The Activity Center

Annika is 2 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days old.  Yesterday she took a liking to her "activity center" which is clearly way too big for her.  Before this clip, she was playing the piano like nobody's business.  I am very aware it was all an accident, but it was funny none the less.  She didn't play for the video...however, this clip has a surprise ending.  So, while she plays no tunes, chooses not to talk, and stares at the ceiling for much of it, I hope you enjoy watching her....

After the clean up, we tried again.  Even with a little coaching, she was still not interested in playing her songs or talking for the world.  Maybe on another day.  Stay tuned.  

Eeek...a mouse!

Annika was a mouse for Halloween.

"come any later"

in the post below...why would Blogger just randomly put "come any later" waaaayyy over there by itself? Yes, I am blaming Blogger, not the blogee - even though I have seen others' blogs that don't look this way.

I'm glad we don't grow this much in 6 weeks

Turns out, there is a huge difference between a zero week old and a six week old. It also turns out, I am blog happy the last few days. This will fade....fast, I think. Especially if I don't take the time to figure out how this thing works. ANYWAY, here is Annika in her papasan at one day and a picture at six weeks. You may notice that the infant support (and extra support we added) has been removed. But you may not notice, which is why I am telling you. She is sure getting big. You can also note the skin tight Halloween shirt. It's a good thing Halloween didn't come any later.

Try, try again...

omg, forget it. But blogger is missing out because the pictures are cute.
wait...

and...


BAM!

Alright, I feel that I NEED to get this out.

Caleb and I decided to start a blog because it would be 1) a good way for us to share info 2) a fun family project. It was Caleb's idea to begin with, and I was very excited about the idea. Our first attempt was a little frustrating because we couldn't figure out how to get our pictures where we wanted them and it took entirely too long relative to what we were trying to do. We finished it a little frustrated and less excited about our new endeavor.

Then we tried again. A blog about our new house. We think our house looks pretty good but the format of the blog is HORRIBLE (I need you to know that we know this). We were super frustrated this round with this picture posting business.

3rd blog - the birth of our baby. So much we wanted to share, so annoyed we became with this formatting stuff. They just look so bad with the pictures all lined up. ugh.

4th blog- i realized I could post a video so our friends in Turkey could "meet" our baby. It went okay...but by choice, I probably wouldn't have put the videos like they appear.

Now, I am getting a little more encouraged. 5th blog - working in the yard. I have 3 pictures I want to share and for some reason, can only upload one. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM. So, I will put our other ones from our gardening afternoon on this blog - if it will let me.

In conclusion, we know our blogs are ugly. And this has discouraged us from blogging. We would like to resume. But don't hold your breath.

AHHHH - i can't "add an image" ARG.

Working in the yard

When we moved into our house, we only had one little tree in our front yard. A few weeks ago, Caleb's parents came to meet Annika. While in town, Caleb and his dad planted two more lovely trees that we were so excited to get! Last weekend, we spend the afternoon outside digging and planting flower beds around the new trees.


Annika enjoyed her swing.
And we had a great time.....

Annika in Action

Here are a few quick video clips of Annika on her play mat. She was 6 weeks old yesterday. She is now producing REAL tears, making new sounds, and doing a lot of fascinating things with her tongue. She smiles at us and is so much fun to be around. Please excuse my "motherese" in the clip - I tried not to talk to her while recording, but I failed...

Once we got home....  

 

The cats are protecting their sister.  

And some of us are sleeping a lot in any position possible.

Hello everyone,It has been a glorious week as Shea gave birth to our first child, Annika Michel Moss.  We chose Annika mostly because we like the way is sounds but also since it is Scandinavian.  Michel is Shea's middle name (pronounced Michelle).  She arrived on Tuesday, September 16th at 8:36am. 

  

Shea had her first contraction on Sunday night around 11pm.  They increased slightly at about 3am, however by morning they were not serious enough to go to the hospital.  I went to work on Monday morning, however I left at 3pm so Shea could go and see the doctor.  The doctor said she was 90% effaced and about 2cm dilated.  We were told to go home and come back when the contractions increased.  The doctor said that could take a couple of hours or a couple of days.  So, we headed home and I had one more thing to do, mow the lawn.  I mowed and as I finished Shea said that I had to stop and take her to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital around 8pm and were sent to triage where they determined that Shea was 4cm dilated.  We were admitted and the whole process began.  The contractions worsened to the point that Shea could no longer take the pain and an epidural was administered.  This took place around 11pm and Shea was at about 5cm.  The nurses told us to get some sleep, yeah right.  At about 3am the doctor checked her cervix once again.  We were at 5cm and were not progressing as they liked.  So, they advised that we start Pitocin in order to progress her labor.  Once the Pitocin started the baby's heart rate dropped from 150 beats per minute to 60.  Alarms started going off and eight nurses ran into the room to reverse the drug.  The baby's heart rate rose back to 150 beats and the whole episode lasted 30 seconds but seemed like an eternity.  It was not a good experience, but everything turned out fine in the end.  Around 4am the doctor broke Shea's water, however this was not successful in speeding up the labor so the doctor convinced us to retry the Pitocin around 5am.  They promised the Pitocin would not have the same negative effect and it did not.  The doctor and nurse shift change took place at 7am and Shea's OBGYN came in around 7:20am.  Shea was thrilled and he exclaimed that Shea was fully effaced and 10cm.  It was go time.  I was very scared at this point since I thought I would pass out if I watched the baby come out.  The nurses convinced me that I would be ok and that I should hold Shea's leg and help coach.  I am glad they convinced me as I experienced the most wonderful aspect of life to date.  It was amazing watching, helping, coaxing, and comforting.  I cannot express my feelings in words, but the result was absolute bliss.  Below are some photos of our first daughter.

 

Our House

 

Above are some before pics of the house before we moved in.  We decided to update the bathrooms, install a hardwood floor in the living room, re-carpet the bedrooms, and paint the entire house.  We are happy with the results, but we are not finished decorating and furnishing the house.  Below are some of the finished results.  The layout of the photos is odd, but we are beginners with this so bear with us.  

Hospital

Hello world,

This is our first blog entry.  Shea was involved in a car accident yesterday, as many of you know.  

She was held overnight at Presbyterian Hospital for precautionary reasons.

Everyone and everything is good.  Thanks for all the texts, calls, and thoughts.  We will talk to you soon.