weeds. Also took out the majority of our existing plants. The two front trees were also trimmed (probably long over due). Brought big pile of rocks to the front yard.




Day Two: Cut rock path towards gate to back yard. Distribute big pile of rocks around the front yard. Finish rock path toward back yard.

Day Three: Finish job by planting lots and lots of plants. Also planted lots of bulbs that will make for a beautiful spring. Spread bark mulch around plants.

Business and Pleasure

This last weekend we got to enjoy some fun and family time in Sunriver since Adam needed to be there for a business conference on Monday. My parents joined us for a while, and Michaela, Kenji and I stuck around to enjoy some low-key recreating.

Below: Michaela kicking back and (not) watching football.

Tummy time!

Settling in Catan

Last Friday Adam and I had the chance to have our first "date-night" since Michaela was born. We dropped her off with her loving and anxious-to-babysit grandparents and enjoyed a dinner out, our conversation uninterrupted by the crying of our newborn. Then, after a short feeding stop for Michaela, we continued on to Travis and Kalina's home for a rousing game of "Settlers of Catan."

Now the thing about Settlers is that it's always a fun game in theory, but very frustrating when you actually play. This night was no different. Since dice are involved, when things aren't rolling your way, attitudes can go bad very quickly. "This game stinks!" or "This is a stupid game..." (muttered under one's breath) is frequently heard. In spite of it all, we enjoyed the company and Adam pulled out a victory. Travis had to mourn the loss of "Longest Road" title to me. For photos of our exploits, you'll have to check out Travis and Kalina's blog. We forgot our camera.

Happy 2-month-birthday to you...

Michaela turned two months old yesterday, so to celebrate, today we took her to see her pediatrician. For those of you interested in specifics, Michaela now weighs 10 pounds, 12 ounces and is 22.75 inches long. She was having great fun, not being encumbered by clothes and staring at the cute baby in the mirror next to her. She even seemed to enjoy socializing with her doctor, showing her smiles and amazing head control.


Then we had to go and ruin it all by letting her get poked in the legs for her vaccinations! She was not pleased. Though I will admit her cries sounded more pathetic than ragingly angry. In spite of that, the rest of our day has gone pretty well. She is more sleepy than normal, interrupted by periods of intense crying that burst out of nowhere. But hey - no one said it was easy growing older.


And of course - pictures:
Left: Proud Nana demonstrates burping techniques


Right: Big sister Kenji helps out during dinner by 'rocking' Michaela's car seat







Some folks call this a "nursing blister" but here in the Puckett household we have some pet names when the blister starts to peel: "redneck" (preferred by Adam) and "sabertooth" (preferred by Brook). All terms of endearment, of course.

Seven Weeks and Counting

Okay...need to make this short because Michaela is sitting in my lap and has just now decided to start fussing.

But here is a short slideshow with some photos we have accumulated over the past couple weeks. Enjoy.

Michaela's First Smiles

Last week was a monumental week for Michaela. Brook claimed last Wednesday (September 16) that Michaela smiled multiple times at her. I made the choice not to believe her until I saw it myself. On Saturday, I witnessed for myself several smiles. And I must make note, that they came while watching the Huskies beat USC...which means only one thing, Michaela is a Husky fan.

See for yourself...

Baby Poop

Just a word of warning...don't read or look if you are ready to sit down for a meal. The following pictures are to inspire my best friends and near future fathers, Josh and Travis. And here comes an inside joke - Michaela would have dominated the poop calendar!

A poop explosion!

Satisfaction of a fresh bottom!

Lions and Tigers and Timbers, Oh My...

It has been a busy week for our family and filled with lots of first for Michaela.

Friday - We adventure out to PGE Park to take in one of the final regular season Timbers soccer game. It was season ticket holder appreciation night at the park so we got there in plenty of time to grub on the free food. Michaela appeared to have enjoyed the night for the most part. Luckily there is an infant suite at the park that Brook was able to sit in for a couple minutes to allow Michaela to eat her free food. The only disappointing part of the evening - a Timbers loss.

Saturday - I (Adam) worked all stinking day. But we did take a break in order to head to the Oregon Zoo for a couple of hours. My company was having a picnic at the zoo. So we took the Bob stroller and Michaela and went to the zoo. Michaela managed to make it through lunch and even a brief walk to the lion exhibit. But then she decided that she was tired of the zoo...so we left. However...she did have her first date with Kai Boatsmen (Ryan and Marie's two week old baby).

Sunday - Yet another unfortunate day of working for me. However, it was topped off with another visit to PGE Park.

Anyhow; enough words. Here are the photos -

Stroller Mastery 102

Michaela has just reached the 1 month milestone, which means Adam and I have also tucked a few weeks of "normalcy" under our belts. One of the joys for me has been taking walks on a regular basis. It is to the use of the stroller that I am dedicating my first blog post.

It should be noted that Adam and I easily passed Stroller Mastery 101, which involved two adults strapping one infant into her car seat, attaching it to the stroller, and walking about across the street to our favorite coffee shop and back. No sweat. However, for the last week and a half I have been enrolled in a much more rigorous curriculum. Stroller Mastery 102 involves one adult taking an infant and a hyper nearly-two-year-old black labrador on a walk ... at the same time. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but trust me, it is a full-body workout.

Step 1: Fend off the excitedly whining puppy while putting on socks and shoes.
Step 2: Open the garage door and push the stroller out into the driveway. Close the garage door (We discovered during Stroller Mastery 101 that it is difficult to push a stroller down the flight of stairs that lead up to the front door!)
Step 3: Find Kenji's dog harness and leash, and strap her into her harness.
Step 4: Strap Michaela into her car seat, but this must be done at the table or chair level, as Kenji is so excited about the prospect of going on a walk by now that she is bouncing and squirming and would probably take Michaela out if she were placed in her car seat on the floor.
Step 5: Let Kenji out the front door and hope she stays in the front yard while simultaneously carrying out Michaela in her infant car seat.
Step 6: Set Michaela on the front porch while locking the front door and keeping Kenji from wagging her tail in the baby's face.
Step 7: Strap the car seat into the stroller.
Step 8: Attach Kenji's leash to her harness and begin walking.
This process initially took me about 15-20 minutes, but I now have it down to about 10 minutes to get us out the door.

Things to pay attention to during our walk--
-- Kenji has to walk on only one side of the stroller, otherwise she knocks it over sideways in her excitement to get to the other side of the sidewalk. This same move has caused the leash to get wound around the wheel sprocket of the stroller. That was fun.
-- Only push the stroller with one hand. If I attempt to push the stroller with the hand that is also holding the dog's leash, that hand moves faster than the stroller hand, and spins the stroller in a completely incorrect direction (such as, off the curb).
-- Don't go over really big bumps in the stroller (even though it looks like an all-terrain vehicle). This, combined with feeding Michaela before the walk, can lead to some unfortunate spit-up events.

Left: Michaela looking less-than-thrilled about the walk (Sorry I don't know how to rotate the picture.)
Right: Kenji looking innocent (but note the tail wagging in excitement)

So folks, you see how we've been spending our mornings. I hope to someday soon successfully complete this class, but please don't hold your breath.

Week Two

Happy Two Week Birthday to Michaela!

We have survived yet another week. Lot's of first:

1) First time to use the moby wrap. (See Photo)
2) First time to Lowes and the use of the Infantino Carrier.
3) First Bath (see Photo).
4) First official doctor's appointment

Speaking of the Doctor's appointment, everything checked out perfectally good. She has surpassed her birth weight and now weighs 8 lbs 2 ounces and has even grown a quarter of an inch (20" long). The doctor says she is a picture of health. Praise the Lord!

We must give a big huge thank you to those who brought us dinner this week. Barb Thornburg, Elaine Goodwin, the Morgan's (Blizzards from Dairy Queen) and even my Mom (all the way from the Seattle area). What a huge blessing that has been.

Helpful Hints

I posted a slideshow that we created with some more photos of Michaela. A really helpful hint is to scroll down to the bottom right hand side of the blog and stop the normal music that plays on the blog. Otherwise you will hear two songs at once, and that isn't any good. Also, if you hit the second button from the bottom right hand side on the actual slideshow, it will go full screen.

Hope you enjoy!

Michaela Slideshow

Day 6

What a great night! Michaela has proven to us that she will allow us to get some sleep. After putting up a long drawn out tantrum at bedtime, she managed to sleep from about 11:00 pm until 2:00 am, again from 3:00 am to 6:00 am and yet again until 8:00 am. She nursed really well between each sleeping.

We were extremely blessed yesterday to have our incredibly good friends Josh and Sarah bring us dinner. They even brought over a Beaverton Bakery cake that was amazing! I think Michaela was jealous for just one second, until she remembered the great meals she was getting herself. Travis and Kalina are coming over this evening and bringing food. It makes us realize how blessed we are to have such good friends and I cannot wait until we get to return the favor.

For the past couple of days, Bev (Brook's mom) has been coming over for several hours a day. This has been awesome as she has been able to watch after Michaela while both Brook and I catch a little sleep. She has also helped cooked dinner several nights this week. I am pretty sure that both of us would have been much more tired if it weren't for Bev.

We also took our first stroller ride yesterday. It was only to the coffee shop and back, but boy oh boy was it fun!

So enough blabbering and on with the photos...