We've done the wait a while to say anything bit...and nobody was the least bit surprised. So I've decided that this time I'll (possibly) preempt your speculations.
Babe Foster #4 is on the way!
We are thrilled! I am nauseated, but more mildly so than my pregnancy with Everett. I have to eat all day long or the nausea becomes unbearable. The kids are SUPER excited. Max and Kelly think it will be a girl because, as Max says, "Mom, Kelly NEEEEDS a sister!" And Kelly nods her head in agreement then tells me, "It HAS to be a girl, Mom, because I need a SISTER!" We're trying to get them excited about the possibility of another boy because Tyler and I are both feeling boy this time. I never have a feeling about these things...so maybe I'm wrong, but Tyler is usually right. Time will tell. We're very excited either way!
I am not showing yet (though I expect to very soon...I always show early AND it's my fourth), but the kids are very excited about that part of it and anxious to see my belly pop. So much so that last week I sat on the floor reading to them and they were both exclaiming over my belly looking bigger (stomach rolls). I kept telling them that wasn't because of the baby, but they were pretty insistent and began poking at my belly and trying to get me to look at the "growth". It was awesome. Kids are NOT great for your self-esteem all of the time.
Oh, and I'm just over 9 weeks. Due on 4/1/2012. (No this is not an early April Fool's Joke...but that would be funny!) Ev and Babe #4 will be 2 years and 2 months apart - our biggest gap so far! :)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Supplied!
Even though I am in denial about my boy starting Kindergarten, I have been plowing ahead with the preparations. While my in-laws were here we decided to check off the school supply list. My mother-in-law was a Kindergarten teacher AND had 7 children for whom she has bought many-a-school-supply AND she really likes shopping for them...so we thought it would be fun to go with Max and get 'er done. Then Kelly wanted to go. Then Max didn't want to leave the house without his dad. So the whole lot of us (me, Max, Tyler, Kelly, Everett, Margaret & Mickey) trekked out to Target, school supply list in hand.
We followed the large Back To School signs (with arrows!) hanging from the ceiling until they led us to the school supply mecca. Sadly, that 'mecca' let us down on a few counts and it would take two more stores to supply the 16-count crayons and pencil box. BUT it was still really fun and memorable! I wish I would have taken pictures with all of the people involved in this outing, but I did get a few of the future Kindergartner, list in hand (which had been in his pocket for the ride to Target; which I will be placing in his treasure box because it's one of those things that will bring sweet memories to this momma in future years).
And after the first three pictures were taken, Max to the Max says, "Mom! Now take a picture of me pretending to buy my school supplies." And then he posed. And I chuckled. And obliged. I adore this little dude. Doesn't he look seriously contemplative about what he should buy even though at this point we were done shopping? Ha.
*sigh* How did he get so big so fast?
Friday, August 19, 2011
The Ev Man is Growing Up
Everett D is getting so big!
And I'm not just talking cheeks here.
The boy is starting to parrot everything we say. He's had several words he's said for a while now, but now he's entered the parrot stage. Full-on talking isn't far behind. Some of his favorite words to say end in -k or -ck and he says that sound with such emphasis; it's super cute. Milk, snake (nake), snack (nack), truck (tuck), book, backpack (said VERY clearly...Ty said the word backpack on our last road trip when he was talking to Max, and Ev exclaimed "backpack!" It was so clear that I thought it was Max or Kelly, but it was the Ev Man.) I can't list all of the words he says because he's talking a ton and my brain doesn't work well enough to remember them all, but those are some of my favorite because of his emphasis.
Brother has a green blanket with a satin edge that he sleeps with. About a month ago I was putting him down and while I was singing to him in his crib (per his request...he loves his bed and doesn't want to be sung to while I rock him anymore; he reaches for his crib when I start singing) he took the blanket and ran his hands along the edges until he got to the corner of the blanket and pulled it up to his face. Now I just make sure that he has the corner when I lay him down. I love little preferences like that.
Everett is a prolific dancer. I thought Kelly loved to dance when she was younger, but I think Everett likes it a little more. His body just can't be helped; he HAS to move when he hears music. A few months ago we were at the YMCA pool and there is a slide that he goes on by himself (it lands in really shallow water) and he indicated that he wanted to go one more time before we left. I told him, "Okay, ONE more time." As he was walking over to the slide he suddenly became aware of the music that was being played for the Aqua Zumba class and he started to get his groove on. It was super cute so I just let him dance for a bit before I said, "Okay, Ev, go on the slide." He remembered that's what he was doing and took a few more steps toward the slide before the music overcame him again. We did that a few more times before I had to put him on the slide so that he would go down and we could leave. Brother just HAD to dance. He has a really good STOMP move and his BACKING UP moves are pretty sweet too.
Ev has all of his molars and his front middle teeth, but is missing several in between. Actually, I think the top teeth have all broken through now. But we're still waiting on 4 bottom teeth.
The boy is starting to parrot everything we say. He's had several words he's said for a while now, but now he's entered the parrot stage. Full-on talking isn't far behind. Some of his favorite words to say end in -k or -ck and he says that sound with such emphasis; it's super cute. Milk, snake (nake), snack (nack), truck (tuck), book, backpack (said VERY clearly...Ty said the word backpack on our last road trip when he was talking to Max, and Ev exclaimed "backpack!" It was so clear that I thought it was Max or Kelly, but it was the Ev Man.) I can't list all of the words he says because he's talking a ton and my brain doesn't work well enough to remember them all, but those are some of my favorite because of his emphasis.
Brother has a green blanket with a satin edge that he sleeps with. About a month ago I was putting him down and while I was singing to him in his crib (per his request...he loves his bed and doesn't want to be sung to while I rock him anymore; he reaches for his crib when I start singing) he took the blanket and ran his hands along the edges until he got to the corner of the blanket and pulled it up to his face. Now I just make sure that he has the corner when I lay him down. I love little preferences like that.
Everett is a prolific dancer. I thought Kelly loved to dance when she was younger, but I think Everett likes it a little more. His body just can't be helped; he HAS to move when he hears music. A few months ago we were at the YMCA pool and there is a slide that he goes on by himself (it lands in really shallow water) and he indicated that he wanted to go one more time before we left. I told him, "Okay, ONE more time." As he was walking over to the slide he suddenly became aware of the music that was being played for the Aqua Zumba class and he started to get his groove on. It was super cute so I just let him dance for a bit before I said, "Okay, Ev, go on the slide." He remembered that's what he was doing and took a few more steps toward the slide before the music overcame him again. We did that a few more times before I had to put him on the slide so that he would go down and we could leave. Brother just HAD to dance. He has a really good STOMP move and his BACKING UP moves are pretty sweet too.
Ev has all of his molars and his front middle teeth, but is missing several in between. Actually, I think the top teeth have all broken through now. But we're still waiting on 4 bottom teeth.He's had a rough summer as far as facial wounds/bruises go. We just had to go ahead with family pictures in July because I figured that we weren't going to have a week without something on his face. So now he'll be sporting a nice bruise right between his eyes in this family picture forever. A true snapshot of his childhood thus far.
He loves to be outside and runs the toy lawnmower up and down the grass over and over again. He thinks that he is one of the big kids and can hold his own among them most of the time. He loves to laugh and will laugh whenever he hears someone else laughing. When he's excited he tenses his whole body, with his arms at a 90-degree angle, and gets a huge smile on his face. Sometimes I laugh or get excited about things just to hear/see him copy me.
He loves to be outside and runs the toy lawnmower up and down the grass over and over again. He thinks that he is one of the big kids and can hold his own among them most of the time. He loves to laugh and will laugh whenever he hears someone else laughing. When he's excited he tenses his whole body, with his arms at a 90-degree angle, and gets a huge smile on his face. Sometimes I laugh or get excited about things just to hear/see him copy me.
Ev is now in nursery! He has loved it every single week. It might help to have a big sister in there, but he has not had a moment of sadness. It's great!
Oh, that little boy is delightful. I love him to pieces. And I totally get the kid cheek squishing thing now. With my other kids I've thought it was a little weird when people felt the need to squish their cheeks. But with Everett, it makes perfect sense. I love to squish/kiss them all the time. Love this little man.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The most romantic trip that almost wasn't
Let me clarify. The TRIP almost wasn't...the ROMANCE was never in question. If you read the post below, you know that I got super (weird) sick and our 5 day, 4 night backpacking trip through the Olympic Mountains had to be modified. The really cool (as in temperature) summer we've had also contributed to rerouting our trip a few times because there is still so stinking much snow on the mountains...in mid-August...it's just not right...don't you agree? We've been planning this trip for about a year as a celebration of Ty finishing his MBA. So these two things were not very welcome obstacles. But it still worked out beautifully.
I have no apologies for the vast amount of pictures in this post. In fact, you should thank me. The Olympic Mountains are just so beautiful.
The next day was a relaxing morning in the most beautiful forest in the world (I'm sure of it) and then we started out on our hike. The really great thing about being sick the week of your backpacking trip is that your hubs feels the need to take more of the weight for you. Hence, his pack was 50 lbs while mine was a mere 25 lbs. I think I'll pull the sick trick next time we go too. JUST kidding. But for our hike that day I was packless and Ty carried our food and some extra clothing. We hiked to Flapjack Lakes (gorgeous! the water was so clear and so blue), ate our PB&T lunch (peanut butter and tortilla...I was skeptical, but it was really good), then continued on to Gladys Divide. My Granny who passed away last year is named Gladys, so I was especially happy with the name of our trail. On the way we spotted a bear high up in a mountain meadow. We checked each other out for a while (pretty sure he/she was looking right at us) before continuing on and then I checked the trees near the trail for the rest of the hike to see if that bear had any friends. :) We wanted to hike Mount Gladys, but because of the snow it was tough enough to find the trail for the Divide...we thought we lost it for a little while. I just don't think we had the equipment or would have been able to find the trail for the mountain. We spent some time up there enjoying the gorgeous views and then hiked our way down the mountain, picked up our other pack, and continued on another mile or so.
Our intent was to camp at Big Log Camp that night, but as we were crossing Madeline Creek we noticed that right down near the creek there were some unofficial campsites. We decided that we liked the seclusion of it (even if it meant no bathroom...cause the bathrooms are rather gross anyway) and set up camp. Ahhh....right on the river, gorgeous forest, just me and my favorite person in the world, no distractions. I was almost brought to tears with the romance and perfection of it all. We were tired from hiking 12 miles that day, but had a lot of time to relax and talk and kiss...it was bliss. I told Tyler that night that it was up there with the most romantic things we'd ever done. We WERE totally by ourselves for a while, but had two campers join us at a site a little ways away. Luckily they came just as Ty was taking a shower with the camping shower he bought for the trip. Ha! Possibly one of my favorite memories from the trip was when Ty yelled, "Dana! There are PEOPLE!" and I looked over to see two hikers looking straight at our camp. I couldn't stop laughing.
The next day we were super lazy...just as we'd planned. We didn't wake up until 8:30 and then didn't get out of our tent until 9:30. We had breakfast, relaxed for a while, took down camp, and slowly hiked out the 4.5 miles to our car, taking pictures of the beauty along the way.
I absolutely LOVED this trip. I think all couples should backpack to get away. It was heaven. No phones, no televisions, hardly any other people around. Nothing. Just you and the gorgeous wilderness. It probably helps to go backpacking with a ruggedly (I love when he gets some scruff) handsome Eagle Scout who loves a good map, can tie knots and build fires like nobody's business, carries a heavier load than he has to, and can rig up a place for a shower and some bear wire wherever he is. I'm even more in love.
We started our adventure on Thursday evening with a 3.5 mile hike to Spike Camp. We didn't arrive at camp until about 9:30 p.m. The trail was getting pretty dark toward the end, but we were just shy of breaking out the head lamps. We set up camp, ate our Subway sandwiches (I'm sure there's some backpacking code against such food, but it was easy and delicious), sat around the fire a bit and hit the hay.
The next day was a relaxing morning in the most beautiful forest in the world (I'm sure of it) and then we started out on our hike. The really great thing about being sick the week of your backpacking trip is that your hubs feels the need to take more of the weight for you. Hence, his pack was 50 lbs while mine was a mere 25 lbs. I think I'll pull the sick trick next time we go too. JUST kidding. But for our hike that day I was packless and Ty carried our food and some extra clothing. We hiked to Flapjack Lakes (gorgeous! the water was so clear and so blue), ate our PB&T lunch (peanut butter and tortilla...I was skeptical, but it was really good), then continued on to Gladys Divide. My Granny who passed away last year is named Gladys, so I was especially happy with the name of our trail. On the way we spotted a bear high up in a mountain meadow. We checked each other out for a while (pretty sure he/she was looking right at us) before continuing on and then I checked the trees near the trail for the rest of the hike to see if that bear had any friends. :) We wanted to hike Mount Gladys, but because of the snow it was tough enough to find the trail for the Divide...we thought we lost it for a little while. I just don't think we had the equipment or would have been able to find the trail for the mountain. We spent some time up there enjoying the gorgeous views and then hiked our way down the mountain, picked up our other pack, and continued on another mile or so.
Our intent was to camp at Big Log Camp that night, but as we were crossing Madeline Creek we noticed that right down near the creek there were some unofficial campsites. We decided that we liked the seclusion of it (even if it meant no bathroom...cause the bathrooms are rather gross anyway) and set up camp. Ahhh....right on the river, gorgeous forest, just me and my favorite person in the world, no distractions. I was almost brought to tears with the romance and perfection of it all. We were tired from hiking 12 miles that day, but had a lot of time to relax and talk and kiss...it was bliss. I told Tyler that night that it was up there with the most romantic things we'd ever done. We WERE totally by ourselves for a while, but had two campers join us at a site a little ways away. Luckily they came just as Ty was taking a shower with the camping shower he bought for the trip. Ha! Possibly one of my favorite memories from the trip was when Ty yelled, "Dana! There are PEOPLE!" and I looked over to see two hikers looking straight at our camp. I couldn't stop laughing.
The next day we were super lazy...just as we'd planned. We didn't wake up until 8:30 and then didn't get out of our tent until 9:30. We had breakfast, relaxed for a while, took down camp, and slowly hiked out the 4.5 miles to our car, taking pictures of the beauty along the way.
I absolutely LOVED this trip. I think all couples should backpack to get away. It was heaven. No phones, no televisions, hardly any other people around. Nothing. Just you and the gorgeous wilderness. It probably helps to go backpacking with a ruggedly (I love when he gets some scruff) handsome Eagle Scout who loves a good map, can tie knots and build fires like nobody's business, carries a heavier load than he has to, and can rig up a place for a shower and some bear wire wherever he is. I'm even more in love.Mick and Mags Visit Washington
I have a seemingly rare set of WONDERFUL in-laws. I am so lucky. They were just here for 10 days and I was choked up after they left and kind of melancholy the rest of the day. Today too. A friend called and I told her that my in-laws were visiting and that they'd been here for 10 days. She said, "Oh. Is that too long?" I answered quickly and honestly, "Oh, no!" Because I love having them here.
The first few days were perfect and then on Sunday something hit me and by Monday morning I was in serious pain, called Ty in tears at work, and agreed to let him come home and bring me some medicine (I NEVER ask him to come home from work). I made a doctor's appt. that day which lead to more appointments and even a visit to the ER. I'll blog about that at a later date. It wasn't fun and I was very frustrated. It especially stunk because Tyler and I had been planning to leave that Tuesday for a backpacking trip we'd planned for a year. But with some TLC from Tyler and my mother-in-law, Margaret, a blessing, and many prayers, I was able to get over whatever it was in just a few days. At first I was SO annoyed that it was happening while they were visiting because I wanted to do fun things together. But I quickly realized what a huge blessing it was to have them here during that ordeal. We didn't have to find places for the kids while we did all of the appointments or while I was trying to recover. Margaret didn't have to ask, she just took over and did laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, cleaning, and took care of my kids too. I am so thankful that they were here and were so helpful.
We were reevaluating the week on Tuesday night because at that point I could barely lean over, let alone carry a 30 lb pack through the wilderness. We talked about going to Mount St. Helens and a few other options. On Wednesday morning I was still weak, but feeling quite a bit better so I went on faith (seriously) and told Tyler that I thought we should go out to dinner that night with his parents, leave for Mount St. Helens the next morning, and then have Mickey and Margaret drop us off to start our backpacking trip. So that's what we did...and all of the prayers worked because I was feeling completely better just in time.
We came back on Saturday night to very happy kids who were loved and cared for while we were gone. It's so nice to leave kids with grandparents who love them and love the time with them! We watched Mamma Mia! that night while eating Tillamook ice cream and on Sunday after church we went to Scenic Beach State Park for a while. It was a fabulous visit and I am so THANKFUL that they came! I love you, Mickey and Margaret. Thank you so much for coming!
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