Spring?

March 28th

(yes, that is snow falling)


March 29th

"My Oh My!"

Opening Day!

Go Mariners!

Happy Easter!

"Peeps in the news!"



Make sure you flip through the slide show.

Mason Campbell has arrived!!!!

Christie gave birth Friday night to Mason Campbell Lockwood. Mason was 6 lbs 14.5 oz, 19 inches long, and 100% healthy!! Christie is doing well albeit sore. She gave birth without any drugs in less than FOUR hours from the time her water broke, 6:30pm, at the house till Mason came into this world at 10:23pm! Christie was Sooo strong and made me the proudest husband and daddy, EVER! We spent all day Saturday and Sunday till 2pm in the hospital. Mason passed all of his tests with flying colors. Mason latched immediately to Christie and started nursing with minutes of being born! He has been nursing and sleeping very well so far! The doctor let me help "catch"/deliver Mason. I stayed by Christie's side the entire time helping to coach and encourage her through the labor and delivery. Then at the last moment a third nurse came in and took my place at Christie's side and I gloved up and came around to the Doctor's side. She told me she would deliver the head and the shoulders and I could "do the rest". As Mason's head came out she suctioned his mouth and then positioned my hands around his head while applying an upward pulling pressure. The doc delivered Mason's shoulders and I helped bring him the rest of the way into this world and up onto Christie's waiting chest. Christie and I did not know the sex of our baby until he popped out and it was an amazing surprise to see that he was a boy! Abigael and Christie's dad, Tom, were out in the waiting room and when we were ready I went out and got them and brought them in to see their new brother and grandson. Tom lit up like a Christmas tree and Abigael was in total awe and wonderment. Both got a chance to hold Mason before I sent them home around 2am to get some sleep and wait till Pat arrived the next day. We had a few visitors Saturday afternoon, Wayne and Mary Lockwood and Sam and Wendi Hawley.


We are home know and trying to find some kind of a rhythm and schedule. Last night was our first in the house with Mason and it was kind of rough. Thankfully Christie's parents are here and they are doing a WONDERFUL job of helping out with Abigael and taking care of all of the little stuff. Tom was here all last week and Pat arrived Saturday afternoon. Thank you to all that have sent congratulations and well wishes!! I have posted some pictures on my flickr account and more will come I am sure....

Jammie Time

Getting ready for bed last night, Abigael ran into the living room and tossed her pajamas onto my lap. I sorted through the pile, pulled out her underwear and handed them to her to put on.
She sat down on the floor and quickly put her legs through the holes. She recited her little mantra. "The tag goes in the back. The bow goes in the front."
"That's right! Good girl."
I then handed her the bottoms to her Strawberry Shortcake pajamas. She repeated the same steps. Left leg, right leg, "the tag goes in the back."
As she pulled the waistband halfway up her chest, she said "I do it all myself. That's how big girls do it!"
"That's right, sweetheart! That is how big girls do it! You are such a big girl now!"

She looked me in the eye with a proud look and said "Your baby is growing up!"

Already?

The Home Stretch

After such a long time of floundering and wondering about life's little turns, it seems like all of sudden there's not just a light at the end of the tunnel but we're close to just knocking the whole thing down! Could it be that things are finally coming together for us?
Brandon is nearing the end (next week) of completing his nursing pre-requisites. While, of course, there is still a lot to work left to actually become a nurse, at least the path has been started.
We are officially now in the third trimester for Baby #2! Now that's literally a "light at the end of the tunnel." I have some sadness that I haven't enjoyed being pregnant this time as much as I was with Abigael, but maybe that's to be expected when you also have a three year-old demanding your full attention. Physically, this time around has also been much harder on me. As a result, I don't think I've been a very pleasant person for Brandon or Abigael to be around and for that I'm also a little regretful. I don't feel like I've done anything to prepare for the new baby. No shopping, no obsessive reading or list-making, nothing. I did manage to sign us up for a refresher childbirth class. WooHoo! Way to go! But as I was saying, we've now hit the last phase. Not much left to do but just get bigger. Is that even possible? I think my belly is already bigger than when Abigael was born. It feels like it's ready to pop some days, and I still have at least 2 1/2 months to go!I have a feeling this is not going to be another peanut-sized baby.
And, of course, there is the BIG news. We are "this close" finally becoming homeowners! For those of you who may not know our situation, we have been renting for a VERY long time. Brandon and I have been married for 10 1/2 years and have been in rentals for the entire time. We've lived in a variety of houses and apartments over the years, each with it's own personality. Right now we're in residence #6 and it's definitely time for our own space. If nothing else, I NEED a yard to throw Abigael out into! But more practically, with baby #2 almost here, we need more space and we've been aching to put down roots for a while now. We've procrastinated on this big step for several reasons...money, waiting on the fire department job, money, fear of commitment, money, home prices, fear of the unknown. But, we finally reached our breaking point, and decided it was now or never. All in all, the process hasn't been nearly as traumatic as I had feared. When you look the articles and tests to measure stress and possible depression in your life, buying a home (and having a baby) is listed as one of the top triggers. I, for one, was a little worried about this, the past couple of years have been pretty tough emotionally for me. (I'm already trying to prepare myself for any postpartum issues after the baby is born.)But, so far, I'm feeling really good. I'm excited about the move and have had hardly any panic attacks over the impending mortgage payments. Everything is moving along just fine, and we should have the keys in our hands in the next few days. Except for the actually "moving" part, this is going to be pretty awesome.
This is going to be a good year after all.