Holiday pics

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season! We had a lovely Christmas with our family, despite the fact that we still haven't received some of the packages we were expecting.

Christmas day.

My mom, dad and brother, in the kitchen.

And I finally got a couple of pictures of Spring smiling today!!

She's a very chatty little girl. She coos much more than I remember Reed cooing. I love our little mother-daughter talks!!

Port Orchard Ski Report

12-1/2" base with 3" new.

Ug, is this ever going to end?

Merry Christmas Eve!

** update ***

Measured our outdoor table, and it was over 14". Cammy and I figure we've probably gotten close to 20" this storm.

Snow... all done... bye bye

(gerry here again) That's how we've been feeling. It's been never ending, at least it looks like there will be no more until wedensday. But weds supposed to bring another snow and rain mix, which is what it was supposed to be tonight. Tt's looking like it will be until next weekend before we get any serious melting.

Here's picture from this morning. You can barely see the snow pile Reed and I made on thursday, and our giant ferm in our front yard is nearly burried.

We managed to get out yesterday evening to go to a friends solstice party, the subaru barely made it up the hill to their house... and coming back down was quite the adventure. We were like one of those bad snowboards who skid down the hill sideways in order to keep their speed low and in control. Not exactly fun.

Solstice Storm '08

(Gerry here)
Happy first day of winter! We are finally past the days of increasing darkness, and today, the days start getting longer again. The sun is reborn, and the light will now begin the long process of overtaking the darkness.

I actually had to go buy a snow shovel yesterday. The subaru has been having lots of fun finding donuts in the snow. The stores were crazy busy yesterday, and after a chaotic trip to costco, we tried to go to the grocery store and gave up. I went back after the snow started to fall in the late afternoon, and it was a bit less crazy. The snow shovel works ok, but once I got to the ice below, I busted out the weed dragon propane torch :)... it made quick work of it. Is there anything a weed dragon can't do?




Reed has been enjoying the snow... he wants to go out to play, then we get outside and he doesn't want to walk in it or touch it. But he loves watching mommy or daddy play in it.

And a big congratulations to three new Momma's. Congratulations to Emily, Cara, and Katherine on their new babies. Ms. Jeanette, you're next! Any day now!

sNOw

I was excited to take Reed out in the snow this year. I figured he'd be old enough now to actually enjoy it a bit, but I was wrong. Here's how it went...

Me: "Reed do you want to go play in the snow?

Reed: "No"

Me: "Are you sure?"

Reed: "No, no, no, no, noooo!"

After much convincing, we get outside...

Me: "Do you want to walk in the snow?"

Reed: "No"

Me: "Do you want to touch in the snow?"

Reed: "No"

Me: "Look, mommy eats the snow, do you want to eat the snow?"

Reed: "No"

Okay, I'm seeing that the snow is not a hit. I figure I'll cut my losses and we'll go inside and make some hot cocoa. So Reed helps me make the hot cocoa, and he seems pretty excited about it until...

Me: "Reed, do you want to drink your cocoa?"

Reed: "No, no, no, no, noooooo!"

LOL! Maybe next year all this stuff will be more enjoyable! He did eventually drink some of the cocoa and once he tried it, he seemed to enjoy it. :-)

We also got a Christmas tree this weekend. We didn't even get poor Spring out of the car because it was just too cold. Usually we like to hike around and find the best tree, but this year, we scouted our tree from the car.

Reed helped decorate the tree. That dense patch of ornaments is his contribution. So far, our ornament death toll is four. One broken in storage, one broken by me, and two broken by Reed. I'm thinking that's not too bad for our first todler Christmas!

And can I say how much I love digital cameras? Spring was smiling and cooing at me and I took 26 pictures trying to catch a smile (of course she stopped smiling once I got the camera). That's an entire roll of film! Here's the best of the batch.

Roly poly

Sure, Spring is a bit chunkier than Reed (who was super skinny), but the roly poly in the title does not refer to her weight, but to the fact that she rolled over for the first time on Sunday! Not just once, oh no. She wanted to show us that she really knew what she was doing so 4 times in a row, she rolled from her front to her back! She's only 7 weeks old!! I knew it was a bit early, but I looked it up in a baby book and they don't expect babies to roll over till they're 6 months old (though I suspect most babies may do this sooner). Sheesh, I guess children with older siblings really do hit their milestones quicker!

As luck would have it, Spring had just had a bath (her first bath where she didn't cry which I was thinking was a pretty big milestone in and of itself) and I had told Gerry to get the camera so we could take pictures of her cute naked bum. When I put her on the floor for pictures, she rolled over, so we actually have pictures of her rolling over for the first time! How cool is that!?

It started with a look of fierce determination.

Then she got onto her side.

Then on her back. It might be a little hard to tell the way I cropped the pictures, but I really try to keep my children's future modesty in mind when posting for all the world to see so you'll just have to believe me. It was hard to resist helping her, but she did it all on her own!!

And what has Reed been up to? He's cutting three teeth right now, two molars and I think he's finally getting his last eye tooth. He's doing amazingly well considering he must be pretty uncomfortable. Yesterday we had some fun carrying our babies in our wraps. Reed knows that when Spring cries, I put her in a wrap and walk around with her. Often when Spring gets fussy, Reed will say "baby wrap" and "mommy, walk around". Reed wanted to put wear teddy in one of the wraps, then insisted that we both walk around!

Santa!

Saturday our neighborhood fire station held a Santa breakfast so we took the Reed and Spring. We missed it last year, but we'd gone when Reed was just a baby and enjoyed it then, so we had been looking forward to going this year. Reed ate a big pancake, then it was time to sit on Santa's lap. We let Santa hold Spring first, figuring that Reed might not stay in Santa's lap long. Sure enough, this was all we got of Reed with Santa.

So this year, mommy got to have her picture with Santa too!! :-)

Perhaps the best part about Santa breakfast at the fire station is that they pull out a fire truck and an ambulance for the kids to look at and sit in. Fun for kids and adults alike! It was a little funny to me to think that the ambulance we were looking at could have been one of the two that responded to my mom's call when I had Spring!

Busy, busy, busy

This is a busy time of year anyway, but with three family birthdays, Halloween and Thanksgiving in the space of 6 weeks, it's an especially busy time in our household. I joked with Gerry that I was pretty sure that from now on, my birthday (the last of the family birthdays) would be on the brink of being forgotten! It's just hard to get excited to plan one more celebration when we've already had the two most important birthdays in our family just weeks before!! :-)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had my parents and later in the evening, my brother over and were also able to share the day with our good friends Dave and Emily. Gerry and Dave went out in the Zodiac and caught six crab which we cooked up for dinner in addition to the regular Thanksgiving turkey feast! Emily and Dave are expecting, so it was fun for Gerry and Dave to get some guy time, while Emily, my mom and I had a great time talking pregnancy and babies.

Reed has finally gotten to the age where he likes showing off for people! He spent much of the day yesterday leading Emily and Dave around the house to show them various household attractions, but especially his car bed!

Spring is cooing and smiling more and more! I LOVE it!! We're still getting her bed time needs figured out. For example, last night was fairly teary, but tonight, no tears at all!

All smiles

Well, I thought I may have seen a smile two days ago, but yesterday, I was sure, Spring is smiling!! We've gotten lots of dreamy smiles already, but yesterday she was nursing, and pulled away and gave me several great big, wide awake smiles! It melted my heart!!! And to go with the smiles yesterday, I got a couple of cooing noises. So exciting! :-)

And, I've been able to get Spring to sleep in a co-sleeper for at least part of the night for the past few nights. It's taken me a while to figure out how to get her to sleep since it's different from how Reed would go to sleep, but I think we're finally making progress. I thought we might be heading toward having a colicky baby since for several nights in a row, she would cry for at least an hour, usually more, before bed time. We've learned that she really needs to be close during that time, so I put her in my wrap, and she's a whole different baby. She still cries a bit, but nothing compared to the nerve-wracking hours of crying we had before.

And a fun Reed story. Reed and Gerry were playing in Reed's room a few days ago, and Gerry was pretending to sleep in the rocking chair. I gave Reed a mischievous suggestions, something like, why don't you go tickle Daddy while he's sleeping. But even with that suggestion, what does Reed do? He gets blankets to cover Daddy up!! He really likes taking care of people and things right now. He's been trying to nurse his animals (or minimohs as he calls them) and yesterday, he tried to put on the wrap to carry around his dinosaurs! He's such a sweet little boy!!!

This picture of Reed is unrelated to my post. He's showing what a messy snack freeze-dried blueberries can be!

Happy Birthday Roo!!

Yesterday we celebrated Reed's second birthday! I can't believe my little boy is two years old already!!

We started the day by taking the ferry to Seattle and going to the aquarium.

It was Spring's first ferry ride!

Reed had a ball at the aquarium, especially splashing around in the touch tanks!

When we came home, we had dinner, and Reed got to help decorate his birthday cake. Here Daddy and Grandma show him what licking the beaters after making frosting is all about!

Putting sprinkles on the cake was fun, but it required constant vigilance to make sure that the holes were not getting clogged with frosting!

Unlike last year, Reed thought that cake was a wonderful food! "Seriously guys, why don't we have this everyday?"

Picture time

So it has been brought to my attention that we need more pictures of Spring on the blog, so here you go!

Spring is doing really well! Our goal with her right now is to get her to sleep in the co-sleeper (a type of bassinet which is more like a side-car for our bed). Since day one, she has refused to sleep for any prolonged period of time in any place other than on a person, which means she's been spending the night in our bed. I'm not opposed to bed sharing with my babies, but I'd be more comfortable if she'd spend at least some part of the night in her own space. Last night, we had our first little victory when she slept till 1:30 in her co-sleeper! Woot!!

Spring giving us a dream smile!

Grandpa and Spring.

Trick or Treat

I love halloween, it's the only day of the year that you get to dress your kids up in silly costumes, and parade them around the neighborhood. Granted, WE do this several times a year anyway, unlike normal people...

What you see here, is the rare Northwest Growling frog. We tried to teach Reed to say "Ribbit", but anytime we asked him "What does a frog say?" he would growl... too cute! Spring had a good time too, bundled up next to nice warm Mommy, under her coat.

-Gerry

They grow up so fast!

Some milestones for both kiddos tonight!

Spring had her two week check up today and it turns out that she has gained a pound already! Usually, doctors like to see babies back to their birth weight at two weeks and gaining an ounce a day. Well, Spring definitely surpassed her birth weight and has gained an average of two ounces a day! I'm kind of amazed that my body is making that much food for her and it makes me wonder if I would have made this much milk for Reed had our nursing not been hindered by his breathing trouble and jaundice...

And Reed has reached two milestones. We moved his crib out of his room and he now sleeps in his toddler bed which we are thrilled with! I was a little worried about how well the transition would go since he LOVED his crib, but I think the fact that his new bed is a car, helps a lot! And, for the first time, Reed peed on his potty chair yesterday, not just once, but twice! So begins the potty learning... I think we're a long way from being out of diapers, but this is definitely progress!

My side of the story

I thought some of you might be wondering how it happened that I didn't realize that I was so close to delivering a baby, so I thought I'd share my side of the birthing story!

For several nights previous to Spring's arrival, I had been going into early labor in the evening, waking up with contractions around 2 or 3 in the morning, only to have my contractions taper off and stop by mid-morning. So Wednesday evening, when I started having contractions again, I didn't think much of it. When I hadn't slept at all be 1 in the morning, I consulted my doula and midwives, took a Nytol and tried to get some sleep (still thinking I wasn't going to stay in labor).

My mom had come to stay the night and I was really thankful for that at 2 am when my contractions got strong enough that I couldn't cope with them on my own. She and I had gone through childbirth classes together so that she could be my labor coach. I got in the guest bed with her, and was shaking hard, which can be a sign of transition (the last part of labor before pushing). But transition is often a very difficult stage for women and this didn't feel all that difficult. Thankfully my mom decided to call our doula.

I labored without too much pain for an hour or so but I was really tired (bear in mind, I hadn't slept well for the last three nights and I had taken nytol not long before) so my doula suggested that I try laying down through my contractions so that I could doze in between. This worked well for me and I did it for an hour or so. Not super comfortable, but I was glad not to be getting up and down. Then, out of the blue, I felt the urge to push! I thought I would get some sign from my body that I was getting close to pushing, but nope! It took fewer than 10 pushes for Spring to be born, and for most of those, my doula was coaching me not to push since we still thought we might make it to the birth center.

I really think that all the work I did preparing for this birth helped me stay calm and relaxed through labor, which helped labor progress so quickly and easily. The only morsel of regret I have is that I was looking forward to delivering at the Birthing Inn and having a water birth, but I wouldn't trade the experience I had for anything!!

Brilliant Babyproofing

In order to make room for Spring, we've moved our computer into the front room, where it is not longer behind a door, so Reed had been finding it more often. Cammy, the other night in her brilliance, suggested we make it lock out after a few minutes, so Reed can tap away all he wants and we don't need to worry about him sending out incoherent e-mails to everyone.

Grandma Lisa implimented the idea, with another stoke of brilliance. She set the screen saver to "Bubbles", and Reed absolutely loved it! Pretty soon, Reed figured out that if he touched the keyboard, or jiggled the mouse, the bubbles would go away.

Brilliant!

Spring Mills Austin

We've finally decided on a name. With the way she came into our lifes, it's only appropriate that we name her Spring. She's been quite happy and content these past few days as we've gotten to know her.


Our Port Orchard photographer friend Kathryn, came by to take some great pictures of Spring yesterday, as well as one of the four of us. (please click the link above so she can get better promoted on Google).

Grandma Lisa has been staying with us the past few days being a huge help. It's great having someone to help with the chores, cooking and cleaning, and entertaining Reed, and a visit from Grandma Lisa is always fun!

Reed has been wonderful lately. As I'm typing this, he's running up and down the halls yelling "ahhhh ahhhh ahhh". Poor Grandma Lisa is trying to take a nap...

The story of the boat

A post with nothing to do about babys.

I'm a boat nut. I love boats. Years ago, I bought a coronado 15' sailboat, Sunshine Daydream, that we've had a lot of fun with. I started racing it in the evening races here in Port Orchard a few years ago, and one of my first races, I talked a friend of mine, Cody, into coming along who'd never sailed before. The first thing he said when we were lining up for the start, and the 30' and 35' foot boats dwarfed us, was "We need a bigger boat". Cody found a San Juan 7.7 (26' long) on craigslist that had been sitting neglected in Liberty bay, and bought it. Over the past two years, he's done quite a bit of work to it, and we've been racing in the West Sound Sailing Series as well as many other club races. She's been a fun boat.

During the last race, last season (end of june), we were nearing the start, and got hit by another boat. We were on the right of way tack, but should have seen the other guy coming. The guy who we hit is a friend of ours, so everything was cool. Both boats were insured, so no big deal. The damage to Cody's boat was moderate, but nothing that couldn't be fixed... when I'd bought Sunshine Daydream, she was in sad shape, so over the years, I've gotten pretty good at doing fiberglass repairs. Functional repairs... not nessecarily pretty ones. So long story short, he got paid for his boat by the insurance company since professional fiberglass is really expensive, and we put an ugly, but functional patch on it. Over the summer, he's decided one again, he needs a bigger boat, this time something he can actually stand up inside of, and was ready to get rid of the San Juan. Since it wasn't in perfect shape, he said, I can have it if I want it.

Owning a boat on this side of the state is expensive. Moorage isn't cheap, and with salt water, the boat is in a constant state of decay, so maintenance takes a lot of time. It's always been a dream of mine and my uncle Chads to have a 26' boat on lake chelan, where it's fresh water, and much drier during the winter. We realized we couldn't pass up the opportunity. The logistics were pretty challenging seeing as how winter is closing in for a trip over the pass, we had to do it cheap, had no trailer, or a place to park the boat on the lake in the winter when the lake level drops. And on top of it all, Cammy was due with baby any day.

But as with everything in life, sometimes you've just got to "seize the day" and go for it.

On Monday Chad found a trailer in Chelan he could borrow for a few days, via a community radio program. He's planned to take the whole week off anyway, so the timing was good. Tuesday, I took the day off, motored the boat from Brownsville to Port Orchard, where it was hauled out, and placed on the trailer. In a few hours, we had the mast stepped, and she was ready for a trip across the pass. A tire failure on Tiger Mountain and repair in North Bend later, and the boat safely arrived in Chelan, where Chad got her re-rigged and in the water. On saturday, he even found a place to moor her over the winter via his insurance agent, who just happens to also be the president of a private marina. Since most people pull their boats out in the winter, they were happy to work out a deal with us!

Yeah, it's been a great week. A beautiful baby girl and a sailboat on Lake Chelan... what more could a Daddy possibly ask for!

Baby Bun

Here's a little video of baby that I took the other night...

Enjoy.

Big Brother

Reed has once again amazed us. Yesterday, baby started to cry while I was holding her, and Reed came up and said 'Mama!', then we went into the other room to find Cammy, where he said "Mama... baabeee...." and signed for "nursing"... Cammy asked, does baby need to nurse, and Reed said "Ya!". Then he picked up the boppy and handed to Cammy, and he looked and me and pointed at Cammy and said "baaabee", so I would give the baby to Cammy so she could nurse.

He's such an amazing little guy.

Everythings going great

Baby is doing well. Our pediatrician was concerned because she lost quite a bit of weight in the first 24 hours, but she's gaining weight now, and is nursing well.... it's just modern medicine making us paraniod again... you think we'd know better by now...

Here are some pics for today... we've got the name list narrowed, and will announce it sometime in the near future.