Daddy is soooooo funny!

Here is a video of Nick laughing at Daddy. When Daddy does the "Woody Woodpecker" sound, Nick thinks it's a riot...

It's been so much fun watching him change before our eyes. It seems we get more smiles and giggles every day. He is getting more aware of us and his surroundings. So much so, that he will not take a nap if we are out and about. He will stay awake to see all the new things around him, until he is soooo tired, that he melts down. But, once he catches his zzzzzz's and gets a dose of formula, he is good to go. He is so cool!!!

Three months old!

Time has flown by and Nicholas is now 3 1/2 months old! I can't believe it! My friend Rebecca came out to our house and took photos of Nick on November 17th. She does photography as a hobby and is fantastic! She also took photos of me when I was pregnant, about a month before Nick was born. Then she came over when Nick was 9 days old and took some great family photos of the 3 of us. Nicholas is so much fun! He's smiling all the time (ok, except when he's crying) and he is giggling more and more. So here are some current photos and some older photos that Rebecca took. Thanks Becky!

I'm irresistible!!!!!!

Our feetsies! Nick 9 days old.

Mike and the Nick. Nicholas 9 days old.

El Prego! July 13th.

The Nick

Nick is now almost 10 weeks old! Time is flying by! He started chatting like crazy yesterday, and he's mute again today..... oh well. Nicholas is quite the happy baby, he smiles and melts our hearts. We continue to torture him by messing with his hair (he's had two haircuts, not counting the mullett we cut off when he was 5 days old), dressing him like a gangster, putting grandpas glasses on him and sending the photo to all the engineers at HP the future engineer picture.

We have taken Nicholas everywhere. He's really easy to take places, he's frequented Home Depot, Costo, La Roca and many other places. He loves to look around and sit up. I put him in his baby Bjorn and go grocery shopping, when we finish and get to the car he cries because he wants to keep looking around at the world.

I haven't gone back to work yet, will head back after Thanksgiving and work 3 days a week. Grandma and Grandpa Edwards will be in charge of the little guy while I work. I keep telling dad to warm up his pitching arm and teach Nick to pitch a baseball and also to golf. Mike will be in charge of sailing, hockey and of course golf. Nick will be the future winner of Bubby if Mike has anything to do with it!

Nick had his 2 month check up and 3 vaccinations last monday, it was so sad to see him get shots! He now weighs 11 lbs 10 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. Well, I will quit rambling and post some photos of our little pride and joy!

Nick's New Friends

Over this past week, Nick has had the chance to meet a bunch of new friends and family. I figured I would post a bunch of pictures of his new posse. My sister Margaret and her husband Steve came up to visit from California. They stayed with us a few days, and had a chance to hang with the Nick.





My close friends came over for a visit as well. Steve is my friend on the left, and he happened to be visiting from Mexico, where he lives and teaches Yoga at a resort. Todd came down from Portland to see us as well. Nick can't wait to be able to hang with the "Dudes". :^)




























Here are some pictures of Staci's good friend Misty, and her family. Below is her daughters Staci, then Emily, and her husband Gary. They moved out here from the east coast last summer. It's been really cool to have them close by.

Here are pictures of Kirby and his wife Megan. Kirby works with me at HP, and we became good friends with our common interests in Golf, video games and beer. Oh yeah, we also have the son thing in common. :^) They just had their son Jeff two days after Nick.






















Wiatt is another guy I work with at HP, and next to him is his girlfriend Margo. Wiatt is another guy who shares our interests, with the exception of golf. However video golf is still a common thread.

Another co worker's wife is Elizabeth Lazaroff. Elizabeth is married to Dennis who is another guy I work with at HP. I met Dennis at HP before I was working for HP, and was still working for Lam Research. Dennis is a fellow Hockey lover, and we play ice hockey together at the Eugene Ice center. Although, I think I will be taking a season off. Nick is going to put me through some vigorous training this winter...

Here are some picture of Staci's coworkers at the dentists office. Above is Rebecca. Barb is below with her daughter Rio.

Here is a picture of Staci's coworker Melissa. Melissa has two sons, Seth and Ian.

Life with Nick, what can we say? He is pure joy. I think we finally know what love really is. Nick is a good sleeper, we couldn't ask for an easier baby! Can we be this lucky? He wakes up twice at night, around 3 AM and 6:30 Am, he eats and then passes out.

Today is our 11 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary to us! I can't believe Nicholas is already 10 days old, time has been flying by and I imagine it's only going to get faster as he grows. We can't wait until he's into toys! Grandpa Edwards is dying to know if Nicholas is left or right handed so he can buy golf clubs. Tiger who? Look out it's Nick Monroe!

It's a Boy

Well the big day is finally here. We have a brand new baby boy. Nicholas Kyle Monroe. Nick arrived at 7lbs. 11oz. and 21" long on 8-14-07 at 10:18pm. We have been waiting for him for a long time, and it's great that he is finally here. Staci did great with the labor and delivery. No problems at all, and we could not have asked for anything to go any smoother. Nicholas is in perfect health, so Mom and Dad are relieved.

The Grandparents have been going crazy over the little guy. I have a really good video of Mom, when she first sees the baby. It's soooo great. I will have to see if I can figure out how to post it later.

Unfortunately, Grandma Edwards had a bad cold, and had to wear a mask and sterilize her hands before holding Nick. She is still waiting for the cold to completely pass so she can smother him with kisses. We figure it should be safe by this Wednesday. Grandpa has been walking on air since he saw Nick. Thoughts of fun times with his Grandson have taken over his Brain.

This is a picture if Nicholas getting ready to leave the hospital, and head for home. He is about 40hrs old, and sporting his new Zebra outfit. (We will be working on getting him some more manly cloths as time goes on...)

Here is a picture of three generations of Pollocks. Notice the similarities in the ear lobes? :^)

Wow! It's been too long since our last post. When I look at the earlier pictures, I can believe how much Staci has grown. It's truly amazing to see the transformation happen before your eyes. Since the last post a bunch of stuff has happened. Staci has had her baby shower, and we were smothered with gifts. I have a huge pile in the garage of the gift wrappers and packaging, all waiting in line for the garbage and recycle. The kid should be about 3 years old before I can get it all thrown away, since the garbage can is filled to the rim each week. :^) The picture below was taken in May. Staci was still carrying higher and smaller, while I was still carrying lower and larger...

The nursery is also pretty much done, although I still need to install the chair rails on the wall. I hope to have done before the kid gets here, but time is running out. We really like how the nursery turned out. Can't wait to fill it...

Here are a couple more pictures of Staci in early and mid June. The cat seems to fit around the tummy just fine...

The summer is just flying by, and before we know it the little one will be here. Staci has been doing great with the pregnancy, and the doctor says everything is going just fine. The baby has recently dropped about two weeks ago. Staci went from having heart burn after each meal to having to go pee every two seconds. Besides that and the occasional back and hip pains, she is doing great. The air conditioning in the house has been a life saver since our bedroom is upstairs. I'm not sure Staci would have been so pleasant to live with if we didn't have it... (What am I saying? How could that be true?) :^)

Our friends Kirby and Megan are also cruising right along. Here is a picture of the two lovely wives sporting the belly profile in early June...

We also took a short day trip to the coast with Marv and Linda. Watching Staci waddle across the beach was great fun. We found a cool little sand castle somebody had made. This could be a good picture for the http://oregonsandcastle.blogspot.com . I wonder how much they would pay???

Big Ultrasound Day!

We just had our ultrasound last Friday, so I thought I would add some pictures. It was a really cool appointment, since we got to see pretty clear pictures of little baby Monroe. The room was packed tight with a total of 8 people in a small dark room. (Eugene, Josie, Pili, Marv, Linda, Staci, Mike, and Chris the Tech.) The scanned pictures are not as clear as seeing the live video, but you will get the idea. The first picture is a profile shot of the baby's face, and it was looking up...

The second picture is a direct view of the Baby's face. The center of the picture is the Baby's mouth, and a little up and to the left is the Baby's nose. Stare at it long enough and you will see a face. This one was really cool, because just before this shot, the Baby opened it's mouth as if it were yawning. This is when Grandma Monroe got really excited...

The last picture is a 3D view of the head, and the baby is looking to the left. The picture kind of makes it's look like and Alien, but we still thought it was pretty cool to see.

As far as we could tell the Baby seems to be healthy and normal. We were also able to get through the appointment without finding out the gender. Staci and I are very excited and happy things are going well so far. Well, I have to get to Hockey pretty soon, so I will sign off until next time. Wish me luck, we are in the playoffs!

love,

Mike & Staci

Mommy's Transformation

Just thought I would add some "belly" pictures, so you can all see the transformation that is happening before my eyes. On the left is the first picture that we took on Feb. 11, and Staci was about three months along. I was trying to get her to pull her shirt up the rest of the way, but she was just being a big party pooper.

Then we took another picture on March 28th, and what do you know, she's bigger. Staci has been doing really well, and I have been feeling more baby movement. It seems to be pretty active in the morning when she lays on her back. It's really wild to feel little thumps and rolls inside my wife's belly. As far as I can tell Staci is still acting pretty normal, despite the hormones that are rushing through her bloodstream. I am always on the lookout for some major mood swings, but everything is still running on an even keel... :^) If you don't see another post soon, I might have been terminated by "El Prego".

We are going to have our BIG ultrasound this Friday April 6th. This is the one that takes a lot of pictures of the baby, and confirms how far along we are. We are really looking forward to seeing the baby, and hope the surprise of the gender is not ruined. Our friends Megan and Kirby had their ultrasound two weeks ago, and it sounded really cool.

We also spent last weekend up in Portland with them, and had a day of baby shopping. We spent some time at Segals Baby Store, and got to see the price range for high end stuff. Then we made the trek over to Babies-R-us, and about passed out at the door. This place is enormous! Not to mention, you will probably never see more pregnant woman in one day, than you would over there. We finished up on our registry, and picked out our crib and dresser. It was a great day, and we had loads of fun. It was great to have another couple there to talk things over with, and help with decisions on the big things like strollers, and cribs. Kirby and I golfed 18 holes the next day, just to get our manly chemistry back in balance, due to the previous day of estrogen...

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will post the ultrasound pictures soon, and hopefully I will have our new crib put together as well...

Dad Feels First Kick

I thought we should setup a page to share with friends and family. Some friends of ours are also expecting about 2 weeks ahead of us, and they created a page. Seemed like a really cool idea, so I figured, "What the heck", I should give this a try. Here is our first picture of the little one. The head is towards the left. We could see the heart beating at this point, and I was FLOORED! It was so amazing seeing it for the first time!

So Far Staci has been doing really great. She has had no morning sickness, or any other major discomforts. I'm so proud of her display of will power. She has not been eating any junk foods, and has been exercising with her mother three times a week. Me on the other hand, I think I'm picking up the junk food slack, as I have gained more weight so far, than Staci has since Christmas! (Of course, I am now drinking for two...)

Staci is currently going on her 19th week, but I think she is closer to 20 or 21st. That's why I have a bet going with Kirby on who will be a father first. Megan (Kirby's expecting wife), rolls her eyes with a smile, as her husband signs up for another bet. The odds are stacked against me, but I am going on a hunch. :^) (Anyone know what's the drug used for inducing labor?)

Staci tells me that she is feeling the baby move, more and more. When we woke up this morning, Staci had me put a hand on her growing tummy. After about 30 seconds, I felt a little "Thump". It could have been a gas bubble for all I know, but Staci assured me that is was the baby. I'm looking forward to seeing hands and feet sweeping across her belly, as if there is some alien growing in there.

We are very excited about our upcoming ultra sound. It's the "big" one where you can see everything. We are going to have to be careful, since we do not want to know the sex of the baby, so hopefully the surprise won't be spoiled. We are also going to have both sets of parents there, and take turns seeing the images. Should be really cool for them, since this stuff wasn't around back when they were having kids. I am planning on getting some good video footage of the event. Should be a lot of fun!!!

Well I guess that's it for now. I'm going to see how this page turns out, and start adding some more photos soon...

Mike & Staci