Canaan's Bath Time

Canaan LOVES her rides in the Baby Bjorn! We strapped her in and took a hike through the woods to go visit her G-Pop (Tim's grandfather, Canaan's great-grandfather). He lives about a mile away...literally up our back hill (which reaches an altitude of 14,530 feet...I think), up the other hill (which we have to use a repelling rope to get up...Tim holding onto her for dear life), and through the woods (through the poison ivy) and then we arrived at G-Pop's for a little visit. After we got home, I was a little concerned about our swim through the poison ivy, so it was bath time for Canaan! A favorite activity of the day...chronicled for your enjoyment.

So after we get her naked and plop her in, it's heaven for Canaan! She LOVES taking a bath (reminiscent of the womb I imagine...warm and pink). She mostly squirms around and looks all over the place.

You can see she still has peanut arms, but her belly is filling out quite nicely.

In this picture with Dad, you can see she's gazing at him with complete adoration in her eyes. We hope she is. Or she may be trying to poop in the tub. She's done that before.

And here's her "Cute as a Bug" face...I just can't stand it. She's so stinkin' cute.

So after we scrub her down (being diligent to keep the water out of her ears--right? Isn't that bad for a baby to get water inside their ears? I think so), it's time to get out, snuggle up in the towel, eat some food and go to bed. Sounds cozy to you and I, but not to our little Peanut.

THAT is her least favorite part of bath time. Getting out of the tub. We get to witness an amazing transformation at this point--cute as a bug to the Incredible Hulk in the blink of an eye.

The Faces of Canaan

In this edition of The Faces of Canaan, I will relay to you the many characteristics Canaan portrays during the course of a day. The first "face" is a sweet face...like this one of our first family picnic at Piedmont Park on Saturday. Here we are all smiling...well, Canaan is kind of smiling. This is a face we see when she's awake, fed, happy, and there is no poop in the diaper.

This next face is Canaan's "thoughtful" face...here she could be thinking about many things...how best to squeeze out that poop that's baking in her little belly, why the dog tries to smell her all the stinkin' time, when she should strategically smile at everyone else except for her mother who carried and birthed all 12 cm of her head out of a 10 cm hole (no kidding...smiles for dad, Uncle John, Grandma, and maybe two smiles for me--very unjust.) She's also very enamoured with the black and white painting of Jesus on our wall--I like to think that she's very spiritual already. Hallelujah!

And after being awake for a good long time, eating, pooping, being happy, playing, thinking about life, she begins to resemble a "deer in the headlights"...so that's what this face is. One of her favorite places is in the "crevice" of the couch which she typically just sits there and stares. Yes, just like this. We now know it means she's getting tired.

And if we really don't get it, she'll yawn.

And if you still don't get it (or you're just desperately trying to finish vacuuming really fast...in fact, I wouldn't even call it vacuuming, I would call it "running with the vacuum cleaner in tow and maybe a dog hair or two will leap into the vacuum filter"), THEN she wails. Really loudly.

Then finally, our sweet little girl will fall asleep.

Canaan's Firsts

In this edition of our blog, titled, Canaan's Firsts, I have chronicled some of our little girl's momentous "Firsts" in her life of ONE MONTH!

Here, her dad is holding her during her first full day of life outside the womb. This is her first official "wail" and her father seems slightly confused..."I thought we would have a quiet, introverted, and meek baby!?!" Well, when both parents are loud and extroverted, it's likely the baby will be the same--which she is!

This next picture shows Canaan during her first pediatrician appointment at one week old...all 6 pounds, 2 ounces of her! She's certifiably a peanut. She had lost 4 ounces since birth (normal) and by her one month visit, she had become a slightly larger peanut weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and one inch longer than birth--19 1/2 (in the 20%). You can see her chicken leg kicking out...which happens a lot, both in the womb and out of the womb. In fact, when she was in my belly, she would kick her chicken legs out and shove her little butt against my side making a large lump which my first graders could feel..."I feel Mrs. Goodwin's baby's butt!!!!" they would yell as they touched my belly.

This is the first picture of Canaan's THREE grandmothers--on the left is my Aunt Beth from Minnesota...Grammy. In the center is Tim's mom, Jill...Nana. On the right is my step-mother, Kathryn...Grandma. Grammy and Grandma stayed for two weeks after her birth to help out (and change diapers and feed at 4 in the morning and cook and clean and do laundry...I really miss them.) Nana baby-sat Canaan while mom and dad went out with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Josh for the first margarita post-Canaan. Very nice.

This is a family picture of Canaan's first Fourth of July! She's clad in her "All-American Girl" onesie, ready for the fire-works which we saw from the hill in our back yard. It was a successful Fourth of July complete with all her family and Bubba Burgers.

Next, Canaan's first picture with her little friend Gracie Bardin--our good college friends, Greg and Esther's little girl. Gracie will be her play mate two days a week while Esther watches Canaan while I'm working part time at King's Ridge! So this is Canaan (on the right) talking Gracie's ear off explaining why she prefers the "Jason's Butt Creme" vs. the "Burt's Bee's Butt Creme". And sweet Gracie just listening away.

And finally, the last picture of this segment entitled Canaan's Firsts...the first time Canaan realized that life outside the womb is pretty nice. Cute clothes, people hold her, and her legs aren't squished into her face anymore.

Next edition, The Faces of Canaan!

She's Here!

Canaan Marie Goodwin has arrived! She was born on June 26th, 2008 at 3:24pm after 17 1/2 hours of labor and pushing--but well worth the wait! She was a healthy 6 lb. 6 oz. 18 in. little girl with a conehead, a boxer nose, and a folded up ear from her "layover" in the birth canal. But 19 days later, she's cute as a bug! Round head, cutie little nose, Tim's elf ears, my lips (maybe?), someones chin, Tim's forehead that really crinkles (no kidding...just like her dad!), big eyes, a tiny peanut body, and the sweetest little grunting noises. She's a keeper!

We chose her name because in the Bible, Canaan was the land that God promised to the Israelites--a perfect place full of everything they could ever ask for or imagine. They had to work hard to obtain this promise and when they arrived, it was well worth the wait! The Israelites also had to have faith that this was God's Best for them--they were scared when they first saw the land of Canaan and so they had to wander in the desert for 40 years. They eventually learned that they had to have faith in God that this was His Best Plan for them--Tim and I had to have faith in God that having a baby was His Best Plan for us...and it definitely is! We believe our Canaan is a promise from God and will be a blessing to everyone she knows. Marie honors our mothers--Sue Marie and Jill Marie. And Goodwin because we thought she should have Tim's last name--he is our sugar daddy, of course.

Tim and I will email you when we update our blogspot--next edition, "Canaan's First's".
THANKS for caring!!
-Tim, Maureen, and Canaan Goodwin