Home for the Holidays!

We are packing to head home for the holidays! The last two and a half weeks have been a huge adventure. Originally I was scheduled to host Christmas as I was unable to travel far being so close to my due date... but as you know all of that has changed. We had barely been able to say that we had a boy before heading to my parents for the holidays was suggested. We have unintentionally been boycotting my parents for the holidays for a number of years now between family commitments and baby's being born. It is long overdue that we celebrate at their place and they have been, and we have been, wanting to get back there. With Logan's early arrival off we all go. It should be an exciting Christmas with the Balwin-Reid's, Reid's (x2), and Berringer's all in attendance. With Avery who turned 2 a week ago the eldest of four grandchildren there will be babies for everyone to hold (and diapers for everyone to change!) I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends. Love Jody, Dan, and Logan

Homecoming

Well it was a long stay at the hospital but we are finally home! Its great to be home as a family and be able to take care of Logan in his own crib. We had our first night at home and so far so good, we ate, slept, and pooped!!











Also I got to "watch" my first leafs game with Daddy and they won!

Introducing Logan Carl Berringer!!

He's here !!

Little Logan didn't want to miss out on Christmas this year so he decided to come a little earlier than planned. He was born on Friday Dec 3, 2010 at 2:01 pm, weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs even. Both Mom and Logan are doing well. Since he decided to show up a little early we are spending some extra time at the hospital to make sure he gets all the nutrients he needs while Mom's milk comes in and they figure out this whole breast feeding thing. Things are progressing well and we hope to go home at the end of the week.

Quinn Katherine Reid

This week we welcomed Quinn Katherine Reid to the world. She is adorable! Congratulations Matt, Lisa, and Avery on your new addition!

Bellies everywhere

The hourly countdown to the arrival of Baby Reid is on! Dan and I are looking forward to seeing the little one on Monday. We will be thinking of you Lisa and Baby Reid. We look forward to seeing all of you Monday afternoon.

A busy Saturday

The nursery was today's focus and we definitely made some progress. Our new Santa Fe is getting its workout as we fill it with dressers, cribs, gliders, mattresses, and lots of other littler things. Let us know what you think!

Me Breastfeed?

That was the title of tonight's workshop. I hung out with a lot of pregnant ladies as we learned a little more about breast feeding. We even got to watch Janet breastfeed little Fiona, who was still not the size of Avery or Oscar at birth event though she was 8 weeks old! So tiny and cute! I can only hope.

The last couple of days have very busy in preparing things for the arrival of LB. Earlier today I had another OB appointment, everything continues to go well.

This weekend we were blessed with family and friends showering us with support as we prepare for LB's arrival. We are a little more prepared and we had a fabulous long weekend with everyone. I have included a picture of the adorable Avery and Oscar with Oma from the weekend.

Thank you!

Family Weekend!

With 7 weeks to go it is really crunch time. Time to get everything ready. We picked up our Santa Fe this week! Definitely a mommy car! Don't forget to get your bets in for when LB will be joining us!

By the numbers....

According to last nights reading LB is now 4 lbs and Dan and I are one week closer to becoming parents. Last weekend we attended prenatal classes and definitely learned a thing or two about pregnancy, birth, and parenting! We are now a little more prepared than before. November has really been the goal in my head to have things pretty well prepped for LB's arrival, and now it is just around the corner now. To give you a breakdown I have included some numbers below.

63 days until LB is due
56 days until Christmas
32 weeks pregnant
31 cm size of belly (as per OB appointment last Tuesday)
25 days of work left
?? things to still be purchased to prepare for LB's arrival
16 days until the next OB appointment (we have increased the frequency from a month to two weeks)
10 weeks until I get induced (if LB hangs in that long)
7 months of pregnancy completed
5 weeks until I am "to term"
3 pieces for furniture for LB's room to still be purchased
2 bags to be prepped for the hospital
2 months of pregnancy to go
1 nursery to still be prepped
1 LB that will change our lives forever!

Competition!!!!!

If perhaps you are reading this and have never spent time with Dan and I, I have to let you in on a little secret. We are a tad bit competitive. Due to our love of games, competitions, and winning we thought that we would start a little game leading up to LB's birth.

LB's Birthing Bets - a Berringer Betting game

Please take a moment to provide us with your predictions on Little Berringer's Arrival. The winner get's All the Glory*. Please follow the link below to place your bet:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AudS9fWx98TddDZEQmtyUXJQSk1SYnhySDZWZzU4N3c&hl=en&authkey=CIXP8eQC


RULES:

1. Each person can submit up to 2 bets
2. Each bet must include your name and your guess. GUESS = (boy/girl, date, birth weight) Please enter your guess in the correct square.
3. No two bets can be the same
4. Two bets can be similar - you may add more than one bet to a square
5. You cannot delete someone else's bet
6. All bets must be submitted by December 17, 2010
7. Based on your guess I might hate you forever - even if you are right
8. The winning bet will include the correct gender, date, and the closest weight (this is not the Price is Right over or under whatever is closer will win!)

DISCLAIMER
*All the Glory:

• does not mean that we will name the baby after you
• does not mean that you will have special privileges
• does mean that you might get a prize (something equivalent to a bottle of wine) within a year of LB's birth

We look forward to getting your guesses. If you would rather send us the information via email or comment to this post please do and we will update the game!

New wheels for LB

We have entered the final trimester = parents in about 12 weeks. Which means that we should probably get our move on with some actually baby prep... apparently surround sound, a painted living room, and a new car aren't going to cut it.

So we have made a significant baby purchase! We have purchased a Bugaboo Frog Stroller from a local consignment shop. I have to admit, I am quite excited!!!

The stroller comes with a bassinet for LB to sleep in and ride in for the first little while and hopefully sleep in not only on walks but hopefully lots of other times too. It also comes with a toddler seat for when LB gets big. So we hope that we won't have to purchase too many strollers (although I hear from many parents that this is not likely).

One item crossed off the list... many many to go!

OUF done... time to think about prepping for parenthood

The running joke in the office has been that today, when I saw the OB for the first time I would be put on bedrest. While I know this is not a joking matter it was an extremely busy weekend at the Ontario Universities' Fair. Attendance reached new highs at 130 000+ and our new booth (3000 sq ft) was the highlight of the show. I am even in this picture!
With all of the new aspects of this event this year it couldn't have gone more smoothly. We had a fantastic team at the fair and in the end I am well relatively well rested and healthy.
We did have our first visit to the OB today and everything went well. It was good to meet him, although he didn't look like I would expect (although I am not sure what I was expecting.) He seems nice, calm, and confident which seem like good qualities for an OB. It was great to hear LB's heart beat again and all in all everything is going well.

Mommy car!

So we are still without a crib, a carseat, or even the not so little things like diapers... but today we took the plunge and purchase a new vehicle. Dan and I have just had one car for the last 4 years which has worked quite well for us but now with LB on the way we decided it was also time to have two vehicles. The little blue mazda has been good to us (and we hope will continue to be good for us) but we thought we would add a new, larger, vehicle to the mix. After much looking and research (by Dan mostly) we signed the papers for a new Granite Blue Santa Fe Sport today! We wanted the September deal but are still going to hold off a couple of months until we pick it up! Definitely another thing to look forward to!

Nesting

I think that LB is causing me to nest. Cleaning was essential today. We had some friends over last weekend for a canning extravaganza (Pickles, Salsa, and Chili Sauce galore!) and the house needs to be put back together still. That said, every cupboard that I open I have the urge to re-organize. I am trying to limit my nesting so that the big things get done, because, like I said, cleaning was essential today. I just hope that by the time that Simon, Claire, and Oscar arrive it looks like it. It will be great to see the O-man walking. I guess I should think about "toddler-proofing" the house too... back at it.

Getting Stronger

We finally have external confirmation that LB can kick! Late Sun night Dad finally was able to feel LB !! It was pretty exciting !! As LB gets bigger and bigger we are looking forward to being able to feel more moving around in there.

Boobs, bellies, and baby belly at the beach

We are growing (in case that wasn't obvious!) - Jody, LB, Lisa, and Baby Reid. There will be lots of cousins to play with, that is for sure. Christmas is going to be a lot of fun with little ones and littler ones and even littler ones (hopefully) on their way.

We (Dan and I) are busy preparing as we look at strollers, cribs, pumps, and everything in between. We have set up a couple of wishlists and registries too. You can find them on the right hand side of our blog.

Yesterday we had our Pre Birth Service meeting at the hospital. We are now all registered and got lots of advice from a couple of very helpful nurses. We also have contact information for every possible service in the Waterloo Region. So much information, we are trying to keep it all straight. (Read = Jody has started more than one list!)

Hope that you are doing well.
Jody, Dan, and LB

LB's First 'Photo Op'

LB was a little difficult to settle down when posing for the camera. Apparently eating chocolate makes you excited!

Getting our kicks in

Let me start with introductions... First there is Jody - that's me. Also known as Mrs. Berringer, head of the Berringer household. Next there is Dan - that's my husband. He thinks he is the head of the Berringer household. Then there is the reason that this blog is starting, LB. LB stands for Little Berringer. LB is now almost 22 weeks, (s)he is getting stronger everyday (I can tell because (s)he is kicking me - which I have to say is pretty cool), and as far as we know everything is going very well. As LB is scheduled to arrive in just over 4 months we are busy getting ready. We hope that you will join us for the adventure. Our plan is to update information here about how LB is doing and how our preparations are coming along and how we are doing as we embark on this new grand adventure of parenthood.