Kellogg Park

JUNE 24 - Mateo loves the fountain at Kellogg Park in the center of town.

Helpful Hands...

ANN ARBOR - I had to sneek this picture in: It's of Ruari helping her Tito Rico check to see if there's a hitch on the back of the car. She was quite helpful actually, you can see her holding the car still for him - hee, hee, hee.

Ready to go...

JUNE 18 - 10:30am and ready to head out for Mateo's P.T. appointment. Mateo is such the morning person, quite unlike his Mom and very much like his Papito.

Happy Father's Day!

JUNE 17 - Ric's very FIRST FATHER'S DAY. I bought the cake and Mateo & Mr.Quincy showed up for the festivities. Hope all the rest of you Dads had a great one as well. Cheers!

The Big 37!

JUNE 15 - Ric's actual birthday is June 16th but you can never celebrate too early. We had dinner with our friends Andy & Alicia at where else? BENIHANA! There's one thing that Ric asks for every year for his birthday and that's dinner at Benihana. Feliz Cumpleanos Ricardo! (And, yes, Mateo did sleep through the entire dinner.)

Best Buddies...

Mateo has found himself a naptime pal, Guillermo the lullaby horse. I didn't even have to pose them this way, Mateo did this himself. Adorable, if I do say so myself.

First Annual Westbury Gang Reunion

JUNE 9 - Eisenhower Park: We had an absolute blast and can't wait until next year's.
Photo 1: Three Generations of The Westbury Family/Gang
Photo 2: Rare family picture
Photo 3: Next Generation -how cute! Check out that Boy to Girl Ratio (6:3)! Where are all the ladies?

First flight...

JUNE 7 - Mateo's first ride on an airplane. We didn't know what to expect, but when we saw that big beeming smile, we knew it wasn't going to be too bad. He slept through the first half of our 1-hour flight to New York and played during the second half. The flight home to Michigan started a bit rough because his hunger seemed insatiable, but once he got his fill, he slept through the flight and all the way home : )

lazy day...

Hanging out at home on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Boppin' around

JUNE 2 - Like Father, Like Son (check out those cheeks!)

Stretches

JUNE 2 - Here are couple examples of exercises/stretches that we do with Mateo to hopefully correct his torticollis. It looks bad but it doesn't hurt him.

P.T.

Mateo has started Physical Therapy for torticollis. If you're asking yourself, "torti what?" you are not alone. So here's the brief on it that I picked up from www.babycenter.com: Torticollis (also called congenital muscular torticollis) is a condition that causes a baby's head and neck to tilt to one side. It affects about 2 percent of newborns. The cause is unknown, but doctors suspect that when a baby is positioned in the uterus so that her head is tilted to the side and her neck is down, the blood supply to the neck is cut off. This results in some tightness in one of the two strap (or sternocleidomastoid) muscles that connect the breastbone, head, and neck, and allow a baby to turn her neck. Though the baby may look uncomfortable, this condition causes no pain. About 8 percent of babies born with torticollis will also have other problems such as hip dislocation. So, it's P.T. twice a week with Ann Marie with lots of stretching and tummy time at home. We're staying optimistic that he "straightens up" - literally.

Papito's Race...

MAY 6 - Ric had one request and that was to race Cone-Azalia.

As always, it was a cool and VERY windy day.

He finished the tough dirt road race. Yay, Papito!

(Picture taken by one of his friends.)

Camo Day

MAY 27 - We were also ecstatic that my family from Westbury, New York, flew out to celebrate with us. They haven't been to Sturgis in years! And naturally we had to have Mateo's Christening Weekend Camo Day. We had one for Ruari last year. We hope everyone comes back again and sooner rather than later.

Mateo's Christening

MAY 26 - First of all, Thank You to Nina for sharing her 20-something birthday with Mateo. This was a huge day! Happily, Ric's family was able to fly/drive in to share in Mateo's big day. This was the first time they all got to meet him, on his 3-month birthday!

Mateo & Aunt Bethie

MAY 12 - I just love this picture!

We caught up with my friend Beth in Coldwater

on our way to Sturgis.

My First Mother's Day

South Bend, IN - We celebrated Mother's Day with M & P and The Griffs. We all had brunch at Tippecanoe Place. Thank you Mateo for making it the best!

First Walk...

APRIL 28 - Going for our first walk.

I gotta work off this post-pregnancy weight.

I gained over 40 lbs with him! YIKES!!!

2-months old...

APRIL 26 - Hard to believe it's been 2 months already, but here he is! He smiles, recognizes us, rolls from his back to his belly, and makes the cutest baby sounds ever.

Making nice...

After watching me bounce Mateo, Ruari made her way over to do the exact same thing! She got such a thrill bouncing her cousin up and down. It actually looked like she finally made nice, but I call her a "wolf in sheeps clothing." She enjoyed the bouncing so much that she tried to climb into the seat with Mateo still in it! But once he was out - she climbed right in and had a ball!

Go Pistons!

APRIL 22 - The NBA Playoffs have started, so it was imperative that Mateo wear his Pistons gear. In our house, we start loyalty early. In this case before he's even 2-months old.

Smile!

APRIL 19 - He smiles and recognizes us.

Plus, he's in his bouncy seat, which he loves.

Mateo's First Easter

STURGIS - Mateo being brutalized by cousin Ruari

(pronounced like "Rory")

I'm pretty sure this was just he first of many times ahead.

April 12...

First trip to Chicago. All bundled up and ready to go.

Month 1

Ric deserves an award for the week he stayed home with us. I still hadn't changed a diaper! He ran every errand, even at midnight! I dreaded the thought of him returning back to work because he's been so invaluable to us, but I guess one of us has to work to pay the bills, right? Good thing Mama Orca came to stay with us for 2 weeks : )

The little man eats a lot and prefers to be swaddled while sleeping. Mr.Quincy avoids Mateo at all costs and even seemed a bit depressed at times. At least he doesn't bark at him, on the contrary, he gets up and leaves the room.

Here you can see his "crispy pata" (tagalog for "fried feet")which was due to the lack of amniotic fluid for the last 3 weeks in the womb.

Other than that, Mateo is your run-of-the-mill baby: eat, sleep, poop (repeat, several times in 24 hours)

We're Baaaack!

I truly apologize for the major hiatus we took in updating Mateo's Blog, but the good news is it's now updated. Hooray! OMG, so much has happened since the last posting. First of all, our Baby Boy Lung was born! Here's the low-down: *Mateo Valeriano Orca Lung (the first name came to me in a dream 3 nights before he was born and his second name is from my Grandfather.) *Born at 1:47p via C- section *A whopping 8 lbs 4oz *full head of black hair *steel-gray eyes (SO cool, by the way)

He was bigger than what doctors expected - no duh! I told them that he was ready, but, Oh no! My poor baby baked too long and they had a difficult time pulling his ginormous head out of the incision. Can you say OUCH! Then I got so sick from the anesthesia that I was out of commission for the first 12 hours that Mateo was in this world. Ric was the first to feed him; formula from a small cup. Because he was born via C-section, we all stayed in the hospital until Feb. 28th at about 9:30p. Ric and the nurses changed every diaper, so I was only responsible for nursing and sleeping. I couldn't believe how much I slept. The hospital staff was so awesome that I kind of didn't want to go home, but we finally did the evening of Feb. 28th. So I woke up the morning of my 32nd birthday (EEK!) on March 1st in my house with my new family : ) although Mr.Quincy was still boarded at the vet's. I finally have my "Happy Family."

Update...

Jan. 29-Feb. 2... The quest for "perfect" child care. Ric & I thought we had the hook-up with Ford because they offered an awesome Day Care Facility for an unbelieveable cost to its employees. We had been on the waiting list since I was 3 months pregnant. Well, upon calling to find our status on the Infant Wait List we were told that as a cost cutting measure, Ford will be closing ALL of their UAW/Ford Child Care Facilities by June 29th! The scramble was on! Not only did we need to secure a spot for September, but we had to compete with all the other UAW/Ford employees in the area on too. Every place I called told me that they had been receiving non-stop calls from Ford employees - no big surprise there. Luckily we got in at a good place close to the condo, however the sticker shock has been hard to deal with. (We might have to seriously consider a Nanny if we want more than one child.) The Ford Day Care was at a significant discount so any place else seemed to be ridiculously priced to us. In any case, we secured a spot and are waiting to here from our #1 pick. I swear it's as if we're waiting to hear back from colleges or potential employers. Hopefully we can get him into St. Mary's (keep your fingers crossed.)

Feb. 7, 2007... Well, it was confirmed today that BBLung is indeed still breech! The doctor informed me that I have a couple of days to decide whether or not I want to go in for a version (where they manually manipulate the baby from the outside to get him to flip) before he gets too big. We had already decided against it and let him lay the way he wants. But what does that mean then? PLANNED C-SECTION! Of course there's always the unlikely possibility of him flipping before I go in for the C-section and I can go into labor naturally, etc. So, to remain somewhat optimistic, there's still hope in him flipping... we shall see about that though ; )

Feb. 8, 2007... I made the call this morning. The call to schedule and discuss having a C-section. As Murphy's Law has it, my primary OB/GYN is on vacation until next Wednesday. I was however given a tentative date for the C-section, which will be confirmed by my appointment NEXT Thursday! In any case, it looks as if BBLung will be born in the Year of the Pig! That's a very good sign - literally. Here's some characteristic information on our Little Piggy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(zodiac). So until NEXT THURSDAY...

Packed & Ready To Go!

In true "Ivy-style" I'm packed and ready to go! Ok, I'm really just packed. I have a few more weeks to go, but with the Nesting Instinct and Childbirth Preparation Classes, I was motivated to get my hospital bag packed. (Of course, if I do indeed need to go in for a planned C-section, the spontaneity is out the window.)
As you can see, Mr.Quincy is still in his inquisitive phase. He likes checking out all of the new baby stuff that we get. At one point, he actually jumped into the car seat and sat in it! He's also been quite clingy, but the Vet and Dog Trainer said not to worry. I've been doing some baby prepping with him and he's been surprisingly quite easy to train : )

Nursery & Nesting

If you can imagine, the "Nesting Instinct" hit me pretty good. I went crazy with laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc... Now, that doesn't sound any different from the "typical" Ivy, but all this activity involved Baby Stuff. Here's a peek into BBLung's nursery (yes, black baby furniture, and we love it) A BIG Thank You to Lolo & Lola Orca for the furniture:
CRIB - Potterybarn Ocean Critters bedding
Giraffe (from Auntie Marybeth)
ARMOIRE - Baby Rip Hamilton jersey/onesie (from B & Z Nemeth)
CHANGING TABLE - fully stocked and just waiting for Baby

Baby Shower

Jan. 13, 2007 - BABY SHOWER in Sturgis. Ann & my friend Beth co-hosted the successful event. My mom did all the cooking and it doesn't get any better than that! YUMMY! We played the "Dirty Diaper" Game, which involved melitng different chocolate bars in diapers, then having the participants distinguish which chocolate bar is in each numbered diaper. Icky but SO funny! Yes, as you can see from the photo I have "filled out" so more. Strangely, I do still wear some of my pre-pregnancy clothes. Can't seem to figure that out, but that just saves me from buying much maternity clothes.

Ric's Mom & sister Nena even flew out for the celebration, which was great. We were truly touched that so many were able to make it and were so generous in giving to BBLung. For those who couldn't make it, we hope to see you soon.

Update...

Jan. 20-21, 2007 - We attended our Childbirth Prep Class this weekend. We both learned a lot but watching all of those birthing videos kind of raised my level of anxiety. Still that didn't deter me from signing up to give birth at the Alternative Birthing Center. That means no epidural, but I can still get pain meds, a huge jacuzzi, a queen-size bed, etc...

Jan. 22, 2007 - Well, BBLung is STILL in the breech position! This was confirmed today by ultrasound. The doctor is giving him another couple weeks to flip on his own, but if he doesn't Ric & I agreed that that's just the way he wants to be and we'll schedule a C-section and forego the Alternative Birthing Center. It's hard to believe that I'd even have to consider one, but that's just the way it goes, I guess. I've tried the pelvic tilt, sound, light, visualization, etc... but as life has it, BBLung is still in the head up/butt down position. Check back in the a couple of weeks to find out if he has in fact flipped...

Jan. 23, 2007 - Ric left for a business trip to the Twin Cities (St. Paul/Minneapolis) for the week, so Mr., BBLung and I are holding down the fort on our own. Good thing Nina lives close by and a has two days off this week just in case anything comes up.
Tonight is another Baby Class for me, which means I'm going to miss the Washington Wizards v. Phoenix Suns game!!! For those of you who don't know, I'm a HUGE NBA fan! A definite die-hard Pistons fan, but I'll watch most any NBA game. Ric is more of a fair-weathered fan. Thank goodness for Sirius Radio : )

Baby making himself known

DEC. 4, 2004
Here I am at 27 1/2 weeks along. According to our ultrasound from a couple of weeks ago, he has a strong heartbeat, is 14 inches long, about 2 lbs., and growing. Can you believe how big we've both gotten? I'm smiling here because BBLung was bumping around so much he was tickling me. For several months BBLung has been residing in the breech position in the right side of my belly. Let's just hope he flips over in time. Set your clocks - we're in the last trimester : )

End of an Era

"End of an Era" - those are Ric's words not mine. We'll see how long that lasts, but why not leave on a high note. (L) Here he is jumping a fallen tree during an October Michigan Cyclocross Race.
This photo has even made onto www.velonews.com!!! I'm living with a celebrity : ) (R) In a gesture of "retirement" Ric is in the kitchen with his head hanging low, disassembling one of his 4 or 5 bikes; I lost count. I believe he's picked up trail running to burn off that excess energy...

Thanksgiving Blog

The #1 Reason Why Ric Will Never Return to Chicago...

NOV. 26, 2006 - Their Welcoming Committee apparently got carried away! YIKES!!! Luckily we didn't have anything in the car they cared to actually steal. I guess the thieves didn't have enough to be thankful for this year that they had to break into our car to find something to appreciate. Aren't we the lucky ones? We hope you all had a SAFE & Happy Thanksgiving.