Preparing and Celebrating Baby's First Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone, Heather here. As dedicated readers and most of our family members know, lucky Logan gets three First Christmases! It's been quite an adventure for us already, as we limp across the finish line of shopping, wrapping, baking, and generally preparing for the celebration of a much more famous baby's birth.

Our first celebration was at Thanksgiving with Jason's family, or "ThanksChristmas" as it has been dubbed. It seems that this will be a bi-annual tradition as Jason's siblings get progressively more geographically challenging! (Andy and Heather are in Atlanta, Beth and Rory are in Chicago but his family is in Iowa, and Jeff is currently in Texas) This ThanksChristmas was particularly special because it was Logan and his cousin Sofia's "First First Christmas" (Sofia was born in April) and their first chance to meet each other as well! We were also spoiled soundly by the Sippel family at a "Welcome Logan" shower, where he got so many cute clothes and books and more! For pictures of these festive occasions, click here. And if you have a Kodak Gallery account you can view Beth's pictures by clicking here, but it will require you to sign in or create a Kodak account. We had a fantastic time and it was really great to see everyone. The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if Jason didn't have to go back to Chicago to work right away.

Sunday after Thanksgiving, Logan and I returned home to do some quick laundry and pack up once again for his very first plane ride! Our mission: to meet his Grand-daddy Bud and celebrate his birthday and Logan's Second First Christmas with the Winsteads. He also got to meet his Aunt Becca and Aunt Christine, Great Aunt Kathy and Granny, or GreatGranny, as the case may be! I was a little nervous about taking him on the plane all by myself, as Jason again had to stay behind and work. He was a super trooper on the plane, however, and didn't fuss at all really. The plane ride itself was probably the worst I've ever been on, to no fault of the little guy! There was so much turbulence that 4 people in my immediate vicinity had to use their air-sick bags. (Not sure how many total.) One panicky lady in particular was ready to kiss the ground when we landed I think! The visit was very relaxing, and we all enjoyed each other's company a lot. GreatGranny and Logan hit it off particularly well... she apparently is pretty comfy to sleep on! The flight home was much smoother, both the weather conditions and my preparedness for security measures and baby-soothing. Unfortunately, the weather in Chicago wasn't that great, so we experienced Baby's First Flight Delay and spent an extra 90 minutes in Philadelphia's airport. Logan didn't mind at all though, he got a chance to kick back on a blanket on the floor and humored mommy with a few smiles for a photo shoot. Click here to see Baby's First Flight pictures. And click here to see Baby's Second First Christmas.

Whew! So you can see why we are a little pooped! But we're getting our third wind here. Coming into the home stretch of preparations for the big day, December 25, Logan's Third First Christmas. We finished shopping today, and experienced a Christmas miracle in its own right, NO LINE for SANTA! So of course we had to get a picture with the big man in red.


You will never believe what happened either... we met Santa and did the whole lap/picture thing about 8pm. About a half hour later we got home from the mall and Jason checked the mail... to find a LETTER FROM SANTA in the mailbox. Stamped, postmarked, with a return address from the north pole. Now, I thought it must be a piece of junk mail, some clever marketing, a 'crummy commercial' as Ralphie famously put it in "A Christmas Story". But there was no ad. Nothing to identify this piece of mail as being from anywhere other than the big guy himself. How it got into our mailbox so quickly after meeting him I will never know, but I was thoroughly impressed and Jason was completely stumped. I only wish Logan could recognize how amazing it is!

Wishing you and yours a little holiday magic of your own!
Love,
Heather, Jason, and Logan

PS. Can you believe Logan will be three months tomorrow? We can't!

Baby's first giggle!

So our little guy is a little fond of checking himself out in the mirror - it's understandable, he's a handsome fella - so I was doing a kind of Superman swoop with him in front of the mirror, so much so that he actually laughed! I texted Heather about it while she was at work and immediately got a phone call with her sounding forlorn on the other end, "He can laugh?" I assured her I would show her what we had done when she got home so she could see for herself. In the meantime, I took him into his bedroom to see if he would do it again, which he did after a little coaxing. When Heather finally came home, she went straight to Logan and said "Show me how you laugh please." We took him in front of his closet mirror and did the swooping thing, to which he started laughing again, but by the time we got the camera to record him he wasn't having it. However, after several repeated attempts and a different tactic - funny kisses from Mommy - we finally got him to do it again, on camera. Here is the result. Enjoy.

ThanksChristmas

So the holidays are in full swing: crazy days at work for me with all the extra product to sell, we had ThanksChristmas at my folks this past weekend, and now Heather and Logan are visiting her family in South Carolina for early Christmas there, not to mention surprise her dad for his birthday this coming weekend. H & L will be gone until Tuesday, and apparently Mikey, one of our cats, knew I was lonely because he's been snuggled up next to me since I got home. Heather left me a little present on the computer though - this is the new picture on the desktop now:



Notice the ears - that's Papa's little elf =) Happy holidays everone!

Two months old!

Happy two month birthday, Logan! What a busy month you've had...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Oh just stop it now!

He's killing me with cuteness!!
We had our Christmas photo shoot tonight and it was quite an experience. Some shots were more successful than others, but there was enough cuteness that we just had to buy a package that included a CD so we could keep all the pictures and print willy-nilly. So if you see anything you like, feel free to order it off the Kodak Gallery site (we bought the rights so it's legal). Or, send us a request and we can email you the picture file. If anybody wants anything fancy like cropping or black and white or sepia versions, we're happy to do that and email it too. Enjoy!

Click here to view the cuteness!

Heather's Piglet Collection

Having always been a fan of Winnie the Pooh... starting as a kid, even through the goth teen years... I knew that my child would have a Pooh themed room someday. (Which you've seen evidence of on this very blog!) As Jason and I were putting the room together and sifting through my collection of Pooh related items, we found more and more evidence of my Piglet phase (whereby he was my favorite and thus I was getting many Piglet related gifts).

Of course when we had a little boy, we thought of him as perhaps a Pooh or maybe a Christopher Robin, hoping he might be wiser than Owl and not as sad as Eeyore. Expecting he might be as rambunctious as Tigger but hopefully not as unctuous as Rabbit. Little did we expect that it would come to light so early that we indeed had a little Piglet on our hands. (As evidenced by his snort-snorts, which we have yet to capture on video.)

So I present for you here this super cute photo of my Piglet collection. Actually two super cute photos, as yet another example that Grandma Joan was absolutely right when she said "That kid can sleep through anything but the night!" If you look through the progression of the 4 minute photo shoot you can actually watch him falling asleep in stop-motion animation!

Loganus aquaticus

So this weekend had a few more firsts for our little guy, most notably his first swimming experience. We went to a wedding in Rockford for one of Heather's college friends and stayed at the Clocktower Best Western Resort (first hotel stay); our room was much nicer than many of the reviews Heather read would have suggested - king-size bed with plenty of room for the pack'n'play and even a balcony overlooking the outdoor pool.

Erica's wedding was on the Rockford College campus at Fisher Chapel and was very elegant. The reception was at the Rockford Women's Club, where the elegance continued and we had a great time. Another of Heather's friends from college, Angelique (known as Q), was at the wedding as well and sat at the same table. Erica had also sat us with another couple, Joel and Julie, whom we had never met but apparently live only 7 blocks away from us in Chicago. We all shared our parenting anecdotes - Julie and Joel have a 5-year-old girl and 14-month-old boy and Q's boy is 21 months - and had a lot of fun. Evidently Logan knew he would no longer be needing his baby tuxedo and decided to poop through it, even though I had expressly told him not to earlier in the day. Both he and I started to crash on a couch outside the dance area, so Heather decided it was time to go.



Since Heather knew the Clocktower had a pool she was very excited to see how Logan would take to the water. After we woke up this morning we made our way to the pool to check it out. Our new camera is waterproof so we wanted to try that out too. While we can't tell if he actively enjoyed swimming, he didn't scream or anything, so that's a good sign.

Here you can see him in his Pooh Hefner outfit:



His Tigger towel:



Mommy, Daddy, & Logan:



Click here to view the video of his first swim on You Tube!

Our little pumpkin!

It was hard to pick just a few!

Happy Halloween!!

It might take us a couple of days to get the Halloween pictures posted. In the meantime, to satisfy your voracious appetite for cuteness, check out a selection of Logan's best work from his first month of life!

Click here to view the album!

Loganus vociferous

By now most of you are familiar with the more common "sleeping" Logan, or Loganus slumberus. We now provide video documentation of the rarer and intriguing "active" Logan, or Loganus vociferous. Enjoy!

One month birthday today!

Happy Birthday to Logan! And Happy Anniversary to Mommy and Daddy. Big celebrations are put on hold for a while in favor of more intimate gatherings. Last year's Mag Mile fancy restaurant has been replaced with delivery, and Cirque du Soleil replaced with the DVD player at home. But we couldn't be happier, really.

The last month has flown by for us! I can't believe we've had him for this long already... and he's getting so big and strong and handsome!


We've had some big adventures. Most exciting was Auntie Erin and Uncle Memo's wedding reception this past Saturday. Mom and Dad were too busy to take a lot of pictures (we'll have to wait to get copies of Auntie Devin's) but Logan was the life of the party. (Although careful not to upstage the bride and groom!) Logan also had his first overnight stay away from home that night. "Auntie" Robin had us over and we were on our best behavior, sleeping most of the night to rest up for our first big shopping spree with Mommy and Robin. It was so exhausting he had to sleep most of the way through it. Haha!

I am Duckie. I am Logan's best friend; I am the only one who understands Logan. Logan tells me all of his trials and tribulations with being a two-week-old, such as when Daddy is changing Logan's diaper for the third time in an hour. Logan depends on me to comfort him. Sometimes Logan holds on to me so tightly it hurts. More to come later; Duckie, over and out.

We are one week old today!

So it goes without saying that it's been a week of firsts for us. First car ride, first time meeting the kitties, first doctor's appointment, first stroller ride to the park with Ba-Paw and Nannie, first bath, first meeting of aunts and uncles...

When we were at the hospital, they sent around a professional photographer, so we had our first photo shoot too. Go to this website and you can search by family. All you have to know is birthdate of September 20, mommy's last name is winter, and we're in IL. Our hospital was Evanston Northwestern.
http://our365.com/

And for even more pictures of our first week, go here:
http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=400778033805%3A725913188

Enjoy! I can't believe it's been a whole week that we've had our little guy home. We love him so much. :)

Oh Happy Day!

Logan Carmichael has joined our family! He arrived at 8:02am on 09/20/2009, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs and measuring 22 3/4 inches! We definitely have a handful with our big little guy, but he seems very content and has been a joy every second. Both he and Heather are doing awesome! We will get more photos up here, at facebook, and through the kodak site once we start compiling them from the grandparents and Auntie Beth, but here are a few to introduce our little bruiser:

Baby day! (or night, as the case may be)

So apparently today (or tonight, or early tomorrow morning) is the day! We have waited for this for a very long time, and now is the the end of the beginning; the rest of our story will be starting shortly. Heather is actually having a little snooze right now since being up more or less since 8am yesterday (Friday) morning.

We started timing contractions early yesterday evening but didn't come in to the hospital until about 530 this morning. The hospital staff is all very nice and really trying to help get things going - dilatation hasn't progressed at all since 800 this morning, so she's getting a little chemical assistance. Any which way, we should be meeting our little one sometime hopefully in the next 12 hours. Please keep Heather and the baby in your thoughts, and we hope to all see you soon.

- Jason

Hi all, Heather here. Just inching along and killing time at this point! Daddy is here for the weekend and we're enjoying each other's company. He built this beautiful dresser for the baby, and the counter/changing table is removable for when the baby is older. This will truly be an heirloom piece of furniture. Can you believe the detail work, and the inlay of mahagony is just gorgeous. So much more than I ever anticipated!! We put away all the baby clothes and blankets and still have lots of room to grow into it as well.







Yesterday we went to Navy Pier and walked around. Ultimately we decided that it's over crowded and way touristy. Since we weren't interested in buying any souvenirs or riding any rides, and we didn't have any children with us (yet) there wasn't a whole lot to do but walk up and down the pier. We did get a good two hours in of walking. I was hoping that might kick off some contractions, but ultimately not. We did get this super-funny pregnant belly shot, however... 39 weeks in front of a fun-house mirror. You can see how huge I am and how much more huge the reflection is! Hahah!



And just to leave you with an image that's too ridiculous... Here is Jason modelling the Tigger hooded towel which is "for the baby"! Love to all. Hope to have news soon for you!

Any day now...

Hopefully our little one will arrive soon. He or she is not due for another two weeks, but we are both ready to meet him or her. Heather's dad Bud is driving up from South Carolina this coming weekend to bring us a dresser he built for our new addition, so it would great if he could meet his grandchild while he is here instead of later on. Until then, all we can do is wait. We will try to keep everyone posted as things happen. Best wishes to you all.

- Jason

Bump watch

There have been some people asking to see the progression of the baby bump... so here goes nothin!

This one is in front of Buckingham Fountain in Chicago on the Fourth of July. (29 weeks and 3 days.)


This one is the day of the baby shower in Milwaukee, August 1. (33 weeks and 3 days.)


This one is on Erin's wedding day, August 7. (34 weeks and 2 days.)

For lots more pics of the Milwaukee baby shower, check out our Kodak Gallery web link.

You should be able to just click on the link and view without signing in. But if you have a Kodak account you can sign in and save or even order prints. Thanks to all of our friends and loved ones who were there. Specially to Erin for all her planning and culinary skill, Lin for the super cute Pooh cake, and Jesi for travelling all the way from Albany, NY!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=an7y8bkh.1dm3hmql&x=0&y=-w5mei&localeid=en_US

My how the baby is growing...

Week 6 - nothing to see here!

Week 7 - something's in there...

Week 8 - the bean is taking baby form

Week 12 - holy cow, there was a lot for the technician to point out to us, but heck if we can interpret it off these pics. I know that 12wks1day is with the arm covering his/her face. I think 12wks1daypic2 is the whole body, with the head (face up) on the right and the rear on the left. Notice I say "I think."

Week 20 - now THAT actually looks like a baby!

Week 33 - baby's too big to get the whole picture, but we got a neat shot of the spine and one of baby's foot. At this ultrasound they told us the estimated weight of the baby is already 5lbs 14ozs! He or she is going to be a bruiser, as they can put on up to half a pound each week for the next 7 weeks till our due date!

Sorry for the tease... scanner at work isn't doin it so I'll have to post this 33wk one later tonight!!

Love,

Heather

"Rotten" is right!

When my step-dad found out I was pregnant, he said "I'm gonna call it Rotten, because it's gonna be spoiled rotten!" And that is already proving to be the case. We are pretty much finished with the nursery now and ready to post some pictures. We are very excited for the addition of a dresser/changing table that my daddy is building for us, but that will arrive when he comes to visit the baby after the birth. It will go next to the glider where the boxes currently are. Of course the first thing you'll note is the Winnie the Pooh theme... welcome to Pooh Corner!

You'll also note as we pan around the room that there are a bunch of presents, largely resulting from the lovely ladies you see pictures of below. My good friend Helen was the hostess with the mostess in Chicago this past weekend and we ate and drank well while the baby collected a lot of "booty"!

Keep checking back as we have some cool updates coming soon! Tomorrow we're having an ultrasound. And this weekend my sister is hosting a shower in Milwaukee for us. (Talk about spoiled rotten, right? Baby Rotten will get another "welcome baby shower" with Jason's mom's side of the family at Thanksgiving too!) What a blessing to be loved by so many people before you've even arrived!!

Reality Check

So I just picked up Heather from the baby shower her friend Helen threw for her, and we got some great stuff. However, one thing really stuck out to me that was like "Whoa, this not just hypothetical, this is happening." The item in question was a package of newborn diapers, courtesy of Heather's friend Menucha. Yeah, Menucha's good for those reality checks - started with the baby heartbeat monitor and Snugli she gave us several months ago and doesn't seem to have let up. Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and gave us all the goodies, we really appreciate it. For those of you going to the Milwaukee shower, we can't wait to see you! Take care all.

- Jason

Lamaze weekend 2 day workshop

Hi all, Heather here! Jason and I had a very enlightening experience this weekend. We attended a Lamaze weekend 2 day workshop at Evanston Northwestern Hospital, where we plan to give birth. I've been joking that up until now my birth plan has been "denial"! This was a really incredible class though, and we both came away with soooo much more than we ever expected.

The teacher was a nurse who worked labor and delivery for 10 years before becoming a lamaze instructor. She was incredibly informative. We expected it to be two full days of breathing techniques and yoga-like positioning, as we've all seen in the movies and on tv. And while there was an element of that, it was only a small portion of the total experience. She walked us through all the stages of labor, including the list of things that would happen to our bodies in the weeks or days leading up to labor. She explained to us in great (but not graphic) detail about how the baby moves through the birth canal. She even explained in depth about some of the differences between the hospital's "routine procedures" and what was absolutely necessary, thus empowering us to make decisions and ask questions of the staff when we are in the hospital.

I have to say that my expectations originally were that I'd be asking for that epidural the minute I walked in the door, but having been through this course I definitely feel the opposite. I won't say that I will absolutely have an unmedicated birth, and of course you have to be prepared to be flexible with your plan, because goodness knows that the baby will sometimes call the shots (isn't that right, little Sofia?) But I definitely have the feeling now that I want to try to go as far as I can with as little intervention as possible.

We also got a tour of the labor and delivery, and the postpartum and nursery. It's a very nice facility! There's one birthing room with a tub, which I'm sure is the "good room" that all the mom's might fight over... They won't let you have a water birth, per se, but they will let you labor in it for pain relief. The recovery rooms all have recliners for the dads and also rollaway beds if they want to stay in with the mom and baby during the duration of the stay. We also got to see three brand new babies in the nursery! So cute and so little, it's hard to believe we'll get one of our own soon.

As for the nursery, the painting will be done tonight. Then comes the not-small task of reassembling everything and rehanging the window treatments, etc. So hopefully within a few days we'll have some pictures for you!

Decorating is under way!

Hi all, Heather here. Jason's brother Jeff is kind enough to come and help us with the baby's room this week. So after much deliberation, I think we finally made a decision on the paint today!

We're going to do a two-tone paint treatment with a stencil as the "chair rail". Similar to this idea.



Only our colors will be cream on the top and sage on the bottom, with this stencil as the border between the two. (Assuming we can actually find this stencil...) Today we chose Valspar Caribbean Walk as the cream and Pale Oak Grove as the green, but we may go one tone darker and get Spearmint Shale. I was going to load a pick of the swatches from Valspar's website, but the color on the screen is not true to the swatches we brought home, so it's kinda pointless. I think we're going to purchase the sample size of each to make sure they work the way we want them to on the wall at home.

Here's a link to the baby bedding we purchased. You can zoom in and note that the border stencil we're going to do plays off the green gingham. And I'm going to turn the bedskirt into a window valance, so that will be the window treatment. http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62731&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=14e7ae0&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62438%7c62644%7c62645&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=69&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=62438626446264562731

Love you!

Heather