Blessed

Today we're celebrating the greatest gift in history, and also enjoying being "snowed in" with people we love very much. It's been great to see and help with the progress on the new apartments, and Tobias is loving all the new faces he's met. We hope that the rest of our family can travel safely and get here later this week!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Let the Childproofing Begin

Tobias has figured out how to roll to get things. Fortunately, he has not yet figured out how to roll to get places. I think it will be soon, though, so we better start child-proofing.

Jayna, Johnny, Jokes

(photos by Nate)

Last Friday we went out in the drizzle to rescue some beautiful grapes. We picked 6 bins worth and over that day and the next turned them into over 50 quarts of grape juice using Terry and Jan's steamer. One of my favorite parts, besides the tasty juice, was seeing the colors of the grapes. On the vine they were a handsome navy with a dusty gray coating, in the steamer they gradually turned neon purple, and the juice was a deep, staining, almost black color.

P.S. The stains did come off the countertop with bleach, the fate of the khaki pants that came into contact with grape-stained potholder has yet to be determined

Oc-TOB-er

Here are a few video clips of Tobias's favorite activities. It is hard to choose clips where the parents don't sound too silly, especially since we know these videos get watched so many times! Enjoy!

Tobias discovers humor

Tobias started laughing this week- first at dad, then later at mom. I think he's going to grow up to be a goof, like his dad, or his aunts, or his great-aunt Pam.

Bear Creek Mountain

On Saturday, August 22, Nate and I and Tobias went on the now-annual church hike. We walked through cool forests, sunny meadows, steep rocky hillsides, and stunted shrubs up to the peak. The 360 view, including Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, was almost too much to take in. When I think of God being omniscient, my limited mind thinks of a view like that, even though I know his eyes see big and small things, past, present, and future, as well as things not visible to the human eye. Tobias slept through all the great views, riding in his comfy carrier. Unfortunately, the day marked not only his first mountain peak, but his first sunburn. I felt badly about it, but it didn't seem to bother him. He was the youngest person on the hike (7 weeks old), and the oldest person was Tony B. at 84 years old. We took a picture of them together at the top!

6 week noises

Tobias working out

(and a little smile at the end)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Not in chronological order here, but this was too important to skip. We're so thankful to God for his promises to Tobias! We're also thankful that several generations worth of our families could be there to witness and celebrate with us. In the picture he's wearing the outfit that his dad and grandpa were baptized in, and wrapped in a blanket made by his great-grandma Hooyer.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Exploring Mt. Rainier for the first time

I won't be able to blog every first in Tobias' life- there are too many too fast- but we just returned from a short trip to Mt. Rainier that included a lot of fun firsts. Tobias saw his first snowbank, as well as a waterfall (Myrtle Falls). Well, he was sleeping, so he'll have to see the pictures later. He did enjoy staring at the tall trees and bright sky at our campsite. It is pretty amazing to see how much he is already different a few weeks after being born: more alert, likes to hold his head up, and chubbier.

I returned from the trip smelling like all the usual camping smells (smoke, sweat), plus baby smells (use your imagination). I was worried Tobias wouldn't recognize me after I showered but he did remember what a clean mom smelled like!

Bodily Functions

Don't be scared by the title- I promise that the video contains hiccups and a sneeze! Tobias certainly was a hiccup-er before birth, and has now added sneezing to his abilities!

Tobias Gerrit

Freezer Cooking

One of my goals in preparing for the baby is to have some "easy" food in the freezer. However, I got sick of looking for recipes and only finding things that were: a. made from pre-packaged or canned foods anyway (that's not saving me time or money), b. had lots of cheese, milk, or creamy soup, or c. would fill up my freezer with pasta and rice (I'd rather save the freezer space and add the bulky things later). My solution was to just make up my own recipe: so now my freezer has one container of "Creamy Crouton Chicken Bake", and my fridge has a smaller container to test out this week. The not-so-secret and wholly untasted recipe is:

1. boil some chicken (take off bones if not boneless), chop, and place in freezer-safe baking dish
2. make a sauce with some of the broth, flour, margarine, and crouton-like spices (thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, chicken bullion, basil etc.)
3. pour the sauce over the chicken
4. freeze
5. thaw and bake when ready to eat
6. serve with pasta or rice or biscuits, and cheese to sprinkle on top for the lactose-tolerant

Well, it smells good. I'll let you know if it actually works. 

Any other freezer meal suggestions that don't violate principles a., b., and c. ?

Warmer...warmer...

It is getting warmer here in Sunnyside. Bushes are blooming, also pink flowering trees, and some white ones. The garden space is tilled and a few things are planted. We're also getting closer and closer to the arrival of the baby! To prepare, we've been taking pictures to record the process (Holly is great at reminding us), discussing names (don't even ask, it is very hush-hush), trying to clear the empty boxes out of the "baby room", and we went to childbirth class on Saturday. It was not very in depth, since it was just for one morning, but it was good to tour the rooms and I did learn stuff. I was encouraged that the hospital was very breastfeeding friendly by strongly encouraging nursing during the first hour after birth, and they don't give out pacifiers. 

Even with all the to-do lists flying around my head and computer, it is still good to find time to take walks by the canal, make bread, and update my blog every once in a while!

Ultrasound II

It takes a while to upload the videos, so that's why I didn't share them all right away. This is the same ultrasound, just didn't want to be adding to the same post days later. 

Below: little feet swimming around

As you can see, he or she is very active. Keep in mind that I could not feel movement during the ultrasound. Makes me wonder what we would see when I'm feeling kicking.

Ultrasound

Today we got to see our baby! 

The measurements gave a due date of June 23 (doctor thought 16th by his primitive calculations, I said more like the 26th). It is allowed to come whenever it is ready, I guess.

I think the brain looks like Nate's. Just kidding.

Above is a profile of the baby's head. You can also see the heart beating, and fingers moving above the nose.

Baby feet!

Do you see where he or she punches me right there at the beginning!

16 and a half weeks

Nate and I had a great trip to the midwest for Christmas and New Years' and we got to see both of our families. Some of the highlights for me were tubing at Inspiration Hills, singing Christmas songs with my family (no one sings like you guys!), playing "door pong" (a variation of ping pong), and finally meeting Heather's boyfriend Jon.

As far as the baby-growing work, I'm almost 17 weeks along and feeling less tired than the beginning weeks. We're thankful to have found a nice, more baby-friendly, house to rent and plan to move there in a few weeks.