To Post or Not to Post

That is the question. Actually the question is when am I going to post new pictures, I can hear you all salivating from where I sit. The answer is soon. I have not taken many pictures lately as she hasn't done a whole lot. She has grown some, and is now holding her head up. She is now drinking/eating four ounces at a time. She is such a great baby. Quiet as can be, and she sleeps alot. I hate to say it but she's kinda boring. She doesn't do much but sleep. She is becoming more awake during the day than she was however. I think its a good thing though as having a colic-y baby isn't fun either. We've had to change bottles cause sometimes she's not keeping much of the bottle down. So we changed from the Avent bottles to the Playtex Dropins. I don't think its an issue with the bottle just a preference for the baby. So if you're reading this and you purchased for us the avent bottles thank you for the them but it didn't work out. We still appreciate your contribution. However its seems it may bot be the bottle after all. It might be the formula. We're not sure....We just wing it these days. What else can we do really? To give you an idea of how much and well she sleeps, today we went to the bowling alley to do a little bowling. Sedona slept through the whole thing. We were there for just over an hour and she slept very well, then slept through the car ride....she wakes up when she's hungry and then back to sleep. We try to keep her up towards the end of the evening and then to sleep round 9 and out till around 2...and then up again at like 6. So Sarah takes the first round and I take the morning round. It's working out very well so far. So thats the Current update. Not much in the way of informative I know, but pictures are coming.

Happy New Year!!

Ok so this is the slideshow of this year. The slides are short in order to make it a watchable video. If I had made them longer it would have been twice as long and you wouldn't have wanted to finish it. You can always watch it twice if you'd like. I hope its ok, I like it, but I'm kinda biased that way I guess. It was a pain in the ass to make but fun.

365 Days in a year. I am going to assume, lightly mind you, that this year, also was also 365, not one of those leap year deals that mess up the rotation of the planets. I pondered for a nanosecond on actually counting the days but um no! I'll say there are 365 and you'll believe me, because you don't want to count either. So back to what I was saying, 365 days, one day at a time could be drawn out to make a long year. No one can remember every single day of the year, and thankfully. So many tiny mundane things that make up our lives are forgotten due to their repetitive nature. It's amazing though how one or two things can change your life, or your perspective on life. If I've learned anything this year it’s that you really can't expect anything. Nothing is as it seems. Just when you think you've got life by the balls something happens to change it all. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. That reason may not be obvious at any given point but just roll with the punches as they are bound to end eventually.

My Mantra, my manifesto, my decree is that LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!

I didn’t make it up but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to steal it to use for my own. This year more than ever has made this true for me. I’ve learned that a positive attitude more than anything has kept me going this year. No amount of bitching or complaining or being angry is going to fix anything. If nothing else it’s going to make people avoid you. So then you’re miserable all by yourself. Nobody wants that. So hold your head up and charge full steam into it with a positive attitude.

God isn’t going to give you more than you can handle, and you can choose to fight it, rebel and be angry or sit down and realize the lesson of that particular moment. I’ve learned that life is a test, and a series of lessons. Take from it all that you can. Cancer has taught me so much. It’s taught me who my friends really are, and brought me closer to family. From it I have gleaned patience and tolerance, and even though it sucked there is always someone out there with a worse predicament than my own. It could almost always be worse whatever the circumstances might be. So if given the chance I would happily do it all over again.

So this year has been fruitful and we multiplied. We did as the Great Lord commanded. What will happen next year is only a mystery that we are happy to welcome. Maybe I’ll get Sarah pregnant? Who knows, but if all goes well we’ll be home in Arizona with a new plan. God Bless you all and have a wonderful prosperous New Year!

Christmas Letter

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope this letter finds you and yours in great health and an abundance of happiness. This year for us has been nothing if not eventful. So many things to say and talk about, I only wonder how I’m going to keep it to one page. It wasn’t but a few years ago when I started writing the Christmas letter that I was pressed to find things to talk about and yet here I am finding I have to take out of the letter to keep it readable. Wish me luck and here we go.

The beginning of the year Sarah and I took a cruise to the Western Caribbean, we went Cave Tubing in Belize, snorkeled with Stingrays in Grand Cayman, Dove again in Costa Maya, Mexico, and I must say that the water is unbelievably clear and warm. Finally we also went to Isla Roatan a small island off the coast of Honduras and did some diving there as well. I never realized we were the diving type, but there are so many beautiful things to see that we had to do it. We met lots of great people and had a great time. The plan also was to start trying to have a baby after it was over; I was pretty thrilled about that as well. I couldn’t wait, Sarah on the other hand had other ideas as to how to prevent baby from happening, at least so soon. However, it turns out she couldn’t hold out like she thought. Bad for her, good for me.

Which leads us into big event number two for the year, Pregnancy. It’s something Sarah and I have been talking about for years. We have been trying to wait for a good time, and by “WE”, I mean Sarah. I’ve had the baby itch for a few years now and I knew it would be a matter of convincing her it was a good idea. So we talked about it and decided after the cruise would be a great idea, this way we both could drink on the cruise and not worry about being pregnant then. We were concerned if only lightly, that it would take a few months of trying before we got pregnant. I however, was dedicated to get the job done as it’s an effort I don’t mind contributing to. I say we got pregnant lightly because really it’s “Shake and Bake and I Helped!” Turns out that being off the pill a month was all it took to get her insides back together. Sarah took a pregnancy test the morning of April the 1st, and came in the bedroom to wake and inform me that she was pregnant. Now I know that I’ve wanted a baby for what seems like forever, but this is a cruel April Fools Joke if ever there was one. But the pregnancy test said “Pregnant”. It was one of those digital jobbies that leaves no question or doubt. There is no Plus or Minus half there or not, this is the digital age. It just said pregnant. PREGNANT! It’s amazing how one word can change your entire outlook on life. So now, how are we going to tell everyone on April Fools Day? So, many a phone call later the answers were similar across quite a few of them, call back tomorrow, we’ll believe you then. So the month of April was quite the emotional high. Little did we know there is no Ying without a Yang.

Yang for us came on May 9th. I was diagnosed with Gastric Cancer. Quite the shocker for us let me tell you. My goal throughout the entire ordeal was to stay positive and strong, not just for me but for Sarah as well. I couldn’t have her stressing about me, because it might cause issues with the baby. So I did my best to just play it off. Chemotherapy sucks, surgery was a breeze, so easy I slept through it, they took 2/3rds of my esophagus, and 1/3rd of my stomach, minor issues after but nothing worth mentioning. After surgery was some more chemotherapy sucks and now I’m in remission. Lord willing it won’t be back. That’s my cancer story in a wicked tiny nutshell. I want to put here in the letter my thanks for all of you who helped out or sent prayers and well wishes our way during this difficult time, also thank you to all who bought and wore the Livestrong wristband, I’ll wear mine as long as they make them. It was because of you and through you all that I was able to stay strong and positive as we overcame this horrible disease.

The best part comes next. November 28th brought the birth of our new little girl Sedona Rae Fredrick. Thankfully the pregnancy was uncomplicated as could possibly be, and for that reason alone Sarah just loved being pregnant. 10 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing later she was born. Sarah mentioned not too long ago that she can’t believe we waited this long to have a baby. Now she wants more, not just another one mind you but now she wants six. I don’t know that she’s serious about six, but I know that’s a bit too many even for me. Four may be my limit. So Sarah wanting more is good for me because here in a year or so I’ll be ready for the next one. Gotta keep’em coming I say. Keep them in diapers and we’ll be all set. All that being said, Sedona has been a blessing and quite the exclamation point to the end of this exceptional year. It’s amazing to watch her develop before our eyes.

And now, this is a shameless plug for my blog, check it out if you can or if you’d like. Its kind of its own deal for this year. A little more in depth and not updated as often as I’d like, not for a lack of time but often for laziness. If you’re interested please feel free to leave comments and I’ll do my best to accommodate any wishes. Stay tuned as I’ll be posting a video of pictures from the entire year set to some music in an awesome slideshow on New Year’s Eve. Check it out at www.whattoexpect1207.blogspot.com

So this year has been nothing if not an emotional rollercoaster, filled with fun ups and scary downs through the dark tunnel of the unknown. Whatever the case it’s part of that never ending ride called life, do with it what you will because it is what you make it. Sarah, Sedona and I want to wish you the very best of Holidays and heres to wishing you a wonderful New Year.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Merry Christmas Everyone,
I hope this reaches you all in good health. I hope that my Christmas letter has brought a few new readers. This update is for all of you new readers and potential subscribers. I am going to update again in a few days as I have a video to post. It'll be kind of long but you may like it. Its going to be a compilation of pictures from throughout this entire year. I really enjoyed putting it together and will be doing them again in the future. So Julie is here (mother-in-law) and my brother in law Jim has come down from Fort Drum, New York to spend Christmas with us as well. So because he has to leave tomorrow to be back to work, we decided to do Christmas on Christmas Eve. So now to drop a quick thank you all for your Christmas cards. We've added a few more to the list this year.

I hope the Christmas Letter was up to par for you all. I didn't like it as much as previous letters. This year has been to serious for all that. I tried to keep some humor in it though not as much as usual. Fear not for I will be back next year, bigger and better than ever. I have considered posting the Christmas Letter for tomorrow. Just for the sake of posting it on Christmas. I don't think there is anyone that reads the Blog that didn't get a Christmas letter, however, if there is please email me and I'll get one to you, well next year anyway. So I'll post again tomorrow, but it'll just be the Christmas letter.

So Sedona is growing so big. Ok not huge or anything but obvious growth. She has an appointment on thursday for her checkup and we'll see how much she's gained. She was supposed to gain an ounce a day and she last was at 7 pounds and 7 ounces.....er I think, if it needs correcting I'll correct it then. She's starting to hold her head up more. Not for any serious length of time but it does get longer every time she does it. We're up to 10 or 15 seconds now, and more and more daily. I noticed she seems to do it more when she's frustrated with something, and the frustration seems to come from when she's gassy. Other than that she is a happy baby. She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps, eats, poops, smiles and sleeps. She's such a good baby. More pictures coming soon. I haven't really taken a bunch more because she does the same things everyday. If I took more pictures you'd think it was the same as the day before. We're getting there though. I hear but did not see that she rolled over today from her back to her belly. I was not there to confirm or deny the fact however so I have to take it for what it it is. So thats good news to report. Ok I'm going to go for tonight. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

One Week ago...

give or take a day and some hours, Sedona Rae was born. She's been with us new parental beings and we're loving every minute of it.

Rule #1: The stuff you thought you knew don't mean diddly, and the stuff you knew you knew means little more. I though this baby thing was going to be a breeze. Sedona would pop out and "blam" I would be blessed with the requisite knowledge for baby and "tada", I would be the greatest father that ever lived. Except that didn't happen, "whah whah Wahhhhh". I just did what came natural. Sit and stare...and hope, and pray. Thank the great Lord above that my mom is here to guide us on our new journey. There have been many a time where I was slightly confused at my predicament. There is only one predicament for those who haven't been here. Make the crying baby stop, it seems simple enough. Now I know. There are 3 things that make the crying baby stop. I'll set the stage for those who know but don't really know. Ok here goes.

Thing #1. Feed the baby..yes yes this is easy enough...but how much? Oh..there you go. Till she's full right? Yes but when is that? Well Sedona stops eating, is she full? No? Yes? Maybe? Turns out babies get kinda full with air...yes, yes, baby veterans I realize that now. Which takes us to Thing #2. Burp the baby, again common knowledge So you burp the baby...."BUUUURRRRRPPPPP" ok now what? Babies cryin, what to do what to do....ok well turns out you can continue with Thing #1. She's not full yet, she's makin more room. Kinda like at dinner when you eat and eat and get stuffed, then you burp and voila, room for dessert. Only this dessert is more formula. So you've fed the baby....burped the baby and shes now crying again. This can lead to Thing #3 which is check the lower half. Yes the diaper covered end. Rookies beware! This end is dangerous, not only is it dangerous it's connected to a mind that doesn't know, or care. Or maybe she does and is having a little "Look who's Talking" moment. That movie makes more sense now. Anyway, its dangerous I tell you, and an example I'll give to prove my point.

This very morning, well it's 1:30 here so yesterday morning anyway, Sarah and I were preparing to go to my doctor's appointment and were planning to be out the door at 7:00am. So before we go we had allotted ourselves enough time to feed Sedona and all the requisite things that come with that, and get her in her carrier and ready to rock. Sedona it seems had other plans. We were not to be leaving at the intended time. Sarah began changing what seemed like an innocuous pee diaper, And then it happened...the poop started coming out, coming out like a man made playdough factory. So she waited and the poop stopped. Wiped the important areas, moved the diaper and prepared to place new diaper in place....she must have forgotten to press the stop button on said playdough factory because a little green snake began making its way from the press. Out it came, enough to cover a baby wipe, what now...no diaper in place and its still coming out, for the love of God what now...it's still coming out and the couch is underneath the butt.....time to change out baby wipes By the way now Sarah is getting sprayed in the leg with pee..and the doodoo is still coming....its like a bad movie, The Day the Doodoo came. So 4 full green snake covered baby wipes later the madness finally stops. Sarah is laughing so hard because, well because she just got peed on really, and it's something that we never would have found funny a week ago. That folks is a fine example of Thing #3.
Lesson learned here. It's a baby, expect nothing, and embrace it, the baby that is. It's more fun than I ever would have thought, and it's worth every minute of all eight days that I've spent with her so far.


Ok, this covers Rule #1. I’ll cover Rule #2 next time. I have to figure out what Rule #2 is first but we’ll think of something creative. I have a million things that I want to write about but don’t want to make it 3 pages long. So I’ll wait till next time. Thanks for reading.

Here is your Blog Michelle.

Ok so this is an attempt at some pictures for the Blog. I know it kinda sucks that you have to sit here at watch it in order to see them all but, it is what it is. I'm stretching out and checking my limits with the blog thing and thought I'd throw some pictures in a slide show to see how it worked out? Anything you'd like to see? The comments button that so many of you have found is near the bottom and please feel free to ask and I'll try to honor all requests. Let me know what you think of the layout of the blogger...anything you'd like to see...things you don't like at all and so on. I can't actually believe that I've posted this much in the last week? Whatever will I do. The apocalypse must be upon us. Nope just me with time on my hands and a desire to show you all the things I made.....baby and blogger both. Next I'm going to work on video. I haven't taken any of the baby yet. She really has been quite the sleeper. Nurses assure us its not always going to be that way. So while we're on the subject of baby Sedona...... She's doing great. Healthy as can be and sleeps like crazy. She's having a bit of trouble eating, as she doesn't quite have the sucking thing down yet. Everyone seems to think she'll figure it out, so I'm not overly worried about it....yet.
Well everyone new things are upon me this day. As of this very morning I am no longer taking Chemo. My last round was early this month and I have been taking my chemo pills like a good little boy and I am done. Last night (29th of Nov) was my last chemo pills. So all the things I couldn't do are coming back, but very slowly. I am going to start going to the gym again, oh how I've been looking forward to this. I can now drink beer, hence the need to get to the gym. I can go out without a concern about my white blood counts and getting infected. I don't care anymore. World here I come. Better watch out too cause I'm a daddy now and I've got an agenda. Ok well its all well and good that I've got an agenda, but I need to get moving if I'm going to accomplish it. Thanks so much for everyone that reads and comments. I really enjoy hearing them and will be answering your questions in time. Until next time....

Yesterday.......

Hey Everyone,
Ok so the intent was to induce this morning. But apparently around 7:30 the water broke anyway…so it just happened to happen today anyway. Doc came in and started the oxytocin (help strengthen contractions) even though she had already started. That was about 8:30. Epidural was started around 9 and the pain went away totally. Then they upped the oxytocin and they came back pretty strong around 1 in the afternoon. They just came in to check her again to see how dilated her cervix is and wouldn’t you know it……. 9 cm. They’re going to call the doctor and its damn near pushing time. We’ve been competing against 3 other women in labor….we’ve decided we’re gonna go first. So we’ve been thinking fast labor thoughts. This will be it for now…I’ll blog the rest when the baby is born. I feel kinda bad sitting here typing as Sarah is contracting. I have to go be with my wife.

Ok so here’s the update. Sarah went into pushing labor at 2:30. Sedona was born at 5:20. Sarah is a freaking champ. She pushed for 3 hours and wanted to give up after 2. We encouraged her to keep going and lo and behold she had another hour left in her for more pushing. We are now the proud parents of Sedona Rae Fredrick. She is seven pounds four ounces and nineteen and a half inches long. Healthy as a newborn baby should be and lying in the little heating bed waiting for her first bath.

Overall the day was exciting, breathtaking, exhausting, wonderful and million other things. What the hell am I going to do now? Ok I’m going to close this for now and save it so I have something to take home and post.