Goodbye Jersey, Hello Connecticut!

While the "Garden State" will always hold a special place in our hearts, we recently decided to relocate the family to Southern Connecticut in pursuit of greener pastures, shorter commutes to work, and an abundance of legal left hand turns. The catalyst for our move was an offer I received to work at Boehringer Ingelheim in Ridgefield, CT. "BI" is a private, German based pharmaceutical company (apparently, the largest private pharma company in the world) and after my first month on the job, I feel great about my decision. Leaving Merck and my friends on the GARDASIL team after five years was not an easy decision, but Southern CT and BI seem like a good fit for our family.


Our house in East Brunswick, NJ has been listed for sale and we are temporarily living with Julia's sister, brother-in-law and nephew in Greenwich, CT. They graciously offered to host us, our dog (Deacon) and our nanny (Judy) - hopefully, we wil not wear out our welcome. Ella is helping Hunter prepare for his new sibling, who is expected to arrive in December! With a 2 year-old, 6 month infant, two dogs a nanny and dueling grandmas playing the role of nanny #2 - there is never a dull moment in the house. The good news is we are loving every minute of it.

We are hoping to sell our house and move into a new one (location TBD) by the end of October.

Baby Goodrich Arrives Ahead of Schedule!

Ella Grace Goodrich was born on 2/3/08 at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ at 11:11 am. She weighed 7lbs. 8 oz. and measured 20.5 inches in length. The adventure began Saturday evening at 10:45 pm after we returned from Julia's belated birthday dinner celebration at 'The Melting Pot'. Several theories abound; however, one could attribute Julia's water braking early (37 wks, 2 days) to the fact that she decided to treat her lactose intolerant digestive system to a boat load of cheese fondue. Fortunately Betty, Daren and Hunter (Julia's sister, brother-in-law and nephew) were with us to care for Deacon and help organize our trip to the hospital. We checked into the hospital at 12:00 midnight and spent the next 10 hours trying to speed up Julia's contractions. Even with the help of oxytocin and some very impressive pushing from Julia, the doctors were concerned that they may have to perform a C-section. At 10:45 am they said they had 20 minutes or else.... and 10 minutes later the room was scrambing for final delivery preparations. Having not slept since Friday evening, Julia's stamina in the 11th hour was amazing. There was some additional excitement near the end, as doctors discovered that Ella had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (3-times). Before we had time to get scared, Ella was out of danger's way and on the warming pad. It's hard to call something that happens so frequently a miracle, but witnessing/experiencing child birth is nothing short of miraculous. The doctors said that Julia lost a lot of blood during the delivery, and she is obviously very sore - but otherwise both mommy and daughter are well. We feel incredibly blessed to have Ella join our family and look forward to introducing showing her off to our friends and family in the weeks and months ahead. The guestrooms are ready for you!

Missouri-bred puppy seeks life of leisure in Goodrich household

Despite warnings from several respected friends and family members, Julia and I decided to buy a new puppy 3 months in advance of the expected arrival of baby Goodrich. Admittedly, Julia was originally lukewarm on the idea, but I persisted arguing that a new dog would force us to slow down a bit and would make the transition to parenthood a bit easier. Perhaps I need some couch time with a psychiatrist, but after I learned we were having girl, even though I was ecstatic, I felt the sudden urge to balance the expected male/female ratio with the addition of a male dog. We agreed to look for a baby-friendly breed - Julia was favoring a yorkshire terrier, while I preferred beagles. We actually managed to find a reputable (anti-puppy mill) breeder outside St. Louis, MO who was experimenting with a new mix of 'Beayorkies' (beagle mother, yorkie father). I realize the terms "experimental breed" and "reputable breeder" may sound a bit paradoxical, but after 7 calls and several positive references, we gave them a thumbs up. If you are interested, here's the link to the breeder's site - they are cheap, honest and sent us a great dog - http://www.roundthecrosscanines.com/Lpupsavailable.html

'Deacon' arrived on my birthday (11/20) after several flight delays leading to 10+ hours of travel time in the crate. He was 10 weeks old, weighed 5 lbs and was less than 2 feet in length. He has grown considerably since then and has was house-trained in time for Ella's arrival. We expect he will struggle a bit as he competes for attention with Ella - but he's young enough to adapt. Dogs are definitely more work, but after less than 3 months, we can't imagine life without him.

The "last big trip" - Morocco

With one more opportunity remaining on the calendar before Julia and I nestle close to home...