italy, dentists and omsi, oh my

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!!

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

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

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

Ahhh naked baby in the pool. I love summer.

biker dude

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

9 weeks along. Due October 24.

here she goes again

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

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

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

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!

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!

opening his christmas gifts

a little stuffed doggy and a new hat for Eli

first snow

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?!