Easton's Nursery

We still have 8 weeks left but we are about as ready as we can be for baby Easton to arrive. It sounds wierd to be calling him by name but that is the name we are set on. Lets just hope that he comes out looking like and Easton. Otherwise we are in trouble!!!
The room came together just how I wanted. Larry was so patient with me doing his favorite job in the world....painting. Instead of putting permanent chair rail around the middle Karol (artistic genius who did the designs and threw my shower for me) suggested we use ribbon. The blue around the middle is actually grosgrain ribbon! Just a few more touches.

His name will be in wooden letters above the crib. Leave it to me that he has an entire closet full of clothes already but not to worry I don't think I paid full price for anything! Thank god for Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I think they know me by name now (Larry won't think that's funny)

he.....he....who...........

We finished week 2 of childbirth class. It brought me back to any movie I have ever seen with a woman in labor. I had a hard time keeping a straight face while practicing the relaxing breathing. The massage is nice though. Went to the doctor today and spent about 5 minutes in the office. Listened to the heartbeat, measured the belly, everything on the chart was normal (except according to me the weight gain.....Yikes) and I was out. Everything checked out good!

10 Weeks and Counting!

We are getting down to the wire. My how time flies! We went to the doctor the other day and everything checked out well. The yummy glucose test I took a few weeks back came out negative for diabetes and anemia. I won't tell you how much weight I gained in the past month....lets just say it was a shocker to me but the doctor said it was normal. Thanks to everyone that says "Oh, you are all stomach"! We had a very relaxed weekend watching the Olympics and hanging in the pool. Larry took a long bike ride on Sunday morning while I slept. I've made it 7 and a half months without being sick and for some reason my stomach is getting sensative.......I fear it may be the start of heartburn! Until next time..........

An Alien in My Stomach

I swear it looks like there is an alien in my stomach! The baby has been super active the past few days and being able to see him move from the outside is a strange feeling! Yesterday right after lunch we could see him rolling around and then he started to kick. He stuck his foot on the right side and I could feel it pressing on my stomach! I pushed back and he moved it but then kicked it again. It's sort of a little game. I had my glucose testing done on Friday. We will be starting our childbirth classes on Wednesday this week then go to see the doctor on Thursday for our monthly checkup. Only about 12 weeks to go........... Karol came over on Thursday and we finished paining the baby's room. Just a few more details and it will be ready to go. I'll post a picture soon!

Ultrasound Baby Update

Well, it is definitely a boy! She said that 110% it was a boy! He was being a little stubborn (he must take after mom already) and wanted to keep crossing his legs. We did get some good shots however. The new place that we went for our ultrasound was amazing. The machine they had was really new and does the 3D ultrasounds. We got to watch the whole thing on a tv screen on the wall rather than on the tech screen. Even though we did not pay for the 3D, the tech took some pictures with it anyway for us. When looking at them Larry says that the baby looks like he has my nose. She was very thorough giving us details of everything we were looking at. We even got to see the valves that push the blood in and out of the heart opening and closing. We saw the brain upclose as well which was really facinating. He currently is 1 lb. 13 oz. which is right on target for his 29th of October due date. She said that everything looked textbook perfect which is a little sigh of relief. WE will head back to the doctor in early August for our montly check up. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Latest Doctor's Apt.

We went to see the new doctor yesterday. We decided to switch after touring Banner Desert Medical Center which is so close to our house! I got some recommendations for Dr. Linnerson and we were both very impressed! He has been delivering babies for 29 years and had delivered over 8,000 babies including many high risk babies. We both left feeling like it was a much better choice for us. We have another ultrasound scheduled for the 18th to try to get a clearer picture and more confirmation that it really is a boy! We'll keep you posted.

Trip to Alaska

We just got back from our first trip to Alaska! We were gone from June 29th-July 6th. What an amazing week it was. It was a first for both of us and we have decided that we will for sure be going back! For those of you that have not been, it is a whole other world filled with beauty.

Sunday, June 29th-We started our trip flying into Anchorage and meeting up with our friends Kelli and Jay that are from Alaska originally but now live in Denver, CO. We had the native tour guides! We stayed two nights with Kelli's parents in Eagle River which is just outside of Anchorage. The weather was a bit cloudy when we got there and about 60 degrees which was a nice change from the 110's here in Phoenix! Kelli's parents had a huge BBQ to welcome us. The boys went for a little hike up Mt. Baldy that evening and had a nice encounter with a grizzly bear! Of course they did not have the bear spray but turned and walked away slowly. It gave them a good scare!

Monday, June 30th -We loaded the car and headed up to Matanuska Glacier. We spent a couple of hours actually walking on a gigantic glacier! The weather was beautiful and sunny and we took some amazing pictures.

Tuesday July 1st- We headed down towards Homer, AK making a few stops on the way to take pictures of bald eagles and moose. We checked into a little vacation rental on East End Road that had amazing views of the ocean and mountains in the background. We walked around the spit, down the beach, and through a few of the little tourist shops there. That night we had dinner at a great little place called "Fat Olives". They had the biggest pizza, 28", that I have ever seen!

Wednesday, July 2nd- We got up early to catch a tour over to Peterson Bay and China Poot Bay out of Homer. We went with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies program who took us over for about 6 hours. The weather was a bit overcast and drizzly but it was a -5 tide which was great for viewing the tide pools. We spend a few hours walking through the tide pools and seeing things like starfish, hermit crabs, octopus, urchins, crabs, and so much more. We had two very knowledgeable naturalists with us (Bre and Dirty Dan) that taught us all about the wildlife and how to appreciate and preserve it. After going through the tide pools we had some lunch and I was ready for a nap! Kelli and I stayed back in one of the yurts and took a snooze while the boys went on a hike with the guides. For dinner that night we ate at a little place called "Cups". It was one of the most amazing restaurants I have ever been to. A little pricey but worth it!

Thursday, July 3rd- We packed up and headed down to Kenai where we met up with some friends of mine from Oregon. Dick and Darlene Kelm had built a great little cabin in Kenai where they are spending most of the year now. They made us a great lunch then we headed just a bit down the road to stay with Jay's grandparents Barb and Ansul. The made us a feast for dinner with fresh salmon, steak, potatoes, salad and the works! They have a great little cabin in Sodoltna and much to our surprise, no plumbing! It was a shock to us city dwellers that people have homes with outhouses. They were so welcoming and we really enjoyed our stay with them!

Friday, July 4th- We got up extra early this morning to head down to Seward, AK. We had a reservation with the Kenai Fjords Wildlife Tour and had to be there at 11:00 to board the boat. I think this was the highlight of the trip for all of us in many ways! We took a 6 hour tour out through Resurrection Bay and out into the ocean. Our weather was a bit overcast but the ocean was fairly calm on the way out. We felt very fortunate to have a wonderful captain who had been doing the tour for 15 years and really knew what he was looking for. We ended up seeing humpback whales, puffins, sea lions, porpoise (they were playing in front of the boat), and orcas! We spotted a pod of killer whales a while out and the captain followed them a bit off course of the tour but they ended up passing right by the boat. The huge male was feeding at the time and although it was hard to get pictures we managed to capture a few. The captain said that we were lucky to have seen them that day! We met a really nice couple, Josh and Claire, that were on a 3 month trip from San Francisco. They joined us for dinner that night at Jay's dad's house where we were staying. Mark and Laura were so kind to let us stay at their home for the next two nights.

Saturday, July 5th- We had a day to just sort of relax. We had been running like crazy for the past few days that we slept in this morning! In the afternoon the boys took off for hike while us girls we down to the little shops in Seward for some shopping. Later that evening we went out for a last seafood dinner at Ray's then for a drive along the water where we finally got to see some playful sea otters in the water!

Sunday, July 6th- We headed back to Anchorage to catch our plane back to Phoenix. Our children (Jack, Grace, Apollo, and Lucy) were so happy to see us home!

Overall, it was a trip of a lifetime! Our last little horah before our little one comes in October! Larry already has in the back of his mind to purchase some land up there for retirement!