and Si makes 3

So much to be thankful for

2009-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

From our wonderful family both here in Arizona and in Washington to our wonderful little boy who just keeps getting sweeter every day, Caleb and I couldn't be more thankful! We are thankful for a God who loves us in good times and bad and for people who do the same.

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Arizona with Caleb's parents and some of our friends here. We had a great time and a huge spread of food!

I can't help but remember that at this time last year we still believed that having a baby was a reality that we might not ever get to experience. What a miracle it is that we now have a happy, healthy little man living with us that God has allowed us to parent! I don't know why, but He did and we could not be more blessed!

Here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks and of our Thanksgiving celebration.

Josiah has started to like his bumbo chair...it was touch and go at first. He is so cute in it. It has become his football watching chair.

NO SHEP! NO SHEP! NO SHEP!....ughhhhhh

2009-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

These were the words heard approximately 3 am on the first night of our camping weekend...They were uttered by our friend Bob seconds before Shep was sprayed at point blank range by a skunk. Those skunks, wow, do they smell! Fortunately, Caleb, Josiah and I were sound asleep in a nice cozy camper during this unfortunate fiasco and didn't know anything about it until morning. Instead our friends who did sleep outside got the pleasure of hosing him down and banishing him to as far-away location as possible (because he obviously smelled horrid) but that was near enough that he wouldn't whine all night...an impossible task to be sure. Poor Shep: The smelly kid no one wants to hang out with!

To be fair, Rocky would have been there trying to eat the skunk right along with Shep but his leash was too short.

Josiah loves camping! Well, he certainly loves being outside. It will really be fun when he actually knows he is camping and he can run around and enjoy the outdoors. We had planned to really rough it, but didn't plan wel enough for that, so several days before we left we changed plans from Sedona to Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is about 20 minutes from home and is basically a huge RV parking lot in front of a lake.

As you can see, our "campsite" was complete with picnic tables, a lawn, and a camper! Not really roughing it, but a good first camping experience for a 4-month-old. We ended up feeling pretty thankful for the use of a camper!

"crash landing " is one of our favorite games. I love to hear Josiah giggle!

Traci and Si

Bob and Bethany around our campfire. It was the coldest weekend of the season so far...I won't mention the actual temperature, or we will sound like wimps, but we desert folk were thankful for a good campfire none-the-less.

We had planned to go hiking all day Saturday but after a night of no sleep, we opted for naps and relaxing around the campfire all day long...it was wonderful! For most the group the lack of sleep was due to Shep's skunking...for me, it was because I slept in bed with the most violent-sleeping four-month-old ever who tried to snuggle with me all night! Don't get me wrong, those early mornings that we bring Si into our bed at home are some of my favorite moments. But all night with him was a horrible combination of being afraid that I might roll-over on him and him trying to roll-over on me! I could never have a family bed.

Bethany and Si

Joan and Loren and Si

This was the most activity that happened on Saturday...and the girls didn't even play.

Josiah wore socks on his hands all wekend bacause it's hard to find baby mittens in Arizona.

Parker also got skunked by proximity, and although he took like three showers on Sunday, none of them necessitated tomato juice.

Poor Shep!

bath time

2009-11-17T21:01:00.001-08:00

We love bath time around here! Here is a typical scenrio that plays out in our house when Caleb and I bathe Josiah together...

Caleb: Gets the baby bath down from it's hiding place and runs the water in the sink to get it to a nice warm-but-not-hot temperature.

Anna: Gets Josiah undressed, gathers the wash cloths and towel and changes his diaper (but doesn't put a new one on since we are going to put him in the bath).

Caleb: Doesn't get the bath water warmed up fast enough to accomodate a smooth transition....or Anna is just too lightening fast at her job....you could look at it either way ;)

Anna: Ends up holding an adorable naked baby waiting for the right temperature and praying that he will "hold it" long enough to at least submurge him in water

He doesn't always make it! On this particular occasion I held him just a little too long and our little naked baby peed all over me (as well as created a sizeable puddle on the floor) before we could get him in the bath! I think Joisah's face says it all....and then I showered.
We have a friend that let us borrow her new tub. It is bucket-like, I can't remember right now what it is called but as soon as I get a link to the website she ordered it from, I am getting one! It is shaped this way to simulate "what a baby experiences in the womb". (That statement is in quotes because I am not sure how 'they' know what a baby experiences in the womb and also because I hate the word womb.) Well, all that really matters is that Josiah LOVES it! It is so much better than a regular baby tub...as soon as our new flower petal tub gets here we are 86ing the old one! He is able to sit up strait in this tub without being held and he really enjoyed his bath. Also, we are able to keep most of his body under water so he doesn't get cold at all! Love it!

I feel like there may need to be a disclaimer that no babies have been exploited in the making of this blog...I probably will never, ever post another picture of my baby naked but decided you all would enjoy our cutie and that 4 months may be about the cut off for even the most modest nakedness. A great friend of ours commented that these are the pictures that will be on Si's wedding slide show! I couldn't agree more!

baby bath found..

2009-11-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

We found the baby-bucket-bath at http://www.mom4life.com/. It was 49.95 and worth every penny! We didn't get the stand because we didn't think it attached very well when we barrowed katie's. It seemed kind of dangerous, and although cute, was another 50 bucks. We can't wait for it to arive. (see last post for pictures)

I am planning to post some pictures of last weekend's camping trip but will wait until I have done enough working and cleaning to justify it! Just thought you might want to all go out and purchace a bucket tub in the meantime!

4 MONTHS!

2009-11-10T14:35:00.001-08:00

Josiah is 4 months old today! It is so hard to believe how fast he is growing up! He is so much more interactive and fun now that he has come into his adorable little personality, but we still have yet to really get it on video. I know baby-doing-nothing videos are pretty boring unless you are the adoring parents--or at least that is what I always thought when someone would send me a video of their baby just laying there. I guess now it is my turn. We are really trying to get the roll-overs and the giggles on tape, but just haven't gotten our little man in performance mode yet. So here are a couple cutie-patutie, baby-not-doing-much videos for your viewing pleasure (or bordom).

This is so embarrassing! What I won't do to get my kid to giggle, huh? Imagine what I must have looked like...maybe next time Si can tape his weird mom acting like a goof-ball!

Our week in pictures

2009-11-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Si had a special night tonight! Armondo's parents and nephew, Brandon were in town all weekend so that they and Traci could spread Mondo's ashes at the Grand Canyon. Tonight some friends had a BBQ in their honor before they head back to Ohio tomorrow. Armondo Sr. made Josiah this beautiful wooden race car! I just can not wait to see him racing it all over the house! We are so blessed to know the Tijerinas.

Josiah had a rough little night as you might be able to tell (just a little tummy ache that I am happy to report are very few and far between these days) but he LOVED Brandon! It was very cute to see them get to know each other! Another big tough guy bites the dust in the presence of a baby! Well a crying baby, but cute none-the-less.

Si also LOVES his daddy! Thank you, Lord that we are able to have such flexible work schedules that allow Caleb and I to share childcare and be with our son almost all the time! It is so fun to see Caleb as a daddy! One thing is for sure though, Si will not learn ANYTHING about fashion from him! See below:

(what you can't see about this outfit that makes it even worse is that the "shirt" is actually a whole outfit with shorts attached...it's like a unitard of sorts....the kind that you don't put pants over) This is what happens when I work the early shift and Caleb gets him dressed!

I recently bought the cutest little "Baby Yoga" DVD! I love it. It is a yoga/palates workout that incorportates play with your baby as well as baby massage and baby yoga. I am sure someone just made up the term "baby yoga" but I bet it sells a lot of DVDs. We love it! We are learning lots of fun ways to play together and Si really loves the stretching and massage! Don't worry, Si will also be super manly, as soon as we can start including weapons and violence in our play, I am sure we will!

We had our friend Maggie over to play the other day. It was my first afternoon with a 3 month old and 7 month old together. They did great, but WOW was I tired, you really do need some extra arms for that job!

Caleb and I have been trying to take some videos since Si has been SO cute lately! He has this adorable and histerical little giggle, the kind where he is just learning how to get the giggle out but rather than the cute, high pitched kid giggle, it is this loud coughing noice with a huge smile! It is absolutely precious and makes me feel like the funniest person in the world when I hear it directed at me! What an awesome feeling! Unfortunately Si is much better live than on camera...he tends to stop rolling, giggling, smiling when he sees the camera come out and just stars at it. So we'll keep trying to capture the perfect video that shows off just how awesome he is, but you really have to see it to believe how blessed we are to be his parents!

Josiah will be 4 months tomorrow! Can you believe it?! I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow so we can all capture exactly how he looked at 4 months even! I really had awesome intentions of getting some professional pictures taken when he was 3 months so I could put one in a little "3 month" frame I have but since there are only a few hours left of 3 months and 30 days and none of them are during business hours; I don't think I am going to make it. Here's to good intentions.

We got spirit!!!

2009-11-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! We celebrated at trunk-or-treat on Friday with our church. Josiah was as cute as ever as a lttle football star. Actually, he was half football player, half football which I thought was kind of weird but whatever, I guess realism isn't the point of Halloween. A shout-out to Joan and Loren for leting us borrow their precious Vikings jerseys! Josiah wasn't loving his costume (he must hvae wanted to be a Viking too) so we didn't put it back on for Saturday night. Instead we had family night at home and handed out candy to our neighbors.

Just took a few pictures this week; here is a sample

He had a little rash from drooling and chewing on the bjorn.

Baptism

2009-10-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Josiah was baptized this past weekend! We had tons of fun and I think it was one of the most entertaining baptisms I've recently seen. Now Caleb and I are not from backgrounds where babies are normally baptized; that is, until the last few years we were used to seeing grown adults being baptized who could behave themselves. It was hilarious to watch our beautiful baby boy become the center of attention in a crowd of hundreds: and those were just his God parents!

Well, not really, but close! Caleb and I were a little confused. We thought that "sponsor" was a person or persons who supported you while your child was getting baptized and who were committing to walking with you as a family and helping Josiah to learn about Christ....so we asked the people in our lives here in Arizona who are like family to us and who we expect to help us to raise our young man right! Well, first, I introduced my grand plan for 5 families to stand with us as we had Josiah baptised to our friend Bev. She cried and said she would be honored to be up there with us. I let her know who else we were planning to ask and she thought it was a great idea. Well then our lives came to a sudden halt when Armondo died and I never got around to asking the rest of our "family" to join us on stage. So it was a few weeks before the "event" when Bev kindly mentioned to me that she was pretty sure no one else knew about our plan for baptism or their role as our "sponsors". Over the next few days I appologized to the remaining four families and basically listened to them inform me that they already had plans for October 25th and wouldn't be around to see the baptism let alone take part in the blessed event!

Thankfully, they were kidding (Bev had gotten to them first) and we had all our closest friends here stand with us at the baptism. Only a few days before the baptism did we find out that it was highly unusual for that many people to be "god parents" to a child. (the church secretary told us when she couldn't fit all the names on his certificate). Well, I say the more the marrier, but apparently it is customary for a child to have one or two god parents...so we spent some time informing ours about how good they have it because they can be off-the-hook for at least some of the many requirements that a god parent is required to do, then we spent some more time joking about the prayer and greeting card schedule we could put them all on to accomplish the combined responsibiltiy of their new role! We are so excited to have, like 12 God parents and I am sure Josiah is too....hmmmm, who should be pick if we have another child?

The stage was made all the more crowed when Pastor asked all the children in the congregation to come forward so he could teach them all about baptism while he actually performed one! It was a big day at church. Caleb's students who had finished 3 years of confirmation classes were also being confirmed this Sunday so they too looked on from the stage area. It was very good timing to say the least since Josiah's baptism and the kid's confirmation falling on the same day meant that Caleb only had to wear a suit once....two birds with one stone.

Josiah was quite the charactor! First, he nodded and smiled on cue when Pastor asked him if he was ready! quite cute! Second, he started crying mid way through the baptism and third, felt much better after he threw up all over himself! He was all smiles after that! It was all the more adorable that this was the first baptism that was shown as live feed on the huge monitors...it was larger than life barf, let me tell you!

It was a big weekend for Josiah, not only did he "become he newest member of God's family" he also got his first taste of ice cream, thanks to his new god parents! Is THAT what god parents are supposed to do?

Also, Josiah got to turn around and say goodbye to his car seat while riding in his jogger! big day since he HATES his car seat. He absolutely loves to be outside and to look out at all that is going on outdoors, so this was pretty huge! he loved it. The family walks will never be the same!

Bars and Tattoos

2009-10-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

We innocently accepted an invitation by some good friends this weekend to go out with them for pizza and dancing. It became clear when we met them at the pizza PUB that we had brought our baby to a bar. I guess it wasn't really a bar bar, it could be considered a family restaurant, I guess. But I couldn't stop thinking about a very funny scene from "Sweet Home Alabama". Not one of my proudest moments.

It was my 30th birthday this weekend, which many of you know judging by my facebook page! Caleb and I had some close friends stay with Josiah and we hit the town. By hit the town I mean we went out to dinner and Caleb wore pants and a dress shirt rather than cargo shorts and a free-camp-tee. We are both now officially in our 30's!

Then we went to a church picnic where I put a stick-on football tattoo on Josiah without even thinking to look at what kind of ink or whatever they use on the tattoos. So in one weekend, we took him with us to a bar, then left him with a babysitter so we could go out, then defiled his little body with a tattoo. I think "Parents of the Year" is just around the corner!

Si went to the doctor last week and all is well! He weighs 12 pounds, 2 ounces. Not that the stats are either specific or important, but he is in the 10-25% in weight and head circumference and the 25-50% for height (tall and skinny). He is a healthy, happy boy!

Caleb and I have been pretty pathetic when it comes to this adorable little boy! The other day we hugged and cuddled Josiah and then put him to bed...then within a few minutes we were both sitting in our office on two seperate lap tops, both looking at pictures of Josiah online.

Then, as we were brousing the isles of Gymboree for cute clothes for Si, we came to the realization that we were supposed to be on a date and there we were shopping for our child.

I was having a conversation with Caleb's mother, Becky the other day and explained to her how we always keep the car seat in the new van and then Caleb or I, whichever one of us is not with Si, takes the old car in to work. Becky then pointed out to me that really, Josiah has his own car and Caleb and I share the old beater. :)

We just can't get enough of him. We think he is the greatest!

3 months already

2009-10-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful boy is 3 months old already! Time is flying by and I am just praying that he won't grow too quickly out of his cuddle stage! High school feels like it's just around the corner! Here is just a quick update of some pictures from the last week or two...Notice that many to most of them are on some continuum between out-of-focus and just-plain-blurry! I think that means that we do need to "splurge" for some professional (Walmart or it's equivilant) photos for some of the big milestone months...you know: 3 mo, 6 mo, 9 mo and so on! We think he is adorable blurry or not but that is probably because we see him in person all the time. Maybe you all would like some professional pics. Anyway, here are the unprofessional ones: Hope you like. Maybe this week will yeild enough time to run by a studio. We also have a doctor's apointment this week, so I'll let you know how that goes...just a well visit and some shots.

One of the students in our youth group is swimming this year so Josiah and I like to go to support her and to get some wading experience.

Josiah in his "snuggie"

So, Si will not be hiking in this anytime soon! Maybe next year! Caleb is like "what? he fits!" Also, yes, this picture is taken in our bathroom...apparently Caleb was carrying him around in the pack right before he needed to take a shower.

He is so happy, what a good natured kiddo

Tummy-time is a lot more interesting when Shep is the object/target of Si's affection!

Daddy and Baby hitt'n the books. At least Caleb is wearing clothes.

Cas was in town last week with some friends and stayed with me for a couple days before she went home. We celebrated our upcoming 30th birthdays with some shopping and sushi!

Any port in a storm...

2009-10-07T17:40:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful time in San Antonio a few weeks ago and if there is one thing we learned it's that Josiah is a little social butterfly. There was never a shortage of people wanting to cuddle him and he was all too happy to oblige!
Oma and Si hit it off great! It was almost everyone's first time meeting him so he was passed around a ton...if his parents had any reservations about the child-passing we got over it really quickly!

Caleb's mom, Becky and Si chatting it up!

This is Caleb's brother, John and his father, Steve. The whole family stayed together at this amazing 100-year-old house a few blocks from where the wedding reception was held. It was a perfect location and a beautiful place to stay! We all felt so at peace when we walked in the door...which is good because not all aspects of our trip were stress free! Thankfully, the house and the company were!

Josiah slept the entire wedding and reception...I have no idea who we got so lucky...he actually slept that night as well. We must have really tired him out, or over-stimulated the heck out of him...maybe the sleeping was just a well-developed coping mechanism. Either way, he behaved beautifully considering one parent was a bridesmaid and the other was reading scripture in the wedding, we were initially a little concerned about who has to take the baby out of the church if he starts screaming in the middle of the ceremony. (that's a hard thing to just ask someone in the family to do-at a wedding!) but thankfully we had lots of volunteers and we didn't end up needing a runner anyway.

Just for the record, he also did an amazing job on the plane both to and from San Antonio! Slept the whole way and didn't even seem to notice the pressure changes! thank goodness. I like to think I have no problem being embarrassed of a screaming child but I am not sure I was yet prepared for a two-hour flight with no escape...not quite the same as the grocery store.

Joel and his new bride Ali drove from Houston to see us, the baby and the wedding...in that order I like to think!

Bringing the families together...one baby at a time! This is Sarah's new father-in-law dancing with Si at the reception. I am glad someone was taking pictures because I had no idea where Josiah was for much of the reception! Horrible mom, huh?!

Danny claimed Josiah from the very beginning! We are so thankful for so many people to love our kiddo!

The beautiful bride looking incredibly relaxed and de-stressed: Good job, Sarah!

What an awesome vacation! It has been some time since I have experienced more fun with family or more drama in one week! You gotta love weddings! Notice there are no pictures of the actual wedding. That's because we didn't take any. Having a child has not made Caleb and I any better and taking pictures. I wish we were but it is apparently not in our DNA. I seriously think once in a while, I have to take some pictures so I can put them on the blog! So if someone sends me some wedding pics I would be glad to put them on...(I probably don't need to clarify, but I will put them on if they are pictures of Sarah's wedding, not just any wedding!)

Fall is here!

2009-10-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Just a few cute pictures of Josiah from the last several weeks. We can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by. Si is 12 weeks old (3 months on the 10th). He is a happy, healthy kid; smiling and trying to giggle all the time now! We love it! It just keeps getting better and better.

Josiah cuddling up with Grandpa Fields in San Antonio. Grandpa calls it "wrestling" but we know the truth! Don't they look cozy! We spent a week in San Antonio in September for Aunt Sarah's wedding. I think there are some wonderful pictures from our time there....only most of them were not taken by us. So I will post them when I get them from other generous family members.

This is one of our favorite positions in the world these days! Nothing better than taking a nap with baby bear on our chest. Don't worry, they are not going hunting.

He is still the spitting image of Caleb if you ask me! Caleb thinks that must mean he is the most adorable man on the planet since Si is so adorable! Josiah is around 12 lbs now, officially doubling his birth weight! He surprised us in Texas by rolling over for the first time! We were very excited but we haven't seen it again yet...not that we don't practice every day!

The weather here is finally starting to cool down a little and is even in the eighties this week! So we are getting to spend a lot more time outdoors! Si LOVES it outside...so far so good, we are really hoping he is an outdoor kid naturally rather than a video game kid. Not that he will have much of a choice, what with all the rules we'll have against TV and stuff! Just kidding, you can remind me of that when we have three kids and put movies on all day long just to keep some kind of peace and sanity...but good to have ideals for now, right?! Anyway, Si loves to lay on his blanket outside and we took a long walk yesterday with him in the Bjourn. He is doing so well with his head and neck strength, I think hiking in the backpack is just around the corner! Yeah for fall in Arizona!

Si is sleeping great at night and thankfully enough during the days that we are able to get a tiny, and I mean tiny, amount of work done. FYI, I typed this entire thing one-handed (left handed!). Just one of the many one-handed tricks I'velearned...so no comments about typos!

I will post more when I have two hands and some pictures from vacation!

We are not in control

2009-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

This past month has flown by and I can't say I would re-live even a minute of it if given the opportunity. We have had a hard month.

On July 1 one of our best friends was diagnosed with Leukemia and on September 1 he went to be with our Lord. We could have spent 10 lifetimes with Armondo and not felt like we had enough time with him so we are thankful that we know and serve a good God who will right all wrongs and will one day allow us to serve alongside Armondo in eternity. Caleb is devistated that he lost a brother and somehow has a peace that surpases all understanding that his brother is now rejoicing with his Father.

The death of a 30-year-old man, husband, brother, friend, son, uncle, muscian, worship leader is an injustice that I hoped we would never have to bear. I will not even attempt to understand; instead I will grieve with his wife, support and love my grieving husband and church, attempt to protect my son from the overwhelming grief inside his parents, and trust that there is a distinct and beautiful peace resting inside of us that comes only from the Holy Spirit.

I know that Armondo's life was lived each and every day to glorify God. Never was this so evident than sitting with him in his hospital room while he played his guitar and worshiped; singing "How Great Is Our God". Armondo and Traci knew that they were not in control and they carried themselves through Armondo's sickness with such incredible faith; their strength a beautiful picture of God's grace in this brief life.

I know that I spend so much time attempting to control everything in my life. Why? How arrogant to assume that I have any amount of control of the outcome...to assume that I deserve or am entitled to one more day on this planet. Instead, I hope that knowing this kind of pain and watching one of my best friends become a widow will help me to live a life that is much more free of control. That I will feel much more free to simply love each momemt that I am blessed to spend with Josiah and Caleb...that I will cherrish things that last and let go of things that won't...and that I will live a life that reflects an urgency to serve God with each day He gives me.

This post feels very therapeutic for me and I am having trouble figuring out how to gracefully transition into an update about all the adorable things that Josiah has been doing in the past month. So I am going to save that for next time. I should have some cute pictures from Aunt Sarah's wedding and our trip to San Antonio last week so I will add those soon.

We are now in the process of figuring out what life without Armondo looks like. We are already getting better at it and know that we will continue to grow into some kind of "new normal". With the same amount of control as we've always had, but a much deeper understanding of how out-of-control we really are.

Thank you, God that You are in control.

Our 6-week-old

2009-08-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Si is 6 weeks old today. It is amazing how fast this time has gone. Over the last 6 weeks Josiah has gained over three pounds, and his parents have come a considerable way in learning how to provide for our little angel's every need! We are having so much fun! I have said so many times how desperate I am to remember every little face he makes; he is just so adorable. I feel so incredbly blessed to get to be his mommy.

We are dealing with a bit of acid reflux with him so he has been put on a medication to reduce the acid in his little tummy. Basically he was spitting up (or projectile vomiting) every time he ate and any time we laid him on his back--so being astute new parents, we decided to bring the problem up to his pediatrician. Turns out he should out grow it soon and doesn't at all seem to be effecting his growth, so with a few new tricks up our sleeves and a medication that Si hates the taste of, we are doing much better in the spit up department--and laundry department by extension!

Here are some pictures and video from the last week or two. Enjoy!

Tummy time is a group activity!

Probably the last time I videotape myself laughing at Josiah while he cries!

I haven't been able to capture the smile on camera yet, but close...very close

The boys are becoming best of friends. Shep is acting very much like Lassie lately. It is really amazing. One evening Si had just started crying because he was hungry while Caleb was holding him. While I finished something I was doing on the computer, Caleb attempted to pasify him until I got over there to feed him. Well that was not good enough for Shep, he ran in from outside, busting through his little doggy door, ran strait over and "pointed" at Josiah and then ran directly to me and started poking me in the ribs with his nose. After he had gotten my attention he ran right back outside. Si is sure lucky to have such an attentive dog!

This is the "fat" picture: We are so thankful to see some roles and can't get enough of that double chin! What a cutie

This look happened approximately 3 seconds after we gave him his aforementioned medication for his tummy, and approximately 1 second before his parents feared they had just over-dosed their young child. Caleb grabbed the bottle to re-read the dosage and the insert to read the list of possible side-effects....and in the middle of all that I grabbed the camera. BTW: he did not OD and he has never reacted in such a fashion again.

Josiah loves to nap with Daddy

I promise; this is the same kid that has the huge double chin above...skinny little guy isn't he?

Our strong boy!

I've taken back the reigns

2009-08-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well thanks to my mother you've seen some pictures of Si from the first few weeks and also heard his little voice as we imagine he has lots to say! Well, now Si is one month old and mom has gone home and I have again realized that it is my responsibility to keep you all up to date with new pictures. So no more "Si's Perspective"; I'm taking back the reigns and you are getting Anna's perspecitive! Here are some pictures from this weekend since Becky has been here.

So here are some things I have learned in the first month of parenting:

1. First and foremost, epidurals are amazing: don't be a hero, ladies...get the hard drugs! They made labor and delivery a wonderful experience. (the first several hours were not...)

2. Breastfeeding and pumping to stay ahead is a full-time job. (wait, don't I have a full-time job that I have to return to in a couple of weeks!? Yikes, that's two full-time jobs...other people do this, right?!

3. The books that I read about parenting, bonding, feeding, sleeping, bla, bla, bla...filled me with tons of hope for a angel/textbook/easy little lad. And then he came and I found that I was prepared for exactly NOTHING that Si did.

4. Little boys have AT LEAST a 20 inch "spray zone" and no allies even though I feed him, house him, bathe him, etc. There is just no loyalty.

5. "Sleep when your baby sleeps" is an unfortunate myth that seems to remain illusive to me if I want other small things in my life...like a shower, clean dishes and adult conversations.

6. When you have a Husky/Shepherd it is impossible to keep the hair out of the room...or off the baby...or out of his bottle for that matter. And then you realize how important the phrase "oh well" is! For everything really, not just dog hair.

7. Allowing baby to sleep the day away is a really bad idea once it is night time. And also, concerning sleep...baby appears to have a long enough memory to remember that you allowed him to sleep in bed with you last time....and this crib is just not quite the same.

8. Grandmothers have a lot of valuable knowledge like its okay to continue to bathe a baby in water he has just peed in....is that really okay?

9. I could have every burp cloth we have (which are many) sitting on practically every surface we have in our tiny house; and still the second Si projectile vomits there is nothing in the whole room to wipe it up with!

10. There is absolutely nothing in the world that is more wonderful or a bigger blessing than becoming Si's mommy!

Si is doing wonderfully! He has gained a couple of pounds since birth and is just thriving! Although we were not EVEN CLOSE to prepared for his early arrival, we were profoundly blessed to have my mom, dad and sister fly in within 12 hours of his birth. They got us prepped and ready for anything and I just sadly said goodbye to mom about a week ago. I had a short stint as a single parent for a long weekend while Caleb was out of town (don't plan on doing that again...ever) and now we are so excited to have Caleb's mom in town for a few days. Caleb and I are so thankful for our families out of state and for the AZ families we've been adopted into here in the desert. Thanks for all of your support!

Just Me & My Mom

2009-08-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hi again. Daddy's off to his BFFs wedding in Oregon (that's the real reason I came early--if they were still waiting until next Tuesday for me, Daddy couldn't go see Joel get married), so mommy and I are just hanging here in the Arizona heat. I've gained a bunch of weight, as you can probably tell from these pictures. I even have some fat on my arms. Last time they weighed me I was 6 pounds 11.5 ounces--and that was last week. Just think how much I weigh now!

I'm really strong, too. I can lift my head up when I'm doing Tummy Time and I can even turn it over and look the other direction. Watch this!

Mooma went home. She said she still loves me even though she had to go back to Washington. I believe her, 'cause she kissed and hugged me a lot. She said three weeks was probably enough for Papa and Andy to fend for themselves.

Daddy's mom is going to come see me this weekend. She takes really good pictures (she's a pro) so we'll have even better pictures for me to post later. Just wanted to let you know how I was doing. Bye for now.

PS: Hurry home Daddy--we miss you.

I'm Home

2009-07-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm home, and I'm a whole week old--cool, huh. I really only had to stay at the hospital a couple days and we all came home together. My Papa and Mooma and Auntie Casey were all here to meet me, but Papa and Auntie Casey had to go home. I guess my Mooma really likes me 'cause she's still here.

It's been a really busy week. Yesterday they actually took me to have some medical thing done so the other kids won't make fun of me in the locker room; anyway it really hurt at the time, but I'm OK now. See how good I can move around!

Today is my daddy's birthday. I don't think you can tell, but my onsie says "I love my daddy" and I really do. This is me snuggling with him. I can tell when I snuggle with my daddy because he has all that prickly stuff on his neck. I kind of like it, though, and mommy says he's handsome.

Daddy went to float the river with the youth from our church. He said I couldn't go 'cause it's only for Junior & Senior High kids--whatever that is. Maybe next year he will take me. I'll be lots bigger by then.

I have to go now. We're having cake and ice cream for daddy's birthday. Hope it's good--I've never had that before. Oh yeah, one more picture. This is one of my mom's favorites. She's really impressed with what I can do with my feet, but she says I can't run away and join the circus. Hmmmm.

I'm Here

2009-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Mom's kind of busy (trying to get me to eat) so I thought I'd let you know I'm here. On Thursday I heard there was a really hot weekend coming up and decided it would be a good idea to get out of this cooped-up space. So I just decided to assert myself and come on out. It took awhile but I made it by about 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10. Turns out my decision-making skills could use some work and I really should have waited until August 4 like everyone expected, but you know--live and learn! Everyone keeps asking my mom and dad how big I am, so I might as well come right out with it: I'm 6 pounds and 19.5 inches long. I got to go--mom's pretty insistant that I eat; but she'll write more in a couple days! Can't wait to meet you all! Love, Josiah...PS: Check out my wing span (NBA here I come)! And I have better pictures, but this is my very first one--I think I'm only a minute or two old!

33 weeks and counting

2009-06-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update and photo of what week 33 brought this little pregnant mama! "little moms" is what the instructor at our birthing class called us...I had a hard time deciding if I liked being called that or if it was a tiny bit offensive. I guess in any case, "big moms" would have been much worse.

Josiah is doing wonderfully I am happy to report! We just had a doctor's appt. yesterday and our doc says that he is doing great. He is moving all the time! She felt around my belly this time to help me figure out where he is positioned. Finally it seems our little man has put his head down where it is suppose to go...good to see since I was beginning to think he was committed to being breech till the end. Mostly he seems to sway his little buns from one side of my belly to the other. According to my best-guess websites, Josiah is around 4-5 pounds and 19 inches long. He will gain about a half a pound a week and I will gain about a pound a week from here on out. He is filling out now and preparing to make his grand entrance. Sometimes I just take him into his room and we walk around and I talk to him about how cool it's going to be when he gets here and we can play with all his stuff! (Between the sleeping and crying of course).

I am very anxious to meet him! Every day it seems I realize how boring life has become without a baby around! What a weird thing to think before he is even here. I guess that is God's way of preparing me for this huge life change. Unfortunately I am still waiting for the nesting period to begin! I really am looking forward to an energy boost and a clean and organized house...nesting isn't just a myth, right?! it really happens?! If not, I am just going to have to manufacture the energy from somewhere because it still seems like there is so much to do!

I was a little lonely this week because Caleb was gone all week on a summer youth trip. Thankfully the weekend came and he returned. Just in the nick of time...it is a lot harder to have a traveling husband when you're 33 weeks pregnant. Must be those raging hormones again! Caleb's had 2 trips so far and 2 more to go before Josiah is born. In fact, you can all be praying for Josiah to come AT LEAST after July 27 as Caleb will be in New Orleans for a youth trip from the 22nd until the 27th. A little scary that close to my due date, but we like to think of ourselves as "adventurous". Never a dull moment! Thankfully my parents will fly in the day before Caleb leaves so at least I won't be alone if the unexpected happens...and of course we have lots of contingency plans for how to get Caleb home if I go into labor...except that if he is already in New Orleans, the plans still include a standby flight and who knows how long that will take! So pray the contingency plans are not needed!

But I am sure you will hear much more about that when the time comes. As for this last week, Caleb took a team of 30 up to the Navajo reservation for a week of VBS. They had a great time and we finally got him home and in bed around midnight last night. It was a little lonely for me. Usually I do great with his summer travels and am eternally greatful that he has a job where a few trips in the summer are all we have to deal with. However, remember the hormonal changes...I got really lonely, even though I spent time with friends at least half the nights he was gone...and then worked full time on top of that. I don't know what to make of it, but I am going to have to gear up for these last two weeks of his absense. Let's just say it is wonderful to have him home! Here are some pictures of his trip.

Caleb and the team on a hike

Some of the Navajo kids during VBS

The River is a long-held tradition for the team...

(don't you wish you were there!)

In case you have not been introduced to Caleb's Traeger...

This is it! Caleb took it to Navajo and used it to feed a ton of people this week!

He is very proud!

Quite the week 31

2009-06-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

This week was a busy one! I am 31 weeks pregnant and we had the incredible fortune of having my great friend Carolyn come for a visit! Carolyn is expecting her second child, a little boy, about 8 weeks after Josiah is due.

This picture is entitled "Belly to Belly". I thought I had a 22 week photo, but I must not. I do remember, however, that I am pretty sure I showed more at 16 weeks than Carolyn shows now at 22... Carolyn and I have decided that although we are the exact same height, what I have in legs, she makes up in Tourso! We are pretty sure her son is standing strait up in there and creating no tummy what so ever!

She is really working here for this much tummy...I however, am not working at all to show off Josiah to the world...Josiah is all to happy to show himself off at this point!

We had a ton of fun this week shopping for maternity clothes and mostly just talking and relaxing!

We also did a project for Josiah! I know this is a pattern for me where I have friends come over to help me with projects that I am just not Martha Stewart-y enougth to handle...and this week was no exception!

Carolyn is VERY crafty and has a very cute "birdy" mobile in her daughter's room...so she volunteered to make a mobile a reality for Si as well.

I think it turned out very well! Certainly much better than if I'd been left to my own devices! It is pretty funny, we are going for this animal/noah's ark theme for his room and I had this idea to make a mobile out of thin wood animal pieces that we could paint to match his room colors...anyway, we went to the Hobby Lobby and bought each and every wooden animal they had which turned out to be a very eclectic assortment from dogs and cats to a moose, rooster, kangaroo and aligator and even a large mouth bass-or that, at least is what we think it is. So they all went on the mobile together. Thankfully we have some time to learn which sounds each of those animals make before we have to start teaching Si...What does a large mouth bass say?

From Josiah's perspective!

It was absolutely wonderful to have Carolyn here. I truly felt so refreshed after our visit! Just what I needed.
Thank you, Carolyn for taking time away from your husband and daughter to hang out with me. So fun to get to experience pregnancy with a great friend--especially one who has been pregnant before and can share all of her pearls of wisdom!

We girls were also blessed to have my wonderful husband take very good care of us. As many of you know, Caleb has a new Traeger BBQ (no, scratch that...I mean "smoker") which he used to cook us some amazing food! I had been without Caleb for the entire week before Carolyn arrived and had been pretty much a vegitarian in his absence. (in my opinion, sometimes you just need a little break from the traeger). So it was great to have him back home and he took very good care of us this week!

Carolyn left this Wednesday morning and we picked up another member of our family! Our friends Bob and Bethany left town for the weekend and left us with their 100+ pound dog, Rocky! Rocky and Shep have a very love/hate relationship, so it is always entertaining to get them together! Just a cute picture of all my boys, Caleb is taking the picture. It occured to me with stark reality how my femininity will be far, far outnumbered soon....Yikes.

To round out our hectic week; Caleb and I had our 4th wedding anniversary on Thursday which we spend at our Child Birth Preparation class. We got to meet several cool pregnant couples, learned a lot about anatomy and viewed some very disturbing videos about our almost immediate future! It was great. It was much more like Lamaz class than I was expecting, especially since I am fairly committed to receiving an epidural as soon as possible, but I am glad for all the information about breathing and relaxing anyway! Caleb was a great coach!

We did actually get to experience our anniversay in a tad more romantic way...we just waited until Friday. Here is a picture of us out to dinner to celebrate 4 years together! Pretty sure our next four years will look very different from the last four!...and we couldn't be more excited!

Si's First Party

2009-05-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our first baby shower! Caleb and I flew home a couple of weekends ago for our very first baby shower with family and friends from the Northwest! It was a
quick trip and a lot of plane and car travel to reach our destination (my parents
house), but so worth it! We were blessed to spend time with both Caleb's and my
sides of the family as well as some great friends.

Of course, we jumped on the plane without our camera and had then, no pictures to document our trip, thankfully my mother and Becky came through for us...the

only problem is that I had to download them from a Kodak website which apparently only allowed me to save mini-pics....so happy looking if you can actually see any of these. If you can't tell, we had a great time. Some of you may
recognize yourselved in these, but maybe not! One of my friends here in AZ commented about how savy I must be with computers to figure out how to blog

and add pictures, etc....well FYI, you don't really have to know anything at all about computers or uploading or downloading anything...just somtimes you end up with mini-pics and weird spaces that someone smarter or with more time probably could figure our how to rectify. But not me, I am fine with mediocrity! So blog away folks, it's easy!

So here is the quick recap of our crazy weekend to WA...Caleb and I love to fly, mainly I think, because of the expectation and excitment of traveling in general.
So on Thursday, early in the morning we drove to the airport and excitedly got our lattes at the airport which always signifies the beginning of any trip. Then we

sat on two different planes for a total of...all day...before landing in Seattle. Got in just in time to meet Caleb's family and had a fabulous dinner with them!

Unfortunately, Thursday night, I had a HORRIBLE allergy attack which consisted of lots of misery, the inability to breathe and unfortunately quite a lot of benadryl. I

mention this just to fill you in on what I believe was probably my first failure as a

mother: I know benadryl is on the "somewhat safe list" for pregnancy, but I also realize that pregnancy-safe, with any drug really just means that drugging your baby is better than both of us dying due to lack of oxygen in my lungs.

It was a terrible experience when at 4 am I was popping my third benadryl of the night and sobbing to Caleb about the perminent damage I was likley causing to our child. It was a tad over the top in the hormonally crazy department, but really only a fairly average glimpse into my hormonal mood swings lately! I thought for much of this pregnancy that I was handling it all in stride, but about a month ago my hormones and emotional state went crazy and even I could easily recognize that I've slipped into some sort of weird psychotic pregnancy world of crying...all the time for no reason.

Anyway, after Thursday night, Josiah was definatly moving less, or at least it seemed that way to me, so whether or not I put him in a little baby coma, I am sure that anytime in his life anything goes wrong, I will blame it on the benadryl.

(or whatever I do next to inadvertantly tramatize my child).

But Friday came and baby eventually woke up and our little family drove to Yakima! We had a great time with my family, Case and Jarrad and the girls came with another good friend of ours from Tacoma and we girls took my mother out on the town for mothers day on Friday night!

We had the shower on Saturday complete with some silly games in which groups of my family and friends creatively made up songs about my growing family to the tune of "Old McDonald had a Farm" Some of my favorite lines were...

"Here a labor, there a labor, everywhere a labor, labor" "...will Shep end up in the

pound?" and "with some breast pads here and some fresh wipes there..."

It was a very entertaining game by the way.

After the shower, we let the boys come back and BBQ for us all! A great day and wonderful for us to get to share two great parties in one day with all of you who we see so rarely.

Sadly, on Sunday it was back to Seattle for another day of travel and back to work on Monday...but at least we will always have these tiny pictures to remember Josiah's first party!

April in Review...

2009-05-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

April was an okay month...I think. I can't quite remember where it went or what I did except that I never really let you all in on what was happening. I had to take a peek at the last post
to remember what was going on...oh, six weeks ago. I am afraid I look quite different now! I am almost 28 weeks along which means that I am just starting the last trimester. Hard to believe!

My mother has now flipped her little baby widget on the blog to count down rather than up! It is hard to believe I am almost done...although, we've just entered that time in AZ where it is over 100 degrees each and every day in a given 10-day forecast...which means that I may stop believing that this pregnancy is flying by soon...I sense the dragging on and on about to set in!

I still feel great. Hardly a thing to complain about...a co-worker of mine tells me that after week 27 I will magically lose my ability to sleep. I really hope that is not true for me! I get really grumpy with no sleep but I guess I am going to have to get used to it sooner or later, right?

Last time I posted I was getting ready to head back to the doctor for another ultrasound and I was a little nervous. Well I am happy to report that although Si was still breech a month after the first ultrasound, they were able to get much better pictures of him this time and he is, I'm sure the healthiest kid ever! Seems to be growing like a champ...just like his mother!

So here is a quick update on Josiah and some photo memories of our fly-by April....hoping May brings much more down time and a little less work, no offense Catholic Charities, but I could use some down time. Thankfully they are releasing me from my servitude this coming weekend! Caleb and I will be going to Yakima for my first baby shower! How exciting! Hopefully I will get to see some of you there! And hope you read this before hand so I don't get too much gruff about not posting anything for over 6 weeks! Okay, now for the update.

Si weights over 2 pounds, so they say. I think he is likely around 15 inches long from head to foot. He is moving a ton now which is one of the most thrilling things I have ever experienced! I love to feel him move. Even better is now I can sometimes even see him move...no hand or footprints yet, but definitely an attempt to escape from the belly! A few friends even got to experience this weird "belly roll" the other day...which was a little alien. One of my favorite things so far is getting to feel him have the hiccups inside of me! WOW, babies are a miracle! Caleb and I are getting so excited to be parents and can simply not wait to meet our son!

Here are some other things that have been keeping us busy...

Caleb got the incredible opportunity to participate in the biggest sailboat race in the world a few weeks ago! We have some great friends here who have a sailboat in Newport and for several years have done the Newport to Ensenada race.

Well, Caleb apparently proved himself last Thanksgiving and joined a crew of 7 other guys to make his first international voyage.

I think there were like 500 + boats involved in the race and the boys had a great time. It took

them right around 24 hours to finish the race and then they took their time coming back to Newport from Ensenada.

I like to think of them being on the "fun team" 'cause let's just say they didn't come in very close to the front of the pack!

While the guys were sailing, I got to spend the weekend in Tucson with the wives club! We stayed in a hotel, went out to dinner and attended an amazing conference held by one of my friends' spiritual mentors.

Here are the guys after the big finish! Several of
the youth from church went with their fathers and Caleb was blessed to meet some new friends as well. I think he is hoping he'll be invited back next year!

We had an exciting weekend this past weekend
as well...we learned how to paint stripes on a wall! Finally we got around to painting the nursery! It turned out great and we love it. Caleb and I are very thankful to have wonderful and crafty friends here that are willing to help us in our time of need....if it weren't for them, we'd still have green walls and a mediocre motivation to change it. Thanks, guys!

The best part is our friends are willing to work for food! Caleb received his long awaited Traeger BBQ smoker a couple of weeks ago and since then, we have experienced a ton of productivity as we bribe our friends to help us get stuff done that Caleb and I are not talented enough to do on our own! We just promise them salmon or steak and they come right over with paint supplies and smiles! We love them very much and are so thankful for our friends here!

So here is the nursery! We love it and feel like Si will of course, move right in with thankfulness in his heart for all the work it took to put brown and blue stripes on his walls. He now has the best room in the house by far! Which is great, because I plan to spend a lot of time in that room in the middle of the night very soon.

By the looks of these pictures, you'd think Caleb was the hardest worker in the group....those are strategic, I guess. Caleb and the boys did some work on the yard and enjoined an afternoon was napping and watching golf...

This is who really made the magic happen! I am so thankful for Traci and Bethany who are expert painters and got us through our first set of stripes!

22 weeks

2009-03-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

Si seems to be doing great! It is really fun to talk, sing and read to him. My mother and sister are so great at making up songs....that must be a learned skill that you develop with motherhood because I am a little rusty in the creativity department! I'll keep practicing.

We also got news the other day that "the ultrasound pictures were not clear enough" (says my nurse) and we need to go back (on April 13) for another altrasound. A little ensettling, but she assured us that there was nothing that they saw that was cause for concern, rather they just didn't get good enough pictures (maybe due to his position during the last ultrasound). Part of me is excited to get to see him again, but it is also unnerving to hear about anything even slightly out of the ordinary. I'll keep you posted.

I just copied one of the email updates I get each week so you could see baby's progress during week 22! We're flying here! I will try to copy one of these each week so you can follow along with me. The picture is always kind of cute.

Week 22: Get Moving--No ExcusesYour Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy --

By BabyFit

Your Baby This Week You and baby are both eager to meet each other! Your baby is kicking up a storm, and you feel like you're getting bigger every day. Your baby weighs more than 12 ounces (.35 kg) and is more than 7 inches (18 cm) long! Baby's eyelids and eyebrows have developed and her muscles are growing stronger--something you can feel by the strength of the movement in your tummy! Your baby is probably moving more regularly now-not just once in a while!

After birth, she'll recognize the songs you sing or play for her now, resulting in a soothing effect.Your Body This Week Although your tummy is growing, you should still feel comfortable and energetic enough to bend over easily and move around.

If you are feeling exceptionally tired, make certain to get a blood test for anemia, which is common during pregnancy. Time for a Nutrition Check-up You've recently passed the halfway point of your pregnancy, so the day you set your nutritional and health goals may seem like a long time ago. How well are you acquainted with your good intentions? As we settle back down into personal everyday routines, falling back into some old habits can be easy, painless and even without recognition. Think about or dig up your initial nutrition goals. What has been easy? A challenge? Something you forgot to try? A change you didn't like or couldn't keep for very long? One way to test of how well you're sticking with your program is by comparing some healthy snack rehab ideas.

Your Best Excuse Not To Exercise Excuses. When it comes to exercise, they're as varied as the individuals who voice them. Lost interest. Lost my workout buddy. Lost my motivation. Lost directions to the gym. Lost my shoes. But one excuse is pretty universal among most--no time! In our frenzied way of thinking, one of the hardest concepts to understand is that taking time to exercise has such an impact on the rest of your life that it can actually save you time. More energy, clearer thinking, more endurance--these are all things that can help you take care of the rest of the day more efficiently. No more excuses. Check out this collection of ways to be inefficient on purpose.

Josiah David Fields

2009-03-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

We finally have decided on the perfect name for our son. We are very excited to announce that Josiah is doing well and really starting to kick up a storm. As you may remember Caleb and I were having a terrible time deciding on a name. We went round and round with many possibilities and wanted to share with you not only our decision (which we think is final but of course, always subject to change) but also the reason for our decision and the meaning behind the name Josiah.

Josiah literally means "Fire of God". So, come on, how cool is that!? We could have stopped there, but the actual reason we chose the name is because of who the person Josiah was in the Bible. Feel free to read all about our inspiration starting around 2 Kings 22. Some of you may know that there were a long line of Kings who ruled both Judah and Israel throughout history. In the beginning Judah and Israel were united and there was a King who ruled the entire nation. Those Kings were Saul, David and then Solomon. After those first 3 kings, the kingdoms were seperated and seperate kings ruled the two territories. Well, many generations passed and there was never, ever a good king in Israel and in the whole history there were only recorded to have ever been 4 good kings in Judah. Josiah was one of those good kings.

Josiah was the son of a very evil king. His father died and Josiah became king of Judah when he was just 8 years old. Even from that early age, he was a very good and faithful king. At the age of 25, Josiah initiated total reform of Judah and reintroduced the scriptures to the people of Judah. He took down all the objects of pagan worship that other generations had errected and he completely brought the entire nation back to the Lord. Until that time, the scriptures had been completely lost, but Josiah found a copy of what is probably the book of Deuteronomy and had it read to all the people. He reestablished scripture as the cornerstone of what people should base their life on. We see Josiah, today as being a man of faith, wisdom, obedience and most of all, an incredible passion to serve God.

It is so obvious when you read the bible that names are so important to God. The Lord often gave a new name to a person to reflect their character or a specific role He was calling them too. Also, all throughout scripture, the meaning of names are given to help you understand the significance of the person that is being talked about. For our son, we wanted to honor how much God cares about the meaning of a name and we wanted to honor our son by giving him a name that represents the character that we are praying that he posess. We plan to raise him to love the Lord and to serve Him and we especially love that Josiah of the bible loved God and remained faithful from the time he was a small child. We are believing that our Josiah will also become a faithful man of God who is a reformer and a leader.

So there you have it! Thus the reason for naming him what most of our youth think is "weird". I have been using the nickname "Si" a lot when I talk to him (No "Joe" please).

David (our choice for the middle name) was also a king (and also a very good king) but rather than having a fixation with royalty, we just thought David sounded good with Josiah. What do you think?

So...a bible lesson and homework assignment had the makings of a pretty boring post, so I thougth I should at least put some pictures in here and talk about what else is going on in life. (Not that anything is more important than what is going on in the bible!) Here is a picture of the first little shirt Caleb and I bought Si. We had mistakenly been under the impression that there were no cute boy clothes out there, but we are starting to come around. I know this hoodie isn't very "AZ" but hopefully it will get some good wear when we are home for Christmas.

Here is another updated belly-pic. Getting bigger! I promised myself and most of my friends that I was not going to be a complainer after all we went through to get pregnant in the first place. I truely am so thankful for the breeze of a pregnancy I have had and the incredible joy I feel for getting the privilage of experiencing it. However....due to Caleb's back problem we have a very firm matress which is totally fine with me (although pregnant or not, I would prefer to sleep on a soft fluffy cloud anyday)! but now that I am pregnant is it okay to complain about the fact that my hips are soooo sore!? Firm matress was fine when I could sleep on my stomach or back but now with only the sides as options, it has been pretty hard to sleep. I even tried sleeping in the guest room last night (mmmm...remember my college bed, Laura? Didn't you want to sleep forever on that fluffy cloud!?) So I slept there for one night, but missed Caleb too much so I won't be doing that again. It was a nice break for my hips but who wants to sleep alone? Actually it was really not even a better night sleep due to the printer noises and water heater turning on, not to mention the few glow in the dark stars that still remain on the ceiling from the last homeowners. Printer noises? you might ask... my printer started making noises in the middle of the night. I woke up and almost became convinced that it was going to feed the paper and print me some creepy ghost message, but thankfully it stopped short of a terrible horror film I'm sure someone's made. I guess we have a few modifications to make before the guest room/office will be guest ready. Sorry to all of you who've already had to endure the stars.

IT'S A BOY!!!!

2009-03-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't want anyone to miss my story about finding out because they were trying to scan the blog to find out, so I decided to just lay the good news out there in the beginning! After almost 20 weeks of calling baby he/she we finally have our answer! And we couldn't be happier! As my father stated when we told him...we are really just concerned about his health and would be so happy with a boy or a girl...but a BOY is just a little bit BETTER!

We had been looking forward to this day happening on Wednesday. In fact we took the afternoon off work and planned to go out to an early dinner before youth group to celebrate our findings. I also had intentions of recording the whole thing via photo and video so that I could share our whole experience with you all. So we got to our OB's offce right on time and sat in the waiting room for about 40 minutes. Despite our embarrasment, we had a nice lady take pictures of us "anxiously waiting the big news". It's no surprise to you, I'm sure that several women laughed out loud at us and our "photographer" commented that this must be our first child. What's a little embarrasment in exchange for good memories?!

I had this whole thing planned that I was going to picture-introduce you to our doc (who was out delivering a baby that day, hense our 40 minute wait), take you on a tour of the office, and take both video and pictures to help you feel like you were there with us... but then our dreams were dashed and I lost my motivation.

We were escorted into the exam room and I inocently asked when the ultrasound takes place so I would know how much water to keep drinking (I was already at capasity). And the nurse gave us the weirdest look in the world, right before she informed us that they did not have us scheduled for an ultrasound on that day...and that the ultrasound tech had never ever in her career ever worked on a Wednesday: Someone screwed up and I so badly wanted to take it out on this flustered lady...she must have felt so awkward standing in front of two grown people who were tearing up and about to throw a tantrum. So I didn't take it out on her. We just took it for the unexplainable injustice that it was and tried to wait quietly and patiently for them to figure out what went wrong. And then our good behavior was rewarded when they were able to get us in at 7 am the next morning. I think they could tell that we were not able to handle even 24 more hours!

So for the moment we were forced to settle for a "regular" appointment. We did get to hear the hearbeat again. Cool I guess, except that we already new he had a heart...it was the other parts we were interested in! The heartbeat was just a little anticlimactic at that point. No offence, my son, it was still great. Your mom and dad were just a little hard to please on our big day: Take 1.

Which is why I am wearing a different outfit for our big day: take 2. Thankfully our wonderful tech skipped breakfast, I'm sure, to get us in before her shift was even supposed to start. We decided not to test our luck by trying to take a video in the ultrasound room: I've heard that's a no no. So Caleb got this rather flattering picture instead! The screen babe, take a picture of the baby! that's what I meant to say.

We did get lots of great pics of the baby. See below! Our little man listened to the advice that we have been imparting on him for weeks now: Modesty is very important...except for today! He did not disappoint! Good job, Love! We could tell (read: our ultrasound tech could tell) almost immediately that we have a man in here. She also could tell that he had 10 toes and fingers (the split screen photo is of his cute toesies if you can't tell), and all the vital organs appeared to be perfect and cooking right on schedule. He weighs 8 oz!

The two at the bottom are my favorite! I love seeing his little profile! Doesn't it look like, from the profile one, that all his facial features are proportional!? He is perfect! The one second-from-the-bottom is of his little face-facing us. Caleb and I have been joking for months about the fields nose. Judging by that face pic, it looks like we might have passed that gene along. Sorry, little one. Who are we kidding, he didn't stand much of a chance: See pictures of parents above. We may have to teach our child that, although they fit, quarters should never be placed in your nostrils. It's important to start thinking through those valuable lessons.

We have been thinking a lot about names of course and hoping that by the time this day came, we would have firmly established what we will be calling him. I think we have narrowed the field now to 2 possibilites. Caiden Elijah and
Josiah David. Those names are not similar in the least so I am hoping one floats to the surface sometime soon. We have really hoped to be able to call him by name and pray for him by name for the rest of this pregnancy, but we may just have to wait until we meet him to be sure.
It was an exciting day and very fun to connect with some of you over the phone. We are so thankful for all of you
and can't wait for you all to meet our son! We are even more excited to think about all the ways so many of you will love and support our little man throughout his life! Thanks for joining us in this part of the journey!