Happy New Year!!

From our baby new year to you all, best wishes for a safe and happy 2009!!

love,

mama panda

"Chase" Family Pictures

Here are my siblings and I in 1984 (I'm the little one, my brother Dustin is, well the boy one, Jen has blonde hair, Shannon has glasses)
and here we are in our recent family portraits
As one of my aunt's infamously said once, "there is not an ugly one in the bunch"

As I blogged before my Dad turned 60 this year. We got family portraits taken to celebrate the event. There are also some adorable ones of Harrison.
My mom is next me and Harrison, my dad behind her. My brother-in-law Matt is in the back row left, he's married to my sister Shannon. I am not sure who the guy in the argyle sweater is. He just wandered into the picture.

Here is my new family!!

Here is Harrison

Thanks for letting me brag about my family!! Don't worry Grandparents, we can get copies of Harrison's pictures for you. They are scanned into our computer.

love,

mama panda

That scene in "A Christmas Story" still terrifies me

You know the scene where they see that horrifying Santa at the mall. The elf is all mean and they throw the kids down the slide? it is one of the reasons I hate that movie. Another one is when the kid gets his tongue stuck to the pole. Yuck.

Well, we didn't send Harrison to see Santa this year (unlike someone that will remain nameless who brought his dog to see Santa, dork) but I did get pictures of him on Derek's lap.

Happy times.
I think he was mad because the reindeer shoes accentuated his big feet. I am getting ahead of myself though.

We spent the 23rd at Derek's family's house. It was Harrison's one month birthday (Happy birthday darling!!) and the day we celebrated Christmas with the Schille's.

We brought him over in this outfit. Then he peed on Grandpa Schille.We changed him into his spare outfit.

I thought it was pretty funny that Grandpa got peed on until I got pooped on about a half hour later. We only had one spare outfit with us so we had to put him in a t-shirt.
So from now on we have learned to bring multiple outfits when leaving the house. Christmas eve we dressed Harrison up to take the pictures above and Derek made a pot roast. We spent the day at home because we had plans with family the next two days. I'll blog more pictures later of my side of the family.

Harrison is slowly discovering his thumb and fingers. He has sucked on them briefly but still can't figure out they belong to him and he has control over them. When I saw him sucking his thumb for the first time I got tears in my eyes. Surprisingly I have only cried twice since he has come home. Once when I tried to read him the story "On the day you were born" and again when I saw him sucking on his thumb. Well, I have cried a few more times than that but only bc of sleep deprivation so that doesn't count.

he has also held on to a rattle and tried to suck on that.
Any day now he'll be solving the mortgage crisis. Oh they grow up so fast!

Here is one last picture of him being an airplane. This one goes out to Uncle Conrad.
Love,

mama panda

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Chase!!

Grandpa Chase turned 60 on the 21st! Here are some highlights,

My parents sharing a special moment (Grandpa and Grandma Chase)
Harrison, of course, with his Great-Aunt Sandra

Derek is home this whole week. It is really great! I have gotten to take naps and stuff. I miss Harrison so much after I wake up from a nap though. I have to go to immediately to him when I wake up to check in on him. He has me wrapped around his finger and he doesn't even know it. If Derek gives him a bottle feeding twice I also start to miss feeding him myself. As frustrating as breastfeeding can be it is also very emotional and I miss it if I don't feed him myself.

Harrison is about ten pounds now and really starting to look like a little fella. He is holding his head up really well and can push himself up. It is incredible how strong even young babies are! We are working on getting a night schedule down so that in a few weeks he may be able to sleep through the night. He sleeps about four hours now, which is AWESOME!

I had my first freaked out parent dream last night. I dreamt that I went to the grocery store and at some point realized I didn't have Harrison with me anymore. I couldn't remember if I had left him in the car or if I had set him down in the store somewhere and forgotten him. I was freaking out convinced someone was going to call the police on me. When I woke up I had to laugh. I felt more like a parent!

Harrison was four weeks old on sunday, he turns a month old on tuesday the 23rd. I was looking back at pictures from the hospital when he was born and I got all teary eyed. It seems like so long ago now. That hormone that makes women forget about the pain of child birth must have kicked in cuz I found myself thinking about having another! Isn't that insane?

Don't get all excited, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon. TRUST ME on that one!! We have enough to handle right now.

Love,

mama panda

Happy Christmas!

Harrison met his first baby this weekend! We spent Sunday afternoon with Auriana and her parents Dan and Robyn. He looks upset in this picture but I think Harrison and Auriana got along very well. There is a picture that Robyn has of Auriana holding Harrison's hand. She is about 6 months older than he is so it may take some time for the two of them to become friends but hopefully they will get to grow up together!

I think he is about to hit a growth spurt bc he has been eating a lot lately. I used to worry about him not waking up to eat but now he won't sleep cuz he wants to eat all the time! I read that babies have a growth spurt around three weeks so he must be right on target. It is a lot of work for me though!

Jen came over last week and helped me clean my house. Thanks Jen! She did all the work I was too tired to do at the end of pregnancy and haven't had time to do since we brought him home. I really appreciate her help A LOT! We ordered some birth announcements/Christmas cards and hope to send them out by the end of this week. I keep forgetting Christmas is coming so soon! I am getting excited to see my cousins that will be coming to town and celebrating my favorite holiday! My brother will be coming into town on Friday, he hasn't met his nephew yet and Harrison is so excited to meet his Uncle Dustin! Derek's mom is also coming into town this weekend and will get to meet her grandson finally!

It is going to be busy, busy , busy for Harrison. We have to limit the activity that he has bc if we do too much in one day he gets REALLY fussy. It is too much for him. I also realized that if I drink cow's milk it upsets Harrison's tummy so I have cut that from my diet. Boo. Oh well, if it's good for my son it's what I have to do.
Here is preview of the pictures we took for the card. It was the last one we took bc he started fussing and rolled of the pillow we laid him on. You can see my hand catching him on the side. It was too much fun dressing him up! I can't wait for him to fit into the other cute clothes we have for him so I can be THAT mother, you know what I am talking about, tee hee!

Love,

Mama Panda

All the Greats

Hi everyone! Harrison has had a GREAT week!
This is Harrison's great-great aunt Susannah
Here is great-grandma mertes
and great-grandma schille

Okay okay I am sorry for the GREAT pun earlier... your right, that was uncalled for. Won't happen again.
Here is a picture with another important family member, my sister Jen's cat Bing
Look behind the hippo, BEHIND the hippo. Bing is a very cool cat and so important that my sister thanked him first in her acceptance speech for a big award she won for her dissertation. I think I may ask him to babysit when Harrison gets old enough. Anyway, everyone say congrats to Jen for officially getting her PhD a few weeks ago. Congrats Jen!

Derek's mom made us some outfits out of Derek's old t-shirts. They are all adorable but this one is my favorite
Yes that is a metallica and guns 'n' roses t-shirt, hell ya!! When I first saw him in this I really felt that he was our son. There is also a funny story behind this t-shirt. A few years ago I was at Hot Topic and I saw a guns 'n' roses onesie. I was really tempted to buy it just in case we ever had a kid but I didn't bc I thought Derek would be freaked out. I ended up telling him about it when we did decide to have a baby and he was all excited and said I should have bought it! i still say he would have been freaked out if I had bought it when I saw it BUT it doesn't matter bc this t-shirt is WAY cooler!!
This is just a picture that I love.

Thanks for looking at our blog!

Love,

Mama Panda

More pictures

Here are some pictures that Grammie sent.

pictures from melissa mom

I took Harrison to his newborn checkup on monday. I had noticed that morning that he seemed bigger, it turn out he had gained a pound since we brought him home!! He has also grown 3/4 of an inch! We plan on seeing the grandparents later this week and this weekend. I want them to see all of his adorable facial expressions and spend as much time with him as possible. I can tell he will grow up so fast!!

Love,

Mama Panda

Happy one week birthday Harrison!

Hi folks! Harrison is one week old today. You know that hormone that woman have that makes them forget the pain of labor and delivery?Yeah, I am still waiting for that to kick in. i woke up this am with some mild ptsd symptoms. Of course it doesn't matter bc he is more than worth it!

I started feeling a bit funny on the Thursday before he was born while at work , sort of out of body and was having a really difficult time concentrating. I decided it was probably going to be soon so my manager told me I could take Friday off. I spent the day nesting and then on Saturday Derek and I walked the mall of America to get things going. by that night I was having signs that labor was impending. At 3:30 am I called the midwife and she told me not to come in yet. I called again at 11:30am and she told me not yet again. Well, I am positive that I was in active labor by that point but stayed home anyway. finally at 3pm I told Derek we needed to go NOW! When I got to the hospital I was 7-8 cm dilated. within an hour and 1/2 I was fully dilated and pushing. He was born at 7:40pm on Sunday 11/23, one day before his due date. Whew! I'll never forget those blue eyes staring at me when they laid him on my chest. We made eye contact the whole time he was being cleaned off.

Unbelievable.

Here is an album of various pictures we have taken in the last week.

one week

We stayed home on Thanksgiving but we had out little turkey to celebrate with so it was a wonderful holiday. I can't believe Harrison has already had his first holiday!! I was hoping he would arrive in time to be our little turkey and he did! So far he has been to Grammie and Grandpa Schille's, Aunt Shannon and Uncle Matt's, and of course Target.

Things are going well at home. I am taking the night shifts although I try to bring him into our bed when possible. He isn't too fussy but I know he doesn't like it when he is laying in his bassinet alone. He is much more content snuggled with his dad or me. Derek has been wonderful. It is difficult to learn to breastfeed but things are going better. He has his first apt. with a pediatrician on Monday. we had a home health nurse come out last Friday and he has almost already gained back to his birth weight! I guess they give 10 days to gain the weight back and he had almost done it 5. He is a tiny little thing, 6 lbs 12.5 oz. last Friday. None of his clothes fit!! I am sure he will grow before I know it and will be remembering the day we couldn't find any clothes that fit him.

Harrison's name popped into my head one day. It was before we knew if he was a boy or a girl but I had been brainstorming boy names. We had like five girl names we liked. One day it just came to me and I ran it past Derek the next time we were discussing names. He really liked it too. When we found out it was a boy Derek asked if I still liked that name. I said that I loved that name and we decided that day our baby was Harrison. It is perfect!

I will continue to post. We have a lot of family and friends to introduce him to still and of course Christmas will be a big holiday this year. Keep checking back for pictures and updates!

happy birthday Harrison, Mommy loves you !!

mama panda

Harrison Derek Schille

You have all probably heard by now but Harrison has arrived!!

He looks just like his daddy.

we are all safely back home. I will post a blog later with more details, pictures etc. Thanks to everyone that came to visit us and sent us well wishes!! I have to go feed the baby now!

Love,

mama panda

Thanks everyone!

Hey,

I just wanted to say thanks. I have gotten a few phone calls and emails in the last week or so as my due date draws closer that have been very nice. I am starting to go crazy because I am so very ready for baby to arrive!! This last month is the hardest. It has been comforting to know that people are thinking about me.

I had my first day off the schedule at work and sitting around gestating, waiting for labor to start. Although Derek assures me I am being constructive because I am incubating our child I feel like a bump on a log. While I was working Derek kept his phone on him at all times, even bringing it into the bedroom at night when I wasn't home just in case I went into labor. Awww....Now I will be easy to keep track of cuz I am at home until the show starts.

We bought reusable diapers last weekend, isn't that responsible of us? Really I just did it to save money, saving the environment is just a bonus. I have our bag packed, over packed I am sure, and we did a test run to the hospital also last weekend so Derek would know where to go. So, baby, we are ready!! Well as ready as we ever will be.

(Insert me drumming my fingers and humming the jeopardy theme song here)

I hope he arrives by thanksgiving. I have signs that labor is on it's way but there are no sure things. I don't have any new pictures but here is a fun comparison

me at about 12 or 13 weeks when we started telling people.

The last picture taken at about 38 weeks or so.

I was so nervous by the way when we started telling people. I felt like it would jinx it if people knew. I wanted some people to know and others i was like "do we have to say anything?" Derek thought maybe people would start asking questions eventually. Even now I am surprised when strangers ask me about the baby, cuz I am like "oh you know?" yeah I think it became noticeable.

It is still weird for me cuz this time last year I had no idea I would be a mommy for this holiday season. Derek and I didn't decide to have a baby until sometime after thanksgiving. I don't really remember when, but if you would have told me at thanksgiving last year that I would be having a son I would have said you were crazy.Now I can't imagine NOT having him. It's like, duh of course we are having a baby. We were missing him. Life is pretty amazing sometimes.

So anywho, I hope to have news of "belly's" arrival soon. We plan to send out an email when he is born. Check your emails everyone!!

After we published the "H" a friend wondered if we had chosen the name Hitler. I kinda liked the sound of it but then I googled the name. As it turns out he wasn't a nice guy! Did you all know about this? When I read his wikipedia page I was like "oh. no, way. I'd sooner name my son Bronx or Moses. " Maybe I should consider Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, or George W. instead...

Naw, I think we will stick with our "H" name. Hopefully you will all know soon!!

Love,

mama panda

Is that a hat and mittens in your coat or do have a baby in there?

So asked the Starbucks lady over the weekend. Yes it is in fact a baby. I have been measuring small the past few weeks (although baby is 47% in length and weight so he is plenty big) but apparently now I have caught up. People are now giving me that look and saying "wow, you must be close!"


Yup. Close but no cigar.

I have been working hard at my new job and it got to be a bit much. My manager asked if my hours were too long and I had to admit that they were. (please don't fire me!!) I was having a lot of contractions and by the end of the day I could barely walk without flinching. so I am now working six hours instead of eight. By the end of last week I was completely worn out. I spent all day Sunday watching Scrubs and laying on the couch. This is my view all day.
You can see my baby bump to the left. Today I felt much better but am glad to be only doing six hours. I still don't have a clue about 80% of my job. Trying to learn it while being 38 weeks preggers is rough. I am officially due in two weeks, but he can arrive safely any time he is ready!

Here are final pictures of the nursery,

Yes, that is an H on the wall. It is the first letter of belly's name. You can try to guess if you want or you can keep it a surprise. Either way I don't want to hear about it, so don't ask I still won't tell!! Actually don't ask at all it will just annoy me.

The oddest two things about being pregnant have been :
1. my incredible thirst. I can drink water all day and still feel parched. I know it isn't diabetes, it is just part of being preggers
2. congestion. Derek told me I was breathing horribly at night so I have started wearing those nasal strips. pretty hot huh? Pregnancy has made my nose bleed and be very stuffy, go figure.

Finally,

I must say I am very proud that my son will be born into a world in which Obama is president elect. Once I found out I was pregnant I instantly saw the world differently. I worry more about the future of this country and of the world. I am relieved to be bringing a child into an Obama world and not a Bush/McCain world.

Derek and I will celebrate our nine year anniversary on Wednesday, so I'm sure I will post an update then.

Love,

mama panda

Goodbye Station 77

I went to my old place of employment today, Station 77 at Fairview Southdale hospital for a baby shower. Even though it has only been a few weeks since I moved to my new job at Riverside it was really hard. I worked there for almost 4 years and just love the people I got to know. It is always weird to return to a place that you don't "belong to" anymore but this was the hardest time for me. St. 77 is full of kind, empathetic, and fun people. In the time I worked there I got married, went to graduate school, and experienced my first pregnancy. Major life events. my co-workers became my friends and a source of support to me during these important times. To be honest they were there for me when other people in my life I thought I could count on weren't. To them I will always be grateful.

Station 77 baby shower

On the other hand they told me all about recent events on the unit which includes staff finding a potential overdose before it happened and another patient sneaking a knife past a very experienced nurse and slicing her arm open.

That I don't miss.

So I move on as we do in life hoping that the old gang doesn't forget to invite me to parties and other celebrations as they occur. Thank God for facebook.

When we put the nursery together I wondered how long it would take for the cats to discover the crib. Well it took a couple weeks but Steve finally realized there was a new place to sit.
After I took pictures I kicked him out and haven't seen him in there since. We'll see how long that lasts.

I am officially 37 weeks which is considered full term. "Belly" can be born anytime now without worry. I was trying to convince him that the sooner he was born the sooner he would turn 16 therefore the sooner mommy and daddy would buy him a car. That is a pretty good deal right? Well baby remains in my tummy so I guess he didn't think it was that great. I'll let you all know if anything changes. It could be any day now or in five weeks. Boo. Derek and I will be celebrating our nine year dating anniversary in a few weeks. We'll probably be at Figlio (the site of our first date) in uptown to celebrate. I'll post some new pictures then.

Love,

Mama Panda

Schille Shower

Melissa Mom and Liesl held a lovely baby shower for me last Sunday. Here is an album you can click on to see pictures. They put a lot of thought into the shower and it showed. I had a wonderful time!

Thanks for coming everyone! Thanks to Melissa and Liesl for the wonderful pictures and memories!

Schille Shower

We are doing well. I got woken up at 4am this morning because "belly" decided to kick me in the side so hard!! It was so powerful!! Okay kid I get it, space is getting cramped for you!

It is amazing how even in the womb I feel like I am already getting to know him pretty well. We can communicate in a way that is unexplainable. I get very tired again now, not as bad as the first trimester but pretty tired. My tailbone hurts a lot by about 3pm. Sometimes I feel a bit dizzy cuz I can't breathe as easily as I used to.

Derek is beginning to get nervous, which gives me endless enjoyment. He is usually the cool one but his nerves are getting to him. I tell him we will all be fine because I know we will.

I stopped weighing myself cuz THAT is what makes me go EEEP! Every part of my body from my face to my toes can be described as puffy. I bumped into my coworker Sherrie because I misjudged my belly today. She just patted my belly and said "oh baby says hi". I also almost fell off a chair bc my center of gravity is a bit off. That just about gave Sherrie a heart attack! I just laughed at my clumsiness.

The nursery is almost complete, just a few finishing touches. I love it and it is exactly what I wanted for our little guy. I'll post those pictures next time.

Love,

mama panda

Nursery part deux (as in Hot Shots part deux)

We finally got carpet. It was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Derek tore up and hauled away the old carpet and moved all the furniture except the mattress and two under the bed storage drawers. We figured the carpet guy could move those pieces cuz we needed to sleep on the mattress and the drawers were too hard for one person to move. I don't like to play the pregnancy card too often but we figured nobody is going to say no to a pregnant lady, right? So the carpet guy shows up, (Derek is at work) looks at me with my 8 1/2 month pregnant belly and says, "are you going to move those? Cuz I can't touch it".

Yeah.

What a dick. He had to call his boss and tell him there was a "room full of furniture to move". I ended up shelling out another $75 for him to move the stuff. Oh you read that right, $75. Common decency anyone?? I add "carpet guy" my list.

What. a. dick.

But I like the carpet. Here are some pictures of what we have assembled so far.


There is still a lot of work to be done. It has been a long road even to get to this point so I am proud we have this done so far.

I have a funny story. The other day I woke up with a leg cramp about 5am when Derek was waking up for work. I didn't say anything to him, just made some moaning in pain noises until it went away then I went back to sleep. After we had both gotten home from work that day Derek asked me if I had slept okay last night. I told him about my charlie horse that morning. He said, " oh is that what that was. For a minute I started panicking because I thought you were going into labor. " He said he started thinking about all the stuff we still have to do and how he'd have to come home and get all the stuff done before he could bring the two of us home. Tee Hee. I got a kick out of that and it was really sweet too!!

That's all. I wanted to expel my disbelief in the carpet guy's assholeness. If anyone has a connection to the Russian mob I have a few names for you.

Love,

Mama Panda

A few news items, work with me here...

Hello all,
Derek and I are celebrating our three year wedding anniversary today! Yippee!!

And we still like each other.

It is crazy because when we got married we thought "maybe we'll have kids, but in like five years" Here we are expecting our baby boy next month. Who would have guessed?? Not I.

My cousin Sheri and her husband Dan celebrated their two year wedding anniversary on October 7Th.
Aren't they precious? Here is a picture of them on a giant inflatable penis while in Vegas for their joint bachelor/bachelorette party
And one of Sheri that I love taken on the same day
Her parents (my Aunt Sandra and Uncle John) also had their anniversary on October 7Th.

I don't have a picture of them on a giant inflatable penis...

Here is a picture of a onesie Derek's friend made for the baby. It fits perfectly on my stomach.
I know everyone says I am small but see! baby is just the right size!! If only he would arrive so we can show him off...Oh and for those that don't know the symbol is 45 adapter just like the one the Derek has as a tattoo on his shoulder.

Here is an interesting story. "Belly" is usually pretty chill but he REALLY reacted the other day. I was around a sudden, loud series of noises and baby jumped and curled up into a tight little ball in my stomach! I was like, "oh my God I think he is scared!" I sat down and and rubbed my belly a bit and he relaxed again. I have never felt him move like that though!!

I started a new job today at Fairview Corporate as an Intake Coordinator for Behavioral Services. It is exactly the job I wanted and I love it so far!! They are going to start my training then give me time off for "belly". Then I will return part-time just like we had planned. This is the only good thing that has happened lately (except for our little bundle of joy) so I am trying to enjoy it!! These are difficult times but there is good in this world!

The only other piece of news is that we are FINALLY getting carpet in the nursery and our bedroom next Wednesday so we can set the nursery up then. Who new it took so long to get carpet installed?? I have a baby shower in about a week that Melissa Mom and Liesl are throwing and I am looking forward to seeing family. I'll post pictures of the nursery and the shower when I have them.

Thanks for reading my blog! Sorry it was so long. I had so much to say!!

Love,
Mama Panda