Goody Goody Goodsons

A Very Wearing and Wonderful Summer

2009-09-28T17:17:00.001-07:00

I apologize I have been terrible about updating my family blog so you will get some snapshots and tid bits of what our lives have been over the last several months. We had a crazy busy summer this year. We did get to do some fun things this summer. This quote was discovered by me at the Newseum. (An amazing museum for you to see when you come visit.) Enjoy.

Also at the Newseum is the largest portion of the Berlin wall outside of Germany and they have a guards tower there too. We were very impressed by the video and News articles regarding the history of the Berlin Wall. In the Newseum they also have the newspaper articles for what seemed to be every major event in modern day history. In there you can do your own live news broadcast and Patty and Michelle, a Hobbs family friend who stayed with us for the summer, did one together. They have a Newseum employee assist you with the recording and as you could imagine they see hundreds of people do the same things over and over every day. I have found that Patty has a gift of being able to make these type of employees laugh and come up with something totally original. She was able to do it at the NBC studios as well as a concert we recently went to this summer.

This summer we had to give away the family dog, Milo. We found out Malan is allergic to dogs so we gave him away to a Corgi rescue group. It's about as thorough as a baby adoption where they do a screening process and go to the home to make sure it is a good fit for both the dog and the new owners. He had a great personality and he loved playing with Malan and was admired by many neighbors, especially the 95 year old next door neighbor Miss Jackson. Miss Jackson would feed Milo dog buiscuts in the mornings and thought she had Milo trained very well to come eat the buiscuts, but we're pretty sure Milo trained her when to feed him. When we let him outside to go potty in the morning he would go to the corner of the yard closest to the neighbor and would bark until Miss Jackson would come out and throw him a couple buiscuts.

We got in a couple Oriole games and this is one of the DC United games we went to for Patty's birthday celebration back in May. (late celebration)
This is an unstaged picture I caught before going into work one morning. I hope you like it.

I also moved my business during the busy summer since the old unit could only fit three trucks. The only reason we were able to pull it off was because it was only 3 doors down from our old place. In this picture our unit consists of the bottom level of the building. It is a small step up from our 1500 square foot unit to this 3000 square foot unit. They took out the tree and put in a more accessible drive way and added another garage door to the right of the existing one and gutted out the unit on the left for more parking for our trucks. We went from 3 trucks to 8 in a matter of a month and a half. In this unit we can fit 9 trucks comfortably as well as a trailer we use for our termite work.

For my birthday we went to see the Killers and it was an awesome concert. After seven years of marriage we made it to a sweet concert. We got some great seats too off craigslist. The crappy part was that a 7 foot tall man was in the seat infront of us, it was pretty annoying but we had a blast.

Another great museum that we went to was the the National Museum of American History which has many great exhibits one of which was the this one. We saw some Star Wars costumes that Patty wished Jess was around to see and an enormous American Flag. Patty said it wasn't as big and spectaculer as she remembered it from years ago but I thought it was quite impressive. That's right, Owen is rockin' the 'hawk! He gets all the attention. People can't walk by without smiling at him or giving him a compliment. He has been walking for a couple months now and has recently learned how to give people 5. He also started dancing about a week or two ago when Patty was watching, "So You Think You Can Dance." He puts one arm up in the air infront of himself and twirls in a circle until he falls down and does it all over again. All in all we feel he has been very blessed with his health. We are thankful for everyone's prayers for him. His laser treatments have noticeably lightened his birthmark and he has made it through his first year with no seizures, which is the highest probability time frame for his syndrome. His right eye's pressure has been building up so the eye drops haven't been working as well as hoped but the doctors are going to give it a little more time before making any decisions. Owen hates the sight of anyone in a white trench coat. He knows they are trouble. Patty has tried twice to take him in for an exam that they have to put leads (sp.?), I think they are called, all over his head but has been unsuccessful both times since he wakes up and tears them all off. He is a very happy and good looking boy that we love so much. He is very easy to please. By the way the 'hawk serves two purposes; one, for his laser treatments they need to treat up on his scalp so they can see and not worry about burning too much hair, and two, it looks great.

California!

2009-01-12T10:33:00.001-08:00

I thought a picture of the Frisco burger thanks to Hardee's (Carl's Jr. in the west) would be appropriate since our trip was to the bay area in California. I think it's funny since people from the area hate the nickname of "Frisco." Speaking of burgers we ate at In and Out while we were there. It's a good burger, but 3 out of 4 people I know who have had both an In and Out burger and a Five Guys burger out here in the DC area agree that Five Guys is better! So if you haven't had one yet you better come get one because they are delicioso!! (Spanish for delicious)

We had a great time out in California. We stayed at my brother, Brad's house most of the time. He lives right next to Stanford which is a beautiful campus. The first day we were there we went to the Children's Discovery with Patty's mom, Tori, in San Jose which was really fun for Malan especially this dance room made for kids to dance in. The second night there my brother took Patty and I to the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Opera House where it was originally brought to from Europe. It was spectacular! We then went to a great ice cream place in San Francisco. The next day we went to the zoo! It was the same zoo the guys were attacked at last year by the tigers, supposedly they taunted the tigers to initiate them jumping out of their "fenced area." It looked like they had made some modifications fairly recently so we were safe.

Besides the zoo Patty spent some time with her Aunt, Grandma, and mother who all live in the general area. I went cycling for a little while with my brother and only fell down once when I was completely stopped and couldn't get my foot unclipped. The best part was a car full of people saw it all and said, "AAAAhhhhhhhh Maaaannnn!" I imagine it's something like wiping out right under the chair lift but I really don't know what that's like. Then Patty and I played a lot of Rock Band and it was good that she was there because there is no singing ability in the Goodson gene! I rocked it on the drums on easy. Guitar, medium.

Christmas!!

2009-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and our family opened presents on the 24th since we were traveling on the 25th. Malan made Christmas really fun. This was her early in the morning just after opening her stalking to find pens and candy inside. I told her we should go downstairs to see what else there might be that Santa brought but she said, "But I already have all this stuff!" Last year she was more fascinated by the wrapping paper and the pulling paper off of boxes than anything so this year was a little more exciting to see her reaction to the stuff inside the boxes. Her big present was a tricycle and a helmet that she loves to ride around the house. She got lots of presents from grandparents, neighbors, and cousins.

Afterwards we thought, "Maybe she got too many presents." So we decided to keep one or two for her birthday which was 2 weeks later. She got presents from so many people that she just expected that everyone gives Malan presents for Christmas and it was kind of embarassing at times when we would go to someone's home and she would ask, "Where's my present?" It wasn't easy for her to leave all her new toys the next day when we went out to California but she didn't realize she would be getting another slew of presents out there. Owen is still happy and smiley and only cries when he is hungry or wants attention and is very easy to soothe. And I don't know if you know this already but he is HUGE!

Sorry for not updating

2009-01-12T09:12:00.001-08:00

For some time now Patty and I have not had a real table in our home. (5+ years) so we decided to hit up Craigslist to look for one and found this beauty for only $150 for all six chairs table and 3/4 inch glass top. It's amazing how much stuff there is on Craigslist when you live in an area with millions of people in it! We did not like the color though and it didn't match colors in our home so we decided to make a project out of it. This picture is taken in my lovely warehouse by the way. Sanding sucks by the way...not so much on the table with all the flat surfaces, but on the spindles of the chairs. I was thinking of doing this for a little extra fun money on the side and reselling it but like I said sanding sucks! And then after hours and hours and days we have the new color, yeah! Also the upholstered seat covers were gross and had multiple stains on them and then when we went to remove them we found that there was an even nastier seat cover under that which had just been covered up, kind of like what Lexington Place did with their paint jobs.

It was a pretty fun project but I don't think I want to do one like that for a while. We put in about $75 so we feel like we could have made it on an HGTV show, easy.

HERE'S TO YOU AND YOUR DISNEY CHARACTER KIDS' COSTUMES

2008-11-05T17:15:00.001-08:00

Malan had a blast two nights in a row. The first night she didn't have the make-up on but we got to trick-or-treat on Main St. behind our house at several of the businesses. The next night when I started to dress her up she was yelling, "I'm so excited, I'm so excited!" and she started laughing because she couldn't contain herself. Then Patty was making a pointy nose out of some costume makeup kit and I asked Malan if she wanted a pointy nose too. I didn't even need to ask. We taught Malan how to cackle like a witch and cast spells so she was doing that when we were out trick-or-treating. We also got a couple of pumpkins to carve for a family home evening.
We thought it would be a fun activity to do with Malan but it didn't really turn out that way. Patty and I got way to into our carvings and totally left Malan out. It is sad but true. I carved the pirate ship and Patty did the scarecrow. In our defense we had a very crappy pumpkin carving tool kit.

an update of our son

2008-09-23T09:26:00.002-07:00

Owen has endured many pricks, many doctors' offices, tests, and even has had his poor little eyes dialated and has had a ct scan. Many co-pays later we have a healthy boy. He will continue to get more tests. When he turns 3 (months) he will get an mri to get more detail. He is sleeping a lot and eating a ton. (Like a Goodson!!!) He was 7 lbs 14 oz at birth and lost the normal weight after birth and here we are 2 weeks later and he is 8 lbs 11 oz! Way to go Owen. He is a polar opposite of Malan. He sleeps a lot. He eats a lot. He has a full head of hair. He doesn't cry unless he needs more food. Oh yeah, and he's a boy, not a girl. Here is a recent photo.... we are quite fond of him. The boppy boppy featured in the photo above has a custom made cover by Patty's sister, Becky. (thank you)

Malan had some friends come visit recently so she is not being totally left out. Grandma Tori made sure of that when she came to stay for a week and helped her room become a "girl's room." Then some friends from Northern Virginia came up too and had a good time. She has been a good helper so far. We will have Grandma and Grandpa Goodson as well as Aunt Ann and one of the twins here for the blessing this weekend. We are looking forward to their visit! The weather here is beautiful. It is in the high 60s and low 70s and beautifully green. In the next several weeks the colors will begin to change and it will be beautiful. Malan's hair cut is slowly growing out and she just got a cute hair cut. Now she is quite fashionable with the latest trend of having short bangs. Well that's about it for now. So have a great day and update your blog, Carrie.

2008-09-23T09:26:00.001-07:00

Russell Owen Goodson

2008-09-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Russell Owen Goodson is his official full name. Here is another photo for your viewing pleasure. The pediatrician wasn't sure about the birth mark on his face whether it will be a problem or not or whether it will stay or fade away so we will find out more later.

9 Days Late, But We'll Still Take 'Em

2008-09-09T18:07:00.001-07:00

Owen has finally arrived weighing in at 7 lbs 14 ozs and 22 in long! Patty is once again a champion in my eyes!! She tried the natural route again even though she was being induced. We started at around 10:15 am when she had her water broken by the doctor. They gave her increasing amounts of oxycosin (Sp?) which the nurses called, "contraction juice," to get the ball rolling. The contractions grew stronger and stronger and about 3-4 hours into it, it just became too unbearable, especially since Patty didn't have the luxury of a jacuzzi tub like she did in New Mexico. (1 point New Mexico) So at that point she opted for the epidural and it helped take the edge off the pain.

Because Patty was induced she was confined to her bed the whole time. She delivered Owen at 4:15 pm making it a total of 6 hrs-2 hours longer than Malan. Needless to say Patty had already declared Malan her favorite child.

Owen got beat up a bit in the delivery process hence the bruising on the right side of his face. He seems to like his dad because he stops crying when he holds him! (We'll see how long that lasts)

We are still trying to comprehend doubling our child population and we are excited to see Malan's reaction tomorrow when she meets her brother for the first time.

For me, I see a lot of potential in the boy....possibly a professional baseball player, or even live out my dream and be a professional snowboarder. (We definately cannot stay in Maryland if that is going to happen)

It's Getting Close to Due Date

2008-07-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Owen is moving around like crazy, gets hiccups often and is most active at night. Unfortunately, he has moved to a breech position so Patty may need to get a C-section. We will see if he moves back to the right formation in the next couple weeks. If not we will go in and try a process called ECV, where they try to move him around by pushing around on Patty's tummy. (Poor Patty!) It has a 60% success rate and it may detach the fluids causing the need for an emergency C-section. If that does not work we will need to schedule a date to have the C-section.

I took Malan on a fishing trip a couple weeks ago and we had a blast. We didn't actually catch anything but we got some bites. It's been over 5 years since I fished last and it's totally different fishing out here than it was in Idaho. We'll give it another try before too long.

HER LOVELY (MOTHERLY) LADY LUMP!

2008-06-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been off my game lately. I've been very busy with work. But after the last week of food poisoning, that I brought on myself, and then getting heat exhaustion from working in 98 degree weather with a ton of humidity I have had some pretty crazy dreams and some great inpiration for a new blog. But before that I will give a brief update on Ouwhen, I'm just kidding it's Owen. Sorry if I offended anyone with silly spelled names. He is doing well but sitting low on Patty's pelvis so she has to take it easy. Okay so here is for the inspired thought...

FANTASY BIRTHDAY!

DON'T BE JEALOUS YOU DIDN'T THINK OF IT FIRST ERIC

Here's how it works: I the father am the commissioner.

There is a $5 buy in to predict the date of the boy's birth.

The doctor said the due date is August 31st.

You have until 11:59 pm EST on June 30th to register. You must call the commissioner to submit your due date and time or send a text message. Moneys must be received within 10 business days of your submission or it will be null and void.

You can change your date and time up until 11:59 pm EST on July 31st. The winner will be the one who is closest down to the minute.

You will receive weekly text messages and news of the latest updates about the mother and the pregnancy and you can see what the father/expert analyst/commissioner has to say.

Latest feed: Owen is getting more and more active in the womb and the mother, P. H. Goodson really feels that the baby is coming early this time.

Commissioner analysis: Sometimes the mother has that motherly intuition but then again she is pregnant so it's hard to tell on this one....

If you have any further questions you can contact the commissioner.

Winner of competition wins 75% of the pot and the rest of it goes to pay for diapers. Total dollar amount depends on amount of entries and will be sent to you in the form of a money order within 30 days of the birth. The winner also will get the first picture of the boy besides immediate family, if you are immediate family you will be the first of immediate family, but may be by only a few seconds, but is not guaranteed.

Sweet Hair Malan

2008-05-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Nate thought the likelyhood of me actually posting on this blog ranked up there with me eating Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches---for those of you that don't know I have never eatten a PB&J or any other PB+ sandwich--- Anyhoo...I thought I would give it a shot and see if anyone notices that I wrote something down in response to all your threats.

Now what to write......I guess I could tell you about Malan's Milestone Monday. This past Monday was one of the rare days that Nate was home all day. My sister called and Malan felt like she needed to compete for my attention, so she started whining and following me around room to room upstairs. Then the thought popped into my head, "Why, today is a holiday-Nate is home. He can deal with Malan while I can sit out on the porch in peace and talk to my sister..." So I headed downstairs, called out to Nate to watch his kid while I talk on the phone. Ahhhh, relaxation.

At some point in the conversation I decided to return inside. I opened the front door to only discover I paid a steep price for that 10 mins. on the porch. I saw Malan alone in the living room sporting a new haircut. Apparently, when I went out the front door Nate was out the side door with our dog Milo, and Malan was left to occupy herself. Upon investigation I concluded that she went upstairs, climbed over the gate, opened the bathroom door, got a stool, used it to climb up on the sink, opened the medicine cabinet, got scissors, climbed down, cut her hair over the toilet-to avoid making a mess since she is a clean freak, put the scissors away, climbed over the gate, again and met me downstairs totally acting like nothing happened. Sneaky, sneaky, girl. I have to give her props that she kept it clean and managed to not stab herself in the eye, so I wouldn't have to throw down an UC co-pay. I am impressed how productive a two-year old can be when you give her a mere ten mins. of un-supervision. Next time I might just leave her alone in the side yard with a baggy and hope she cleans up all the dog poop for the day.

Now my kid looks terrible. On Monday I wanted to cry, but today I just laugh because now I have this awesome-ness to look at everyday.

We saw something between the legs!!!

2008-03-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

We had our first appointment today for the new kid, as many of you know. This is the little guy's profile shot. We didn't get to keep the money shot but it looks like it will be a boy! (What both Patty and I were hoping for, yes I am the blogger, ha ha) It's still early since Patty is 15 weeks along. We will go back for another ultrasound at 20 weeks and get a better look.

I am still new at the whole blog thing so I am trying new things out such as the music playlist which Malan rocks out to in the car. She will often tell us to dance if we are not bobbing our heads or car dancing to her favorite songs.

We found a nice location for my branch which is only 5 minutes away from our house. I now have a long "to do" list before the sales season starts. I am excited to take on the new challenges and a little nervous but it will be good.

D.C. BABY!

2008-03-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a break from unpacking and organizing and go out and see some of the historic sites of Washington D.C.

Malan had a great time and learned very quickly how to ride the Metro! This picture is her hanging on to the rail while she was on my back in the backpack.

She made lots of friends as we were walking she waved to just about everyone. For a little while Patty and I were wondering why people were waving to us. While we were riding the escalators Malan was offering people her fruit snacks. On the Metro she struck up conversations with whoever was next to us. She knows how to make people smile.

We were able to see the amazing statue of Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial. Malan was very impressed when we walked up to it she said,"Wooooowwww!" On our walk by the big reflecting pool between the memorial and the monument she was mimicking the ducks and geese. We taught her you honk at geese and quack at ducks. We also found out she loves street vender hot dogs. There were a couple squirrels interested in her hot dog and she would tell them, "Go Away!"

We each found our home states at the WW II Memorial. It's very impressive but I'm sure much better in the summer when there is water in the fountain. It's quite amazing all the memorials and monuments and museums you can enjoy in D.C. and they are all free! And if you come here you have a place to stay!!!

We've moved!

2008-03-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

We are now in the new place; well not too new since it was built in 1910. We have moved into the historic district of Laurel, Maryland. We live in the right hand side of the photo. It's nice and spacious compared to everywhere else we have lived. The street behind us is Main Street. There is a market and a lot of little stores and shops. There is a pretty good barbeque joint there too!

Malan loves running around in the house and there is a big staircase that unfortunately she loves too. She loves dancing and singing. She has some pretty impressive dance moves too which she changes up according to the beat. She loves the Beatles! Anytime she is upset in the car we put on the Beatles and she almost always cheers up.

We have really enjoyed the ward so far. They are very friendly and outgoing. It's a smaller ward with lots of younger couples and families. The bishop is a huge baseball fan with over 600 signed baseballs and he has even turned a house of his in Texas into a baseball museum.

We are still trying to unpack and organize. We do miss our friends and family but recently it was nice to meet up with Brad in Silver Spring, MD. He was out on business so we met up for dinner and ice cream.

That's about all the new news for now. We now have room for visitors to stay with us, so don't hesitate planning and taking that trip to D.C. that you've always wanted to, because now you have a place to stay! We are 20 minutes from the temple, Baltimore, D.C., and BWI Airport!

February 16, 2008

2008-02-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

We are moving again! This time to Laurel, Maryland which is midway between DC and Baltimore. (Only about 20-30 min. from either location) We hope to be there longer than 4-8 months as well. We are renting half of a house with 3 bedrooms and a little yard. We will be in the historic district and the house we are renting was built in 1910.

Malan is talking more than ever and she knows how to say almost anything associated with food. She will bring us the ingreedients to make things when she is hungry or thirsty. She will bring us Hershey's syrup and milk or like tonight she brought me cheese and tortillas to make her a quesadilla. She really misses her friends and cousins.

Patty learned how to make delicious chocolate covered gummy bears and caramels at enrichment last week. Malan and I decided we really liked the chocolate covered gummy bears so we accidentally ate all of them when Patty made them for herself. Whoops.

I am looking for a warehouse for my branch. It's quite a struggle to find the perfect fit. There is one location within 5 minutes of where we will live and it's a little small but it will work. I'm excited and starting to get pretty nervous at times too.