Raking...

From 10/26/2009.... I just found this unpublished blog. Wonder why I never finished it. Anyway, I'm posting now mostly so it will be there when I'm putting together my blurb book  someday. =)

We had a wonderful, lazy weekend at home. On Sunday we were wondering what to do to keep Gracie occupied so we asked her what she would like to do. She said, "rake leaves with daddy. I'll get my little rake" and then disappeared upstairs. In no time she was back down with her rake and pulling her rain boots on.Lately she has been a bit obsessed with her pajamas. She loves to wear them all day long. Here she is, raking in the front yard wearing footy pj's under rain boots and a rain coat. At least she was warm.

Dry and cold...

The weather this past week has been pretty nice. Knowing the rain is coming, Gracie and I decided to skip nap time and take a walk to the park instead. Not only am I running out of rain-free days, but I am quickly running out of time with just one child. It was nice to get out in the fresh air and spend some time just the two of us.

October fun...

From October 18:

On Sunday we headed out to McMinnville to the Gibson's house. Gracie loves going out there - or seeing the Gibson kids anywhere for that matter. As we were putting her down for nap that day we said, "when you wake up we get to go to Mady's house." She was pretty thrilled and as Merrick headed downstairs he heard her say, "Daddy, I'm so exciting!"

We didn't have much on the agenda, so we were able to talk and eat - two things we are all very good at. Sarri made awesome taco soup that was perfect for a cold fall night. I thought the kids would have fun decorating cookies, so the night before I whipped up a batch of vegan sugar cookies. The dough tasted fine, but the cookies were awful. Luckily, with enough frosting, they were completely edible... and the kiddos didn't seem to notice.

We took pictures throughout the night, but not many turned out great. Here are just a few that aren't too blurry to post...

Maren is such a sweet, good-natured girl. We love seeing her.

Frosting and decoration cookies... not the cleanest activity.

Carter's finished project (with a bite already out of it).

Garrett was very serious about his decorating (and eating).

Not quite sure what to think about her first frosted sugar cookie. She ate about two bites of the cookie and picked off all the chocolate chips before deciding she had had enough.

Mady's cookie was practically perfect, but I didn't get a good picture. Sorry Madeline.

The pumpkin patch...

From October 8:
We headed out to our first pumpkin patch of the season with Kim, Shannon, Kristen and their kids. When we first arrived to Peterson's farm we were a little disappointed, but it turned out to be the neatest day trip we've taken in a long time.

We waited until the visiting preschool was finished, and then our little group got a private tour - courtesy of farmer Norm. We played in a hay maze and checked out the animals while we waited. When it was our turn, we took a tractor ride up to the "main" part of the farm where the kids got to tour the greenhouses and learn all about the produce they grow on site. It was basically a little field trip - and the kids loved it! They were able to pick cucumbers, green beans, broccoli and corn on the cob right out of the field and taste it all fresh. They also picked some end-of-the-season blueberries... those were a huge hit!

When we were finished, each kiddo got to pick a little pumpkin to take home. Gracie's is tiny, but cute, and I didn't help her at all.
Clockwise from the top left: Sophia, Grace & Tigist in the hay maze. Sophia playing with Kaleb. The farmer talking to the kids outside the greenhouse. Kristen helping Mihiretu in the maze. Kristen and her kids. Baylie and Gracie enjoying ears of corn. The kids helping Norm pick green beans.
Top row: Hay maze. Visiting the Llama. Handsome Kaleb.

Second row: Norm picking ears of corn for the kids. Mihiretu holding on for dear life on the tractor ride. Kids on their hands and knees looking at raccoon foot prints.

Third row: Hannah and Grace. The six kids having snack. Kim and Kaleb.

Fourth row: Tigist, Sophia and Mihiretu enjoying the tractor. Checking out the "pumpkin patch." Sophie, Mihiretu and Grace picking their pumpkins.

A long list of updates...

Gracie is asleep, and I have time to sit and update the blog... at least partly. You can click on these links and it will take you straight to the new posts. Sorry for the mass update, and the lack of writing, but we all know you are here for the pictures anyway. Enjoy!

October 5 - Visit with the greats...

October 4 - Six years...

October 4 - Run, Beth, Run!...

October 3 - Six great-grand kids...

September 29 - The zoo with Eleanor...

September 24 - Visitors!...

September 20 - Nests...

September 13 - Fun with friends...

September 12 - Happy birthday, Sydney-girl...

September 11 - A night with Sophia...

September 11 - The roar...

I blinked...

Wow, have I had a nice long blog-break. We have had a crazy, busy, fun 4 weeks stretch. Friends visiting, family visiting, Bible study starting, enjoying the last glimpses of sun and diving headfirst into fall. I blinked once and September was gone, and blinked again and October is 1/2 way over. How is that possible? With everything that has been happening, I've been taking lots of pictures and have lots of stories, but haven't had lots of time to sit and write out my thoughts. Hopefully over the next few days I'll get a chance to update this blog and fill you in on all of our adventures.

For now, here is the most current baby update:

My current stats on 10/14:

Gestational age: 35 weeks, 4 days

Weight: gained 5 pounds in two weeks (making up for the 1 pound the weeks before).

BP: 110/62

Fetal heart rate: 150's

Fetal movement: dancing the nights away - this child sleeps ALL DAY LONG and is then awake from 9:30 pm until about 5:30 am.

Fundal height: 36 cm

I saw my midwife today and all still looks good. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. I did mention to her that I'm having a lot of contractions - way more than I ever had with Grace - and evidently that's normal for second pregnancies. As long as they go away with rest and hydration, there is nothing to worry about. Since I was in, we decided to check on the ol' cervix to see how things were looking. It is starting to get soft and is about 1 cm dilated (which is all it ever was with Grace). So, that could be a good sign, or I might never go into labor and it could just stay that way until the day I end up having a c-section. Who knows.

We are still gradually crossing things off our to-do list, and starting to feel really good about where we are. It is still strange to think that this little one could come anytime in the next 5 weeks. I sometimes fell panicked about that, but mostly we are excited.

One bummer is that we found out that because of H1N1 threats the hospital has implemented very strict visitation rules for the maternity floor. No one under the age of 18, not even immediate family members (aka Grace), is allowed to visit at any time. I'll be honest and say that I'm pretty upset about this. I had this idea in my mind that the baby would be born, and then Gracie would come hang out with us for a few hours - be the first to meet baby, get to bond with him/her at the same time we were - but now it's looking like we are going to have a very quiet hospital stay. I'm glad to know, however, that the people in charge are doing all they can to ensure that my baby is healthy. So, just a warning to all those potential hospital visitors out there... we probably won't be seeing anyone while in the hospital and take doctor's advice about visitors when we are home. I know we sound paranoid, but having a tiny baby with the flu would be worse.

Visit with the greats...

From October 5:
On Monday Bethany and I packed up the girls and headed out to Friendsview to visit with our grandparents one more time before she headed back to Wyoming. It was a gorgeous day, so the drive over the hill to Newberg was beautiful.
Both girls conked out for a bit, but perked up once we arrived and there were people to see and things to do.

Grandpa is always so good at having his camera and snapping pictures when we are around. I absolutely love this picture of Gracie and my grandma... it's a little blurry, but still precious.

We enjoyed eating lunch in the cafeteria (Ella and Gracie ate and ate and ate... the must love buffets like I do). It was nice to have a little more time to visit with Louise and Roger and to see Herb and BettyLou (my uncle Roger's folks). We didn't stay too long because we needed to run a few other errands and get the kids home for naps, but we were glad we made the trip out there and enjoyed our time with family.

Six years...

From October 4:
Sunday was also our sixth anniversary! We didn't have any big plans, and since family was still in town and hanging out, it ended up being really low-key... exactly what we needed.

We came home after the marathon festivities to lunch and much needed long naps. Merrick, Gracie and I then headed out for dinner at Typhoon. We had a great date - especially with Grace. Beth offered to keep her so we could enjoy an evening together, but it was nice having her with us and enjoying one of our last nights out as a threesome. We thought about heading somewhere else to get dessert, but when it came down to it what we wanted was chocolate chip cookies and pudding... homemade.

So, we spent the evening at home. Visiting with family, enjoying the girls, and just being together. Perhaps we will get one more night out just the two of us before the baby comes, but if not, this anniversary was just perfect!
We went all day without having anyone take our picture, so at 11:00 pm we sat on the stairs and gave the camera to Grace. (Yes, she was still awake. Yes, we did entrust our anniversary picture to our two-year-old). By the end of our "photo shoot" Merrick and I were laughing hysterically at our photographer child. Most of the pictures we got were of my belly or our toes, but we did get at least one where we can see both of our faces... and we're smiling. We'll call that success!

Run, Beth, Run!...

From October 4:
On Sunday Bethany ran in the Portland Marathon. Though it took a while to figure out how and where, we were able to head out in the morning and sit along the route to cheer her on.
I was very impressed with the number of people running. And, by the time we got here (about mile18 - right by the U of P campus) most of the "elite" runners had already finished the run.
I made signs to support Beth. One said "go mommy" and we let Ella color all over it. I loved the fact that Louise ended up holding that sign just because that indicated that my grandma was somewhere on the course. =)
Ella and Grace didn't really understand why we weren't letting them roam free. We were glad to have bags of chocolate bunny crackers to keep them busy while we waited.
She found us! It was just a quick glimpse as she didn't want to stop, but she ran close to say hi, kiss Ella and head on down the road.
Yeah Beth! We are so proud of this accomplishment.

Six great-grand kids...

From October 3:
On Saturday we had a mini-family reunion here to give others the chance to see the Tippins. It was great to see my cousins and their kids, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

We spent the afternoon at our house talking, eating and laughing while the kids played.
The girls enjoyed the backyard and the freedom to come in and out as they pleased. Aiden and Nathan liked the yard too, but they also enjoyed checking out some of Gracie's toys that were new and exciting for them.
My parents showed up with this miniature card table for Grace. It ended up being perfect for the four kids that afternoon - a place for puzzles and snacks! I'm sure we'll get lots of good use out of this fun gift.

At dinner time we packed up and headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory - mostly to give Bethany a good meal of carbs before the marathon the next morning. The restaurant was fantastic with our huge group, but one big long table doesn't facilitate great conversation. I was happy to sit towards the end with John and Carrie and Jeff and Emily. We don't see them often, so it was nice to visit with those families.
It also happened to be Aiden's 4th birthday, so we were able to get a candle in his ice cream and sing the birthday song for him. He seemed delighted with the attention.
Before leaving we snapped a few quick pictures of the great-grand kids. Daniel (5 months), Eleanor (17 months), Grace (2), Aiden (4), and Nathan (21 months). I joked about tossing my belly in the picture so we could get all SIX of the kids in one shot, but it was hard enough with just these five.

Baby update...

My current stats on 10/1:

Gestational age: 33 weeks, 5 days

Weight: gained 1 pounds in two weeks

BP: 114/64

Fetal heart rate: 150's

Fetal movement: moving so much that my insides ache

Fundal height: 35cm

How I've only gained 1 pound in two weeks is beyond me... especially since I've recently discovered the boxes of pudding mix at Trader Joe's. I'm pretty sure I've consumed 5 boxes of pudding this week. Shocking, I know. All of my stats look just fine - in fact my blood pressure is going down.

We've had a bit of excitement this week. I went to a photography class with Shannon, and while we were sitting there I was having contraction after contraction. Nothing terribly painful, but my back was throbbing... all signs of pre-term labor. Well, I was enjoying the class, so ignored the annoying contractions as much as I could. I did tell Shannon that it was happening, but we both felt okay about it since we each had our cameras and were only 10 minutes from the hospital. Had anything really happened, we were as prepared as we needed to be. =) Anyway, that lasted for a few hours, and by the time I got home my back was in a lot more pain, but was able to lay back and take it easy. After sitting on the couch with my feet up and downing a ton of water, the contractions slowed down and eventually went away. Yesterday I didn't have hardly any and felt pretty "normal." I need to do a better job of staying hydrated throughout the day, and resting when I have the chance. We've just been so busy lately that it's easier said than done.

Thankfully Gracie napped pretty well yesterday and slept all night long last night. I think I was up a few times, but nothing like the last two weeks have been. I'd love to get a nap in one of these days, but I still feel like I should be taking advantage of the times Grace is asleep and getting things done. I have gradually been crossing things off my list, and almost all of my must-do-before-baby-comes things have been done!

I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting, but for now, here's the highly anticipated (yeah right) belly pics.

I woke up the other day and told Bethany that I felt like I had grown 4 inches over night... I think these last two pictures prove that. I still think I'm smaller than I was with Gracie, but it is hard to tell. Either way, I'm huge, and that's just the fact of my pregnant life.