The Goodwins

Thanks to a neat little Word Press Plugin names “Subscribe2” one can now “subscribe” to our blog to receive automatic emails.  There are two ways to do this now.  You can either:

1. “Register” with the site by creating a subscriber account (see the See “Register” link in the bottom left side under the “Meta” menu).  NOTE TO OUR FOLKS.  We set up your accounts so you don’t have to.  NOTE TO EVERYONE ELSE:  You didn’t go through labor birthing us or pay for our college so you’re on your own. or
2. You can do a “quick subscribe” by entering in the email you want the updates sent to. A confirmation will be sent to you and after you validate your subscription you will receive an email of any new post (and sometimes updates ones as well).

For anyone else reading this and wanting to know how to set it up for their WordPress Blog, it’s VERY VERY EASY.  Just go to the Subscribe2 and follow the directions.  The new WordPress versions will even automatically install the plugin for you through the plugin module.  While you’re getting that plugin, I’d also recommend getting “Postie” which will make it very easy to send emails to be posted on your blog.  Hoepfully with Postie we will make more frequent posts here!

Several have reported problems reaching our site.  After searching the Internet for potential issues it looks like this may be related to Internet Explorer (”IE”) upgrades and/or the proper rendering of flash related to certain versions of the flash plugins keep flash from being rendered correctly in IE version 8 (IE8) and sometimes in IE version 7 (IE7).  Therefore I removed most of the “features” from the site that use Flash.  I’ve also learned (thanks to google) that IE8 has issues that can cause not only the program to crash but the entire computer when certain sites are reached.

I’ve change our site so that when someone reaches it, it will be “rendered” in the “old” IE7 method by using the wordpress plugin IE7 Compatibility Plugin 1.0 on this site.

If you have IE version 8 (IE8) (the latest and “greatest”) and are experiencing such crashes at other sites check out this link.  Force IE8 To Load and Display Websites in IE7 Compatibility View Mode.

Finally, I recommend to folks on Window PCs (non-Macs) to consider using Firefox.  It’s available for download at http://getfirefox.com.  I’ve used it for years and find it more stable and secure than Internet Explorer, and due to all of the available free “add ons” can provide greater functionality that IE7 or IE8.

Finally, if you are STILL having trouble with our site, my apologies (although I realize that if you are reading this, you’re not having troubles right now, but in case the troubles are intermittent or those without troubles can forward you this I’m putting this up here.)  If you would please email the following information when it happens, I may be able to solve the issue:

1. Approximate date and time it happened.
2. What Operating System (OS) you are using (e.g. Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS 10, etc) (if you know)
3. What browser you are using (I’m assuming Internet Explorer if it’s crashing).  To find the version of Internet Explorer it can be found under the “Help” menu at the top of the browser.  Go to the “About Internet Explorer” and select it.  A window should pop up that tells you what version of IE you are using.  I just need the first number (e.g. 6, 7, or 8).  Don’t worry about the plethora of numbers after it.

Thanks!

Kirk

I know we’ve fallen behind in our updates on Ella’s health and expander progress, but I have to say it’s been nice to sit back and enjoy life without really having anything to report.

Since the surgery to remove her forehead expander Ella has been healthy and happy! She’s even enjoying bath time again… they had become a screaming fest whenever we had to put water on her head! And as you can see from the pictures her “bubble” is really growing!

And Ella is growing up everyday too – she’s added the word “papa” to her vocabulary, as well as the sound of a bee. She’s getting really good at blowing bubbles (in the tub), and has even stood up in the middle of the room a few times – of course she avoids doing it on command so we haven’t gotten any video of it yet! But she’s still the same cutie who loves to peekaboo and make us all laugh!

Thank you to everyone for all the love and support that we always feel surrounding us.

If you look to the left side bar at the top you can notice that we have a new “subscription” option.  This can help you subscribe to the “RSS feed” that we provide, including an option to have updates emailed to you.

I’ve also made it so this site can be readable via blackberrys, iPhone and the like.  Just enter http://goodwins.info in your phone’s browser.

I’ve changed the appearance of the website a bit. Hopefully I didn’t break anything in the process.

We’re currently using WordPress 2.5 and I wanted to take advantage of the widgets so I switched over to a newer “theme” and have modified to look more like our old one. The main difference will be sidebars on both sides.

Let me know what you think!

I’m just heading off to give Ella her 1:00 AM medicine, it sure hard to get her to take it. It’s amazing how strong she is and how she can actually get her feet up to her mouth to try to get the medicine away from her!