Communication Is Key

Daddy-to-be is practicing his listening skills.

So Many Issues

I used to think parents-to-be were psycho about trying to learn everything from pregnancy to rearing their children until age 18+, then we got pregnant. We receive pregnancy e-mail updates, are reading a book about it and even beginning to think about things like immunization issues and effective means of discipline. As we open ourselves up for advice/suggestions, some people have been helpful. The one below is from a friend who has a couple kiddos of her own:

Methods used to discipline children:
"We talked about "time outs", grounding, holding back "rewards" until the child displayed desired behavior etc. One of the things we discussed was the act of spanking and my friend explained that no, he does not spank any of his children.
He explained that what he does is to take the misbehaving child out for a ride in the car and talk. He said that usually this works and that the child calms down fairly quickly and really doesn't take too much time.
By removing the child, in this case his son, from the immediate situation and providing a change of scenery, the child is allowed to focus on something different. Once the child has the opportunity to change perspective, things get better quickly and the child has better understanding of his place within the family and begins to understand the families concept of acceptable behavior.
He kindly shared a picture of the process which I share with you now."

We Do Need Your Rocking Chair

So we are working on setting up Baby Wood's room, and we got a rocking chair/glider to complement it. Now all we need is Lee-Lee (Marcus' mom) to come and try it out for us, and Momma G (Paula's mom) to come and rock the baby in it. Can't wait to see y'all soon :).

Stroller Ideas Continue

Marcus spotted something in True Value that he claims we can use as a mamma carrier/stroller combo; it holds up to 225 lbs. We're looking into adding safety features, since it sure is cheaper than a regular stroller :).

Beginning to Look and Plan

Last night was the first real time we have been in a baby store to look for things for ourselves. It was quite an experience, as the lady showed us the luxurious strollers that can do about anything but push themselves. The ones with a car seat attached also come with a very high price. The locals are not sold on safety seats, so mostly it's the ex-pats who buy them. I think purchasing a stroller from the good ole USA will be the best option for this Wood fam.

First Sizeable Bump

Baby Wood is making him/herself known. My body is growing and changing in ways never experienced before, so this is a journey in itself. Sometime I feel like I'm a teenager again, going through growing pains, but in a different area. My belly button feels a pulling now and then as if the baby is already tugging at me to remind me that s/he is present too. All-day-sickness has almost disappeared. It rears every once in awhile.

Latest Sighting of Baby Wood

We went to the doctor last Monday, and we were 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant. They wanted to do an ultrasound, but since it is a maternity only hospital, Marcus didn’t get to come in this time. We’re sad to not have video it, because Baby Wood was jumping and waving his arms and legs. He’s already an active one. Paula got to hear the heartbeat at this time too; however, previously we both got to listen to the heart beat via this hand held detector. We’d really like to get one of those devices. We will have another ultrasound at 20 weeks at which time we can see more details. This time we can schedule a special visit, so that Marcus gets to come too.

Due Date: February 22, 2009

So we used this Arabic/English due date calculation wheel to determine, when Baby Wood would like make his/her appearance.

Introducing Baby Wood

Our Prayer