How to...

How to swaddle a Baby -video

I am pretty sure this is well-known to all your seasoned parents… but to those soon-to-be parents who pretty much are clueless about this topic, here is a video that might come in handy…

A friend of mine from high school, Jason, sent me this link.

He and his wife just had a little boy in September… Ashton.

From the looks of this video, this baby does not necessarily like being swaddled… apparently my nephew hated it too!

I have gotten word from many people that there are special blankets that are basically “pre-swaddling” so hopefully we will get some of those to help us out!

Otherwise we may end up cutting the circulation making him uncomfortable!

We have already tried swaddling once and were sorta successful, but it was on a plush Mickey Mouse. Sorcerer Mickey to be exact, but not like that makes a difference!

I also found a link “how to tie a bow tie” online and that did not work out so well, but there are less steps in the swaddling process..

Again, Mauldin will probably come out thinkin'...

"Awh man! I'm the one who got the parents who can't swaddle..."

Well, lil' dude, we are gonna try, we are gonna try :)

Wish us luck!

100 things...

I was surfing through some blogs and found a really good one… ivegasfamily and he did a really cool thing for New Years… It is a Bucket List.

After reading it I wondered how many I've accomplished/experienced so far in my life. With it being the start of a new year, I thought I'd embark on the tedious task of reviewing the list and seeing how I fare. Perhaps some can be accomplished in 2009 as resolutions. Maybe not… we’ll see!

Like iVegas, items in bold are those that I have accomplished/experienced. Items in red are ones that I wish to accomplish in my lifetime. Items in green are those that I wish to accomplish in this new year.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does marching band count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies - I've eaten my share.
62. Went Whale Watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - Not proud of it. I was young.
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand-new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby – my wife is pregnant
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone - Who doesn't?
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

I've accomplished/experienced 40 out of 100! Not too shabby if you ask me. As you can see, I have many more on my list to do… Here’s to 2009 and beyond!

What about you?
Happy New Year!!!

The search is on...

The search is on…

For what, you ask?

Child care, of course! We would, certainly, love to have a personal Mary Poppins, but now-a-days… we really cannot afford that. We certainly want what is best for our little man-child so we decided we would start the interviewing process to weed out the ones we like and the one’s we’d like to see fly off on their broom sticks.

We did have a potential lead, but sadly, for that Mary Poppins, the wind changed directions and we are unable to secure a spot. Thus, the pre-aforementioned “search.”

After Laura’s maternity leave, she will have the summer to spend with “the baby” (Laura’s trade is a kick-ass teacher) and not be going back to work, full-time, until the fall. With that said, we need to find someone who will not charge us for the summer months when Laura is out for break.

We decided we’d be pro-active and start looking for potential care for Mauldin. I mean someone has to watch him while “mom and dad” are at work. We certainly can’t ask our parents to drive an hour every day to watch his little booty.

Our main goal is to find an “in-home” facility and not commercial day care. Why? It’s our personal choice.

My wife, Laura, is the smartest woman I know. She went to the state website and did a search for “at-home” day cares in the local area. Low and behold the first one we called she sounded “practically perfect in every way.” Although, just because she sounds great on paper, we need to meet her to make sure she holds up to our expectations.

I figured we needed to do this systematically and so what did we do…?

Busted out the manila folders, of course. We printed off each applicant and wrote all the supplied information they gave us and the ones that did not pass the phone interview got a BIG BLACK “X” on their page. Laura, I am sure, felt like Miranda Hillard from “Mrs. Doubtfire” when she was talking to some of these ladies.

Some were so loud it reminded me of the scene from the movie:

“Laylaaaa! Get back in your cage before I have to get the hose!”

So, at the moment we have two potential choices and luckily our “practically perfect” choice takes deposits to hold a space for our little bugger… We hope to meet this nice lady, to confirm she is a nice lady, this weekend.

Wish us luck!

Can I pass on my special 'abilities?'

I know and have known this for a good while...
what is it you wonder?
Oh, that I'm 'special!' I guess I haven't truly noticed my powers until I began watching Smallville.

I wasn't totally sure it was known to everyone else (you know, my secret identity) until I posted this picture... (see red eyes).

Now I can't fly faster than a speeding bullet, I can't jump tall buildings in a single bound, but I am pretty sure I have heat vision... this picture proves it! (Well, that or I'm possessed)

Well, lets just hope Mauldin inherits my abilities... hahaha and if he doesn't it will be okay, I can always teach him the ways of the force...

I've always wanted a padawan...

I'm sweating the small stuff...

The end is near, well atleast the end of Laura’s pregnancy!

Today, at 3 o’clock, is the first doctor’s appointment of our third trimester. (insert Cheers in the background -think surround sound!)

Last night we were sitting in the nursery, as we sometimes do, like we are just waiting for him to walk through the door.

“Hey mom, hey dad! I’m here, change me, burp me, feed me, love me...”

But, of course there is a lot more to a baby than just that, right? (Rhetorical question) All those things are a big part, but I guess we left off one of the big issue… the birth. He has to be born! Speaking of… my beautiful wife has signed us up to have a “birth class” next month. It is a two-day, extensively long, very long class that we are making ourselves go to! I mean, we are paying to do this… are we crazy? It is like going to work, on the weekend! But, maybe we will learn something.

My fears and concerns are becoming more apparent as the days pass. I don’t want to end up on a lifetime special… “our child, switched at birth.” Is there a way we can maybe ask the nurse or doctor to put a huge RED “X” on his lil’ hand or something to signify “this is Mauldin James Skates,” he is our child and don’t you dare try to steal him. I don’t wanna sound like an overly anal freaky parent, but do people actually do this type of thing? Can we request it? Or am I overacting a little bit?

Looking ahead, Laura mentioned to me last night we need to think about a hospital route. Well, yes, that is a good idea, but what if you go into labor and I am not even around? I am at work for eight hours of the day, and the next few months I am taking classes to finish my bachelor degree so what if I am at school? So, do I need to pack a bag and have it in my car at all times? Just thinking about this sent me into panic mode, so I went ahead and got out a small, black L.L.Bean duffle bag and stuffed a wide array of things I may need at the hospital baby wing.

It feels like a month ago we had so much time to prepare for the arrival of the man-child, but now, I am starting to sweat the small stuff… But, luckily Laura has three showers in the near future (one this weekend) so hopefully anything I am worrying we do not have… we will have! I keep hearing, diapers, diapers, you need diapers! Well, the other day we showed off the stack of boxes in our upstairs bonus room, of diapers, and you would probably think people would say,

“wow- that’s enough to cover the kid until the year 2030!” (lets hope he is potty trained by then) But, instead this is what we hear…

“yah that’s a good start, but not nearly enough!”

Insert, OMG and a jaw drop….

Well, prepared or not, we have 81 days to go!