For once the guys are not talking about computers.Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Welcome Home
I think my Dad is in love!
Chloe liked "petting" Abi and was very excited to hold her.
The 3 girls (Cara 5, Abi 2 days, Chloe 4)Just a Few Cute Pictures
Abi sleeps just like Daddy
"Do I look cool or what?"
"I've got my eye on you"
Monday, September 22, 2008
Abi is home!
If you didn't already know, or haven't seen the pictures, here is Abigail Lauren Mikow. She was born at 3:43am on Friday 9/19/2008. She was 9lbs 3oz. and 21 inches long.
Both Abi and Steph are doing well. We came home from the hospital around 4pm yesterday (9/21/208) and have now made it through our first night with little sleep.
Here are pictures for your viewing enjoyment! More info and pictures to come!
Both Abi and Steph are doing well. We came home from the hospital around 4pm yesterday (9/21/208) and have now made it through our first night with little sleep.
Here are pictures for your viewing enjoyment! More info and pictures to come!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Timing
This week has been quite a rollercoaster of emotions. I never expected this week to be this hard on us.
We had an appointment on Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test at Clovis Community as a follow-up from last week's NST. Abi wasn't as active as they liked (not in a bad way) but they almost wanted to keep us at the hospital. There was no room at the hospital at the time so the doctor prescribed a lot of walking and for us to go to our already scheduled appointment that afternoon.
After the appointment we decided to follow through with our next NST on Wednesday morning. This was quite disappointing to say the least.
Today we had the NST and Abi is doing just fine. Praise God that she is doing fine and we have no worries at this point. There are no concerns today so they weren't as worried about getting us into the hospital today. On top of that there was no room and there was already one lady waiting to be induced. We were really really hoping to be kept at the hospital and not allowed to go home.
The end result is that our originally scheduled time to be induced has been moved up from Friday at 6AM to Thursday at 6PM. While this is only 12 hours sooner than originally planned, it is still better than nothing.
Now we wait and hope that there is room at the hospital tomorrow. We plan to arrive early in hopes that we'll be able to get it. Our prayer at this point is that the labor will start between now and when we go to the hospital so that they will let us stay.
I can't tell you how hard this week has been on me mentally. I'm ready for Abi to be here. It's been hard with the back and forth to the hospital and nothing coming out of it (and trying to work in between the different appointments). Steph is doing much better but is just as ready for Abi to be here. We pray that she will be with us soon so that we can move on. When we were told last week that we were scheduled to be induced this upcoming Friday I didn't think anything of it. Now, continually getting closer, it has been much tougher than I ever expected. It's more than just an appointment to have a routine procedure done. There are many more variables that can cause the situation to change many times each day.
We appreciate the prayers of everyone as we go through the next 48 hours. Hopefully by then we'll have pictures to post of Abi for everyone to see.
We had an appointment on Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test at Clovis Community as a follow-up from last week's NST. Abi wasn't as active as they liked (not in a bad way) but they almost wanted to keep us at the hospital. There was no room at the hospital at the time so the doctor prescribed a lot of walking and for us to go to our already scheduled appointment that afternoon.
After the appointment we decided to follow through with our next NST on Wednesday morning. This was quite disappointing to say the least.
Today we had the NST and Abi is doing just fine. Praise God that she is doing fine and we have no worries at this point. There are no concerns today so they weren't as worried about getting us into the hospital today. On top of that there was no room and there was already one lady waiting to be induced. We were really really hoping to be kept at the hospital and not allowed to go home.
The end result is that our originally scheduled time to be induced has been moved up from Friday at 6AM to Thursday at 6PM. While this is only 12 hours sooner than originally planned, it is still better than nothing.
Now we wait and hope that there is room at the hospital tomorrow. We plan to arrive early in hopes that we'll be able to get it. Our prayer at this point is that the labor will start between now and when we go to the hospital so that they will let us stay.
I can't tell you how hard this week has been on me mentally. I'm ready for Abi to be here. It's been hard with the back and forth to the hospital and nothing coming out of it (and trying to work in between the different appointments). Steph is doing much better but is just as ready for Abi to be here. We pray that she will be with us soon so that we can move on. When we were told last week that we were scheduled to be induced this upcoming Friday I didn't think anything of it. Now, continually getting closer, it has been much tougher than I ever expected. It's more than just an appointment to have a routine procedure done. There are many more variables that can cause the situation to change many times each day.
We appreciate the prayers of everyone as we go through the next 48 hours. Hopefully by then we'll have pictures to post of Abi for everyone to see.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Day that Came and Went
Well, here we are at the end of 9/13/2008 (the due date for Abi to arrive) with no Abi in our arms. Both Steph and I are quite ready (she is more than I for obvious reasons) for her to join us. The wagers for who would guess the due date have come and gone with no one winning and many are disappointed that Abi didn't bring them the victory.
Based on our Non-Stress Test that was done at the hospital yesterday, Abi is quite comfortable where she's at (much to mommy's frustration). Abi is not worried at all and doesn't seem to be concerned about the journey she will be going through soon. Little does she know that she cannot stay there forever.
In hopes of persuading Abi to make a move, I gave her a stern talking to today. I let her know that if she could see herself that she isn't really that comfortable and that there is much better food out here. I told her to do her excercises and start making her way out but she didn't listen. According to Steph's mom we're getting exactly what she had asked for many years ago; a child as stubborn as Steph was.
Our doctor came up with the plan this week. If Abi doesn't show up by Tuesday we've got another NST scheduled in the morning and a check-up that afternoon. Depending on how both of those go, if Abi is still being stubborn and is content where she is, Steph will be induced on Friday at 6AM. We're praying that it doesn't get to be that long but if it does we at least know that we'll have Abi in our arms sometime on Friday (hopefully not Saturday).
Stay tuned for the updates as we go through this leg of this journey. Below is a picture of Steph at 40 weeks 0 days.
Monday, September 1, 2008
My Wife
My wife is the most wonderful woman that I know. I'm so proud of her for how strong she has been during our (primarily hers) pregnancy. She has been lucky enough to not have any major complications to this point (38 weeks) and the movement from her belly has been quite entertaining.
No matter what we've had to do, Steph has been up for the challenge. She's worked with me on remodeling the two front bedrooms in our house, all while trying to ignore the clutter that exploded into the rest of the house. I love her for how willing she has been for all of the projects we've wanted to get done prior to Abi joining is. She even helped out with our Miter saw while working on the flooring and baseboards. If it wasn't for her work (and her Mom's help) the bead-board in Abi's room would not have been done.
We've now entered a new phase of our lives & marriage as Steph is no longer working. Her last day with Warner Co. Jewelers was last Friday. At this point we're transitioning into a single income family and it is going to be quite the challenge. Of course, I expect the house to be spotless now that she'll be home (OK, that's clearly a joke). Our house will be transformed into more of home and I expect that Steph is now going to come into her own as a mother. We're prepared for the coming phase of adding our first child and look forward to what God has for us.
God definitely has a lot planned for us in the near future. We're prepared (as much as we can be) for the challenges, struggles and joy that we're going to experience as we walk with God and raise our children. Steph encourages me in many different ways to strive to be the Godly father/husband/role model that our family needs.
I guess I can't say much more than I really love my wife and know that she is going to be the best mother around (we know that there are other good mothers, but my wife will be the best, no matter what comes up).
Steph - I LOVE YOU!!!
No matter what we've had to do, Steph has been up for the challenge. She's worked with me on remodeling the two front bedrooms in our house, all while trying to ignore the clutter that exploded into the rest of the house. I love her for how willing she has been for all of the projects we've wanted to get done prior to Abi joining is. She even helped out with our Miter saw while working on the flooring and baseboards. If it wasn't for her work (and her Mom's help) the bead-board in Abi's room would not have been done.
We've now entered a new phase of our lives & marriage as Steph is no longer working. Her last day with Warner Co. Jewelers was last Friday. At this point we're transitioning into a single income family and it is going to be quite the challenge. Of course, I expect the house to be spotless now that she'll be home (OK, that's clearly a joke). Our house will be transformed into more of home and I expect that Steph is now going to come into her own as a mother. We're prepared for the coming phase of adding our first child and look forward to what God has for us.
God definitely has a lot planned for us in the near future. We're prepared (as much as we can be) for the challenges, struggles and joy that we're going to experience as we walk with God and raise our children. Steph encourages me in many different ways to strive to be the Godly father/husband/role model that our family needs.
I guess I can't say much more than I really love my wife and know that she is going to be the best mother around (we know that there are other good mothers, but my wife will be the best, no matter what comes up).
Steph - I LOVE YOU!!!
Our latest project
Well, it's been a while since I've posted to our blog and this time I can say that I haven't done anything (that I think) to embarrass myself this time.
Once we got Abi's room done (she's still not here yet), I moved on to my next major project. Before we left for our vacation to Oregon we purchased a 75 gallon fish tank and stand. It was quite a decision to make as our prior tank was only 40 gallons and was doing pretty well (whenever we cleaned it).
After quite a bit of work and only having to buy a few things (including a sump and pump to filter the water) we've got our new aquarium up and running. All of our existing fish have made the move well so far. We only found one of them in the overflow area of the tank and put them back in the main tank once we found them.
What has been grabbing the most of our attention this weekend was the additions to the tank. We purchased two freshwater Crayfish for the tank. They're each about 3-4" from claw to tail when extended and they're a lot of fun to watch. They've found their own caves in the tank and have proceeded to dig them out so they can be the only ones in them. The younger one (shorter claws) seems to be more energetic (borderline ADHD) and has spent countless time running around the tank doing laps. The older one (longer & more colorful claws) seems to like to stay secluded and only come out to eat.
They don't seem to be bothering the other fish at all and are fun to watch.
Here are some pictures of our new tank and those who call it home. Our plan is to eventually switch out to cichlids but we're not quite ready for that yet.
Let us know what you think!
Once we got Abi's room done (she's still not here yet), I moved on to my next major project. Before we left for our vacation to Oregon we purchased a 75 gallon fish tank and stand. It was quite a decision to make as our prior tank was only 40 gallons and was doing pretty well (whenever we cleaned it).
After quite a bit of work and only having to buy a few things (including a sump and pump to filter the water) we've got our new aquarium up and running. All of our existing fish have made the move well so far. We only found one of them in the overflow area of the tank and put them back in the main tank once we found them.
What has been grabbing the most of our attention this weekend was the additions to the tank. We purchased two freshwater Crayfish for the tank. They're each about 3-4" from claw to tail when extended and they're a lot of fun to watch. They've found their own caves in the tank and have proceeded to dig them out so they can be the only ones in them. The younger one (shorter claws) seems to be more energetic (borderline ADHD) and has spent countless time running around the tank doing laps. The older one (longer & more colorful claws) seems to like to stay secluded and only come out to eat.
They don't seem to be bothering the other fish at all and are fun to watch.
Here are some pictures of our new tank and those who call it home. Our plan is to eventually switch out to cichlids but we're not quite ready for that yet.
Let us know what you think!
We missed something
I just realized that we never posted pictures of our vacation to Oregon in July. So to catch up here are a few of our adventure. 
my husband the tourist
this is the view from the office building where Alli works, Downtown Portland would look much better except for the smoke from the California wild fires
just a cute picture of Josh and I at Camp 18 on the way to the Oregon Coast
at camp 18 there are these amazing cinnamon rolls that are the size of dinner plates. Ben ate the whole thing and wanted to share in the "pregnant belly" picture 
This is Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast, this beach was used in the opening scenes of the Goonies movie, this is where we started our Goonies tour.
Second stop on the tour was the jail house from the movie
This is the beautiful view of Astoria, the bridge in the picture goes to Washington. which we took advantage of and took a detour to another state for a few minutes. 
Last stop on the Goonies tour, this is Mikey's House
my husband the touristthis is the view from the office building where Alli works, Downtown Portland would look much better except for the smoke from the California wild firesjust a cute picture of Josh and I at Camp 18 on the way to the Oregon Coastat camp 18 there are these amazing cinnamon rolls that are the size of dinner plates. Ben ate the whole thing and wanted to share in the "pregnant belly" picture This is Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast, this beach was used in the opening scenes of the Goonies movie, this is where we started our Goonies tour.Second stop on the tour was the jail house from the movieThis is the beautiful view of Astoria, the bridge in the picture goes to Washington. which we took advantage of and took a detour to another state for a few minutes. Last stop on the Goonies tour, this is Mikey's House
no tour would be complete without Ben doing the truffle shuffle
here we are in Washington
The six of us all enjoying amazing Cajun mac & cheese, super yummy!
California's northern coast
Really Big trees in the Avenue of the Giants
Our adventure lead us to Pismo for the 4th of July then back to Fresno. It was a great, but long, trip and we enjoyed our traveling companions Jon and Jolie. We'll have to do it again when the babies are a little older!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Yes it has been a while. . . .
There has been a lot going on since we got back from vacation, mostly re-modeling our two spare bedrooms, and we are happy to report that Abi's room is all done, just a few little finishing touches and the guest room is ready for the furniture to be moved in. Before getting the rooms done i had two baby showers which helped stock the nursery and until the rooms were done our living room looked like babies r us. we couldn't sit on the couch or walk through the room. following are a few pictures of my shower.
first: my cake, Josh's sister makes amazing, delicious, beautiful cakes and the picture shows how amazing.
this picture is of 4 of the 5 pregnant girls at my shower. from left to right: Jenn (Due Sept 10, Girl), Jolie (Due any time now, Boy), Me (Due Sept 13, Girl), Kristin (Due Dec 25, Boy)
This is my niece Cara and she was very proud to give Abigail and I a very special gift. the "stuffed animal" she is holding is her "lamie" that she has had since she was born. and she gave us a new "lamie" to Abi to enjoy. there definitely is a huge difference between a 5 1/2 year old "lamie" and the new one.
Last but not least here is a picture of how our living room looked before moving all the baby stuff into Abi's room. also a few pictures of her room which she will hopefully enjoy as she grows up, we sure had fun designing it but definitely glad her room is finally done!
first: my cake, Josh's sister makes amazing, delicious, beautiful cakes and the picture shows how amazing.
this picture is of 4 of the 5 pregnant girls at my shower. from left to right: Jenn (Due Sept 10, Girl), Jolie (Due any time now, Boy), Me (Due Sept 13, Girl), Kristin (Due Dec 25, Boy)
This is my niece Cara and she was very proud to give Abigail and I a very special gift. the "stuffed animal" she is holding is her "lamie" that she has had since she was born. and she gave us a new "lamie" to Abi to enjoy. there definitely is a huge difference between a 5 1/2 year old "lamie" and the new one.Last but not least here is a picture of how our living room looked before moving all the baby stuff into Abi's room. also a few pictures of her room which she will hopefully enjoy as she grows up, we sure had fun designing it but definitely glad her room is finally done!Sunday, June 29, 2008
Vacation Update
Just a really quick note that we got to Oregon yesterday safe and sound. All 6 (hee hee) of us. Pregos survived the long drives (that would be Steph and Jolie). The smoke was really bad in Redding, we thought we were camping around a campfire. We got to Portland/Hillsboro around 6ish on Saturday night and we brought the heat with us. Yes, it was hotter than Fresno here. . . and there is no air conditioning. However, today we were saved by a most beautiful thunder, lightning, and rain shower. It was georgeous and smells way better than smokey Cailfornia. We are having fun. We will fill you in later and post pictures!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Abigails 1st Home Video (not done at home)
Here's the video that we received during out 3D ultrasound.. It's fairly long (33 min.) but it shows movement and more facial expressions. It's the full video which includes the still shots that were taken and some rewinds that the guy did to make it look like she was talking. She's about 30 weeks old (or maybe it's -10 weeks).
It is really cool and exciting to see her move and the strong heartbeat is very reassuring.
Josh
It is really cool and exciting to see her move and the strong heartbeat is very reassuring.
Josh
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Baby Abigail Lauren Mikow
Ok, so we've been very excited about this day. We are so excited to be able to bring you more pictures and video of our baby girl, Abigail Lauren Mikow, that is coming in September. The actual video will come later and will show the heartbeat and other fun moments.
Hopefully you'll enjoy these as much as we do.
Abigail's Daddy!!
Hopefully you'll enjoy these as much as we do.
Abigail's Daddy!!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
East Coast Vacation Pictures
Finally, after many, many hours I have finished a photo book of our East Coast Vacation. It was really fun to put it together, it was like scrapbooking but without all the pretty paper and on the computer. I have a feeling this is not my only book that I create. We took 2,361 between the two of us and i have to filter through all those pictures, only 349 made it into the book. So this link is for those who won't see the actual printed copy of our 100 page book.
http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3366837
http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3366837
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
More work on the house
As Josh had mentioned earlier we are working on both spare bedrooms, one nursery and one guest room. We made a lot of progress yesterday, both rooms are clear of carpet, wallpaper, wood paneling, and the beautiful popcorn ceiling. Now there is a nice echo in the rooms when you talk, it's amazing how much carpet and furniture absorb sound. 
And no Josh is not coming out of the closet!
Where we hope to be. . . . someday
My parents finally got the chance to pay off and burn their mortgage. My parents decided to include the whole family in the momentous occasion of striking a match and burning the paperwork. Here a few pictures to remind us that in 20-30 years we too can burn our mortgage.
Friday, June 6, 2008
How I know my wife loves me
Ok, so I know that my wife loves me and I gave her the opportunity ;-) to prove it tonight. I don't need her to prove it, but I had no choice but to let her prove it to me.
Here's what happened.
We're in the middle of remodeling our 2 smaller bedrooms in our house to prepare for the coming baby. One will be the nursery and the other is a guest room for when family or friends are in town and need a place to stay.
Side note - Steph's mom is recovering from a pretty major surgery yesterday and Steph took the turn of staying with her overnight on Friday. She'll (Steph's mom) get to go home on Saturday but they wanted to have someone be with her overnight, just in case. Steph was with her at the Fresno Surgery Center (about 1 mile away from our house).
We're pretty much done with the demo on the nursery and I decided, since Steph wasn't home (or I was not thinking straight), that I would start working on the guest room. At this point we hadn't moved anything out of the room and we need to get the demo done quickly as we have our annual rummage pickup next week and we want to get the carpet out of the rooms by the end of the weekend.
I started working around 9:30pm after about 30-45 minutes of Mario Kart (I had to get in the mood to work apparently). I turned on some music and starting moving some of the big items out of the room (bed, 1 bookcase, shelving of storage for Steph's yarn and some other small items). I then decided to start pulling off the "fake" wood paneling (it was actually real birch!).
As this came off easier and cleaner (single pieces) than I expected I kept working. I quickly ran into the issue of needing to put the paneling somewhere so I could keep working. I decided to put the paneling in the street in front of our house where it will be picked up next week. This was a great plan since that is where I'd take it anyways.
As I was taking a big piece out to the street (around 11pm) I swung the front door closed behind me and it closed all the way. Typically our door does not close easily, but this time it went ahead and fully closed. This wouldn't have been a problem if the door handle wasn't locked. I checked all other ways into our house and it was successfully locked all around. The worst part, I had no phone on me and no way to get a hold of my wife.
I knew that I had no choice but to go to a neighbors house and borrow their phone to call her. Luckily our neighbor to the south had their lights on and I saw movement. I lightly knocked on the door and they answered. I used their cell phone to call Steph and explain what happened. I told her I had gone outside and the door closed to easily (as it never does). She was curious when I added that I had a surprise for her when she got there.
So, here's how I know my wife loves me. She had just laid down and turned over ready for bed (covers and all!). Her and the baby were ready for bed and were quickly headed to dreamland. She made her way home to save me and let me back into the house. She was surprised to see that I had started the demo on the guest room, but still just laughed at the situation.
My wife loves me sssooooo much! I totally appreciate everything she does for me and how she's willing to save me when needed. I definitely owe her one!
I just felt I had to share my story of how my wife proved that she loves me once again! I'm glad to know she's there for me, even at almost 6 months pregnant.
Josh
P.S. - On a good note I got to see the sprinklers in action as they started right as I got locked out. I know for sure that after a full cycle that some of our plants are getting plenty of water.
Here's what happened.
We're in the middle of remodeling our 2 smaller bedrooms in our house to prepare for the coming baby. One will be the nursery and the other is a guest room for when family or friends are in town and need a place to stay.
Side note - Steph's mom is recovering from a pretty major surgery yesterday and Steph took the turn of staying with her overnight on Friday. She'll (Steph's mom) get to go home on Saturday but they wanted to have someone be with her overnight, just in case. Steph was with her at the Fresno Surgery Center (about 1 mile away from our house).
We're pretty much done with the demo on the nursery and I decided, since Steph wasn't home (or I was not thinking straight), that I would start working on the guest room. At this point we hadn't moved anything out of the room and we need to get the demo done quickly as we have our annual rummage pickup next week and we want to get the carpet out of the rooms by the end of the weekend.
I started working around 9:30pm after about 30-45 minutes of Mario Kart (I had to get in the mood to work apparently). I turned on some music and starting moving some of the big items out of the room (bed, 1 bookcase, shelving of storage for Steph's yarn and some other small items). I then decided to start pulling off the "fake" wood paneling (it was actually real birch!).
As this came off easier and cleaner (single pieces) than I expected I kept working. I quickly ran into the issue of needing to put the paneling somewhere so I could keep working. I decided to put the paneling in the street in front of our house where it will be picked up next week. This was a great plan since that is where I'd take it anyways.
As I was taking a big piece out to the street (around 11pm) I swung the front door closed behind me and it closed all the way. Typically our door does not close easily, but this time it went ahead and fully closed. This wouldn't have been a problem if the door handle wasn't locked. I checked all other ways into our house and it was successfully locked all around. The worst part, I had no phone on me and no way to get a hold of my wife.
I knew that I had no choice but to go to a neighbors house and borrow their phone to call her. Luckily our neighbor to the south had their lights on and I saw movement. I lightly knocked on the door and they answered. I used their cell phone to call Steph and explain what happened. I told her I had gone outside and the door closed to easily (as it never does). She was curious when I added that I had a surprise for her when she got there.
So, here's how I know my wife loves me. She had just laid down and turned over ready for bed (covers and all!). Her and the baby were ready for bed and were quickly headed to dreamland. She made her way home to save me and let me back into the house. She was surprised to see that I had started the demo on the guest room, but still just laughed at the situation.
My wife loves me sssooooo much! I totally appreciate everything she does for me and how she's willing to save me when needed. I definitely owe her one!
I just felt I had to share my story of how my wife proved that she loves me once again! I'm glad to know she's there for me, even at almost 6 months pregnant.
Josh
P.S. - On a good note I got to see the sprinklers in action as they started right as I got locked out. I know for sure that after a full cycle that some of our plants are getting plenty of water.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Babies First Concert
On Wednesday Josh and I had free tickets from my work for the Carrie Underwood concert at Save Mart Center. The concert was great and our seats were even better ~ third row from the stage. We were so close that i got some great pictures, including a pcture of my baby bump at her first concert. I think she'll be a fan!
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