Introducing...

Almost a week after Colton made his way into the world, Mommy & Daddy are starting to get into the swing of things with his routine. One thing is for sure, he runs the show now! We sent out an announcement to alot of our friends and families, and I just thought I'd share it here as well. Daddy will try to get somemore pics on here very soon, but only as soon as Colton will allow me to!

For many more pics, you can follow me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/jamesgeist

Welcome to the World!

Colton Jamieson Geist -- born Wednesday, October 14th at 10:12 PM. He weighed 8 lbs, 8 ounches, and was 21 inches long. He's a big and happy little boy. I'll update again once we get home from the hospital (which should be today) but he's doing very good, eating pretty well, and keeping his Daddy very busy already!

Just an update

Just a quick update. The baby countdown has ticked down to 0, and the due date has come and gone. Colton has decided to just hang tight for a couple of days. Doesn't look like he's on the way this weekend, but we'll see. We go in Tuesday night to get induced if he doesn't come on his own, and he should make his arrival on Wednesday, October 14th sometime. We're ready for you buddy!

The Final Countdown

The counter is ticking down to 5 days, and still no sign of the newest member of our family, Colton Jamieson. Mommy is definitely ready to get a break and stop carrying you around, and both Mommy and Daddy can't wait to see you -- so come on! Not that I blame him. Its quickly turning to fall, getting a little chilly, and he's probably very happy and warm all cuddled up on the inside. Hopefully the next post here is of his first photo! If he doesn't show up on his own, we've already got an appointment for getting induced on October 13th. So he's coming regardless -- get ready world!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Only 23 days left on the countdown! Colton will be here soon, and we can't wait. I thought I'd share some good pictures from our recent Childbirth/NewBorn Development class that we took through the hospital. It was a very fun and informative 5 week class, just a couple of hours on each Monday night. The highlight of course was when they broke out the "empathy belly" for all of the Dads to try on, while the Moms made them do all of the tough things they have to deal with during the day. The results were hilarious and humbling.

Party All The Time

According to our trusty countdown on the right side -- only 35 days left! Mommy got prepared this past week with her baby shower, which was a great time for everyone. Our baby boy to be got TONS of clothes, some toys, some essentials, and lots of love from friends and family. There are some pictures below, including some of the girls having fun and playing games. Now we get to put it all away!

It's My Party

Baby's first party is coming up. If you're invited, you likely already got one of these in the flesh, but I thought I would share it with the blogosphere as well as toss it on here for historical reasons. Mommy & the baby can't wait to see all their family and friends, and start our soon to be astronomical collection of baby clothes, toys, and supplies. Since Daddy is writing this, I can't tell you much more, since I have no clue what kind of crazy stuff goes on at these parties. I figure the end result can't be any worse than Mommy's 21st birthday celebration. :)

I Always Feel Like, Somebody's Watching Me

As I mentioned in my last post, we moved the old TV up front when we got our new couch. And that's because we got a new TV for our back room, as pictured above! We'd had our eyes out for a new TV for a bit, since we knew we wanted to expand our front living room into a bit more functional space. We figured with the baby on the way, and with more people staying and visiting, it couldn't hurt to have a second space for people to relax. The couch from the last post was Mommy's Anniversary Present, and Daddy got a new TV. Or at least that's how he got Mommy to let him buy it, anyway. Pictured below is the old setup.

Take It Easy

So I recently showed off all of baby's new toys that will welcome him into the world, but now its time to take a look at Mommy and Daddy's new toys that will help THEM welcome him into the world. If you've been a long time blog reader, or ever visited our house, you know what the front living room used to look like. An old Futon that's been passed around way too much, some chair my mom discovered for us on the side of the road, and basically a room with no purpose. The only time we even used it was on Christmas, and that's because it was the only room empty enough to fill with our ridiculous amount of presents. Enter our new Sofa, which we're unofficially calling our Anniversary present. I included a few pics of the new layout which also includes a great Sofa Table that my sister found at a garage sale for 15 bucks! You'll notice the TV above the fireplace, which used to be in our other living room. But thats for another post :)

High Enough

The next (and we think final) addition in our collection of baby items in the Graco Deco Collection is the awesome High Chair. Another special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Hickel. I'm not sure what you can say about a high chair. You can raise it up and down to the level of your choice, the tray has a removable top that is dishwasher safe, and it reclines for a nice post-meal nap (I'm Jealous!) It also collapses into a pretty small little space, as evidenced by the picture below. Up next -- some new toys for Mommy & Daddy too!

It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That...

In what has to be my quickest turnaround on a blog post, we're back with a few more new toys for our impending arrival. Soon to be Grandma & Grandpa Hickel were in town a few weeks ago, and took us to Babies R Us to look at few more items that we've had our eye on. After getting the Playpen/Bassinet & Stroller Set in the Graco Deco Collection, it only seemed right that we now add the Swing & Highchair in the matching pattern. Above is obviously the finished product, below is the "easy assembly", and then finally a picture from the 4th of July (when we had a little family cookout) of Kyson & Miss Jamie practicing strapping our little Monkey into the Swing.

In My Room

Daddy is such a lazy blogger! I blame the summer, the pool, the Royals, the busy month of June (birthdays and anniversary), beer, etc. I can keep going.

Wow, getting back on the blog got me looking at the countdown. Only 93 days left! I've got a ton of stuff to post on here, so maybe I'll do this marathon style and start pumping out some posts. Last time I posted, I showed the re-painting of our little guy's room, and now, the finished product! Enjoy!

True Colors

With 119 days left on the Official Countdown until our Baby Boy arrives, we decided it was time this week to get to work on his room. We recently acquired his crib bedding set, and the Baby Blue and Brown really clashed with the indescribable greenish/blueish/bleh that we decided to put on the walls in here back in October for some reason. Here's Daddy starting with a coat of primer (Mommy had to sit this part out) to cover up the teal-lish/navy mishmash. Mommy got in on the fun though afterwards, helping to do trim on the two coats it took to finally get our nice neutral cream color on the walls. Only 2 short days, and we just moved everything back in, and it looks great. More pictures to come!

Oh Boy!

Chances are if you're reading this, you've already heard the news -- but there's the proof, right there in black and white. We couldn't have missed it if we wanted to, as the minute the doctor put the wand on Jamie's belly, there was our little guy, laying ass-up and showing us all his little goodies for the world to see. We were both VERY happy and so excited to tell everyone. The best part of the news is that our little boy is 100% healthy, growing perfect, and has well-developing organs that are all right on track. Grandma Geist quickly swept us up and took us shopping to get our little man's room under design. Those pics will be coming soon as well -- for now, enjoy the rest of our little boy's 2nd photoshoot:

More Than a Feeling

Thats the big question that we'll have an answer to in just 5 more days. I know I've been a bad Daddy-To-Be when it comes to upcoming the blog, but we've just been knocking out the weeks till our next big milestone. And here it comes! Tuesday morning we'll know (hopefully) if it'll be a little boy or a little girl, a grand-daughter or grand-son, or a niece or nephew. We know Kyson thinks its a boy and Kaja thinks its a girl -- but what does everyone else think? Any inklings or feelings out there?

Right Here Waiting

In a bit of a blog lull now as the season attempts to officially change over to Spring on this Easter Sunday. Mommy and Daddy to be will be going to a Royals game on Tuesday night, hoping that the 62 degrees and Sunny forecast holds up. Its about 45 and raining outside right now, so you never know. I thought I'd share the welcoming image of our Doctor's Office. The Center for Women's Health, at Shawnee Mission Medical Center is our place, and Dr. Giedt is our very friendly and helpful doctor. So far we've had nothing but great experiences there. Its only 5-10 minutes from our house, and we've spent no more than 5-10 minutes in the waiting area each time as well. Hopefully everything keeps moving along just as easily. Happy Easter!

Come Together

Well it didn't take us long to unpack the first box and get things put together. Here is our brand new Graco Stroller/Travel System in the flesh. It was actually pretty easy to snap the few things on that needed to be snapped on. We really love this one because of the ambiguous but awesome design pattern (can be used for a boy or a girl, and then kept around for Round 2) and just because it was the easiest one that we tried out when it came to collapsing it and pulling it back up. Anyway, we're so excited to have this in the baby room to stare at for the next 6 months. We even put the base of the Carrier/Car Seat into Jamie's car, and decided that we really didn't feel like removing it, so its staying there until October too!

Hip To Be Square

So Monday Jamie and I were over at my sister's house enjoying our day off, playing with the kids, and just visiting when my Mom kept calling and asking her if we had checked our mail yet. She was acting weird, but I didn't think anything of it. Then she calls me and asks me if we've checked our mail yet. I told her we still hadn't even left, and she said to make sure we go home and check it. I figured she sent a card with some Baby Money in it or something like that. Boy was I wrong. We pulled up to two huge boxes sitting on our porch, and I could see the "GRACO" from the driveway. She surprised us with the awesome Stroller/Travel System and Playpen that we'd been eyeing at Babies R Us. In my Mom's regular spy-like gift-giving fashion, we hadn't actually even shown her what we wanted, but she used her resources to figure it out anyway. Thanks Mom!! We love them! We put the Stroller together that night, and I'll get some pics up soon.

C'mon Baby Light My Fire

Well I was planning on taking some pictures of the awesome new flowers we have springing up in our front yard, but nature intervened and decided to drop 6-8 inches of snow on us here at the beginning of "spring". At least i gave us a chance to cozy up next to the fireplace one more time. And it better just be one more time. Baseball season starts in 2 weeks, and with this Daddy-To-Be heading to the ballpark, I don't want to be wearing a sweater when the Royals beat the Yankees. We have a baby doctor appointment on Tuesday, so I'll be sure to share any news.

Freeze Frame

We had our first Sonogram this morning -- at 8:40 AM! Earlier than either of us is used to, but I guess we better get used to it since our little baby won't have much of a timeclock when he first arrives. It was a pretty in and out trip -- waiting about 15 minutes, and then spending about 5 minutes with the Nurse to see our little guy. Just over an inch long, but he looks so precious in
his mommy's tummy. We got to hear the racing little heartbeat too, and take some pictures home to share, which I of course promptly scanned and got on the web. The nurse said everything looks great, and we're right on target with the date -- about 10 weeks and 5 days into the pregnancy right now. I love his little arms and legs!

Rattlesnake Shake

Not much new news to report. Just counting the days till we get to go get our first sonogram. 6 days, for those that are counting. On Tuesday next week we'll get our first look at the baby, and confirm our due date and just how far along everything is. The picture above is the baby's first official toy. We found out on February 9th that we had a special little Valentine's surprise, so we both agreed not to get each other any gifts for Valentine's Day. But I couldn't help but just get a little something. We keep it around the living room just to think of our little guy or girl that is on the way in October.

Ooh Baby, I Love Your Way

That's right -- we're having a baby! We found out on Monday, February 9th. We were out grocery shopping, and decided to pick up a test, even though according to the Calender we still had no reason to suspect anything. After wandering around the pharmacy section at Hyvee for a moment, we found them, and of course had to pick out the most expensive, pimped-out, digital version. We got home, put the groceries away, and I probably asked Jamie about 5 times if she had to pee yet. She said no every time, but I finally talked her into going in there and giving it a try. It said it would take about 3 minutes for most test results to show, sometimes sooner. I took it from her, held my hand over it so I wouldn't be tempted to check the results. She finished her business, came out in the living room, and we decided to check it even though it'd only been about a minute. And thats what we saw, right there above us! We confirmed it with the doc the next day and hurried to tell everyone our great news!

A New Day

So after coming to a screeching halt on the House Blog near the end of our renovations, I've decided to re-launch this thing, and maybe mix up the color scheme and give it a face lift. With the house we got so into it that we forgot to document alot of things by picture, and thus updates were hard to justify. Plus, you can only type "today we painted somemore" so many times before redundancy sets it.

This time will have an even bigger process to document, and a longer period of time to do it in as well. jamie-and-jamie.blogspot.com V2.0 launches soon.