this is whats going on

Ashur's 10 month check-up

2010-09-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Pictures by the wonderful Brittney Bauer

Our happy, content, social little smasher is 10 months old! He is growing a changing so fast. I cannot believe how fast the second baby time go by! I don't feel like I have taken enough pictures, he is just changing to quickly. Ashur is taking his first steps, he is up to about 6 steps at a time. He is learning to sign like a champ, he can sign more, please, milk and just today- thank you! He is talking alot more lately- I was alittle concerned about a month ago thinking Eli was talking more than him at this age...but he has caught up! He says mama, dada, hi and a version of Hello while he's on the phone. Thanks to Grandma Linda he came home with this adorable kkkk sound he makes for kitty and actually any furry animal he sees. He is working on a bark noise he says for dogs. She also taught him to point to himself every time she says "who does grandma love?" she did the same with Eli- sooo cute!!

Ashur's (9month)at 10 months check-up

21.9 lbs, 50th percentile in weight

28 3/4 Inches, 50th percentile in height

Eli is 3 years old

2010-09-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wow I thought Eli turning 3 warranted a whole blog about him. He is an amazing little boy and I cannot believe three years have gone by! This is my chance to brag on my little guy. Eli is extremely smart, he has always been very advanced verbally and socially. If you have met the kid you know he is not afraid to walk up to anyone, say hello, ask them there name, and strike up a conversation. He cracks me up sometimes, he knows alot of the clerks at Fred Meyers by name! Eli loves to dress up as characters- I think his dress up box would put any little girls to shame. He does have a genre he sticks with, mainly military, construction, police, firemen, and lately garbage men. He has a love/hate relationship with garbage trucks- he runs as fast as he can to the windows to see them when they come, but cries at night going to bed asking "there's no garbage trucks coming to get me?" Daily he accessorizes with boots, belts, hats, gloves, and the latest suspenders! For months we had to tie things around his body to look like suspenders, but just the other day we found some at the mall. He was in HEAVEN! They were our most recent bribe to successfully finishes potty training. He does pretty good staying dry most days and naps, but night-time is a no go. Eli loves, loves, love the military and is such a character when it comes to his soldier attitude. He sings, loudly and proudly "The ballad of the green berets" all the time. He stands at attention and salutes anytime he hears a song that sounds "military" to him. This involved him standing and saluting at the movie theater when the Universal pictures song came on, and standing up at church and saluting when he heard the sound of a snare drum. Good lord, this kid is funny!! Eric cracks up because it is all ELI! No military push from him at all. He hasn't even really seen Eric in the Army- since he has been off active duty the last 2 years. Eli will get a kick out of real Army life in a few months.

Eli's stats 3 year check-up
34 lbs in the 70th percentile for weight
37 inches in the 50th percentile for height

Favorite quote:
Eli: singing...fighting soldiers from the sky...
Eric: nodding his head to the beat
Eli: "stop dad, this isn't a dance party!"
Eric: "oh sorry I was just nodding"
Eli: "soldiers don't nod dad!"

Birth Doula, Labor Doula, Portland Doula

2010-06-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

I am a new Birth Doula! I finished my training in April and have been attending births towards my DONA(Doulas of North America) certification. I have to attend 3 births to be fully certified. I have one more mama due next week and I will be officially ready to send in my packet and be a full fledged Doula. I have taken on several moms this summer and fall, but am available for several more. If anyone knows someone who could use the support of a Doula in the birth- let me know! Here is a link to my website:

http://www.wix.com/meleabauer/Birth-Doula

Oh Mexico

2010-05-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Oh, down in Mexico
I never really been so I don't really know
Oh, Mexico
I guess I'll have to go

Our hotel had about 3 peacocks that roamed around. This one always stayed around the restaurant, and if you flirted good enough with him- he'd open up his feathers! He liked me ;)

The Hotel was beautiful. Filled with gardens and several pools. It was heavenly.

Beautiful Rachel and I. Or as I call it Ebony and Ivory.

Oh, man. The pool was wonderful. It was so nice to just have a vacation that was all about sunning, swimming, eating and alittle drinking ;)We did do one day trip into town, but otherwise no schedule at all! I also got 2 massages. I loved Mexico!

Rachel is a school teacher in Mexico City, my parents had planned on meeting up with her while they were in Mexico. They flew her over and asked me if I wouldn't mind coming to keep my buddy company. It was a hard decision, but I accepted. Eric was happy to keep the boys at home, which was sooo great of him. Thanks mom and dad for an awesome vacation!!!!

Oh, Mexico
It sounds so simple I just got to go
The sun's so hot I forgot to go home
Guess I'll have to go now

Army times

2010-05-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

Most of you know Eric graduated this spring and had his Commissioning ceremony in March. We were so excited to be done with school, drill and ROTC! He had a great time the last couple of years, but was ready to be done. Here's some pictures from his Commissioning ceremony and ROTC dining out.

Eric got the USAA "Spirit Award" sounds very cheerleader to me!

Us over looking the Columbia River at the Red Lion for ROTC Dining out

My brother Jonathan got to come up to be Eric's First Salute

Eli, Darcy and I got to put Eric's new Lieutenant rank on

way,way,way behind Ashur's 6 month update

2010-05-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I actually wrote this a month ago- but didn't have my camara ready to upload some photos! I seem to have some spare time at the moment so alittle catch up... I haven't been as good as posting with Ashur as I was with Eli! Two pretty big reasons for this, I'm sure you understand! First is having 2 kiddos, and second, I posted mostly for Eric while he was deployed. Now we are just relaxing and enjoying life as a family for a change before we gear up for "normal" army life soon. Which will mean Eric gone for long days, maybe some months spent apart and most likely another deployment in our future. Its enevidable people, he's in the Army. We don't have a for sure date or anything, we are just preparing for it. Eric has 12 more years in the military and I'm sure we will see another seperation in that time. I don't know if that is within the next couple years, or in 10 years, but its possible. This is kinda how we live our life, always ready for something new to happen and change our plans completely on us. We have learned to totally and completely trust God in everything that happens. Its kinda this roller coaster we got on and are being taken for a ride. We don't know where its going up, down or spinning out of control! But we chose to get on it, and enjoy the good parts and pray in the hard parts. Its an amazing experience to fully lay your life out there, we are continually learning what life is about and I wouldn't trade my life with anyone.
uh hmm, well... What I had wanted to blog about was Ashur turning 6 months. haha. The little chunker weighed in at 19.6 lbs on April 21st. So by now he's a good 20 lbs I'm sure! He's doing good, rolling, crawling, sitting and going for everything around the room. His crawl in still an inch worm thing, but man can he get around that way! He is awesome, so happy! And to his Daddy's joy has started into the dadadada phase.

Easter Morning. yes, I was more than happy to put them in matching outfits!

6 months of no sleep!!!

2010-05-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

The nights have been a struggle for us. Ashur started life great, nursing every 3-4 hours from the first week, and slowing started sleeping more and more at night. By only 3 weeks, he was sleeping through the night 9pm-8am! I was so proud of my little dream baby. Well...that didn't last long, around 2 months he started waking again in the night. No problem, 9pm-5am is a pretty good chunk of time too, but NO- some nights its midnight, 1am, 3:30am, 5am, 9am. He was all over the place waking up at different times every night. Eli was such a great sleeper and I think I kinda followed babywise method with him- but didn't need much, he just sorter did it on his own. So with Ashur, I still follow a schedule and put him to sleep awake and let him learn to fall asleep on his own, which worked great during the day and going to bed at night- but he just wouldn't STAY asleep. So we went through a trial of EVERYTHING I could think of. I tried each thing for about a week- babyfood and cereal, no change-moved him out of our room, no change-pumping at night to give him a bigger bottle before bed, no change- formula at night, no change-crying it out for at least an hour, the worst. Finally, finally, finally I thought... what is different from him and Eli? Eli slept great at my parents house at the same age. So I packed up the baby, kissed Eric and Eli goodbye and moved into my parents house in desperate need of a solid night sleep. And would you believe that the first night there- BOOM- he slept solid through the night!!! 9pm to bed and next thing I heard from him was cooing at 7:30am. I couldn't believe it! The only thing I can think is that its darker,warmer, quieter than the room he was in at our place??? And because it is warmer here I didn't put him in his polyester snuggly outfit- which they say to eliminate all polyester bedding to help a baby sleep? Really?! Well it worked, so at least we have reset his clock alittle and can now work on the right environment at our place. Or I may just stay here forever if it means sleep...precious sleep :)

The Boys

2010-03-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Ashur turned 5 months a week ago and I am way late getting some new pictures up on here! We are having a great time now with the two boys, they just love each other! Eli loves to play with his brother and Ashur watched Eli's every move. I can't wait till they can really play together. I am a little behind on Ashur's doctor visits so I'm not sure what he is up to in weight.. lets just say BIG! He is getting pretty good at rolling over and is sitting up on his own for a few seconds at a time. Our only problem lately has been his sleep schedule! He still has not been consistent with sleeping at night, some nights its 9pm-5am-9am, some nights its 9pm-midnight-4am-8am, last night it was 8pm-11pm-6am-9am and between 11pm and 12:30 SCREAMING bloody murder. blah. I am going to research some sleep methods online to try. And we might be considering moving him out of our room soon...like tonight!

Eli loves to hold his baby brother.

Eli lookin slick after his bath. Such a cute boy.

happy baby

2010-02-24T19:35:00.000-08:00

updates on my boys

2010-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Our little Ashur dasher turned 4 months this week! He is really a wonderful baby and him and Eli get along wonderful! I could ask for anything better- except maybe a little more sleep lately. Ashur started life out on a great sleep schedule- I mean beyond amazing sleep schedule- 3 weeks sleeping from 9pm-8am! Well it didn't last forever :( End of Jan, beginning of Feb I had a breast infection and his sleep/eat schedule got alittle off, he started waking up at 5am for a feeding- no problem, this is pretty normal baby schedule. 9pm-5am nurse, back to sleep til 9am. That was fine until the last couple weeks of waking up at 1am, 3am, 5am, 8am. blah. Not so good for me or the cranky man in bed with us. Hope this doesn't last long, could just be a growth spurt. fingers crossed.

As for the cranky man, he is busy right now. He decided to graduate early and has to finish up the rest of his classes in the next 3 weeks, as well as finish up ROTC courses, drill 1 weekend a month and work 40 hours a week! On top of that play army with Eli, get snuggle time in with Ashur, kiss his wife and of course do the dishes. He's alittle stressed, but alot of that will go away when he graduates/Commissions in March. He will graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Liberal Studies from Portland State University and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Army at the end of March.

So, thought I'd do alittle baby update of Ashur at 4months:

-Weighs 15.4 lbs

-24 inches long

-laughs and coos a lot

-trying to sit up and roll over. so close!

-pushes himself up off the ground

-loves to jump in his exersaucer

-can grab toys, and bring them to his mouth

-his days lately:

8/9am wake nurse

9-11 play with brother, tummy time

11 nap

1 wake-up, nurse

1-3 play with mommy while Eli is down

3 nap

5-9 awake, nurse, maybe 20 min nap. play. nurse a couple times between 7-10pm. Sleep.

And just so he doesn't get left out, This is what Eli is up to at 2 1/2:

Weight 33 lbs

Height 35 inches

-talks alot!! He's a smarty, he speaks very well and has a huge vocabulary!

-the kid loves all things Army, refers to himself as "a good soldier man" and replies to us with "sir yes sir"

-loves tractors, and construction equipment. Loves to go to grandma and grandpas to play with his digger. " I'm a 'truction man, and I drive a 'truction truck!"

-His favorite movies are Toy story, bob the builder, and Thomas the train.

- He loves dressing up. He has alittle soldier uniform he wheres EVERYDAY, a huge collection of hats. Loves gloves, helmets and shoes- his favorite are his rubber boots!

-He loves to sing songs, Itsy bitsy spider, Lords Army, The green baret song, twinkle twinkle and anything to the tune of Jingle bells.

-He is very very outgoing, will approach anyone and ask " whats your name?...oh...nice to meet you."

The kid is a ton of fun right now!!

Life lately

2010-01-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Lately life has been incredibly busy, yet incredibly boring at the same time. Its weird how this happens. The days are spent chasing a toddler, trying to potty train, nursing a baby, cleaning the house, changing diapers, and trying desperately to get my "Glorious 10 minute alone Mommy Escape" (what most people know as a shower). When Ashur was a couple weeks old, I thought how on earth do people have more than two kids, but now that thought isn't as scary as it was then. Life is slowly getting more manageable and we are establishing somewhat of a nice routine.
We are trying to work on potty training Eli, but the boy is a little stubborn, so it might be slow going. sigh. If he doesn't want to learn than he needs to get a job to buy his own diapers!
Ashur is growing and plumping up nice. He doesn't have nearly the cheeks his brother had, but they are growing at the same rate. He is about up to 14 lbs, and wearing 9 month! He smiles and laughs and squeals a lot. He is lifting his chest up off the floor when he's on his tummy really well, and will be rolling over pretty soon. He had his 3month birthday on the 21st.
My boys love each other. I hope they can grow up as close friends more than anything. Every morning Eli asks for Ashur to come in his bed. They lay there and talk and giggle. Eli wipes Ashurs drool and helps him put his binky back in his mouth. Its a joy to see.
I will be better at posting more blogs now that we have internet at our apartment. I need to catch up on Christmas and a Wedding!

cloth diapering

2010-01-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

Several of my friends have asked for how I do my cloth diapering, and after writing the same e-mail several times, I thought I'd post a blog with pictures to explain it a little easier. Cloth diapering is not for the weak of heart, it takes extra time and you are touching poop sometimes. So get over it and wash your hands afterwards :) But it can save you money, saves trash, saves babies bums- my kids have had ZERO diaper rashes. So it works for us. Here is the routine.

First off my mom bought us 8 small size, and 8 medium size Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers for a baby shower gift. And over Eli's first year my in-laws bought be some more for Christmas, and I found some sales online for more. They range from $12-18 a diaper, but last well onto the next children.

So these are the fuzzi bunz, I also like Bum genius and have tried g-diapers. Right now Ashur at 3 months goes through 4-5 diapers a day and at night we put him in a disposable. This works best for us because it keeps him dry all through the night. I did cloth through out the night with Eli and there were more leaks, or you had to change them during the night.

I keep a bucket in the bathroom that I fill just a quarter of the way with a soapy water solution. I use any free and clear clothes soap, and have also used baby oxi clean.

This is one of the most valuable tools to cloth diapering. Its a toilet sprayer that you can get at any c.d. website or store. It attaches to your water behind the toilet and sprays pretty powerfully to get all the poo off and into the toilet (instead of in your washer). It keeps diapers clean and white so they don't stain.
So everytime there is a poopy dipe, I drop the insert into the soapy bucket and spray off the diaper into the toilet. If it is just a pee diaper, I put the insert into the soapy solution and hang the diaper over the edge of the bucket.At the end of EVERY day, I dump this whole bucket into the washer machine and wash on a Hot/Cold, extra soiled cycle with a Free & Clear detergent. I personally don't wash anything else with my cloth diapers, sometimes I wash burp clothes in with them. I have never noticed a dramatic increase in our water bill. Its 1 extra wash a day on the small to medium load setting. If there is any staining when they come out of the wash I use a spray and wash and put them back into the wash the next load. Or during the summer I hang them outside and the sun bleaches them white.

I dry my inserts, because they are super absorbent, they would take forever to hang dry, but the diapers I hang over our dryer and are dry by the time I get up in the morning

7 weeks old

2009-12-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

Just got back from our last midwife appointment :( It was Ashur and my final check-up. I have LOVED my care at Alma. Midwifery care is so amazing and getting to bring your baby into the world the way you want is indescribable. I hope to be able to find care like them wherever our next child is born. If its Europe, maybe I'll need to fly them over!

Our little Ashur is growing great, up to 11.7 lbs and 24 1/2 inches long! It calms my mommy nerves alittle knowing he is gaining plenty of weight with his sleeping through the night so early. He is up to sleeping from 8pm till 7am some nights! That's too much, isn't it?! Oh well, he's doing good and I love my sleep.

We are pretty much all settled into our new apartment. Let me just say this, shower, washer, dryer, dishwasher. ahhhhhhhhhh. I'm in heaven. Now I just need to start decorating for Christmas! I am alittle late this year getting started!

1 month

2009-11-25T23:22:00.000-08:00

Whoa its been a month! Ashur is really an awesome baby! The second time around has been so much calmer. Nursing is easier, holding him, changing him, sleep is better. There has been no crying in the middle of the night- by me or baby :) Life is going pretty smooth right now. We have stumbled onto an awesome schedule! I know it may not last forever, but I am loving it while it lasts! This is the schedule since 3 weeks old, I know I'm lucky and counting my blessings!

8am nurse

12 nurse

12-4 nap

4 nurse

8 nurse

9-4 SLEEPING THE WHOLE TIME!!!!!

8am start all over again.

My boys start going every 4 hours between feedings pretty young, so I gently encourage the schedule, but excepting that the middle of the night has no rules. Eli didn't get onto this schedule till he was like 4 months old, and Ashur has been doing it like clockwork every night. Anyways, I love it and am starting to feel semi normal again!

We had our 4week check-up with the midwife and we both and checking out fine. Ashur is up to 10.3 lbs- can't wait to see what he is at 6 weeks, cause I think he is chunking up!

What were we thinking???

2009-11-25T11:14:00.001-08:00

I don't know what we are thinking, but we are going to move. We have been living downtown Portland for a year now and love it, but with the new baby and a list of problems we are embarking on the adventure of moving in less than a week. Here is the list of reasons and you tell me whether we are making the right choice?
-We live on the 5th floor, thats 64 steps to be exact, 8 flights, with no elevator.
-We have to park our car in a garage that is the equivalent to about 3-4 blocks away
-Our building is about 100 years old and is feeling it.
-I am allergic to something in the building, mold, dust, just plan oldness?
-I wake up with a splitting headache everyday and have had repeat sinus infections.
-There is constant construction in the area, the most recent is a tunnel system nearby that causes little tremor quakes through the building every 5 minutes from 8am-5pm. Old building shaking??? freaks me out!
-Not to mention no dishwasher, no laundry, and no shower! Yep, we have to sit in a bathtub on a step stool and pour a bucket of water over our head to bathe.
I know people deal with worse, but we don't have to. So we are going to do what will make us alot happier and move. Don't get me wrong, we have LOVED our time downtown, but with the new little one, it has made things alittle harder.

oh no she didn't...the birth photos

2009-11-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

For those who requested it, here are pics from the birth. If you don't want to see this or if your offended I would post this, then don't scroll down. These are very raw and not the most flattering to me, but they are what they are. By the way, I tried to avoid as much nudity as I could.

I was probably around 7 cen. here when I had to really start relaxing and getting more serious. At this point my dad put on some nice music from his ipod and they started the bath.

Eric was an amazing coach and support person. He never left my side and helped me through ever contraction. He is the greatest.

I am actually pushing at this point. My back and hips were on fire.

ok, baby is not coming in the water, as planned. After an hour in the water, we moved to the bed.Sorry, this is one of the most vivid of my pictures on here (trust me, there were worse ones I chose not to post :) I WANTED THE BABY OUT!!!

Finally! Our baby boy is born after 1 1/2 hard hours of pushing. I was alittle overwhelmed. I actually remember looking down and seeing him come out and realizing, oh yeah, I am having a baby! I got so caught up in the "work" that I forgot I was actually getting something at the end of it all!Happy daddy got to deliver his baby and cut the cord, 2 things he missed out doing with Elijah.
Eli got to come meet his baby within a couple hours of the birth, he loved him!

1 week old

2009-10-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has only been a week! Time is going by painfully slow right now. Long days and longer nights, but we are getting the hang of this! Eli loves his little brother and is doing great with him. He did look at my stomach the other day and said "do you have another baby mama?" ouch, dissed by a two year old. Mama is working on it.

2009-10-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Ashur Mikael Bauer

2009-10-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ashur Mikael Bauer

8lbs 6oz 22 inches

10/21/09

1:34pm

Contractions woke me up at 3am on Wednesday morning. I woke Eric up and said, if I have another one like that lets go downstairs. They kept coming about every 10 min. We went downstairs, made some breakfast and timed the contractions. Decided to wake my parents up at 4:30am. Contractions were every 6 minutes lasting about 45 seconds. We called Grandma and Grampa Bauer and Grampa came from work to take care of Eli. We went to the midwife's at 6am, checked in and we all (Eric, Grandma, Grampa Quick, Grandma Bauer and Jeannie) went for a walk to Crema for breakfast. The midwife hesitated to say I was in labor because of how good I felt. We came back from our walk and was examined at 9:30. I was 80% effaced and dilated to 4cm. Eric and I went for another walk around the block and the contractions started to get stronger. We got back to the birth center and had a few more contractions in bed, then got in the tub at around 11am. I was 9cm at 11:40am. I was a little shocked at how quickly I had progressed! The contractions were strong and painful, but much more manageable than the first time around. Against my will my body started pushing at 12pm. Which was the weirdest sensation. I pushed in the tub for a while until I got too hot. Then I got in the bed and labored there. Pushing was extremely difficult and I felt like I had been pushing for days with nothing happening. I cried a little and couldn't figure out why nobody else would help get my baby out! By the last few pushes I had my mom on one side, dad over the top of me letting me reach up and pull on his shoulder, Eric ready to catch, Linda and Jeannie at the foot of the bed cheering. When little Ashur FINALLY crowned I felt relief coming. He was pushed out into his daddy's arms at 1:34pm and immediately came to me. I heard my dad yell out "its a boy!" The midwife told me that pushing was in fact more difficult than it should have been because Ashur was Posterior (facing up and with his chin up vs. tucked down, they call that "Military") I was alittle overwhelmed at how hard it was to push him out, but alittle reassured knowing that it was difficult for good reason. So, in the end I did tear and needed stitches, but my tailbone was unaffected! Immediately after the birth I was in pain, but by a couple hours later felt great. Ashur latched on right away and has been nursing great ever since. The only pain I am feeling know is incredible neck and shoulder pain (like whiplash) from all the strain of pushing- but everywhere else feels great! I had an amazing experience with Alma Midwives, they helped me achive the natural, drug free birth experience I wanted and took amazing care of me, Eric and Ashur! The time at the birth center could be its own post because it has so much to offer! From the beautiful birth suite, to the candle lit birthday cake for Ashur and the 24 hour doula there to wait on our every need. It was awesome! I might even think about giving birth again... maybe :)

no baby yet, folks

2009-10-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so lets catch you all up. We celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary on Monday, had an ultrasound appointment on Tuesday, and another Midwife visit on Thursday... and still no baby. blah.

Our anniversary was wonderful, our agreement through the years has been that I plan the event for the day and Eric buys me a gift. This has worked out wonderfully (don't tell him, I have the better end of the deal :) Anyways, there were a few years of him planning an evening of dinner and a movie (way to be creative!) and I would get a tad disappointed, so we established the new plan, and it really is fun. I had written him a letter with the events planned out for the evening which he opened the morning of our anniversary. The schedule was as follows:

4:30 Tea and treats at Starbucks

5:00 Check in to Barefoot Sage (a strictly foot massage spa. It is beautiful and serene. They had foot baths, aromatherapy, and 30min calf and foot massages. ahhhhhhhh)

6:15 Dinner reservations at Bombay Cricket Club, Indian food (one of his favorites)

It was a great day with my best friend! I love him so much and can't wait for years and years to come!

Alright the ultrasound. This was ordered after there was alittle confusion about the babies position. The were about 90% sure the baby was head down and after 2 breach birth stories lately from friends- I didn't want to risk that 10% chance. The baby was perfectly head down, with a squishy little wrinkled face. So sweet. Made me so much more excited about meeting him/her any day now!

And finally the midwife appointment (please say that is our last one) Nothing to eventful, she gave me a foot massage and some oils to help bring on labor. We have been meeting in the birth suites, which are beautiful rooms, that make me feel like I am going to a day spa or bed and breakfast instead of the delivery room. I am so much more excited about this birth, I had alot of hard feelings towards Eli's birth. It was hard, chaotic, and very scary. And, it was lonely being so far away, not having family and friends around to come and visit at the hospital. But this time around just feels so much more peaceful- it will still be a hard labor, probably harder than Eli's cause its totally un-medicated, but with so much better support and trust in my bodies ability to do this, I know it is made to go through this pain for a reason. I hope it knows its supposed to start this process soon! Somebody tell the baby to get a move on!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch this year. Hopefully, this will be the last pictures of my huge belly- the one in the baby book that is titles "taken just days before you came"

Baby Poll

2009-10-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

As the due date draws near, thought we would get all of your opinions on what you think this little critter in me is... well hopefully its a baby... but lets guess the sex and due date!

~Last midwife appointment was on Thursday and all is looking good.

~She did examine me and said I am 1cm dilated and 30% effaced. So she doesn't think it is anytime real soon.

~My first ultrasound said Oct. 11th, the second said Oct. 15th and based on my missed period Oct. 24th.

If you need any other info to base your bet on, let me know ;)

So leave your comment with a due date and guess the sex of the baby!

Maternity pictures

2009-09-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.lemondropsphotography.com/

A few preggo pics from the wonderful Jenica Lemmons on her blog, might be alittle ways down the blog now. Thank you Jenica!

italy, dentists and omsi, oh my

2009-09-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Eric left for Italy about a week ago now. He is in Casoria, just outside of Naples Italy volunteering at a local churches city festival. It is an awesome mission trip to serve the people of this city. Casoria has extremely high crime, drug and unemployment rates and they are very grateful to this church to put on a free week long festival. We have gotten to talk on Skype almost every night and he is having an amazing experience, I am so thankful that he got to go to this! And no, I am not bitter that my husband is in Italy while I'm at home with Eli and Micah ;) Its pretty hard work while he's over there and I am excited about what God is doing in his life. Check out http://italy.deltaministries.com/ As for Me, Micah and Eli we are having a great 'ol time. (insert little sarcasm) I'm trying to keep myself busy and keep Eli entertained with minimal physical effort on my part. I try and plan 1 thing a day to look forward to and have a reason to shower that day (moms, you know what I'm talking about) If I don't have anywhere to be I get sucked into TLC or HGTV and 10 hours later, I'm still on the couch, its dark out and I'm in the same clothes I woke up in. blah. I try to avoid these depressing moments. So anyways, we are keeping busy, I am fighting exhaustion and getting out there everyday thank you very much.

Speaking of our outings, Eli had his first Dentist appointment on Tuesday. He did alot better than the dentist thought he would. He started out happy and sitting in the chair all by himself, then when she wanted to brush his teeth he started to freak alittle, so I had to sit in the chair with him. He did good and his teeth look good and he got some dentist gloves to take home! Who needs cheap toys as a prize when they have GLOVES!! He wore those nasty things 24/7 until yesterday when they "conveniently" disappeared.

I had a midwife appointment and everything looks super, baby is head down *hallelujah* and I am measuring at 36 weeks- that's still 2 weeks bigger. And I am feeling it! Oh well, like I've said before, the baby will come sometime in the month of October- we'll just block out the whole month!

And lastly, in our exciting life we made alittle trip to OMSI this week with our cousins! Eli had a great time as always. We have a membership there, which is so nice to go and not have to pay! If you haven't been in awhile the CSI exhibit they have right now is so cool!

Alright, that wraps up our week so far, wish us luck getting through the next week and lets hope this baby stops giving me contractions every night!!

2009-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Eli had his 2 year well baby check-up this week and here's the info:

Weight: 28 lbs 50 percentile

Height: 23 percentile

Head: 90 percentile

So he's an average weight, big headed shorty. But we love him. The Doctor was very impressed with his language skills. She asked if he could put two word sentences together just as he said,

"dada, I want to ride a motorcycle" He knows his ABC's and can count up to 5 on his own and almost has all his colors down. I could brag on and on about all his other skills that put follow 2 year olds to shame, but I'm a better mom than that, right? He's just the best.

As for MY stats:

Weight: HUGE, creepy ever to closely to my max weight with Eli's pregnancy.

Height: Not tall enough to spread this weight around more

Head: pretty foggy with mommy brains.

I am 33 weeks now, and am feeling every bit of it. I don't like feeling "pregnant". With Eli, I felt great. I never needed help. I bought a 80 lbs tv that I carried from the car to our house and set up all on my own while Eric was gone. I fought Eric everyday about wanting to mow the lawn at 9 months pregnant. I didn't think I felt any different than in normal life. But this time around, I hurt, I'm tired, I'm having a hard time sleeping, I'm emotional. I am not digging this as much. But, I'll get by, hopefully.

Here's a pic from last weekends wedding ~ Troy and Megan Flaming

Vacation time

2009-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well well well we have had a busy past couple of weeks! Our vacation season started with our first "family" camping trip. Eric's grandpa took us into the woods- no state park campgrounds here! We made a litte hike in and camped up at Round Lake near Detroit Oregon. Eli had a blast, and did so much better than I could have imagined. Eric of course was in heaven, and I was...well... pregnant and in the woods. Uncomfortable big hot body having to find a place to squat every hour. The first night I didn't sleep at all, but by the second night I slept most of the time. I really didn't think I would have a hard time, since I have camped my whole life- but I have never camped pregnant, that is the key element! We all had a great time though with wonderful food and even better company!

2 days later we headed to Stayton Oregon for the MS Bike tour. My family and friends from church have riden in this ride for over 10 years now and Eric has always wanted to do it. He and my dad trained alittle this spring and summer, and Eric was shooting for 150 miles. We did forget to factor in that the day before the ride Eric had major oral surgery to repair an implant in his mouth. He was told not to do anything strenuous for a week. yeah right. So Eric, swollen faced and on major pain meds got up Saturday morning in 97 degrees and rode half of his goal and completed the 50 mile course. I was shocked! There was a 30 mile course that I thought he would do, but he had to go beyond. Then Sunday I though for sure he wouldn't ride, he was in so much pain, but he got up Sunday at 7am and ride the 35 course and finished the tour. Good job Eric!

After the MS ride we drove on to camping in Sunriver area for 4 days. It was a wonderful relaxing camping trip with toilets :) Eli's 2nd birthday was yesterday on August 6th and we celebrated alittle with him, taking him to the Deschutes Brewery in Bend - exactly what he wanted ;) Actually we asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said with a smile- wanna have fun! That was precious, then he started singing his new " I wanna motorcycle" song and dance. I'll have some pics soon of all the events. For now some of us at the Portland Rose gardens a couple weeks ago.

Eric's home

2009-07-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

Eric's home!!! We went up to Fort Lewis to his graduation on Wednesday and it was so good to finally see him! Eli hugged him and giggled constantly. We got to spend a couple of days up there relaxing and hanging out with our good friends. I found him in this picture from the website- can you see him??? This is the day they marched out of the field, 12 days without a shower in 80 weather. yuck. I love my soldier and am so happy to have him home again!

You probably think I dress Eli up like this to be cute, but if you know Eli at all you know he is OBSESSED with hats and wearing big shoes. This is a daily thing for him to find a hat of some sort, maybe helmet, adult size shoes or socks, and top it off with a pair of gloves or glasses and he's ready to go. At least he is wearing males shoes, Eric doesn't know how he feels about the high heels he likes to wear!

summer time

2009-07-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhh naked baby in the pool. I love summer.

biker dude

2009-07-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Do you want to see the cutest thing ever click here:
http://www.lemondropsphotography.com/
well first you'll see Jenica, she's pretty cute ;) but scroll down alittle

hows about alittle poopy on the toilet

2009-07-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, well well we had quite a celebration at our house yesterday. Nothing to do with celebrating our countries Independence day or anything... BIGGER THAN THAT...Eli had his first poop on the toilet! We first bought him a little toilet about 3 months ago and he likes to sit on it while we are in the bathroom, and then lately he has been asking to go pee or poo and so we rush into the bathroom. Most the times he was scared to get onto big toilet, but we bribed him with candy. So every time he will sit on the toilet he gets a treat. A couple of days ago we ran into the bathroom and he peed on the floor- so close. But then yesterday, he said poo poo and we made it the the toilet just in time! We probably scared him with how much we all cheered for him and showered him with treats. We aren't "potty training" exactly right now, but just leaving it available for him. He isn't even 2 yet, and I think if we really pushed him we could be lookin at a year of struggle. So we will let him go when he asks for now. Eric did miss the milestone, I saved the poopy for him though... I am TOTALLY joking... that would be disgusting.

Army time

2009-06-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Eric is away at his training at Fort Lewis :( We miss him, I know 1 month isn't the worst we have ever been separated, but it is still hard! Its actually harder at the age Eli is at, where he is very aware that daddy is gone, but yet I can't explain to him where he is! If I had to chose when Eric would deploy it would never be around this age! We are struggling alittle with my energy level and trying to fill in for daddy. Eli will come up to me while I'm laying on the couch and throw his toy at me, I know I should punish him for throwing toys at me, but I also know he is doing it to get me to play with him. oh well. We'll survive the month.

So about Eric's training: We never get to disclose very much info about what Eric does in his army life, because of the security of what he does. But with this new training, they are disclosing EVERYTHING on a blog, so it makes me so happy to be able to see pictures and here stories of whats going on. Not only do they have a blog, but facebook, flicker, twitter and youtube!! Overkill, maybe. The Leader Development and Assessment Course, also known as Operation Warrior Forge, is the capstone exercise on the way to becoming a U.S. Army lieutenant. Cadets from all over the country come to Fort Lewis between there Junior and Senior year of College/ROTC to do kind of a mini boot camp. Most of these "kids" are just college students, and don't have any real Army experience that Eric has, actually someone with 8 years enlisted service going back to College/ROTC to become an officer is very rare. But will make him that much better of an officer. So if your interested in checking out what he's doing you can go to

http://warriorforge.wordpress.com/

For blog sake, I'll throw in a picture of when Eric first started ROTC.

Ultrasound 21 wks

2009-06-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we just came from the ultrasound. I told the tech as soon as I layed down, "We don't want to know the sex!" She was alittle shocked by my sureness, but said she would have us look away when the time came. When the time came to look away, I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. Even right as we walked out the door Eric said, "Are you sure you don't want to go back and ask?" I think it will be more fun in the delivery room, when the midwife gets to yell out what it is after the long anticipated 9 months.

I will give you these hints towards figuring out what the sex of this baby is:

The heart rate was 150

It didn't take her long to see what it was

This baby is alot more calm than Eli was in the womb, it just layed there and waved at us a few times.

So all in all the ultrasound went well, she didn't really tell us much, hopefully my midwife will go over all the normal stats about the baby next week. They are pretty sure my due date is closer to October 15 than the 24

Lets keep it stress free.

2009-06-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

I am still alive. I know most of my friends would have thought I was out of the country for awhile, but really I was just out of touch? We have been so busy lately, I feel like we haven't spent time with anyone. Eric is extremely busy and stressed right now and will continue to be until he leaves for his big month training at Fort Lewis. So sorry to all who have called and it takes me weeks to get back- Amy don't give up on me!

On a happier note, we are having our ultrasound this week!!! But don't get to excited, we won't be finding out the sex! We want to have it be a surprise, I think it will give me something to look forward to in a hard labor. And we can probably get a good bet going on here about what it will be and when it will come :)

I promise belly pics are to come soon! For now, cute little pic of Eli and his pony ride at the Rose Festival.

And Eli "helping" Eric with a big term paper. They are smiling the same!

prenatal check up

2009-04-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, had a lovely visit with the midwife last Monday. I got to have a physical exam (yay.) She massaged my sinus cavities (ahhhh), made sure my body was in working order, noted I have lots of moles, listened to the babies heartbeat, measured my uterus, made sure my spine was straight, checked my tailbone and said I do a mean kegel.

The tailbone issue was a pretty big concern of mine since it made Eli get stuck inside of me and was broken during his delivery. She was able to make sure it isn't obstructing the birth canal now and is flexible (which is all good) When she measured my uterus she was alittle shocked at the size of it. She said I am good 2-3 weeks larger than we thought. I said, that's strange cause I know when we conceived. Maybe my uterus grows faster or I have a massive baby, or I'm going to deliver sooner, or twins???? Who knows, all I know is that the entire month of October is my new due date!

My morning/all day sickness is still hanging out which is super annoying, nothing sounds good to eat, especially to cook. blah. The only thing that is really satisfying is fruit, I ate a whole watermelon and pineapple on my own last weekend. yummy. I'm still really struggling with sinus headaches and got acupuncture last week to try and help. They aren't as bad as they have been, so maybe it worked. All in all this pregnancy has been alot harder than with Eli, I hope it starts getting better soon!!

Hello again

2009-04-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, its been awhile! I am feeling up to blogging today, so here's alittle pregnancy update. We are at 13 weeks now and I think am starting to feel better.FINALLY. Just like Eli's pregnancy (well, my first pregnancy- you get it!) I was super nauseous from day til night, no throwing up but couldn't eat hardly anything and felt like crap. I think, hope, pray it is passing now. We had alittle scare 2 weeks ago, when I started bleeding. I had never bled like that with Eli, so I was alitte freaked out. My midwife recommend I have an ultrasound, to see what was going on in there. I stopped bleeding right when I went to the ultrasound place and then got to see the little alien inside me kicking and squirming with a strong heartbeat. It was such a relief. I am working on trying to take it easy.

This pregnancy we decided to go a new route of having the baby at a birth center with a midwife. I am so happy about this decision, it has been night and day difference in care that you receive. Each visit is an hour of talking and actually getting to know me and my family (imagine that!) at the end of the visit I get a massage. I will deliver at the birth center that has 4 suites with queen beds and big beautiful birthing tubs. I'm actually excited to give birth this time!

Now about this picture, I realize I am only 13 weeks and I looked like this this with Eli at about 20 weeks. I could say something like, you show sooner with the 2nd baby, or the uterus grows faster, blah blah blah. I just never lost that last 10 lbs. shoot me.

speaks for itself

2009-03-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

9 weeks along. Due October 24.

here she goes again

2009-03-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

My favorite photographer/friend Jenica did it again. She takes the most beautiful pictures! Check out her stuff http://www.lemondropsphotography.com/

the twins are here

2009-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

My best friend Heather had her beautiful baby girls on Feb.17th at 8:24 and 8:25. Baby A(Alyssa) weighed 5.4 and had to spend alittle time in the nursery. Baby B (Isabella) weighed 5.8 and got to go to mama about an hour after birth. They all are doing great. It was so great to be there and get to see these girls. They are alittle small, but are just perfect. I am so happy for there little family!!!

Little Eli

2009-01-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd update everyone on what Eli is up to lately. He turned 17 months this month. He saw the Doctor last month for his 12 month (oops) appointment. He is 24lbs and healthy as can be. We live in an old building so they checked for lead through a finger poke and everything is great. I love this new Doctor we have, I researched on the Internet first to find someone with the same parenting values as us. This was the FIRST time we ever had a choice about our Doctor. He is pro breastfeeding, offers alternative vaccination schedule, and lots of nutritional information. So, I'm happy.
He is a runner and climber and loves to be outside. He loves picking up sticks and has learned how to throw a fit when we take the sticks away. We say "no sticks in the house" and leave them outside the door, but when we get upstairs goes straight to my broom and grabs it saying, stick! smarty.
He says lots of words, mama, dada, papa, bamba(grandma), bubba(thats him), Eli, water, eat, highchair, please, more, baby,ball, guitar, dog, blueberry, apple, banana, juice.....the list goes on. The weird ones are George, and elbow?? He really is in that phase of repeating EVERYTHING we say, including when mommy says no,no and dear dear dear.
He loves to sing and dance and play one of his 4 guitars?!? Kid got alot of Christmas gifts! He has been singing his ABC's, which is pretty much the tune with F,G,F,G,F,G,A. Its cute, I'll try and get it on video.
The best thing lately is he gives unsolicited hugs and kisses. Just walks over out of the blue to give you a kiss. Melts my heart.

Chinese Gardens

2009-01-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, just got new batteries for my camera and I guess we really haven't been doing much blog worthy lately. I am not a writer blogger, I am a picture blogger. So if there are no pictures there is no blog. This weekend we did have my little brother spend the night and got to explore some new things in downtown. Micah is totally into anything Asian, so we walked through Chinatown and went to the Chinese gardens. He took lots of pictures of the city for inspiration for his comic books :)

you vote!

2009-01-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

I know its a hard decision, but cast your vote for Eric's look. Winner gets.....uh.....the creepy reminder of what Eric looks like with a mustache.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

opening his christmas gifts

a little stuffed doggy and a new hat for Eli

first snow

2008-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Well, our "arctic blast" hit yesterday and it is COOOOOLD! Lots of snow on the ground Sunday and now the daily high temp is 20! Eli was pretty cute standing in the window watching the snow. When we took him outside he held up his hands and whimpered like, why is my hand frozen to this stick?!

at the pumpkin patch

2008-11-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

The fall is my favorite time of the year! I was so excited because this was the time last year that Eric left for Iraq, so we are just now getting to experience the things he missed with Eli. Going to the pumpkin patch and Halloween were the first pictures I sent over to him and he said it broke his heart to be missing that. But now we are all together and enjoying the beginning of the holiday season! And Eli is a much better age to be enjoying all this, last year we propped him up near a pumpkin and tried to snap a shot before he fell over! This year for Halloween Eli was a dog, it was a great soft dog suit (might have been a bear?) from Costco, that he loves and would bark like a dog while he wore it. perfect. He was a huge hit around my parents neighborhood. I felt a little greedy taking a baby around to collect candy that is obviously not for him! Oh well, we all had a good time.

Speaking of Halloween, I just have to say this- some people have a hard time deciding whether they will let there kids partake in the tradition, and I realized that I love Halloween! Not because I am evil, but because around our house growing up it was always a time for great creativity! We almost always made our costumes and came up with great things. It drives me CRAZY to see little teenagers going door to door in there street clothes with a cheap scary mask on- just to get candy! In our home we will always celebrate Halloween, but there is no need to teach the creepy part, just use as a chance to be creative and have fun!

Like this year, at the ABSOLUTE last minute I had an idea:

taken from Lori

2008-11-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

I am -Melea
I want -to do right in life
I have-a WONDERFUL husband and a beautiful baby
I wish -on 11:11 pretty often, since junior high- might be Heathers fault!
I dislike -nuts in sweet things.blah. they don't go in cookies,cake,ice cream. I tell most people I am allergic to avoid eating it.
I fear -Military junk. Way to close to home.
I hear -nothing.ahhhh. baby asleep.
I search -for good deals.
I wonder -what we will do next. where we will live. where will the money come from. how many kids I will have. will I raise them right...wonder is equaling worry.
I always -check my e-mail, maybe 5-10 times a day. sad.
I usually -clean my house daily, I LOVE a clean house with a scented candle lit at the end of the day.
I am not -a girly girl at all! I am sadly not concerned in the least bit about prettying myself up and sometimes I scare myself in the mirror.
I dance -like a 1 year old with Eli. Its usually a booty dance.
I sing -not enough anymore. I should do it more often, I think I have lost my skills.
I never -go to bed angry.
I rarely -rarely, rarely do the dishes. That is man's work.
I cry -pretty often, I think with pregnancy, breastfeeding, deployment and all the hormones in between, I have been crying for about 2 years straight!
I am not always -honest.
I lose -baby socks, they are tiny.
I'm confused -period. Alot of the time.
I need -to lose weight. I am not eating for 2 anymore, and I can't seem to get that through my head.
I should -keep in contact with friends far away more, I try with all the Internet stuff, but sometimes I wish I could see people more.
I dream -not very often, or I can't remember things.
I love-my life.

girls weekend

2008-10-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Cousins, mom, aunties, sister-in-law, and a baby oh my!

Here's a picture from our girls weekend in Seattle 2 weekends ago. We surprised Aunt Darlene by taking her up to Seattle for a shopping/eating/hang out spectacular. It was very fun! We all drove up together in our pary (party) wagon! And all shared the penthouse suite. what what. (you have to do it in that gangsta voice) The weather was AMAZING! It made me realize how much I love Seattle and need to go up there to hang out more often, its a cool city. Not pictured are our Seattle natives that joined us for lunch on the wharf. Super fun weekend! We should do it more!

so sad

2008-10-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

So it is official. Eli is done breastfeeding. :( My last post was almost a month ago, when he started to stop. The next couple days I tricked him into it a few times, but he was just not into it! I got him to nurse on both sides one morning, then one side at night, and the other side the next day. Every time he was pretty frustrated with me. So I let him do his thing, and now over the past few weeks ANYTIME he signed milk or points at my chest I'd offer it to him, he usually just laughed and ran away! I didn't know if this was just a nursing strike or if he really was self weaning. From the info I read, babies don't self wean before 12 months, but more likely between 18-24. What about the in between? He is 14 months, and he for sure weaned himself. no tears...on his end at least! I wasn't so sure about being done with nursing...tear. I looooved breastfeeding and would recommend it to every mama out there! There's nothing better than looking down into that little babies eyes while your providing the best thing for them!
old picture of Eli and I on our way to Japan.

Lets finish off that Germany trip already

2008-10-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

As I said we stayed at a resort in Garmisch Germany and took day trips from there. We got to see a lot of Bavaria, which is amazing! The mountains all around and the most ADORABLE little villages. It was like a fairy tale place. We had some of the best food I have ever tasted! Eli got addicted to spaetzle and ate it at every meal. At the end of the trip we flew through Amsterdam and had a 20 hour layover. We got to see Justin and Jen and stay at their (not their) house. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was so good to see them and thanks for helping us discover our personalities, I never knew who I was before! Anyways, we had a wonderful vacation. We are back in town now all settled into our new apartment and Eric has started classes. I will post next about our place!
Our hotel

Munich

Ettal Monastery
Mittenwald, Germany

I just wanted a frickn' picture

2008-10-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

For the life of me I couldn't seem to get a decent picture of the two of us for our anniversary. My weird faces and Eric's half opened eyes! ugh. Well happy 6 years to us.

FINALLY, our trip to Germany

2008-10-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in Germany at our hotel in Garmisch. Its a military resort that is about an hour outside of Munich in the Alps on the border of Austria. It is at the base of Germany's highest peak, and is a major winter sport area. I would love to come here in the winter, there was alittle snow on the mountains while we were there. It is a beautiful town and the hotel is so nice.

This is the town we stayed in, it was so cute! And they were having a festival the first few days we were there! These were cool Renaissance people, not the weirdos we have in the states!

Eli being extra cute for pictures on the train ride to Munich. He loves trains now, we got him alittle wooden one and he can say "choo choo"

busy, busy, busy

2008-09-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

recovering from a wonderful trip to Germany, moving into our new/very old apartment downtown, and dealing with a baby who quit nursing...cold turkey?? Its been 3 days now, and he is just not interested at all, he fusses when I put him on my lap. Is he done? Should I pump, or just let go? Any BF mama advice?

Wedding Pictures

2008-09-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well, haven't been blogging in awile. I do have some pictures from my brothers wedding to share with you all. It was about 2 months ago now, so I am alittle behind. We are heading out on our big trip to Europe soon, so many posts to follow!

Jonathan
Chelsea

Micah embarrassed to have everyone looking at him!

The four kiddos, in order oldest to youngest

The whole family

photos

2008-08-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Jenica who takes beautiful pictures came to Eli's little party at my inlaws. Even though Eli wouldn't smile the entire day she still got some good pictures of him! Love you Jenica!!!
http://www.lemondropsphotography.com/2008/08/baby-e-is-one-year-old/

teething bites

2008-08-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am teething right now!!!

Wow this is one of the worst times, he is whining, crying, drooling, burning up, needy, sleepy, and choking on his food cause he wont chew! He also has a runny nose and is sneezing alot? My mom says this all points to teething. He only has 4 teeth, so he is due for some more soon. Yesterday we stopped our afternoon nursing and he successfully got through the day with only morning and nighttime. But then today at Costco with him screaming and no snack, I brought that feeding right back. darn. We will try tomorrow.

cleaning out the pics on my camera

2008-08-12T16:55:00.001-07:00

Eric being sworn into ROTC before we left Tennessee. He was so proud of this, he asked me if I would make sure to put it on my blog :)

Eli and his buddy Aiden. Nothing is better than hot Tennessee days with naked babies in the pool! This was a rare shoot to get no little wee wees in the picture.

We spent one of our last days in Lynchburg,TN and toured the Jack Daniels Distillery. It is a very cool "rare" small country town with 1 stop light and about 500 residents. This was a picture of our lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding house. Dinner is served at 1pm and all the guests sit around a dining room table and share a family style meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fried okra, baked apples and different dishes daily! It was soo much fun.

Eli's Birthday Party with his buddies!! These were the mamas I was pregnant with when I first moved to Tennessee. Little miss Charlottle is 1 month older than the boys, Aiden and Eli are just 2 days apart. Although they don't look too excited, they had alot of fun opening presents and eating there birthday bananas!

I love these people!!

update on us

2008-08-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

So for those of you that didn't hear...Eric got accepted into Green to Gold Program, which will allow him to go back to school and finish his degree for 2 years and then become an officer. We packed up the house a couple days ago and are back here in WA. My mom flew out to help us with the move. It was nice to have her there, cause with as many times as I have moved I have never had to do it with a baby. He was a lot more affected by it than I thought too. He walked around the house whining while everything was moving, then when it was empty he started crying! About half way through the day during all the hustle of packing we realized it was his birthday! No wonder the kid was crying! He better get used to this crazy life. We figured out that we have moved crossed country/world a total of 7 times. Life is a little crazy right now trying to figure all this out, but the 2 years at home together will be worth it.

happy birthday to you

2008-08-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

One year! Wow, I don't know what to say. I was brought to tears this morning singing happy birthday to him, knowing that the years are going to keep going by this fast. I can't believe its already been a year! It is so cool to have childern, such an amazing new connection to your spouse, to your parents and to God! To know that he lets us be apart of creation is such a special thing. I love this little boy so much! Happy Birthday Elijah!

oh mamma

2008-08-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

Mamma Mia! I love Love LOVE this musical. I am not an ABBA fan, but eveyone loves dancing queen! I got to see this play when it was in Portland about 5 years ago or so. Just saw the the movie and they did a great job! It is such a fun movie, every girl needs to grab a friend and go! Everyone at the movie theater was singing along at one point- how fun is that?!!

Look at you girl, you get your own blog!

2008-07-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Eli took his very first steps at the beginning of July, and is now an official walker. He only crawled for about 3 months and now will only crawl if he falls down to get over to something to pull himself up to walk. Its so cute to see this little baby walking! He really is little too. The doctors said he is only in the 10th percentile! From birth to about 7 months he was always big, now he has just slowed down the weight gain. My friend Becky and I agree that those charts are for freakishly large formula fed babes. And that our breastfed, all natural baby food (no french fry) babies are just fine at their weight!! Speaking of Becky, if your reading this, I am going to miss you and your family so much. You guys are the only reason I would want to stay in Clarksville! I am so glad we got to be pregnant, have our boys just 2 days apart, and soon celebrate their 1st birthdays together! It is so nice to have someone with the same ideals for our children. Ahhh, enough sappy stuff! How about some pictures of the little monster!

He LOVES his teddy and gives him hugs and kisses every morning.

whoa am I behind

2008-07-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well since we have been home we had my brothers wedding and our family reunion. The wedding was beautiful and perfect! I will get pictures as soon as some come available. The same weekend as the wedding was our BIG family reunion. Now this is not one of those extented, extended family reunions- this is just my dads siblings and their kids! Grandma and Grandpa had 8 kids and this is what happend! Lots of people and very fun. As soon as we get back home I'll get you all up to date on good stuff like Eli walking!

he is standing

2008-06-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about this picture is that I sqeezed his little fat feet into the cute converse shoes, but he crawled over to his shoe basket and pulled out his robeez and was showing them to me. I guess the converse weren't to comfortable. He is so cute.

oh i love opryland

2008-06-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

If you ever come to Nashville you have to go to our favorite place. Opryland. This is where the Grand Ole Opry is at, but it is also an amazing resort. Its actually kinda like Disneyland. A whole indoor city and Atrium. Beautiful live plants and flowers through out this like 6 acre property. They even have a river inside! The absolute best part though is that it is a constant 69 degrees! It was so nice to be enjoying the "outdoors" showing Eli all the plants and fish at a decent temperature. We went up and spent the weekend there, got to eat wonderful food and enjoy our little family!

two are better than one.

2008-06-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Eli is growing so much and changing by the day! At the beginning of May he FINALLY perfected the crawling thing. He was getting around just fine like a inch worm, but being up off his tummy has made for less spit up! The same day or so he started fast crawling he was pulling himself up on the furniture and cruising. So I really don't think he will be crawling very long.

He still only has two teeth, but is eating a lot more solid foods. Before Eric came home Eli was still nursing 4 times a day and only eating 1 meal of solids at dinner time. I just figured why give myself more work of feeding him when nursing is so quick and wonderful. Now his schedule is nursing in the morning, lunch, nurse in the afternoon, dinner and nurse before bed. I wouldn't be surprised if he stops the middle of the day nursing soon, cause he is eating ALOT of food. Eric is having fun getting caught up on how to feed him and make homemade baby food.

And not to brag, but I think he might be the best sleeping baby ever. If I knew how we happened upon this schedule I would write a book! Seriously, I feel so bad for everyone who struggles with their sleepy babes. He goes to bed from 8pm-8am SOLID naps from 10-11:30 and then from about 2-4. Here is an except from my future book: "I always , from day one put him to sleep awake, and once he was in his own room -ran a humidifier and play a lullaby cd." You'll have to by the book to get any more pointers :)

I am so glad Eric is back. Eli has taken to him so quickly! He really will go to us equally, which is so nice!! Daddies are the best teachers cause in the week Eric has been home he has taught him to wave hi and bye, sign for "milk" and "all done" say night night (when he is sleepy or wants to nurse) Its crazy seeing him do so much in such a short time! I guess two parents are better than one!

Eric's tattoo

2008-06-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Eric's coming home gift was to finish up his tattoo. He started this tattoo about 4 years ago in Hawaii. A friend of mine drew the design of an asain style koi fish half sleeve. After a 4 hour sitting he had all the out line done. Then a year later in Monterey he had another 4 hours worth of work done on the shading. Now, finally, we had a tattoo artist here in Clarksville design a new part and complete the rest of the shading. This sitting was about 7 hours over two days. By the way, each of these sessions is about $100 an hour! So you can see why it has taken us 4 years to complete. Eric loves getting it done, he says he feels like he is a walking piece of artwork.

Done at Alpha and Omega Tattoo by Caleb Almond

http://soundclick.com/ambulanceplusshotgun he's a musician too

And while I have a connection

2008-05-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'll post some more pictures while I'm getting internet service. Grandpa here's those Nike's you bought him. They fit him good and he thought they were fun to play with.

What daddy's are for, letting him play drive the car :)

So here are some pictures

2008-05-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

So for some reason the Internet that we "barrow" isn't powerful enough for me to load pictures on here! Someone needs to tell one of my neighbors to get stronger Internet connection so our wi fi can pick it up! Anyways, I did manage to take just a couple of pictures at the home coming. I was alittle pre-occupied, and wish I would have taken more or had someone take a family pic of us. I guess we will just have our memories!

Eli waiting in the passenger terminal in his pj's at about 10pm

There's the plane!!! The guys are starting to come down the stairs.

If you can even see this picture, Eric is right in the center with a blue pillow under his arm.

He was sooo happy to see us.

Daddy's boy right away, I think he even gave him a kiss that night.

Eric is home!!!

2008-05-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, sorry for not posting sooner. Eli and I flew in on Saturday and we stayed the night in Nashville at a hotel. Sunday morning our wonderful friends the Bagge's picked us up to drive us home to Clarksville. That was drama finding a ride home, brilliant me, forgot I booked our flight over Memorial day weekend and so NONE of our friends were in town to pick us up. On top of that there was no shuttle service and the rental car place was out of cars! But, luckily I did think of the Bagge's at the last minute. We got to the house expecting it to be covered in dust and full of sewer rats (thank you Alan Clother) only to find my wonderful friend Paige had come by a few days earlier to straighten up, change the sheets and give us a few groceries. So, very sweet. One worry down, next one to deal with... the car. So the car was completely DEAD, I had to call a tow truck to come and pick up Eli and I to take us to get a new battery. Just so you know baby seats don't fit so well in semi trucks!! I had to hold it on my lap the whole way because he couldn't change gears with the seat in the way. Ok, so the car is running, new problem... Eli has been sucking on my phone as a toy during this whole ordeal, so now it won't work! And this is my ONLY means of communication- we have no computer, all I have is my phone to cling to in hopes that Eric will call me. So I go to Walmart and LUCKILY- no THANK THE LORD, we are eligible for a free phone.
Ok, so drama aside we got home and start waiting. All day Sunday we wait, all day Monday we wait. Then Monday night I get a call from Eric that they will get in on Wednesday night! So all day Tuesday I wait. At about 6pm I was over at a friends and thought about checking my e-mail to get there flight info and the arrival date is for that day! Tuesday! In like 3 hours! I was so overwhelmed, I made my friend read the email for me. He was coming in a day early!!! So we hurried home and got ready and headed out to the flight line. Its kinda fun there, all the women and children gathered around a fence waiting to see a plane come in. Then in the distance we see the lights of the plane and the crowd starts cheering!!! The guys start there way off the plane and towards the group and everyone in yelling and waving flags and signs to Daddy. It was a very sweet thing to see all these men coming home to there families. Eric was towards the end of the group and it was that strange dream like feeling to actually be with him again. Eli went straight into his arms and of course, I cried. We were able to leave to go home after only a few hours. Eli has been doing wonderful with Eric, and we are having fun together too. wink, wink.

sorry where did I leave off

2008-05-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

in uncle marks hat

outside The New Sanno Hotel

in the lobby

was so excited to stand on the chair

Sorry, I've been distracted and haven't finished posting all of these. Where was I, Oh yes we are to Sunday which was a very very lazy day. We tryed to check back into the military hotel but they had had a prom there the night before and couldn't clean the rooms fast enough to get people in. Long story short I pretty much sat in the lobby til 5pm when we were finally able to go to our rooms. We took some pictures and chilled. Well needed rest.

kabuki style

2008-05-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite meals. Our friend Megan has lived over in Japan for 10 years, she married a japanese guy about 2 years ago. They met up with us several times on the trip and help lead us around. Most importantly they took us to eat and ordered for us!!

At the Edo-Tokyo Museum, Its next door to the Sumo Stadium that we missed by a couple days!

Danielle and I are international disrespectin' fools.

the homeikan

2008-05-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we moved from the military resort to a traditional Japanese inn called a Ryoken. This was somewhat of an unknown experience for all of us, but ended up being a very cool time!

The entrance to the Homeikan

where you remove your shoes and put on indoor slippers

me looking hot in a robe- yeah right!

our room

after taking a nice long bath.

I was in Japan!

2008-05-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

Sorry no posts for awile we just got home from Japan yesterday! We left on the 29th for our big family vacation, everyone came except Eric and Jonathan. The flight over there was non-stop 10 hours, which was not to bad. Eli slept on and off. He and I took a day or so to adjust to the 16 hour time change. We got up around 5am everyday- cause we just couldn't switch over completely. Japan reminded me so much of Korea, except it was alot cleaner there. It was neat to be back in a familar place, and to show my family what it was like for a year of my life. We stayed at a military hotel in Tokyo, which was so nice. I'll post daily what we did while we were there, starting off with day 4. We lost a couple days with travel and jet lag!

Our first big outing was a trip to Asakusa area to see the Senso-ji temple and shopping area. It was pretty busy when we were there because it was their holiday- golden week. The Temple had a long row of shops with all sorts of asian nik-naks and gifts and a huge garden area. It was beautiful.

happy birthday daddy

2008-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

bath time

2008-04-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

baby laughs

2008-04-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

video

2008-04-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

http://allmyish.typepad.com/ (my friend Jen's blog)

a super cute video of Eli and his friend Maisie.

clap clap

2008-04-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

I am trying to get a video on here daily for his desperate daddy. You'll be home soon Eric! Then you can play with this fun little monkey and I can take a nap!

silly

2008-04-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

eric's boy. eyes half closed for pictures!

goofy and drooling.

go baby go

2008-04-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

did you miss us

2008-04-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I had no batteries for my camera so I didn't have way of getting any new pics up. But, all is good now, new batteries, new pictures, new video.

The little monkey has two teeth now and is getting around pretty good. I am soooooo thankful for him being such a great baby. I put him down for naps in the afternoon and he just smiles at me and turns his head to the side to sleep! No fussing AT ALL, everyday I walk out of his room with a huge smile. I love him. I don't know how I got such a great kid.

Eli's flaws: we are still struggling with him maybe being allergic to something, we know milk bothers him, so I cut that completely out of my diet, but now he is getting really bad eczema(sp). I don't know what to do?

*By the way I have been meaning to write this for some time: I am a terrible writer/speller and am completely embarrassed to write long posts on here for fear of humiliation, for those who knew me in high school I failed English, for those who knew me in college, I failed it then also!

eli loves orange

2008-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is eli's new counter chair. He loves being up at my level when I'm cooking and eating. He started some solid foods a couple of weeks ago and is doing great with that. He nurses about 4 times a day with one meal of rice cereal and fruit/veggies at about dinner time. He LOVES sweet potatoes and carrotts- Eric, I think your boy shares your favorite color.

Happy Easter

2008-03-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Some pics taken by my friend Jenica, you can see them at http://lemondropsphotography.blogspot.com/

clapping, squeaking, and a grunt

2008-03-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

This was an attempt at getting him to clap his hands, but I ended up getting more than that. It shows his new little "motor boat" noise, high pitched squeak, and in the end him bearing down on a big doo doo. wow- this is what interests me now! I know some people would think, what a boring video, but his daddy lives for these!

on this green day

2008-03-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

So, don't call me a crazy tree hugger or anything but lately I have just been convicted that we as Americans need to be more aware of how we live and our impact on the earth. I am not perfect, but I am trying to do my part without making huge changes. I feel like it is our duty to be good stewards of what God has given to us. A friend told me about a bumper sticker she saw "If you love the Creator, take care of his creation" And so I am seeking out little things I can do:

Don't get ATM receipts. If everyone in the United States refused their receipts it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the earth fifteen times!

Flush your toilet just 1 less time per day, you'll save about 4.5 gallons of water- as much water as the average person in Africa uses for a whole day of drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning.

Unplug your power. Ten percent of the electricity used in your home is burned by communication devices and appliances- when they are turned off! If every U.S. household just unplugged its computers and cell phone chargers when they are not being used, collectively we'd save over $100 million- enough to provide free health care to every low-income child under the age of five in the state of California.

Buy bulk. If you buy a 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes instead of two 14.5 oz cans, you'll not only save up to 50 percent on the price, but you'll also reduce waste and conserve resources. If every month each US household substituted a larger can for two smaller ones, the annual savings in steel could build an Eiffel Tower on each of the 6 other continents.

Use a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner instead of buying each separately. You'll not only save money and packaging, but you'll likely save additional time, water and money by reducing the length of your shower. If one in seven U.S. households replaced its shampoo and conditioner purchase with a single 2-in-1 bottle, the amount of plastic saved per year could fill a football field 27 stories high!

Try using cloth vs. disposable diapers. Over the course of eight thousand diaper changes, your baby will generate three thousand fewer pounds of landfill waste. If cloth diapers were used by just an additional 1 percent of parents, the reduction in waste would be as if 14,200 households completely stopped producing garbage for an entire year!

i still live with my parents...and her parents

2008-03-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

everything is a-o-k!

yen lui pics

2008-03-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

a tooth!

2008-03-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

He has his first tooth. I noticed he was drooling alot (which he always does) but I thought, I haven't felt in his mouth lately. So I stuck my finger in and there was a little tooth pooking through! I was surprized I hadn't felt it yet while nursing. So, just thought I'd let you all know.

walking, walking, walking

2008-03-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Eric, heres one for you. Don't worry, he wont be walking anytime soon! You'll probally get to teach him that. We love you and can't wait to see you VERY soon!!! Please forgive my just-rolled-out-of-bed look.

he wants to crawl

2008-03-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

Eli has been doing this for weeks and not getting anywhere! Thats okay though, I'm not sure I am ready for him to be mobile. Keeping him out of the fireplace doesn't sound too fun.

blog catch up

2008-03-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

baby is asleep, so I thought I'd catch you all up on somethings I had been meaning to post. First off, Valentines Day. This year is it was alittle sad, Valentines isn't the biggest deal for Eric and I, but for some reason I had a really hard time seeing the men in the stores reading through all the cards or looking over the wine section. I stood there thinking, ahhhh they get to go home and love on there wives *tear* So, sad me was made very very very happy by my sweet boy when I get not 1... not 2... not 3... but 4 bouquets of flowers! He sent the first one on monday and they came daily til valentines day. They were beautiful, with sweet little messages inside. he is good. love you eric!

in other news, I got my hair cut and colored. Its not to different than I usually get, I did have her do the highlights alittle more dramatic. cause I am feeling a little dramatic maybe?

And lastly, we went to the zoo a few weeks ago with some girlfriends. Eli was cold and borrowed Maisie's hat and blanket- I am sorry eric for dressing your baby like a girl :)

at the park

2008-02-23T14:05:00.001-08:00

We went down to the park by our house and took a few pictures. Eli was not in the mood, and would hardly even look at the camera. Oh well, got a few cute ones. We have an app. to get professional pictures done next week! I can't wait.

6 month appointment

2008-02-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

Eli's well baby visit was today. Not a very exciting one, he is very healthy and wieghs in at 18.8. Just one more checkup at this clinic before we moved back home to TN-oooohh that makes me happy.

got this from a friend

2008-02-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. Raising happy, healthy, creative, caring, talented childern.
2. Jesus
3. Cloth diapering and most things GREEN.
4. My amazing husband (no particular order- I do not put cloth diapering before Eric!)
5. breastfeeding
6. Politics (this election has brought something out in me)
7. decorating my home
8. cooking as naturally as money will allow me to.

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel more
2. Have visited every continent (3 down, and sadly can't remember if there are 7 or 8)
3. Retain some sort of knowledge. I rely way to much on my brilliant husband and don't learn how many continents there are- for instance.
4. Become a reader
5. Learn to run
6. Lose that last 10 lbs (yeah I have until I die, hopefully I can get to it by then.)
7. Eat totally organic. Have my own garden.
8. See my childern grown up, happy and loved.

8 things I say often:
1. boo boo, bubba, ah goo (baby talk)
2. I miss you sooo much
3. My husband is deployed
4. Yes we miss him
5. No, he wont be done with the military soon
6. He will be home in 3 months
7. wahhhhhh- thats me crying.
8. I am doing okay.

8 artists I never tire of listening to:
1. Dave Matthews, of course
2. Sarah McLachlan
3. Nickle Creek
4. Death cab
5. Fiest
6. The Decemberists
7. Frou Frou, Imogen heap
8. Fleetwood Mac (this is my strange one)

8 TV shows you love:
1. Arrested development
2. The Office
3. Scrubs
4. The Biggest Loser
5. CSI
6. who has time for any more tv?
7. sometimes I watch my parents shows with them...
8. 24 and Alias

8 things that attract me to my friends:
1. good looks
2. tight ass
3. oh wait, friends....
4. things in common
5. sense of humor
6.like to drink coffee or wine or both- but not at the same time. Thats just wierd, and we defintly couldn't be friends.
7. Good listener, and good talker- cause you don't want someone just sitting there silent.
8. like to just hang out either at home or target, maybe?????

8 Things I learned in 2007:
1. Childbirth is wonderful.
2. Eric is an amazing daddy!
3. Breastfeeding is harder than it looks.
4.Web cams and skype are a God send.
5. You can function on less sleep than you thought!
6. I need my husband.
7. My family is wonderful.
8. Babies make the world go round

daddy loves his pictures

2008-02-14T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here is my favorites for the week:

daddy bought this outfit before he left.

He did this all by himself in the bath! I screamed to have someone bring me the camera!!

my new big boy pj's

Eli and my favorite toy!

2008-02-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

This is Eli when we were in Hawaii at Dave and Vicky's- I had been thinking about getting him something like this because he loves to bounce. I ordered one online and it is his absolute favorite thing! Out of all the baby contraptions out there, these are the best! They are fairly compact for storing away, they are active, and they are CHEAP, only $30!

I'll acually write something!

2008-02-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

So Eli did turn 6 months last week! 6months! I cryed when Eric and I were talking about it. I feel bad because I want the time to go by fast so that Eric can get home- but I don't want to miss my baby time.

This is whats going on with our little man:
He can sit up
He says dada, mama, baba, wawa and ah ah ah (kinda like a dolphin?!?)
He could (if I put anything in it) feed himself from a bottle
He still breastfeeds exclusively
He has tasted avacado and sweet potatoes
He sleeps from 9:30pm-8:30am STRAIGHT through the night (bless him)
His favorite toy is a maraca (thanks Vicky!)

His 6month docter appointment is next week, I'll let you know how much he's grown then!

fireside with moses and other random pictures...

2008-02-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

this was the first day he started sitting up mid january

what a goofy face!

rub our bellies.

crazy monkey in hawaii

playing with mommy

Cousins!!!

2008-02-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

This is Eli with Bethy's little girl Bekah. Bethy and I are are cousins, so I think that makes them second cousins. Anyways, Bekah is about 3 1/2 months OLDER than Eli. He's a big boy.

Ko'olina

2008-01-28T12:02:00.001-08:00

I'm to sexy for my shirt

bath time with Jasmine

2008-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

If you haven't noticed from the pictures Eli is sitting up on his own! He can't quite do it by himself in the bath yet (slippery) He loved playing in the bath with all the toys, and we just had to have a little naked baby photo shoot that day- cause he is so darn cute. By the way, the child has a rather large rear end- which makes it all the cuter! And for those of you who care he has added mama and baba to his babble.

A day at the zoo

2008-01-27T12:11:00.001-08:00

Vicky and I braved the wild and took 3 little ones on a day trip to the Honolulu Zoo. Her little one Jasmine is 10 months, and the baby in my pack is Isabelle, she's 2.5 months old(Vicky babysits her) The babies were wonderful during the trip, but almost lost it when we were on our way home and got stuck in rush hour traffic. We are going to the beach today for Eli's FIRST swim in the ocean!!! I am so excited and will take a video of it for you all!

Aloha

2008-01-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

Eli and I got to Hawaii on Tuesday and are having a wonderful time! Here are a few pics so far, I will post more when we get home!