Catching-up...October - February.

 5 Months Old.

     It has been quite awhile since our last post; a lot has changed, we are back to work and most importantly: this baby is doing great and growing like a weed! As of today, Jordyn is 4.75 months old. She is now 13lbs and 25.5 inches long; that places her in the 75^th percentile for height! Based on how small she was when she was born (5.8 lbs), I just thought that she would stay small forever…

Trying to be a big girl. (7 weeks old)

     Over the last 4 months, Jordyn has definitely become her own little person. She has adapted to a “loose” schedule (it differs to some extent daily), she knows what she likes and is even more vocal about all the things that she does not like. Lol. Jordyn’s most common position these days is any one that will allow her to put her foot in her mouth, she is completely captivated by her feet and them being in her mouth; it’s pretty funny to watch her struggle and stretch to accomplish this feat ßNo pun intended…

     When Jordyn cries, there is typically a reason, though at times we have trouble identifying that specific reason, ha ha. She loves music, especially things that include acoustic guitar; I can always get her to calm down and listen with me if she is being fussy or overly tired, often times you will hear the melodic tones of some Pink Floyd, Jack Johnson or OAR as they all play a pretty big role in correcting her mood. Lol.

When her mood needs correcting. (8 weeks old)

     Firsts & Miscellaneous info:

10-18: Jordyn’s first trip to Kensington.

10-20: Jordyn begins smiling often (Not gas-smiling)

11-6: Jordyn begins sleeping through the night.

11-11: Jordyn discovers her feet and the ability to kick, kick, kick…

11-13: Jordyn’s first visit to Bronners CHRISTmas wonderland and Frankenmuth.

3 months old: Jordyn has become very alert, she will follow you around the room with her eyes, she has become very responsive.
11-15: Jordyn will stand (with the help of our hands) for long durations of time.

11-20: Jordyn finds her hands.

11-21: Begins telling long “agooo” stories and smiling a lot.

11-28: Jordyn is 10 weeks old, 10lbs 3oz and 23” long.

11-30: Jordyn’s first full day without us, Grandma Sharon watched her and she did very well!

4 Generations.

Jordyn's First Thanksgiving.

Meeting Grandpa Edmonds.

Around 12-16: Starts trying to stare at her feet.

12-17: Jordyn has begun acting shy and hides her head in your shoulder when holding her.

12-22: Our first annual Edmonds/Portman Christmas Dinner.

12-23: “Yiii-Yiii, Yee-Yee

12-26: Jordyn has been sticking her tongue out and doing “Ppppssshhhhtttt”

Jordyn's First Christmas.

12-29: Today is the first time that she picked something up and of course, put it in her mouth…It was her Blue Elephant.

1-1-12: Rang in the New Year with the Scott’s and the Syracuse’s.

1-3: Jordyn has been sitting up more and more as of this week.

1-10: This is the first day that Jordyn slept in her crib in her room alone.

1-15: Jordyn seems to recognize her name, not all the time as she has now developed selective hearing. Lol.

1-19: This is the first day that Jordyn held her own bottle.

Jordyn loves bath time.

1-27: This is the first time that Jordyn rolled over. It was somewhat abrupt and scared her, she was only trying to get out of the “tummy-time” position.

2-07: Jordyn has begun laughing often, she gets so excited that her laugh becomes some sort of mix between a laugh, cough and a sneeze; It’s hilarious.

     As excited and proud as we are with the progress she is making, we also are well-aware that as soon as she takes those first steps; we will be telling her to "sit down." Lol. As these photos show, she is a very happy baby and we both feel so incredibly blessed to be her parents.

 "Thursdays with Daddy"

 Jordyn on the left, Daddy on the right; both at 4 months old.

     As you can probably see, we are trying to document everything, as Aerosmith would sing: “Don’t want to miss a thing…” What goes hand-in-hand with digitally documenting everything??? Pictures! 15 GB’s to be exact, to put that into terms: 15GB is the equivalent of about 2500 photos; I may have a problem…Also, that’s not including any of the videos! This poor baby…

2 weeks into our new life...

 
      Jordyn is 2! ...Weeks that is...lol. The last 14 days have more than flown-by, they have been a whirlwind of sleeplessness mixed with serenity. I'm sure that sounds like an unlikely mixture but it's true. The transition from angry-hungry baby to fed and full baby happens fast and no matter how bad she fussed, it disappears as soon as she looks into your eyes with those baby-blues.

      I hardly remember the first week home, we didn't really know what we were doing but realized early on that working together as a team made all things manageable. We caught on quick and developed strategies that would ease the stress from both of us. Being a self proclaimed night owl, I opted to take nights, allowing Jenelle the luxury of catching some much deserved sleep. Prior to Jordyn's arrival, I didn't know what to expect, I thought I would be irritated when waking up to her crying. To my surprise, I look forward to hearing her progressive whimper (which sometimes becomes an all out scream, depends on how deep daddy is sleeping) because I know that for the next 45 minutes or so, she's all mine and that our bond will surely grow.

      I am greatly enjoying all the "small things"; when Jordyn is hungry, she goes into a zone where nothing matters but food and the faster the better. At every feeding I am able to see how much of a little Edmonds she is (we are a family of eaters), lol. Jordyn; like many Edmonds, approaches here food similarly to that of a velociraptor, she eats aggressively and shakes her head around like she is some wild dog (poor Jenelle). I already know which bottles she likes and which she loathes, I have a trick to get her to burp *almost every time, most importantly I know how she likes to be swaddled. If you know anything about me, you know that I love to learn and that's exactly what this whole process has allowed, lots of learning and even more love...

     Misc Info:

This week we had the pleasure of visiting with:

-Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Melchert

-Grandma Elkins

-Aunt Heather & Uncle Matt

-Uncle Matt & Uncle Jesse

-Cousin Jordan & Andrea

-Tim, Lori & Christian

-Brandon, Jill & Brayden

-Great Aunt Dawn & Cousin Aleah

     Jeremy & Nicole, Ryan & Jamie and Maria plan to stop by this week followed by the in-laws on Sunday and then Bouna, James Bertolino and Mary Fran next week.

     For those who are asking, Yes, Jenelle is back at her pre pregnancy weight...

1 + 1 = 3 Jordyn Sophia Edmonds is here!

 

     She’s finally here! Today began just as any other day has, within the last couple of months. We woke as 2, said our “so-longs” as we departed for our individual places of work and then became 2 again as we arrived home. Little did we know, this would be the last day that it would be just us 2…

     After a hard day’s work, Nell and I will typically eat dinner together, followed by some intense couch-potato-ing while we power watch through the various shows that we enjoy. This session began as any other, we had finished eating, the food coma had set in nicely and we were ready to head towards bed. At this time; it was nearing 10:30 or so, we decided to head to bed so I woke Bentley up and offered him his last opportunity to “go potty” before retiring him to his crate for the night and Nell headed towards the restroom. I thought I heard her proclaim some sort of a “owww” or “ouch” or similar so I asked if she was ok? She paused for a minute and then replied (in a heightened sense) “I think my water broke!”. That’s all I needed to hear, I turned into a tornado and began packing anything that I thought we might need (I packed useless items that we did not need but at the time seemed important, lol.).

     Being the procrastinator that I am, I hadn’t even packed my overnight bag yet (Nell’s was packed long ago). I knew that I would be in immense trouble if my lackadaisical approach towards an overnight bag had any bearing on our “Not” leaving as soon as possible and with that in mind I turned into a madman, I had everything packed and the car ready to go in no more than 4 minutes, ask Jenelle. I walked my distressed wife to the car and we began our journey to the hospital, the 35 minute commute felt much more like a white-knuckled 15 minutes as Jenelle firmly recommended that I drive FASTER! Although it was no time to be amused, I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath as Jenelle would yell at me during contractions only to apologize intently right after for “acting like a B****"…lol. Even in the heat of childbirth she possesses a heart of gold.

     Luckily we had just toured hospital and birthing center 1 day prior, so I knew exactly where we needed to go. We arrived at the hospital at 11:20 and through the Emergency door we were escorted directly to Triage only to find that Jenelle was fully ready to have a baby. Our next stop was in our Labor & Delivery room where we would spend the next 36 hours though only 40 minutes would be spent with just the 2 of us as Jordyn decided that she was ready to come out at 12:08am on September 20^th, she was 5lb 8oz and 20” long. Because things happen so fast, Jenelle was unable to receive any sort of other pain treatment or epidural; upon hearing this, I thought for sure she was going to kill someone in the room. To my surprise, the only thing she really cared about was “Getting this child out”…And she did, cool-calm and collected. I have never been so proud of my wife as I watched her endure what I’m sure was agonizing pain. My wife is awesome.

     Holding her in our arms was a feeling so surreal, a feeling that can only be described by actually living it.  As unprepared as we were (we toured the hospital 1 day before and hadn’t made it to our “bringing home baby” class yet), the moment she arrived it felt as though a switch was flipped and we immediately were more than ready to be parents and to provide and protect for this little girl. We cringed everytime the nurses entered our room to poke and prod, we literally felt the pain with her. As wonderful as the hospital was and as well as they fed us, 3 times per day! It was even better to go home and begin our lives together, just the 3 of us…and the dog.

     We spent 1 night at home and then were encouraged to return to the hospital so that Jordyn could receive some UV light therapy. Although we didn’t look forward to another night away from home, we DID look forward to the food! Lol. Honestly, it was amazing. Our night went great, Jordyn’s bilirubin levels decreased almost 50% and we were discharged the following morning.

     Today Jordyn is 1 week old and we cannot believe how fast this week as flown-by! I guess what everyone tells us is accurate: “they grow up way too fast”…The last week has been an amazing one for us all, with constant support from family and the many bonding moments we have already had, it is hard to believe that we ever lived without. Thanks to those who have stopped by and for all the kind words that have been sent our way!

Last but not least, here is a video that I made, dedicated to the celebration of Jordyn's birth:

From Michigander ‘s to Parrot Heads, our move to Florida.

     The courting was complete, the marriage finished (and consummated, lol), the logical next step for the 2 us as adventurers was of course to move across the country. We were young and in love (still are) and figured “If we are going to make a move like this, we better do it now because we sure aren’t getting any younger”. How was this all possible you ask? Well one thing that I failed to mention in my last post was that while we were honeymooning in Florida, a duration of our stay was spent in Nokomis with my Dad, Stepmom and little sister, Jori. I always knew that I had a deep love for the general Sarasota area, now I just had to find a way to convince Jenelle that this would be a great opportunity for us to learn and grow together. If you have ever visited Sarasota and her Beauty, you will understand why I didn’t exactly have to twist my new brides arm into moving to the beach!

     While in the Sarasota area we decided to stop by the local Best Buy #562 to pick up a CD, Sublime to be exact. It just so happened that the day we chose to stop in and shop was also a day that the store was holding a “career fair”, what luck! I approached the table and mentioned that I had worked for Best Buy in the past and would be very interested in the opportunity to return to the world of Khaki’s and Blues. Upon completion of filling out a form or 2, I was informed that the GM was in the building and was interested in interviewing me on the spot. I jumped at this opportunity; as any of you who know me, I love to talk! We found a place to take a seat off to the side and began the all-too-familiar 10-12 questions. I felt confident during my impromptu interview and became very excited as I was informed of a “Brand New Position” that would be opening within the next few months, perfect timing! We can return to MI, save up some money and prepare to tackle this life goal.

     Around September of 2006 I received the call that I had been waiting for, the Supervisor, Mark informed me that Best Buy had acquired another brand, which was known for very high-end home theater products, Magnolia Home Theater. Another thing you should know about me is that I am a home theater fanatic; I love it all. I knew this opportunity was provided from above as all the pieces kept falling into place all too perfectly. The best part of this conversation, Mark let me know that the GM, Mike was impressed enough with our interview from a few months ago and that they were ready to offer me the top spot! I think I may have pee’d a bit at this point. I remember looking up and thanking God for the opportunity after gladly accepting this role. I was due to report to St. Pete on 10/1 and Best Buy was even willing to pick up the tab for my flights!

     I spent my first week in Florida without my wife. Because I was going to be swamped with training and we thought it most respectful to allow Jenelle to put in her time with her employer, she joined me 3 weeks later when I flew north, packed everything we could into our Tiny little Saturn and drove straight through to our new home. I remember how excited we were to be on this new adventure and the opportunities it would present us with, I think we also felt proud of ourselves as we were doing something that not a lot of other people our age were doing. We made our goal known and then we did everything we could to make it happen and it felt good as we progressed together on 75 south, just us, and iPod, all of our necessities packed tight and the wide open road ahead of us. I would recommend this experience to anyone if life allows it.

   
     Our first 3 months in the sunshine state was spent living with my Dad, Stepmom and little sister, we are extremely grateful for the opportunity that they afforded us and for the hospitality that they showed while we resided in their home. Once our move was complete, jobs were in place and we had a little bit of money in the bank, we began looking for our own place. We initially considered buying something but we were quickly met with the harsh reality that we were no longer in MI and could not afford anything less than a shack. We opted to rent and we again received a blessing in the form of an amazing condo located just down the street from my family. It was brand new, close to the beach and within our price range, we spent 3 ½ years here in Blackburn Cove.

     Life was never too lonely for us in FL as we had the absolute pleasure of one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for, James Dean Purcell also moved to the area and joined Best Buy. JP began life on his own but we all soon learned that a life spent splitting rent was a much more fun life. We spent a lot of time fishing, enjoying the amazing beaches and the standard Florida lifestyle. 

 

We began making friends with the Best Buy family and overtime created some very solid friendships that we still cherish and miss daily. We all possessed unique characteristics that when combined seemed to result in the perfect “group”. JP found and secured the love of his life, Jo Dixon, Mike and Corey Snedeker and Jeff and Anna Heck. The 8 of us together always resulted in a great time with loads of entertainment. We always enjoyed the "Phenomenal" company of Goldja and Grizzle too. I should also mention my Geek Squad Boys, Dave, Ben, John, Jay & Juice. We did all that we could together, Dinners, Birthdays, Lunches, Fishing, Disney, Beaching, Bocce, Savannah, St. Augustine, Church…etc. We love you guys dearly.

 

 

     As holiday after holiday passed and we were unable to travel north to reunite with our family, whom we missed immensely, we both knew that our time in the subtropics was growing close to expiration. We again developed a goal to move back across the country (yes, to a state we said we wouldn’t miss because of the horrid winters) to a place that we truly call home. With the help of another amazing friend, Phil Portman, I became aware of an opportunity with Best Buy back in the Detroit market. Corporate was planning to open a new store in Novi across from 12 oaks mall and they were in the process of filling the management spots. I timidly put my hat in the ring, as I did not believe that I stood a chance but to my surprise I earned my self a management role and the opportunity to Grand Open a store that I could call my own! West Oak #1544, Grand Opened 5/21/10.

 

   
     Jenelle was not able to move at the same time as me because she was in the process of completing her schooling to become a CMA (Certified Medical Assistant). We agreed that Jenelle should stay and complete her course as her credits would not transfer to MI and so the next 6 months of our lives were lonely to say the least. We spent many hours on the phone and with the help of todays “connected world”, we were even able to see one another while chatting via webcam. I can’t even begin to explain how much this technology helped to soften the blow of being apart for so long. This test of our relationship resulted in an even stronger marriage and the rewards offered from Jenelles course completion were well worth the hardship endured. 

      We have now purchased our first home in Howell, MI and we are enjoying the ability to make something “our own” for the first time. Jenelle spends her days as a CMA in an OB/GYN office in West Bloomfield and I am now a Deputy Field Marshal for Geek Squad covering a district from Brighton south to Toledo. We are at a great place in life and could not be more thankful for all of the blessings around us.