Getz Adventures

Monday Morning

2011-12-05T06:53:00.000-08:00

My little alarm clock woke me with sweet chattering early this morning. Mommy forgot to put a night-time diaper on last night and Jack had soaked through two of three pj layers—so into the bathtub he went! We played with little people and a boat and a watering can and played catch with a bath ball. Then, it happened. A stray ball flew and hit one of the shampoo bottles. Jack died laughing and a new game began—bathtub bowling! Over and over and over again we knocked down bottles. Jack and Mommy were soaked. The bathroom floor was soaked. But it was worth every moment of clean-up to watch Jack almost drown from laughing so hard. 30 minutes of fun later, wrapped up in a blanket of towels, Jack hugged and hugged me as if to say, "I love Monday mornings, Mommy."

Me too, Jack. Me too.

Simple Thanks

2011-11-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for many things this week. Here are just a few...

...hiding trucks around the house at night for a little boy who gets so excited to find them in the morning.
...lots of time at the park and on walks, crunching through colorful leaves.
...skipping rocks in the river with my son.
...a new Oat Bran Flaxseed Honey Date Applesauce good-for-you-but-not-completely-tasteless muffin recipe for snack tomorrow.
...story time at the library and reconnection with sweet friends.
...long conversations with best friends living far away and more to come.
...reading endless books curled up with my boy three times a day.
...playdates scheduled.
...a husband who does more than his fair share of dishes.
...a little brother who turned 25.
...running hand in hand over grassy hills with Jack.
...hearing Jack start to chant, "Da-dee" over and over again when we pull up to church (Matt leads worship many Sundays), and then holding Jack back from running up on stage to see Daddy.
...watching my usually very shy son ham it up while handing out candy to Matt's undergrad students on Halloween.
...discovering a train table at the mall...it might just save us from winter blahs!
...hayrides and dogs licking the face of my little boy (he LOVES dogs).
...Matt almost finishing the backyard patio...it looks gorgeous!
...a new session of gymnastics starting with the same fun moms/dad and kids.
...a new book to devour.
...going to bed the same time as my grad-school usually up all hours of the night husband. :) Night-night...

Big Helper

2011-10-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Jack is my big helper. He helps put the laundry in the hamper, washer, or dryer. He puts away his shoes, books, and toys (ahem, sometimes on the toys!). He loves to help make smoothies, bread, pizza dough, or most recently soft pretzels. He is very into washing dishes these days. He loves to help open doors with keys. He loves to carry things for us. He loves to put the camera cap on the lens. He loves to help Daddy outside with the patio or any other DIY project. He gets ridiculously excited about the vacuum cleaner; unwinding the cord, pushing the vacuum, and wanting to plug it into the wall (yikes!). He loves to push the stroller BY HIMSELF on long walks. Jack helps me at the grocery store, putting produce in the bags or into the cart or onto the conveyor belt. He loves to pay the cashier where ever we go and he'll even put my credit card or change back into my wallet. He loves to put groceries away in the refrigerator and then tries to 'rearrange' it for me. He loves to throw things away in the trash can for us. He loves to flush the toilet (we really have to monitor this one!). I try to get all the help I can get while it's still 'fun.' :)

Helping with dishes while mommy makes breakfast:

We'll call this 'rolling' out soft pretzel dough:

Oops...

And finally, vacuuming:

Jack, I love having you by my side all day!

Little Lewis

2011-10-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Peter Pan

2011-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Snapshots

2011-10-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from the past year...

Jack gives spontaneous, affectionate hugs and gives sweet kisses (when asked). He brings me his shoes and coat and runs to the door many times a day. Jack would live outside if we'd let him! He loves to be chased by daddy and rescued by mommy. Firetrucks, tractors, trains and cars are his favorites. Snakes, tigers, dogs, cats, camels, and monkeys are his favorite animals. He's 34 inches tall...29+ lbs., loves the park, long walks to the river, the zoo, gymnastics, swimming, reading books by the dozens, and knows exactly what he wants. He carries around a set of keys like a security blanket. He observes the world around him with fascination. Jack wakes up with a plan in mind for the day and does his best to carry it out! He's two. He's delightful. We are thankful and blessed by our son.

Christmas Card Musings

2010-12-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

My beloved Grandma Birky hand-writes all of her Christmas cards with personal messages to her recipients every year. I know several others who take the time to connect with friends and family in this same special way—I admire you all! While I (sadly) do not write personal notes to all of our friends and family this time of year, I still love Christmas cards. I love receiving them in the mail and I love sending them. I love pinning them up in our kitchen, having an excuse to catch up with friends and family far and near and seeing a daily, tangible reminder to pray for our loved ones. I love long Christmas letters, although we'll see if we send one this year!

I also LOVE a good deal—hence this shameless blog post which will enable me to snag 50 (50!) free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I LOVE SHUTTERFLY. And not just because of this deal or because of this post, although you may not believe me. Last year, we used Shutterfly for our Christmas card and Lewis' birth announcement (see here). We loved being able to use three pictures, personalize the information and keep the design classic at the same time. Alas, Christmas cards get expensive...so I'm jumping at the chance to cut down our costs this year by blogging! If you want to join in the fun, follow this link...

My favorite Christmas cards are simple and classy, where nothing detracts from the picture. I love captions of "Merry Christmas," or "Joy," and black and white photos with red detailing. I also love cards that can be left up longer than the Christmas season. I'll often cut out pictures from Christmas cards and keep them pinned up on our french board in the kitchen for months after the holidays are over. Jack loved to look at the pictures of people last year! Christmas cards spark conversations, prompt phone calls, and inspire.

The above pictures are three of my favorites—it's hard to choose just three! Sometimes the picture decides which card is chosen, sometimes the card dictates the picture! Notice a theme? Let me just say that Shutterfly (in my personal opinion) has the best selection from which to choose. The challenge on Shutterfly for a sometimes indecisive gal like me is figuring out which one I like best!

Two favorite Christmas gifts are a Shutterfly calendar or mug. I've participated in calendars from Shutterfly in Christmases past and have been pleased with the results. Since I'm a coffee lover (and sometimes addict), I adore the mug idea, too.

Ok, friends. Hopefully you'll receive a Christmas card from us this year. Send us yours and will post it and pray for you! :)

Peace and joy this season...

Only 8 months later...

2010-10-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Jack's first voicemail, sent to daddy! A little trip down memory lane...

Our Little Inchworm

2010-08-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, Jack has achieved the great milestone of crawling. Officially, he's been inching along for about two weeks now (it looked like he was doing the worm).

At first, the going was tough, since most of the time he ended up stuck somewhere.

But soon he got the hang of it and is quite proud of his skills. Now, he's highly mobile and continues to gain speed. It's amazing how rapidly a little person's world expands as they discover shelves, cupboards and all sorts of new areas to explore (Jack crawled over and happily emptied the bottom bookshelf in the living room today). No longer is Jack dependent on where mommy and daddy strategically place him...he can get places all by himself! That is, if he wants to do so...

Jack is also efficient. He does not crawl unless there is a good reason (e.g., a specific toy, household object, wants mommy) and prefers to move only until he reaches his goal—then he often sits up. For example, he stops crawling when he can touch me with the very edges of his fingertips, then looks at me as if to say, "Mom, come on! I made it this far—now pick me up! Hey...stop moving backwards!!" :)

He makes some pretty cute faces when he crawls.

Soooo tired! Crawling is such hard work...

Mom? Can I please be done?

I WILL crawl!

In other news, Matt and I decided to build a bookshelf in our nook during the few days he had off from school (ok, Matt did most of the work, but I helped!). Jack loved to "help" us and was most intrigued by the power sander and the vacuum cleaner. And a random hanger. Who needs baby toys?

I have to say, I'm always amazed by my husband's abilities and hidden talents!

It's been hot this summer, so on several occasions, I put the bathtub outside for some impromptu swimming...I know, I know, a little redneck, but it worked! We had a blast and stayed cool. I promise that next summer we'll get him a real baby pool! :)

Loving the zoo and his stroller.

Helping with laundry...(notice his red shirt flying through the air!).

Chillin' in the boppy.

Jack's favorite book for a long time has been The Life of a Car. (He LOVES cars.) Well, as of today, the car book got replaced by the fire engine book. We usually read 20-30 minutes of stories several times a day, repeating the stacks of books in the living room, nursery, and our bedroom. Today, after every book, Jack would pick up the fire engine book and hand it to me to read to him. I lost count of the number of times we read the fire engine book. I have it memorized after only one day! At one point during the day he also crawled over to the fire engine book and entertained himself for a long time...

Oh, yes, this is how it goes...

Reading ME the story...he had it memorized too...

So, there you have it. A not-so-short update. :)

Jack and Mommy Reading

2010-07-21T17:39:00.001-07:00

Jack and Mommy Reading
Uploaded by illinimdg. - Videos of family and friends from around the world.

Promised Pictures

2010-06-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to Aunt Rachel and 'Aunt' Hollie (among others!). :)

Jack's 8 months old and weighs 18 lbs. 3 oz. and is 27.25 inches long. He has two teeth on the bottom and is constantly working on more! He sleeps better than he used to...well, most days. :) He LOVES to walk, be outside, and tolerates tummy time. He can swivel his torso around almost in an army crawl, but definitely prefers walking as his mode of operation. Jack eats rice cereal and veggies plus a few fruits, and started drinking water from a sippy cup this week. He loves to 'talk' to us, giggle with us, read books with us, play with his blocks and farm set, loves to interact with people, see new places, watch his shadow and loves the pool! He's become our little snuggler, and gives his mommy and daddy lots of sloppy kisses (especially if we are putting him down for a nap or at night, or right after we get him up after he sleeps!). He loves lawn mowers, cars, motorcycles, trucks, classical music (piano is his favorite), singing with mommy and 'wrestling' with daddy. He's pure delight. :)

Joyfully Announcing...

2010-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

We enlisted the expertise of Peter Ringenberg to take Christmas family photos this year. I suggested taking them at Notre Dame, and Peter further suggested the Basilica and the Administration Building (inside the Golden Dome). Unfortunately, we picked the absolute coldest day of the year to carry out this madness. Sure, taking a 7-week-old out into the frigid wind wasn't the most brilliant move as parents and required a ridiculous amount of outerwear and blankets, but it all worked out in the end.

Since we couldn't park near the Basilica, we bundled up our little boy and traipsed across campus running from building to building in an attempt to stay warm despite the swirling wind. Thankfully, inside the Basilica it was gorgeous and peaceful—that is, until Jack got tired of taking pictures...;) Actually, he was fantastic until he got hungry after an hour, so no complaints! I'll include a few of our favorite shots below.

"Mom, Dad, I'm so over this picture-taking thing...when do we eat?"

Our Little Bug

2010-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2010-01-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, I realize that we are approaching Valentine's Day (several holidays removed from Thanksgiving), but I have a 3 month old, people! As Jack learns to take naps, we'll start posting more...;) Until we get back on track, enjoy the random backlog of posts.

Thanksgiving was a delightful time with family. At the beginning of November, we had a pre-Thanksgiving weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Peter Martens. They drove up from St. Louis and delighted us with their company as they met Lewis for the very first time.

Love at first sight...so precious!

Jack LOVES Aunt Rachel and Uncle Peter already!

The Sibs

Thanksgiving dinner number one with the Martens in our dinning room.

On the actual Thanksgiving (dinner number two), we had a cousin's dinner at my parent's—a fun and relaxing day filled with stories, games, and yummy food.

The proud grandparents!

Taking a Thanksgiving nap with Daddy and sweet moments with Mommy.

Our attempt at a family photo on Thanksgiving.

#2

2010-01-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't breastfed a baby recently, let me remind you that breastfed babies will often not poop all day, only to make up for it by pooping multiple times in just a few hours. Of course, we're smart people, so we always remember such pertinent information. Right.

So Jack hadn't pooped all day today until about 7pm. Matt dutifully takes the blessed child to his favorite place: the changing table. As soon as daddy takes off the diaper, the second #2 soils the changing table and all available clothes.

Undaunted (sort of), Matt begins cleaning it up while calling in reinforcements. Sarah Beth rushes in for triage, removes some soiled items and starts the bath (for Jack, of course). Mercifully, Jack has decided in recent weeks that he likes his bath. Thus, after SB drew the water, we insert the baby into the bathwater to cleanse him. All is well, so Matt leaves the bathroom to attend to other necessities.

In a couple minutes, Matt (now in another room) hears SB cry, "He's peeing!" To which Matt kindly responds, "Eh, don't worry about it." Moments later, SB cries, "Mayday! Mayday!" Being long in suffering and tender in love, Matt moderately hurries to the bathroom and SB proclaims: "He pooped!"

Now, I'm not sure you've ever seen #2 in bathwater, but trust that it is not terribly appetizing. SB then informed Matt that we must clean the bath, then re-bathe the baby. At this point, she is wringing out the now-soiled washcloths and throwing them into the (adult) bathtub. She gets a towel and takes the child, and Matt cleans out the (baby) bathtub. Of course, the sponge on which the child sits proved challenging, but no match for daddy.

At last the bath is redrawn, and SB sets the child in the bathwater. Immediately Jack pees, and SB replies, "Eh, don't worry about it." Bath completed, we have a clean child, bath, and parents. Wait, the parents are somewhat harried and beleaguered. Good thing we were just about to do the child's laundry...

Our Nursery

2010-01-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

So, it took a while, but with a little work and a little help from Matt's sister, it's done!

Sarah Beth has been taking pictures of kids around the world for several years in preparation for the nursery (with a few additions from her brother, Matthew). There's not room for ALL of the pictures; just a few favorites. Can you guess the countries and cultures highlighted?

Sarah Beth's mom is in the process of hand-quilting the bedding they designed together...it's beautiful and a lot of work! ;)

Playdates

2009-12-07T06:48:00.000-08:00

It's a huge blessing to live one street over from Dave and Andrea and their handsome little one, Wesley. We couldn't have hand-picked better neighbors!! Wesley was born exactly three weeks before Jack—almost to the minute. We've gotten together a couple times for 'playdates' recently. Well, actually, the playdate part is more for us girls; the boys sleep and eat. Soon, though, they'll be playing together and learning to share toys together...I can't wait!

November in a Nutshell

2009-12-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

November flew by with a flurry of visitors and activities and the all-consuming life that comes standard with a baby. Lewis has officially grown out of all of his newborn clothes and continues to change daily, most notably packing on the pounds. At six and a half weeks old, he is more animated and sweet than ever...we can't get enough of him (as the ridiculous amount of pictures posted below proves)!

One dramatic event not captured on film was our trip to the ER a few weeks ago. To make a long story short(er), Jack had been getting fussier and fussier over a period of a few days, culminating in an inconsolable crying session on a Sunday night. We called our pediatrician on her cell phone, and as she heard him screaming in the background sent us immediately to the ER. Of course, upon arrival, Jack was calm and sweet as can be. Thankfully, we did not have to wait long in the germ-infested waiting room (newborns get priority) and we were soon whisked away to triage and then our own room. Jack performed all of his tests and vital signs beautifully—he even had an x-ray! He looked darling in the little hospital gown the nurses had him wear, too. I desperately wanted to steal it (but I didn't) and wished I had had my camera with me (I know, psycho mom...). So what was the problem, you ask? Well, he had lots of gas in his intestines, poor little guy. The cure? Mylicon gas drops for infants; not a cure-all, but over the past few weeks, Lewis has felt increasingly better as his digestion system matures. Since I'm nursing him, I also cut out dairy, beans, tomatoes, citrus, most green vegetables, chocolate, peanut butter, and a few other hard to digest for infant foods from my diet for a while. Whew. Hopefully the worst is behind us.

Now for the promised pictures:

Just chillin'

Sleeping bear

Bathtime

Making his 'oh' face

Oddly enough, one of his favorite positions!

In the process of turning over...

...ta-da!

Jack-O-Lantern

2009-11-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Last year, Matt and I carved Jack Skellington's face on our Halloween pumpkin...

This year, we had our our own little Jack to dress up and a cute baby pumpkin, too! SB scooped out the seeds, and Matt did the carving honors.

Sweet Dreams

2009-11-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

Deep in thought...

So sweet tucked in...

This hand is so comfortable!

Napping with Daddy.

A Tale of Two Pacifiers

2009-11-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it just goes in. Sometimes, well...

Jack Rolls Over

2009-11-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

Jack's been doing this since about day 5, but here he is rolling over on day 16. Pardon my "encouragement"...

More Pictures of Lewis

2009-11-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Tummy Time Tricks

2009-11-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

Jack had his first doctor's appointment on day six. Although he's only in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th for height, he is VERY strong. Case in point: the pediatrician placed Jack on his stomach and Jack pushed himself up on all fours and lurched forward (his first "crawl"). The doctor was shocked and so were we! A few minutes later, the pediatrician set him on his back and had him grasp her thumbs with his hands. The test was to see if he could pull himself up and hold up his own head—which he did for a long time. The pediatrician just shook her head, amazed and said, "This is not a one-week-old..."

During tummy time, Jack likes to roll from his stomach to his back (both to the right and to the left). During the night, he squirms and worms his body 90 degrees. We just watch and think, what are we in for with this active little tike, who boxes the air with his fists? He might have some of his Grandpa Getz's genes: legend has it that Grandpa Getz crawled out of his crib at nine months. :)

It's a Jack!

2009-11-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

Explanation of Jack's Name
Lewis Samuel Getz was born Wednesday, October 21st at 5:23pm, weighing 6lbs-8oz and stretching 19.25in. He is named for CS Lewis, and like his namesake we’ll call him “Jack.” Samuel is an old Getz name, and he is also named for Samuel of the Old Testament.

Birth Story
In case you want to know the details, here they are! Sarah Beth woke up Wednesday morning around 2am with contractions. She woke Matt up around 3am since they were consistent and stronger than usual. By 4:30am they were averaging 3min apart for about 45sec. By 6am they were 2-3min apart for about 1min, so we started getting ready. By 9am we climbed in the car and drove to the hospital. SB was in pretty significant pain, as the contractions got stronger and a little longer (~70sec). They took us to triage, and the nurse got her hooked up to the fetal monitor.

At about 10am the Resident came in to check on her, and the nurse was telling her (the Resident) that the contractions have been really strong and consistent for a long time, so she expected SB to be pretty far along. SB was in a LOT of pain, so they were hoping to get her in the water, since that’s a natural pain relief method. Sadly, she was only 2cm dilated, which shocked the nurse (and us). So the Resident called our midwife, Kristin, and said that SB shouldn’t get in the water until 5cm, as that can slow down labor unless you’re far enough along. Kristin then recommended that SB walk for 2 hours to help labor progress.

The problem was, SB was in so much pain that walking was extremely difficult. At this point Mom Erdel had arrived to help Matt walk SB around. It was tough going, but she was able to walk around for about an hour-and-a-half. At noon, the Resident checked her again and she was barely 3cm and in TONS of pain. At 12:30pm, Kristin came to check on SB and verified that she was only 3cm. Kristin also checked the baby’s position and discovered that he was out of position and causing back labor—hence the pain. Kristin also said that, since the baby’s head wasn’t pushing on the cervix, the contractions weren’t effective. Had the baby been in the right position all along, she thought he’d already have been born. At that point, Kristin gave us a choice: either labor for a while at home with exercises to get the baby into position, or get an epidural.

Now, we were very committed to natural birth, but SB and I agreed that this was a situation that called for intervention. She was already very tired (it’d been 10.5 hours) and wasn’t sure she’d have the energy to push. Kristin concurred, and we were then admitted into the Labor and Delivery Unit. By 1pm the epidural was administered, and immediately her pain was gone! She was then able to relax, rest, and generally prepare for giving birth. This was huge, since Kristin came in around 3pm to check her again, and she was already 7cm and progressing quickly! Amazing: it took 11 hours to dilate 3cm, and only 2 hours to dilate another 4cm.

At around 4:30pm, SB told the nurse that she felt like she should push. The nurse briefly checked her and said she’d call Kristin. At 4:50pm, Kristin arrived and checked SB...and told her to push with the next contraction! For thirty-three minutes, SB bravely pushed. At that point, Matt briefly looked at SB to encourage her, and when he looked back Jack was born! Kristin let Matt announce the gender ("It's a Jack!") and place him on mommy’s chest, and the Getz family spent the next couple hours getting to know one another.