TIming

I guess Black Friday afternoon was not such a good time to schedule family pictures after all...

SNOW!!!!!

The week before Thanksgiving we actually woke up to some snow.  Of all days, luckily it was a Saturday, so we headed right out to the giant hill by our house for some serious sledding action.

Those of you who actually live in wintery climates will probably laugh at the amount of snow that excites us and sends us sledding, but we've got to take it where we can get it.

And of course we had to make a snowman--northwestern style with pine cones for eyes and nose.  This was Adelyn's first time making a snowman, and to be honest I can't say that I have made that many more myself!

Aaron felt we ought to take the snowman on a ride on the sled so he wouldn't feel left out.  And I must say that he looks like he's having a great time.  Right?!

I am sure you are all wondering where our new little babe was through all of this...snuggled up and sleeping soundly in the stroller.

Rolling in the Deep

First of all, I have to tell you that there was something huge that I forgot to tell you about in the last post.  Are you surprised?!  While we were in Seaside, Adelyn lost her binky and was forced to go to sleep without it for probably the first time in her life.  We have tried a few times unsuccessfully to get her to give it up, so this was a good way to give none of us the option to change our minds.

And she did!!!!  We had a big celebration with some Blizzards the next day and praised her up and down for being such a big girl.

 

And when we came home and she found two other binkies in her bed, I was worried she would want to go back.  But she said she was a big girl now and asked if she could throw them in the trash.  Hallelujah!

 

Anyway, I had to share the big milestone.  The video is not any kind of milestone, but pure entertainment.  The past few months Adelyn has gotten really into popular music and here she is singing along to her favorite song.

When do I get my regular brain back?!

If you are like me, you look at blogs for the pictures more than the stories, but even knowing that about myself I have to share with you some details of our Halloween experience.  I think I have lost my mind...we went over to my sister's house to get the girls ready for our church Trunk or Treat and wouldn't you know...I forgot the COSTUMES!!  She lives about 20 min away and I turned around to get them about halfway there.  So when we arrived to her house 15 min late, I realized I STILL forgot Adelyn's dress.  What?!  After I already went home to retrieve them?

This of course made us late for the Trunk or Treat.  The announcement was to be there at 6:15 to park and it would start at 6:30.  Since we were still making it by 6:30, I thought we'd be okay.  No.  It was OVER!  Completely done.  What Adelyn has been talking about all month, we missed because of my serious absentmindedness.  People were in their cars driving away when we pulled up. 

What were these kids doing?  Just sprinting from car to car?  The few cars that hadn't left yet were all out of candy.  This was after Barett had screamed the whole 20 min to my sister's and back.  All that for nothing.  But they looked so cute so I got over the drama and we just trick or treated at a few houses on my parents' street and our street and Adelyn was still in 7th Heaven.

  Here they are: Beauty and the Beast.

 I was thinking maybe it was just a really bad idea to go out of town the weekend before Halloween when I should be getting all those things in order, until I remembered the list of things that I forgot for the trip as well! Aaron had some work in Oregon and we thought it would be fun to go with him and do a little adventuring...see how we could handle a trip with a family of four.  Well I totally failed the test so it may be awhile before we attempt it again. 

I forgot to pack:

my wallet

my phone charger

 Adelyn's medicine

extra waters (7.5 hours to get there!)

my iPod (it's touch so its games keeps Adelyn enterained in the car)

my swimsuit (after I made sure Aaron packed his)

Psych DVDs to watch after Adelyn went to bed (okay that one not essential, but still nice!)

Seriously, where is my brain these days?!  I thought once those pregnancy hormones left that that forgetfulness would disappear.  At least Adelyn found a way to entertain herself on the drive down...I thought this was so precious.

His work was in Coos Bay and this was near there at a State Park and the rocks behind us were COVERED with seals and Sea Lions.  We stepped out of the car and all you could hear was them barking (is that what it's called?).

We drove up the 101 on the way back and saw all sorts of the goodness that is the Oregon Coast.  It was nice because there was always somewhere pretty to stop that could entertain Aaron and Adelyn while I fed Barett.  I can't say the same will be true for our next drive to Idaho! Here we are at The Devil's Churn. 

We spent the last night in Seaside because Aaron's brother was in town on a surf trip.  This beach is just so pretty!  Goonies, anyone?!  

Aaron took Adelyn to the aquarium during yet another Barett feeding time and did a little feeding of their own.  This is some live Adelyn action for those of you who live far away.

Despite my flightiness and countless hours in the car in a mere four days, we had a great time and managed to make it home in one piece. I love that we live in such a beautiful place where we can just hop in the car and be someplace awesome.

Anyway, aren't they just irresistable?



Seven Weeks Already?!

When people ask how we have been adjusting to the newborn life, what we've been up to, how we've been feeling etc, my response has a common theme that I think is accurately summed up by the following two pictures:

WE ARE TIRED!!!!

I remembered that newborns wake up around the clock to eat, but I didn't quite remember what it FELT like. It pretty much feels like what a imagine being a zombie feels like. Maybe that's what I should be for halloween!

However it is not without its rewards...would you just look at this little guy??!?! Thought it necessary to share some of his first smiles photo session.

Here is one from Adelyn's first smiles...do they look like siblings or what?!

I'll leave you with this one of him seeming to wave goodbye to the camera. Yes, I know, he's a chunk and a half!! And I thought Adelyn was a big baby. He puts her to shame at over 14 pounds already. Love it love it.

Barett's Blessing

Aaron's family decided to come Labor Day weekend to meet our latest addition, so we decided to make it a real party and have Barett's blessing while they were here.

Aaron's asked his grandpa to bless Barett, and he made his way here all the way from St. George to give a very tender and thoughtful blessing. We really appreciate his sacrifice and the wonderful spirit he brought with him.

I forced all the family into taking pictures afterward and I thought I'd share so you could see what everyone is looking like these days. Here's all the Andersons that made the trek. Thank you so much for taking the time to do so! I'll post more pics of your visit on facebook so you can have them if you want them.

Then we have the Curlette Clan

And the Barias as well. For those who didn't know, those two families are where Barett gets his name: Baria + Curlette!

And of course we had to take a four generation picture...ya think there's a family resemblance there or what?! Apparently the record for this sort of pic is seven generations living in one family. I'm not thinking we are going to beat that!

Thanks again to all of you who took the time to be there with us on this special day for our family. I feel very fortunate to have such good friends and family relatively close by. Love you guys! I'll leave you with the star of the show actually awake.

Baby Barett's Arrival

I am happy to report that our Thursday attempt at delivery was successful! We arrived at the hospital at 8:30 am, ready to start the induction. I've been hiding away from the camera for the past month, but my MIL said I owed it to Barett to take at least one last belly shot for him. So here it is for those who live far away and get excited by pregnant bellies.

I suppose it isn't the last...Aaron took a pic of me during labor, but there is no way that is going out into the public domain.

For those who have never been induced, I will say that it is not the most exciting process. I was hoping this time would be faster since it was my second baby, but it was about the same as Adelyn...12 hours. And most of those hours were fairly uneventful, as I was dialated to only 5 cm FOREVER. But then things ended with a bang: around 9:30 the pain started getting out of control, at 10 I started pushing, and at 10:10 he was born!

He weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz (just a bit smaller than Adelyn), measured 21 inches, and had a full head of hair!

Anyone interested in more details, feel free to stop by anytime and come meet the little guy. Aaron can tell you his favorite story about the 12-year-old resident who thought the most helpful thing to do when the head was crowning would be to sit and pet it....yeah.

The first day Adelyn came to visit she was pretty freaked out when she saw me sitting in the hospital bed that she climbed up with me, wouldn't leave my side, and decided only to hold the baby when they brought her to him. Here she is the second day, obviously doing much better!

We thought we could never have a baby as easy as Adelyn was, but we are starting to wonder if maybe we got lucky. So far he just eats and sleeps, without needing to suck a binky or be swaddled. We are loving it, but are definitely still getting used to the boy diaper changing challenges. Any tips from you experienced folk??

Anyway, we are doing well thanks to all the help from friends and family.

Baby Eve (Hopefully)

We thought it was last night...we were scheduled to go in to be induced at 6 o'clock this morning. So we dropped Adelyn off at my parents' and took full advantage of the necessary sleepover by going to dinner and a movie. Then we got home and set up the bassinet, cleaned the kids' room, called to check in with the hospital only to find out that my doctor's office had changed my appt to tomorrow at 8:30 without letting me know about it and nothing could be done to change it because they were already full.

What?!?!?!

Seriously?!?

Of course I bawled forever (I am pregnant, after all) and of course when I called the scheduler at the office today to figure out what had happened she was a bit rude and ensured me that that was indeed what I had requested of her, but that it didn't matter anyway because none of the scheduled inductions got in today anyway: too many ladies going into labor on their own (not fair).

So maybe it was a blessing in disguise because tomorrow I will have priority over all those who didn't get in today and will be trying to reschedule. But hey, now I have the time for one last pre-baby post!!

This past Saturday we realized we hadn't hit up the beach all summer somehow, so we headed out to Westport. You can't really tell from this pic, but the spot we went to was COVERED with surfers. The water didn't look quite as inviting to me.

Our adventurous spirit extended to sticking our feet in the water and running from the big waves when they came. Well, we did try to build a sand castle too, but Adelyn thought it was more fun to knock it over whenever we got two towers (yes, there WAS a little boy next to us knocking over his own sand castle...yes we ARE a bit worried to have a boy of our own!!).

Then we hit up the go-karts, and when I say "we" I mean these two, because apparently you cannot be pregnant and drive in one of these incredibly fast cars on this super huge track. I was baffled!!! First the doctor doesn't wanting me floating the DESCHUTES at .2 miles an hour for my birthday and then no go-karts?! At least I had some cuties to photograph and cheer on.


Instead of dwelling on the lack of baby, today we headed up to Northwest Trek to check out some wildlife. It was a gorgeous, cloudless day...if only Adelyn hadn't been partying it up at grandma's and gotten four hours less sleep than she usually gets!!!

Since I know you can't get enough of her cheeseface, I'll throw in a random one for you:

I was cleaning out the fridge the other morning and she wanted to help so she put her apron on right on top of her jammies, pulled out the Clorox wipes (her favorite), and went right to work. Then she thanked me for letting her help. My pleasure, really.

In other big news, the week before last my brother got home from his mission to Tijuana Mexico!! Somehow I didn't take any pictures during the weekend our whole family was together, so I'll have to work some Ben pics in with the new baby pics in the next post.

Are You Sick of Hearing About Camping Yet??

If you aren't, please read on. If you are, rest assured that this is probably my last adventure for the season. My doctor told me at my appt this week that they won't let me go past 39 weeks with my blood clotting thing, which leaves only 3 weekends to get ready for this baby's arrival, one of which will be filled with all the festivities of my brother coming home from his mission.

So on that note, we headed to the hills for a final adventure. This time we hit up Leavenworth, a cute little Bavarian Village just on the other side of the Cascade Mountains.

It is quite a popular little tourist town, but it is also surrounded by an overwhelming amount of outdoor adventure and doesn't take long to get away from the crowds. Aaron has decided it is his new favorite place in Washington. Here we are overlooking the valley.

This is a view from the same spot, but in the direction of our campsite. We camped in icicle canyon, about 20 minutes outside of town. A lot of people go there for backpacking and rock climbing, but we just liked it because it was beautiful and peaceful (not to mention the largest campsites we have ever seen!)

We headed up to Fish Lake the next day for some rowboat action. Not the nicest ride we have been on, but at $5/hr rental, I suppose you can't complain. And I really couldn't complain because Aaron wouldn't let me row; I just got to sit back, relax, and watch the birds and the fish.

Then we headed down to Lake Wenatchee State Park ready to play in the water, but it was too cold and windy for us to even stand being on their beach. So Aaron took Adelyn horseback riding instead. She LOVES horses and had a great time, except for having to wear the giant bicycle helmet.

We had a great weekend and look forward to going back again and rafting that Wenatchee River!

More Fun Firsts

Our first campout with Adelyn went so well that we decided to give round 2 a try just two weeks later at the next sign of good weather. We moved from just camping to giving her a tryout on solo hiking (not being carried).

There were quite a few times that she wanted to give up and ride on someone's shoulders, but we found little games to play along the way. Her two favorite distractions were finding the perfect fallen log to pose on for the camera, and racing Daddy. She is quite the competitive one, let me tell you...at one point she even ran right in front of him and cut him off so he wouldn't pass her!

A couple more weekends after that we were blessed with our first nephew, Ryder Grayson Bertels. He came about three weeks early, so I hope this little baby of ours follows suit! Here he is with his proud little mama.


And of course we had to get a cousin shot! Adelyn wasn't quite sure at first what to do with such a small baby.

While we were in Bellingham, the sun came out and Jake was taking Jadyn for a ride on the jet ski. I was quite surprised that Aaron felt Adelyn would be too sad watching Jadyn go and decided to take her out too. Personally I worried 2.5 was a little young for a first jet ski ride, but they made it back safe and sound, with Adelyn chanting to go faster.


Inspired by even more sunny weather...yes we do live for the summer here in the Pacific Northwest, we decided to head out to Tillicum Village on Blake Island. Aaron has been wanting to do this for a long time, so that was our Father's Day present.

For those who aren't around here, it is an Indian village boasting of its authentic Salmon bake buffet and native dancing and storytelling. For those who ARE around here and who haven't been, you aren't missing out. Maybe our expectations were too high, maybe we waiting too long to go, but we thought it was just OK.



Perhaps the most entertaining part of the day was Adelyn's reaction to the steamed clam appetizer that we were greeted with upon arrival. I was surprised that she wanted to try one and not surprised to realize that it didn't quite make it all the way down. I looked and realized she had it sitting in her cheek like a chipmunk for about 15 minutes! Can you see it in there?!

And the final first that we have for our show and tell today was Adelyn's first visit to Mt. Rainier. Saturday was such a perfect day that while we were out running errands, Aaron got the urge to head to the hills. Those are the kinds of urges that I don't fight one bit, so we packed up a quick picnic and headed up.

As I mentioned it was a gorgeous day...a Saturday on a holiday weekend at that, so we weren't the only ones with this brilliant idea. It was so crowded that the parking lot at Paradise was full. So we just scoped out the campgrounds for future reference, ate our picnic, and hopped on the trail to Carter Falls.

We made the mistake of showing Adelyn the backpack, and after that she wasn't really into the idea of hiking herself. Chasing chipmunks was the only way we could get her down. It was much hotter and steeper than we expected....poor Aaron! And yes, Adelyn dressed herself that day...ode to PINK!!

That's about all we have for now. Hopefully you feel adequately caught up on our recent lives. I even threw in a couple of pictures of my growing belly for those of you who get excited about that sort of thing.

Only six weeks to go!!!!!

First Camping Trip

Many of you know that I have a very strange and very chronic pregnancy craving: CAMPING. So when my sister invited us to go on a little overnight campout on the way to my other sister's baby shower up in Bellingham, I couldn't resist (despite the fact that we had been away from home for a week and only slept in my own bed one night in between).

We had already bought a bigger tent and a queen air mattress to pamper my pregnant self through the experience, but we still weren't sure how Adelyn would take to the outdoor adventures. Hopefully you can tell from these pictures that she loved EVERY minute of it.

She talked about it nonstop beforehand once we told her we were going and has asked us often when we are going back. Here she is helping with the tent.


Our campsites were just up the hill from the ocean so we spent pretty much the entire afternoon watching the tide roll in and the herons devour the exposed sea life, blowing bubbles, relaxing, and just plain soaking up the sunshine. Just what the doctor ordered!!!



Adelyn was very excited to see the two giant bags of marshmallows after dinner and got a little upset when I put them on a skewer instead of giving them directly to her. I assured her they would taste better once I was finished with them.



Do you think she agreed with me? Yes, that's my leg she slimed.

Sidenote: I put these pants on in the evening, slept in them, wore them all the next morning and didn't notice until we were leaving that I had them on backwards the whole time. Aaaah, that's the great thing about camping...no need to worry about looking good!


No pictures, but the answer to the big question, was yes, she slept fine in a tent. She was so excited to sleep in it I couldn't believe it. And no she didn't wake up at the crack of dawn...it was almost 9 by the time we finally rolled out of bed. She kept talking about how fun it was that we all slept in a tent together.

After packing up camp we headed out to Deception Pass for a quick view. Let me just say that bridge is a whole lot scarier as a mother of a toddler! If you haven't been there, look up a picture of a side view online...yikes!

Jadyn rode with us a little on the side trip and we had too much fun when the random shuffle on the iPod blessed us with this song. Bring back any great memories?





Yes, she is sunburned. I am a bad mother... I also forgot warm clothes for her at night, and of course it was cold, it is still May in the Northwest!

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of the actual shower but we had so much fun with Jake's family. Can't wait for little Ryder to join us in June!

P.S. Anyone who wants to get down on the camping, you let me know. Now that we know Adelyn is a fan too we will be going as much as possible this summer.