Christmas is Comming

We're back home in Ohio. The snow has fallen and it is the time for giving. Gwen is getting ready for her first Christmas. Well, we're getting ready for her first Christmas. To everyone out there, she loves paper. White paper, so if you haven't wrapped her gift, send it in light colored wrapping paper. You will be her favorite.

Happy Autumn!

We went to the pediatrician's last week for Gwen's 6 month check-up - can you believe that she's a half a year old already! The doctor said that Gwen is perfectly healthy and she's weighs 15 lbs 8 oz and is 26.25 inches tall! A perfect 50th percile all around. Other than that, Gwen has perfected the ability to sit up alone and she's starting to like more and more of the solid foods that she tries - except for peas and green beans - she's not liking those too much! Try, try again though, right?

Still nothing new to report on the home front. We're still waiting to here word if it's ours or not. But in the meantime, we're still fixing the house up and I'm painting like crazy. Hopefully, by this weekend I'll have the whole first level finished (minus the trim in the kitchen, since we still need to buy it and we won't do that until the house is ours).

Gwen, as you can tell by the pictures, was a cute little penguin for Halloween. And for being a baby, she actually didn't seem to mind her custume one bit.

I'm a big girl!

That Gwen is.... ::sigh:: She's growing up so fast! It seems like she should still only be a month old - but I'm glad that she's not, because Gwen has an amazing personality and I'm enjoying every minute of being her mom. This past week she has been mastering the ability to sit on her own (without falling over), and she's doing awesome at it too! She has put the crawling 'thing' on hold as she masters this other trick of hers..... other than that she's rolling all over the place and indian crawling around - so she'll be mobile in no time at all! Gwen just started eating two meals a day and is slowly being introduced to new foods. She hates the veggies that she's had so far - she all but pucks them back out as soon as they touch her mouth - needless to say though, it is quite funny to watch! The last time I weighed Gwen she was 14 lbs 15.4 oz! So she's well on her way to having doubled her birth weight, which is suppose to happen by 6 months - so she's right on par. The other big things in Gwennie's life right now are her kitties! Nothing can make her happier than when one of her kitties walks into the room, she smiles and laughs and starts bouncing all at once - it is so fun to watch! That, and her other fascination is Jon Stewart. I know, weird - right? But whenever Brian watches the Daily Show she can't take her eyes off of Jon Stewart - it's halarious! Here's a link to a Gwen's various pictures.

On the home front - we're still waiting to close on our house, but we have moved in and are renovating like crazy and trying to get everything winterized before it gets too cold..... I've been painting like crazy, while Brian tackles outisde tasks (the projects that his clumsiness can't screw up that bad :-)~ ) So, as of right now, we're just sitting tight until we hear word from their bank - but until then we're living mortgage/rent free and saving as much money as we can for now. I'll try to post some pictures of the finished rooms the next time I post.

Food!?!

What is this new stuff you might ask? Well, it's a hearty rice cereal mixed with milk! Gwen had her first taste at solid foods this evening, and she did surprisingly well with it - she of course made faces and moved it around her mouth wondering what the new substance was, but she didn't reject it - which is a good sign! So, hopefully this journey will go smoothly and she'll continue to like and explore the wide variety of tastes and flavors that there are in the world.

Guess What?

Gwen is four months old! How time flies! Well, Gwen's life has been pretty exciting since the last time we wrote. She's had lots of visits from her family this summer - and let me tell you, she loves watching all her crazy cousins run around and get into everything, I think she's secretly wishing that she could be doing the same. Since last time she's figured out how to roll-over from her back to her belly, and has actually learned to like being on her belly for longer periods of time - I've even caught her falling asleep while being on her belly! Well, I took her to the doctor's on Tuesday and the latest stats: 13 lbs 9 oz and 26.25 inches long! That puts her in the 60th percentile and the 95th percentile, respectively. Other than that she's doing great developmentally. She's almost sitting on her own which really impressed the doctor and she making, what I think, some major jumps towards crawling soon; such as, supporting herself on her hands and lifting her butt high in the air and tucking her knees up under her. Anyways, til next time :-)

Happy Baby

Gwen is doing so well now. She took a trip last weekend to State College and visited our friends and all of her "Uncle Matt's". Our great friends Matt and Kelly got married, and we could not be any happier for them. The trip down made us both realize how much we missed everyone in State College, who has become our family over the last 8 years. While Gwen was the best behaved baby at the reception, she gave us a little trouble on the trip down; turning a 5 1/2 hour drive into 8 hours. Thankfully on the trip back she slept nearly the whole way.

When is doing excellent developmentally. She can reach for things, and her stomach muscles are getting much stronger. She's able to reach down and hold both of her feet. The little coordinated girl has been seen holding a foot in one hand and reaching out and grabbing a toy with the other.

Little Gwen is also been developing a real personality. You can tell when she is looking at you that she is thinking. She doesn't cry a lot, but she has developed the ability to wimper when she wants a change of position or scenery, but cry when she needs changed or fed. To me the whole development of a person is amazing to watch.

I think a huge portion of her development is due to her constant help from her mom. Laura is always encouraging her to learn to roll over, sit up, and even stand. While Gwen does not have the stability to stand on her own, she can stand for a few minutes with only lateral support at her waste. Yesterday, she even reached out and grabbed the toy giraffe for support when we were working on standing.

Summer Fun

Time for an update! Well, two weeks ago Gwen went to see the pediatrician again. It was time for her first shots! Let's just say that our little princess wasn't too thrilled with getting her vaccinations! Other than that Gwen is perfectly healthy and she weighed in at 11 lbs 11 oz and she's now 23 3/4 inches long! So, she grew almost 2 inches in 3 weeks - can we say grew spurt!?!?! The big accomplishments lately have been that Gwen has rolled from her tummy to her back and she slept a whole 7.5 hours straight! I also believe she is starting to teeth - the drool is coming in droves, and she's chewing on her fingers like crazy!

Last week we traveled to Ohio to visit family. This was Gwen's first big road trip! And surprisingly she did really well in the car. She got to meet a lot of new people too! She met both of her great grandmas and she met her Aunt Joyce and her other two cousins, Caden and Conner.... This weekend we're traveling to Pennsylvania and she'll get to meet all of our Penn State friends. Hopefully she likes traveling - because she'll be doing a lot of it!

Still no word on the house yet, the short sale is still pending. Although, the bankruptcy court approved the sale just as long as we get the short sale approval! Hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll know more. I think we're both hoping to get in there while the it is still summer out - we want to make sure that pool is working well ;-) We'll keep you updated!

Sick baby

Well, kids get sick. That's what they do. I really never realized how much it pulls at your heart strings to see your child sick. The poor little thing has the sniffles pretty bad. It hasn't dented her cheery attitude one bit. She'll giggle, snease, then giggle some more. I'm don't nearly have the same high spirits as Gwen. While I don't mind the little presents that she typically leaves for us, this is one bug that I wouldn't mind if she kept to herself. Laura has been somehow, mysteriously immune. Damn her superhuman immune system (just kidding). Oh well, we'll get better.
Little Gwen has a doctor's appointment today. The doc will probably give her a check over to make sure she's doing well, but she's really going in to get her immunizations. After all the hoopla about autism and immunizations, we've been a bit hesitant to give her the whole battery shots. However, we feel that the benefits outweigh the risks. Hopefully, now that they have taken the mercury out of the immunizations, the risk is close to nill.

Who's the cute Baby?

Of course the answer to that question is Guinevere! Our little darling is 8 weeks old today - she's almost two months! Where has the time gone?! We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday, and in seven weeks Guin has grown to 22 inches and is 10 lbs 11 oz! And on top of that, the Dr. said that she's developmentally 2+ months - which is awesome! We must doing something right for her! Sleeping is getting a little better too! I'm getting between 4 - 6 hours a night, so hopefully it'll only get better! She's smiling like crazy for us already, and we're getting more coo's everyday. And right now she's working on grabbing at her toys and gaining further control of her hands and arms..... Still no further word on the house, but we're still hopeful - we're even thinking about colors for the walls, and Guin will finally get the painted, decorated nursery that she deserves :-) Anyway, we'll keep you updated!

Where's the time going?

Well, we're still a happy little family! Guinevere is doing great and is growing bigger every day; she's just about grown out of her newborn clothes! The last time I weighed her, she was 9 lbs 5.5 oz. The oher big news is that she has a new little cousin! Conner Lucas was born 6-10-08 - so our whole exeneded family is growing bigger. We haven't heard anything more on the house, we are just waiting for bank approval on the seller's end; so, until then we're getting the mortgage thing squared away on our end! I've posted more pictures of Gwen. So check them out, and I'll keep addind more periodically! Oh, we had professional pics taken the other day, so when we get those we'll be sending them out to anyone that wants a picture or two of her (we ordered plenty)!

A Home for Gwen

We've never gotten too excited and talked about bid on homes, but now we've got a house under contract. Its a nice big house for our growing family. It definitely needs aesthetic work, but we couldn't afford it otherwise. The listing for the house is here. It has to get through inspections, short sale approval, and bankruptcy court approval; so there are still a lot of hurdles. I am cautiously optimistic. It will be very nice for us to finally move into a home of our own.
-Brian

3 Weeks Already!

Well, our little Guinevere is 3 weeks old today! We went to the doctor on Friday to see how much she was growing and if everything else was ok with her. So, two weeks ago at the docs she weighed 7.3 lbs and was 20 inches..... Well, little Guinevere is now 8 lbs 7 ozs and 21 inches! So she's a growing girl! Everything else is well with her otherwise, as well as with the rest of the family! That's it for now though, our sweet girl is wanting some attention!

Dearest Guinevere

Well, it has been a week and a half and our happy little family is doing well! Gwen, so far, has been a happy baby with only a few minor break downs throughout the day - nothing that we can't manage though. At her first well-baby appointment, little Gwen hadn't lost anymore weight since the hospital (she initially lost 9 oz the first night, which is normal) and the pediatrician said that she was perfect in every way, but we already knew that though! Well, I'll try to get on in a week or so and give another update - until then feel free to check back and we'll try to post some more pictures as Gwen keeps growing and doing all the cute things she does!

More Baby Videos

All the baby movies from the hospital are here.

Baby Video

Try this link. (Update:Look above for a link to all videos)

The Baby is Born

Hello All,
Guinevere Elise Borawski was born May 4th, 2008 at 9:05pm, after 42 hours of Labor. I'm sorry to keep you all on edge. She is a beautiful 7lb 12oz baby. She's got 10 fingers and 10 toes, and a full head of hair. Laura pushed for 5 hours to bring this baby into the world. When she was born it was an event at the hospital. Doctors, nurses, and interns gathered round and packed the delivery room to see this mother with amazing stamina fight to the end to bring Gwen(Guin) into the world.


More baby pictures.

Today is the day!

At 3:03am Laura woke me up to tell me that she thought her water had broke. It sure did! We've been up ever since. Laura's contractions are about a minute long and about 6-7 minutes apart. We'll start heading to the hospital when they are 3 minutes apart (counted from beginning to beginning).
Laura says that they are pretty intense now. She has to stop what she is doing try to relax when they come. She isn't talking through them any more. I don't know if there is wi-fi at the hospital, if there is, I will get baby pictures up as soon as I can.
Also, please don't call us this morning. I know you want to, and want to wish us well, but we really need to relax and get Laura through this. We will send notice to everyone when it is time.
Thank you for all of your love and support.

40 weeks and .....

Well, yesterday was officially my due date! But, there's nothing going on in there other than the crazy movements the baby gives me on a daily basis. So, yes, I am a little disappointed, but I only want what is best for the baby and it can stay in there til it's ready. My appointment on Wednesday ended up being a lot of drama. I went in there really excited and nervous, so my blood pressure was a little high; well, my midwife didn't like that, so she stuck me on the fetal monitor to see how the baby was doing. Well, little Crazy was sleeping, as usual for mid afternoon, but the midwife didn't except that and had to wake the poor thing up - well, she got good results after that! But, it the process of waking the baby up she determined that I was 0 cm dilated and 0% effaced, which means that my body hasn't even starting to "ripen" to the idea of having this child any time soon :-( But, she did say that there isn't a lot of fluid in there, so baby doesn't have a lot of room to move or grow - so it shouldn't be too much longer until this little person graces our presence. We'll keep updating as I have more appointments or the baby comes!

39 weeks - 7 days to go!

Ok - so we're down to the home stretch now! I went to my prenatal appointment on Wednesday and all looks good so far. Baby's heart rate was good, my belly measurement was good (which means that the baby is growing well), and my blood pressure behaved itself.... So, not much left to do but wait, and I'm happy enough doing that, I've never been an impatient person (Brian on the other hand...) Until then, Brian has plenty to do with his thesis and his new job. We've both been out looking around for a more permanent home for the three of us, and have actually seen a few promising homes, so maybe there will be another move for us in the near future! So that's life for the Borawski's for now. Here's another picture of my HUGE belly, I think it has doubled in size since last week, which makes me think that the baby has dropped, and the midwife did think that the baby felt further down and engaged, so that would make sense! So, if I make it to 40 weeks, I'll post about how next Wednesday's appointment goes and give you all another glimpse at the belly!

38 weeks and Counting!

So, on Wednesday I went in for my 38 week appointment. They said that everything is great with the baby, I'm measuring right on schedule and the baby's heartbeat was a steady 134 bpm. I'm not sure how many people knew that baby had the possibility of being breech, but after a quick ultrasound they determined Baby B was head down and ready to go as soon as the cooking process has been finished (two more weeks)! I've packed the hospital bag though, just in case, and I made sure to add in ear plugs and an eye pillow for poor Dad Brian to make his hospital stay more comfortable. So, I think we're as prepared as we can be for our little arrival! Here's a beautiful picture taken yesterday at 38 weeks to the day, and you can see the lovely baby bump (ignore the stretch marks - they're my medal of motherhood!). Check back next week and I'll try to post an update on the 39 week appointment and possibly another baby bump picture!

The Job

OK, this one isn't really baby related, but I figured I would throw this one in there anyways. Well I've been in my job for a week now, and I think that I really like it. I fit in really well with the culture at Lockheed. The people are all professional and take there work seriously. However, the environment is surprisingly laid back. I've never called my boss by his first name before. Its is definitely a friendly place to work (just don't ask the security). I can see why people tend to stay in this division for years.
So my job is as a materials engineer. I'll be working on important components for submarine and aircraft carrier propulsion. I've already been assigned to two projects. One is a researched based project, the other is a design project. I will definitely have a lot of challenging work here. Hopefully, I'll enjoy it this much for the rest of my career.

More baby stuff

No one ever told me that the baby needed this much stuff! Baby hangers, baby changing pads, baby bathing tub, baby butt cream, etc. Well, the good news is that were done buying all the baby stuff for now. The baby has a whole room to itself, and it already looks cramped with stuff.
Were done buying all the furniture. We're just waiting for it all to arrive. I'll take some pictures of the apartment once everything gets put in place. I'm definitely excite, both for the baby and I start work on Monday. Hopefully I'll like it, I'm going to be here for a while.

Baby room is set up!

Through days of work. Laura has got the baby room all put together. Our closets are really tight on space, but the baby's room is nice an open and clean. A perfect place for baby. Seeing everything in the room really helps me realize all of the stuff that we've gotten at the baby showers and how helpful that really is. I really want to thank all of you that have helped make this possible.
OK, I'll get to it. Click here to see some pictures of the room.

Begining the Blog

Hello friends and family!
This is the start of this blog, about the start of my family. Laura's 8 1/2 months along. We've just moved up to New York and I start my new job in a week. This will be a place that I can keep all of you informed about what's going on, put up baby pictures and all that.
So lets give this a try and check out some baby shower pictures.