Xmas decoration

This past Sunday we started to ride the yule tide. After sleeping in a bit we decided to head for the nearest tree lot. Having grown up in medford, our first instinct is to go to a u-cut, but the closest one is about 30 minutes away and I have no idea what the crowds are like during the second weekend in December. Therefore, I took the easy way out and opted for a tree lot. On our way, Kari pointed out that Fred Meyer has trees. Why not? Sure enough, they had great looking trees at a good price. We got a grand fir a little over seven feet tall, threw it on top of the subaru and headed home.

Kari and I pulled the xmas decorations out of the garage and while she sorted them, I attempted to mount the tree in a stand. Being the cheap-ass that I am, I puchased a plastic tree stand a few years ago. When I attempted to lodge the tree in the base it cracked. Of course, I didnt realize this until I had the tree perfectly aligned up and down, side to side, and had it in the house, in the perfect spot. What's missing? Water. The second I added water to the base, it covered the floor. So, it was back to freddy's. This time however, I splurged on the $34 cast iron stand so I wouldn't have to go through that again.

Eventually i got the tree in the cast iron stand and got it in the house. We decorated the tree and set up the "It's a Wonderful Life" town of Bedford around the living room. When all was said and done we had a pretty good xmas room.

Thanksgiving!

Janey, Kari, Rocky, and I all loaded up the sub and headed on down to Ashland for Thanksgiving. We had dinner with grandma and grandpa on thanksgiving. We dug into a smoked turkey and other goodies. Janey got to play with Grandma a whole bunch. She also got a chance to see Grandpa Fred as well as poppi and grandma cindy. It was a busy weekend and a great time.

Thanksgiving is always a treat, but nothing beats civil war weekend and Janey got to experience her first civil war in grand fashion as the ducks stomped the beavs for a trip to the Holiday bowl. Janey wore a duck shirt and some green and yellow baby legs. She had a great time hootin' and hollerin' with dad, but no beer for Janey!

Head Slider

Janey's been taking advantage of her tummy time lately. Shockingly, she's showing signs of crawling. She's got the foot movement down and can push her self forward with just her legs, but she tends to do so on her forehead. It's pretty funny. She hasn't figured out how to use her arms yet, but we encourage her because it makes us laugh.

Also, in some sort of freak accident, she rolled over last night for the first time. While hanging out on her tummy, I had turned to watch some tube when I saw a quick movement out of the corner of my eye, and there she was on her back! We tried to get to replicate it, but no luck. It was a legit roll over though and we're marking it down in the baby book as such! However we recognize that it was likely an anomalous event

Just because I love the pics

Update!

Since I've gone back to work, the posts have been few and far between and I apologize for that. Since the last post, Janey's weight gain has been impressive! She's eating like a champ and we have put the weight issues behind us.

Janey did pick up her first cold. She's been battling it for about a week. It's mostly consisted of the sniffles, but other than that she's still sleeping well at night and is generally a really happy baby.

A couple of weeks ago, grammy and Grandpa David came up to Stumptown to visit their granddaughter. As is always the case, I managed to get sick just before they came to town, so our activities were somewhat limited by the fact that I felt like poo.

Nevertheless, grammy and grandpa got a chance to meet Janey and hangout with the family's newest edition. They spent most of the time holding, feeding, and singing to Janey. Bean loved the singing and it's something that Kari and I continue to do for her. Of course, when we get lazy we just crack open iTunes and turn on some music for her. To date she's been exposed to the Beatles, Amos Lee, the Stones, Beans (of course), and Blitzen Trapper. She's love them all, but I think she's partial to the SGT Peppers!

For Halloween we traveled down to Eugene and spent the weekend with Kari's brother-in-law. We didn't get to go trick or treating, but Janey did go to her first live football game. Just like her Cousin Jack, we opted to start slow and give her a taste of small-time football before we step up and take her to a duck game. Although that time is coming as we are slated to go to the Arizona v UO game in a couple of weeks. She'll spend this weekend relaxing before she has to get set for her first visit to Autzen. Can't wait!

Weighting on Janey

We went to the pediatrician today to get a weight check on Janey. For those not in the loop, Bean hadn't been packing on the weight like the doctors would have liked. After several trips to the lactation specialist and personal deduction, turns out that Janey is lazy at the breast, but loves the bottle. Once we found this out, we ended up giving her breast milk via the bottle. The results were a 7 ounce gain in four days. So, now things are looking good!

Also, over the weekend, pops and grandma cindy came up to portland and spent the weekendwith Bean. We had a great time and had to pry the little girl from their hands when it came time to say goodbye. Janey got a beautiful quilt from Grandma Cindy (Rocky got one too and sleeps on it every night now!).

We just spent the weekend hanging out. We went to the Portland nursery, where they were having a harvest festival with apples and pumpkins. We bought Janey a Raywood ashe to plant out on the parking strip and we also got her a little pumpkin.

Fall is setting in on the Portland area and we got take lots of walks through Laurelhurst to enjoy the fall colors.

Also, Kari, Janey, and I went to the portland rose gardens and roamed around just to enjoy the weather!

New Pictures!

Just wanted to add a couple of photos to the blog. Things are going great since we've arrived home. She still sleeps most of the time. The only time she protests anything is a wet diaper and a little gas, neither of which has been much to mention at all.

We've been trying to establish a routine a little at home, which mostly involves a feeding schedule. Right now she's eating about every two hours during the day and then at night she gets fed about every three hours.

We're trying to get out of the house as much as we can. To date, that's involved going to baby'srus, the guitar lutier to pick up dad's guitar and lots of strolls around Laurelhurst. With the october weather getting crisp and the leaves starting to change, it makes for great late afternoon walks with the BOB stroller that pops bought for Janey.

We've also been doing a little skyping with pops and gma cindy so they can see what she's doing during the day (Sleeping, or about to sleep).

Her umbilical scab has fallen off and given way to a cute little belly button!

We're Home!

It seems like a lifetime since Janey entered into this world. It was quite an eventful delivery. Without rehashing all the details, it's safe to say that Kari had an unorthodox delivery, but in the end both she and Janey Rae are healthy and happy.

We were discharged from the hospital on Saturday. We stayed an extra day just to make sure that Janey was pooping and also we got some direction from the lactation specialist at Providence. I have to say that our experience with Providence Portland was phenomenal. The nurses who attended to us made the experience. They were so helpful and knowledgeable.

Our first day back was a little overwhelming. Just getting set up to take care of Janey and readjust ourselves to a new environment was tiring. I think we did a pretty good job though in the transition. The biggest problem for us is traversing three freakin' levels. When we go to bed we haul our stuff up to our bedroom on the second floor and in the morning we haul it down to the basement where we spend most of our time during the day. I think that will change once we figure out what we're doing. Right now, we're still trying to get a handle on taking care of little Janey!

She's such a sweet heart and Kari and I feel so blessed to have such a good little girl. Like many newborns, she pretty much does three things; sleeps, poops, and eats. Right now she's probably sleeping around 16 hours a day. Our favorite time of the day is right before we wake her up to eat. The lactation specialist told us it was good to wake them up so they are alert and focused on eating, so we generally peel off the layers and feed her in her diaper. She usually wakes up and flashes those beautiful eyes for a while before she starts to eat. Once she's done, she goes right back to bed with that punch drunk look of a full belly.

Rocky is getting used to Janey as well. At first, he was really taken aback by her and was hesitant to come near her. I think he was trying to decide what his new role is and I think he's really sensitive to not hurting her. After a few hours of us coaxing him over, he finally started sniffing her up close and even licked her feet to say 'hello'. Rocky proved his big brother abilities on the first night as well. We had set our alarm to wake Janey up at a certain time to feed her and before the alarm went off she started a very light cry to tell us she had a wet diaper. Being exhausted, neither Kari nor I woke up, so Rocky hopped out of his bed and went to Kari's side of the bed and got in her face to wake her up. Not getting the response he was hoping for he came to my side and did the same thing. Once I was awake I realized there was a light cry from the bassinet and had to change her diaper. I think that confirmed that Rocky is going to be a great big brother.

Tomorrow we head to the pediatrician for the first time and we have a lot of questions for him. I still have two weeks off until I have to go back and the way the time is flying by, it will happen waaaay too soon!

Tomorrow we head to the pediatriction

First Picture

We'll be updating the blog over the next few days, but thought we should get at least one picture up on her actual birthday!

Janey Rae Korfhage

I am proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Janey Rae Korfhage. She entered this world at 12:42 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 5 oz, 20 1/4" long. She is absolutely beautiful!

Just a few weeks left

We're getting close to the due date of October 7th. As we've seen with our friends and family, that date is nothing more than a dart on the calendar. Kari has started feeling some cramping, so I'm guessing we're progressing nicely right now. Kari just had her weekly checkup and everything is looking really good.

I spent a few days getting the last of the baby stuff together. Pops and Cindy were nice enough to spring for a Bob Revolutions stroller, so we got that put together with the infant seat adapter. Also, I got the car seat set up in the car as well. One would think those things are really easy to set up, but when you think about dropping your newborn in there, it makes you read the directions, read them again, consult the car owners manual, pull everything out and start two times to make sure you got it right. Still not sure if it's correct.

Rocky has been glued to kari's side lately. At night when her feet swell, he'll start to lick them (his way of helping out). He's also become much more alert and on watch than previously. He'll make a marvelous big brother.

Another Nursery Pic

Just wanted to add another nursery picture to the blog since the last one was really about Rocky. Kari had another check up today and we got to see the baby on ultrasound. She was healthy and moving around. She wasn't that interested in the Ultrasound device and it looked like she was throwing a few jabs and over-hand rights at it!

Once she settled down she appeared to be sucking on her thumb! She's packed in there pretty tight, but the heart rate was good and Deena said everything looked great.

Kari's looking for a change of scenery so we're likely going to head to Bend this weekend for a change of pace.

Rocky making himself comfortable

Roc-a-fella is getting comfortable in the nursery. When Kari is upstairs in the morning he has found a place to snooze away in the mornings. Kari often finds him snoring away on the carpet as the day begins.













I think he understands something is happening. Although I'm sure he doesn't necessarily understand he's quickly going to become number 2 in the house. Although, I'm also confident he'll settle into his new role as a big brother. Some other bulldog owners in the neighborhood report that their bully won't let anyone touch his toys except the baby. We like hearing that and we're confident Rocky will be equally generous with his possessions when the baby comes.

Welcome Jack!

I am beyond ecstatic to welcome baby korfhage's cousin, Jackson Brian Treanor into this world. Little buddy arrived at approximately 5:00 pm on 7/20. Look at that kid, good genes!

KICK IT!

The nuge started kicking last night. Kari and I were enjoying a little tube when kari told me to rest my hand on her belly. Sure enough, the little sprout started kicking up a storm. After a couple of kicks, things started slowing down. Kari said she felt like the little girl was trying to move. Moments later the kicking stopped and the kid has moved down lower and settled down.

We'll see if she starts picking up the pace!

24 Weeks Update

Kari had her 24-week check up today. She got a chance to hear the baby's heartbeat again and apparently her little ticker is nice and strong. They also measured our little girl and everything appears to be on the up and up.

On the home front, Kari has started feeling the little one moving around in her belly. I haven't had the fortune of feeling any movement, but that should be happening pretty quickly.

Other notes

• crib purchased (I have a task for this week)
  
• bedding purchased
• scored tons of clothes at the Laurelhurst garage sale
• lots of stuffed toys are already in the nursery
• few books rolling in.

It's a Girl

The post is a little late, but it turns out that the world will be blessed with a baby girl! We got a 85% confirmation that we will be adorning our nursery with pink. That 15% leaves me a little nervous, but Kari says she saw the same thing as the doc, so I'm going to just agree with them and prepare to welcome our little girl into the world.

The funny part of it, we had plenty of boy names to choose from, but very few girl names. It looks like it's time to hit the baby books!

17 Weeks, 5 days

Kari and got a chance to meet her new OBGYN on Friday. Unfortunately, insurance issues forced us to use a different OBGYN at Kaiser for a while, but my insurance afforded us the opportunity to go back to Kari's preferred doc.

No big news to report on, although we did get to hear the heart beat and it was very strong! We scheduled an ultrasound for May 23rd. We'll find out whether the kid has nuts or bolts. It will be posted here as well (the outcome, not the physical parts!).

Kari is starting to show and she thinks she felt the baby move a few days ago. She said it felt like "butterflies". According to the stacks of books that are piling up on our night stands, she'll likely be feeling more movement in the weeks to come.