New Year's Eve

Four years ago on New Year's Eve we were in Paris and Paul got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  How life has changed in four short years.  So what are we doing to celebrate this year?  A crazy party?  Loud music and dancing?  Nope, we're taking pictures of our smiling boy.  Couldn't think of anything else I'd rather be doing than spending it with my family.

Our first family Christmas

It was very important to me that we establish our family Christmas traditions right away with Jack, which meant that we stayed at home ALL DAY!  No running around to different family members houses to see everyone in one day.  Don't get me wrong I love seeing family but I don't enjoy trying to see everyone in multiple houses within 12 hours...with a newborn.  Our door was open to anyone who wanted to come see us but we were going to stay home and you know what?  It was GREAT!  We had a relaxing morning, took a walk to the park, and opened stockings and gifts.  Then Paul's mom and sister came over and spent the rest of the day at our place.  My mom and Norm stopped by and we finished the evening by putting Jack to bed and had a nice glass of wine.  Perfect Christmas!

Christmas #3

Christmas eve afternoon/evening was the Ratliff family Christmas (my mom's side of the family).  All the aunts, uncles, grandkids and great grandkids were in town and actually in the same room - it was great!

 Jack got to have some quality YaYa time

Christmas #2

Christmas eve morning was Christmas with the Edlers - Brooksie, Dana and Maddie.  We made the 4 block trek over to Dana's and had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and quiche.  Merry Edler Christmas !

 

Giggles!

Ok, it's not the best video because Jack is quiet and I'm WAY loud and it's after his official first giggle but here it is, we have a giggle!   I know, it's a teeny tiny little noise but I swear to you it was a full-on giggle before I got the camera out. 



This kid is awesome, he thinks a box and packing peanuts are great toys!

Christmas #1

Christmas #1 with Dave, Beth and Dylan.

Jack opened lots of UK gifts - bottles, shirts, pajamas - I think Beth and Grammie are trying to brainwash him already! 

Leavenworth

Our annual trip to Leavenworth to see the tree lighting was a success!  Jack was a fabulous baby and we were able to hit all the places we love - King Ludwig's for lunch, the cookie shop for dessert, the Kris Kringle store for an ornament and the roasted chestnut stand right before the tree lighting.  Maybe we went more for the food than the lights, haha! 

We have a roller!

 December 2, 2011 Jack rolled over for the first time and I turned the camera on just in time to catch the momentous occasion!  Paul was working from home that day so he got to see him do it too.  We are very proud parents :-)

Gobble Gobble

I wasn't planning on running the Greenlake Gobble, but I did it!  Thanks to Paul for pushing the stroller, I concentrated on running (ok, slow jogging) and finished my first post-baby 5K.  It was a crisp fall morning and the rain even held off for the whole run.  I guess I have to start running more often now if I plan to do a half marathon next fall.  Oh goodness!

Thankful

I have been trying all week to do a little something each day to get ready for Thanksgiving - grocery shopping, cutting veggies, making pie crust, etc. so that we are prepared to bring our share of dinner over to our family's house.  Time management has been a little more tricky these days, but today I stopped in the middle of my rush.  I stopped to praise God for all I have to be thankful for.  My loving husband, our perfect baby boy, a roof over our heads, our health, and this wonderful life we are living.  I understand how lucky I am to be able to stay home with Jack and I truly appreciate every moment.  His smile makes my heart jump for joy!  I feel like I am living the life that I always dreamed of.  I am so very thankful.

We did it!

We did it, we traveled with Jack!  It was an absolute success and, might I add, we also had Savage with us.  Why, you ask?  For the National UFLI flyball tournament in St. Louis of course!  Not only did Savage run on our team (Unorthodogs), he also ran on a team with his litter mates.  We were so proud of our super fast boy (Savage) and our super "go-with-the-flow" boy (Jack).  Except for the first night in the hotel, Jack was absolutely perfect and we were once again reminded of how lucky we are to have been given such a wonderful baby.  I was worried about the noise of the tournament but was pleasantly surprised that this facility had a room above the racing lanes with large windows so I could watch all the races without having to subject little ears to all the barking.  Perfect!

Here's a little taste of flyball.  Savage is the first dog in the right lane.

6 weeks already?

How is this little angel already 6 weeks old?  I've always heard parents say, "it goes by so quickly" but seriously...it really does!  We of course believe Jack is the cutest, smartest baby the world has ever seen.  He is beginning to smile, can lift his head and look left and right during tummy time, holds onto fingers, toys, etc., loves to look at lights, and is beginning to grow out of his newborn clothes.  We are reminded every day how lucky we are to have been blessed with Jack.  He is a good eater, a happy baby and will sleep from 11:00pm until 5:00am most nights.  He has developed so much in 6 weeks, we can't imagine what is to come!

Pumpkin Carving

Yes, Jack is far to young to carve a pumpkin but he did enjoy the festivities (for the few minutes he was awake).  We realized that this was our fourth annual pumpkin carving.  We've had pyrotechnics (with eyebrow loss), smoke bombs, blood and TONS of fun with friends over the last four years.  Here's a quick recap:

2008

Very excited to start this tradition

2009

We apparently decided to go out to the Barnoff (local dive bar) 

instead of carving our pumpkins this year

 2010

Back on track

2011

Now with babies!

We had Laura and Dar (with their baby due in December), Shavon, Erin, Andy, Ryleigh (18 months), Dana, Maddie (4 years old), Lindsay, Paul, me and Jack (5 weeks).  

Oh how much life has changed in 4 years!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends to share these memories with.

Meeting Grandpa George and Grandma Charlene

We have such a blessed little boy to have many grandparents that love him so much! My dad and Charlene came up from California this week and got to meet Jack. We went for a walk, out to dinner, and they spent quality time just staring at him and rocking him to sleep. Paul and I are so glad that Dad and Charlene got to meet our little man.

Best Husband EVER!!

12 hours of sleep. 12 glorious hours of sleep because of one amazing man.

Paul offered to do all the nighttime feedings on Friday so that I could catch up on some much needed sleep. I went to bed at 8:30 Friday night and didn't get up till 8:30 Saturday morning. Except for a brief intermission to pump, I slept like a rock knowing that Paul was taking care of Jack all night. I felt like a new woman Saturday morning with bright eyes ready to take on the day.

Not only did Paul give me the gift of rest, but he went grocery shopping (late at night) so he could make a nice breakfast for me in the morning - complete with fresh flowers on the table!

I'm sure raising a baby will challenge our relationship at times but so far it has brought us closer together and strengthened the love we have for each other. I am so thankful for this amazing man - my best friend, the love of my life and now the father of our son.

Pumpkin patch

Our first pumpkin patch outing as a family! Jack pretty much slept through the whole experience but we did wake him up for a minute to get a photo.

Big steps

Our 15 day old tiny precious baby slept in his crib for the first time last night. He's only about 20 feet away from our room but it seemed like a mile. He did fabulous and has now fully transitioned, napping in there today as well. I know it's good for him but I miss having him close by...I am told this will get easier.

Two weeks

Neither of us can believe it's already been two weeks since our perfect little boy was born. We still look at each other and say "Hey guess what? We have a baby!" We are head over heals in love with our little man and enjoying every moment with him. Here are just a few of the things we have learned in the last 14 days:
*How to swaddle (I must admit Paul is way better at this than me)
*Sleep when Jack sleeps
*Food prepared by other people is an amazing gift
*Projectile poop can be hysterical at 1:00AM
*Even though newborn clothes look too small for any person to fit into, they are big on Jack
*Socks don't stay on
*Baby fingernails grow fast
But by far the most shocking and wonderful thing we have learned is how much love we have for Jack. It was an instant, no questions asked kind of love that neither of us have ever felt before. We love him so much and are more in love with each other because of him...life is amazing!

Welcome to the world Jack Oliver

On Wednesday, September 21 2011 at 1:42AM Jack Oliver Edler entered the world and immediately stole our hearts.


Here's the story of his birth in a nut shell (ok it's a big nut shell):
Paul and I took Savage to the dog park around 4:00pm on Tuesday the 20th (Jack's actual due date). As we were leaving the house I had a contraction different from any Braxton Hicks that I'd had before - this one hurt! On the way to the park we started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. Paul kept asking if I was ok to walk around the park and I said yes, that everyone had told me that labor can take hours so we might as well get the dog some exercise. At the park, my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart and by the time we got home they were getting closer. Paul called the childbirth center at the hospital and they said to come in as soon as the contractions were closer to 2-3 minutes apart. Well, that didn't take long...this was the first indicator that my body moves quickly when it comes to having a baby. Our plan had always been to labor at home as long as possible because home is a comforting place and we didn't want to sit in a hospital room for hours on end or be sent home because of "false labor" or anything silly like that. That plan however, went out the window as soon I experienced the massively painful contractions. As the contractions neared the 2-3 minute pattern they became so close together that I barely had a break in between each one. At 8:10PM Paul packed up the car and we were off to the hospital.

We arrived at Swedish in Ballard at 8:30PM, were shown to a room and nurse Lisa came in to check me. She said I was only 3cm dilated but since I was obviously in a lot of pain I would be given a morphine shot along with some fluids, monitored for an hour and then sent home. Sent home? No thank you, I came in to have a baby! I was very upset after finding out that we would be sent home. However, instead of staying upset I became bound and determined. Indicator #2, my body moves quickly; after an hour of laboring, the nurse returned to see if I had made any progress. Sure enough I had. I had gone from 3cm to 7 cm in an hour! Go me!! The (very shocked) nurse admitted us into the hospital and asked if I was interested in an epidural to manage the pain. Let me tell you, my "plan" before now was that I wanted to feel the contractions and see how long I could go without medication. Well I had felt the contractions and was not trying to be a hero - bring on the epidural! The nurse warned us that an epidural can often slow down the progress of labor and suggested I take advantage of this pain-free time and allow for "unassisted descending" of the baby thru the birth canal (she said at least a few hours, possibly more and then at least a few hours of pushing) and to get some sleep in the meantime for the long labor ahead.

At this point (about 11:00pm) we called our parents to let them know that we had been admitted, but told them to get a good night's sleep because it would still be hours of laboring and pushing. We assured them we'd call back when we were getting ready to push.

After a quick nap with the epidural medicine flowing the nurse came to reposition me in order to make sure the medicine would distribute evenly throughout my body. Minutes after this, Jack's heart rate dropped which caused the nurse to come right back in. She repositioned me once more and his heart rate went right back up. Since she was already in there, she decided to check me again since a dip in heart rate can be an indicator of Jack dropping further into "pushing position". She checked me I had made it to 10cm and she could already feel the head. The doctor was called in and I was asked if I'd like to start pushing. What? I thought I got to sleep for hours! What about all the DVD's, books, games and such that I can painstakingly packed in our labor bag? I couldn't start pushing yet, we hadn't even had time to connect my iPod and listen to my labor playlist! Indicator #3 of my fast moving, determined body: Jack was ready to come out and we had only been at the hospital for 4 hours.

Paul quickly called our parents and told them to hit the road if they wanted to be right outside the room as soon as he was born. (Luckily they made it in the nick of time). I started pushing at 1:00AM and Jack Oliver Edler was born at 1:42AM. (Indicator #4) The doctor'S comment later was "your body was made to have babies!".

I feel so blessed to have had such a positive labor experience. Our little man is absolutely perfect and the love we feel is so much greater than either of us ever thought possible.

Happy Birthday Paul!

Even more celebrating? Of course! Since I'm on maternity leave now (waiting for baby to arrive), I convinced Paul to take his birthday day off. We "slept in" (till 8:00), had a yummy breakfast and had an all-around relaxing morning. Then I took him to get a fabulous pedicure, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching football, and had a romantic dinner out. I absolutely love loving my husband!

The breakfast he ordered - homemade sticky buns, bacon, and scrambled eggs


Ahhh...so relaxing!


Dinner at Ponti - so fabulous!

More Birthday Festivities

Sunday was another day of birthday celebrating! Brooksie took us to see Chicago, then Dana and Maddie joined us for dinner out and finally back to Brooksie's for cake and ice cream.

A special present from Maddie



Mmmmm...homemade Jello cake

Go Sounders!

To begin Paul's birthday weekend, Dana treated us to a Sounders game! Even though they lost, we all had a great time. It was a gorgeous day (thank goodness for seats in the shade!) and the perfect way to commence the celebrating of Paul. :-) Stay tuned for more birthday festivities!

Weekend away

I have always wanted to take the train to Portland. Don't ask me why, there's nothing in particular in Portland that I wanted to see, but the idea of taking the train really intrigued me. Our summer was super busy and the only available weekend we had was Labor Day, so we took full advantage of the three day weekend! Everyone seemed worried that I was almost 38 weeks pregnant, but I was confident that if we went into labor on the trip we'd be ok - they have hospitals in Portland, right? As it turns out we did not go into labor and had a nice, relaxing, food-filled weekend away. It was perfect!


So excited to be on the train!



Hanging out on the waterfront

Here's a look at some of the glorious food we indulged in...

Ken's Artisan Pizza (at the recommendation of our doctor)


Voodoo Doughnuts - AMAZING!


Pine State Biscuits (also doctor recommended)

We also went on a walking tour and learned all about Portland. It was so informative that I think I might try one in Seattle!

True love

What is true love? It it so many things, all of which Paul has shown me over the years of our relationship. But the other night Paul took true love to the next level. He painted my toenails for me. Why, you ask? Because I cannot reach down to paint them anymore. What a fabulous man! I could not ask for a more caring, supportive, true-love-showing man in my life. I am blessed!

Showered with kindness

I was lucky enough to have two fantastic baby showers, one with my family and one with friends in which baby Edler and I were spoiled rotten!


My sister-in-law hosted my family shower at my Grams' house. A huge thank you to both of them for all their hard work!


Lindsay, me, Laura (who hosted - thank you!!), and Erin


With Arielle and Carissa, friends from work

We now have everything we will need for baby Edler's arrival...just waiting for him to show up :-) I am so very grateful for all the generous and thoughtful people in our life.