I found some stuff.

I was browsing through Nate's pictures on his computer and I realized that there were a bunch that I didn't have on my computer slash completely forgot about. So over the next few days I'm going to add some random posts going as far back as March 13...Why don't I start now?

These pictures are from our day trip to Cannon Beach on March 13th, Nathaniel's due date. Personally, I think these pictures are fun, so I hope you enjoy them, too!

Actually, this first picture is of the bouquet we placed on his grave that day before heading out of town. Since then we've finally gotten the headstone placed, so I'll put a picture of that up soon.



Okay, so this next stream of photos are from the trip we took into Cannon Beach...

I disrupted Nate's reading to take this picture. This is his "C'mon, leave me alone" look.



I sometimes giggle nervously when he takes pictures of me.



On the beach.




Okay, so that's it for now!

It's sad.

Mom and Dad had Rameus put down on Monday. He was going downhill and was having a hard time just living life. I remember the day he came into our family. School was out and it was my turn to ride up front in the Suburban. When I got in the truck, I nearly stepped on something furry sitting in the wheel well - it was the little brown dog we had seen at the pet store just a few days before!

Rameus had an interesting life, to say the least: He had an amazing number of near-death experiences, too many for such a little beast. My two favorites are when he jumped out of the Suburban window as we drove 60 mph down the highway toward Magone. He saw cows and was so excited that he took a flying leap to be with them.

His next best near-death episode happened during my sophomore year of high school. Dad was supposed to come to the play Rae Ann and I were a part of through our school ("The Hobbit"). He never showed up and we found out why when we got home that night: Dad had gone to shut the garage door before driving to the school, but Rameus couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to be inside or out, so he darted under the door at the last minute. It nailed him in the shoulders and flattened him to the floor, causing him to go spread eagle - and his little legs weren't meant to go that way, poor guy.

Even though he was small in stature, he was such a tough country dog :) I'll miss him!

Titles...who needs em?

This is just a general update. I don't feel like being creative with a title right now :)

The 4th was good; we celebrated with Nate's family who live across the street from Happy Valley Park. It was an awesome show! Getting out of the neighborhood was a bit ridiculous, though - that took quite awhile with all the pedestrians walking down the middle of the road. So fun.

Ricky is flying back to South Korea today - he flew in last Saturday and pretty much surprised everyone. We had about a two day warning that he was coming. It was good to see him! He'll be back in November. His flight comes in on the 29th, so he was excited about (hopefully) being there when the baby was born, but now that the due date has been moved up to the 21st, I sense that he's expecting the baby to already be born when he gets back into town. We'll see!

I went in and saw Midwife Peggy on Thursday after work. We were both surprised that I had made it three weeks without popping into her office (I made a good go of it when i fell down the stairs, but, in the end, resisted the urge). We went over the ultrasound tech's report from Tuesday and Peggy said that the tech wants us to go back in for another ultrasound because she didn't like the quality or the quantity of pictures she got of the baby's mouth and nose. I don't think we'll be going back to the hospital to do that, though - my insurance won't pay for it and neither will I. I think Peggy will try to do that ultrasound in her office when I go in next month. I'm not sure if either the tech or Peggy are worried to any extent, though. I'm not sure I asked all the right questions when I had the chance...

So that's where we're at! Sorry, no spectacular new photos. I need to take one soon, though - an updated belly shot. I'll get that on here soon :)

Taa daa!

Please meet...


Baby Girl Banks!

We're excited, but a bit shocked! Finding out the sex of the baby totally brought the reality of our due date home. Sure, it's in November, but that feels soon! Oh, and the ultrasound tech upped our due date by eight days...We're now due on November 21st. I'm fine with either November 21st or the 29th, but what a surprise! The baby is measuring large which is why the due date was moved up - ack! She's kicking like crazy these days, not at all phased by my fall :)

So that's our major news...Yeah!!!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, she looks good. We could count all her little fingers and toes, and she has no major deformities or obvious illnesses - Nate and I are breathing easier tonight :)

Whoops.

I wish I had some pictures to post of the bruises and rug burns I have right now from falling down the stairs the other night...but on the other hand, no lasting evidence of my clumsiness is probably best.

I don't even know what happened. People keep telling me to slow down when I tell them about falling down the stairs, but I wasn't speeding! I took two steps and then my feet were no longer under me. I slid down six or seven steps before stopping at the landing. If an off-balance pregnant lady has to fall, it's best to do it that way rather than head over heels, I suppose.

Not too long after that I climbed into bed and cried and laid around with my hands on my stomach willing my baby to move around. Nate came into the room and laid down with me and tried to talk sense into my freaked out state. He put his hand on my stomach (Yes, he did. And I didn't throw it off, but that doesn't give license to free stomach grabbing! He's my husband, so he has a bit more to qualify him to touch my stomach.) and he felt the kid moving around...a first for him!

We're beyond butterfly movements with this little one - it's now full on kicks. The kid is gaining strength daily, it seems. And we find out on Tuesday what we're having! ACK!

Ta Daaa!

For those of you not on FaceBook, here's a first look at my 4.5 month pregnancy photos:





Enjoy! I'll post another growth shot around 5 or 5.5 months...

One word: HOT.

(The graduate and her hubby.)

I will forever describe my most overwhelming memory of Leslie's graduation as this: It was hot.

Nate and I drove to Pendleton Thursday evening (6/13) and fell into bed in Adam's mom's guest room. On Friday, Nate had to work on some bids so we spent 4+ hours at the local Starbucks (the only way I could get him to go to Pendleton on Thursday instead of Friday evening was to let him work on bids on our "vacation" for at least a few hours).

Around noon we met up with Leslie and Adam and had lunch and then wandered all over the town doing touristy things: We toured the woolen mills, farmer's market, and Hamley's (stop by there if you can), among other things. By the time we returned to Jean's (Adam's mom) house, it was time to nap, aka start dinner for the group of people coming over for dinner.

Leslie's family showed up and we had dinner and eventually started a movie and eventually went to bed.

Bright and early on Saturday morning we headed to La Grand to save seats for the 15+ people attending Leslie's graduation on her behalf. We were sitting on metal benches at the Easter Oregon University's football stadium. The graduates sat in the field under tents while we got full on sun for four hours. And this is what happens in that situation, this is where HOT comes in:


Lovely, eh?

What it all comes down to, though, is that Leslie graduated! After her graduation, we took a few pictures on the lawn and then headed back to Pendleton to nap/get ready for her graduation party at a nearby park.





We ate a late lunch/early dinner, Leslie opened presents and cards, and then we had a killer game of kickball. Everyone is a winner. Just remember that...Adam and Nate.



We stayed Saturday night, went to church, went to lunch with Adam, Leslie, and her siblings, and then headed home. It was fun to spend the weekend in warmer weather than it seems like Portland will see this summer! I don't know - do we even get a summer this year??

Quick and simple.

Nate took his camera to work with him today, making off with all the pictures from this last weekend, and my 4.5 month pregnancy photo...So here's one to hold you over!

I felt the baby moving around on Saturday at Leslie's graduation (I'll get into that during my next post), but then not again. So on Tuesday I stopped by my midwife's after work to listen on the heartbeat monitor. I think I'm allowed some paranoia for just a little longer :) Peggy's so gracious, though! She got to me quickly amid her busy schedule. We listened to the baby's oh-so-strong heartbeat and then she wanted to see it on the ultrasound.

That was crazy! The kid is big! Nathaniel was born small, which I attribute to his illness, so I'm shocked by how big this baby is almost every time we see it. And...HERE'S A PICTURE!


In this picture, the baby is facing down, butt to the left, head to the right. It's little legs are bent at the knees and folded under its behind; the spine is lit up; the hands are in front of it's chest (it had just been gnawing on one of them). Can you see it, can you see it?

We're scheduled to go to the hospital for an anatomy check on Jule 1st - that's when they'll tell us the sex of the baby. I'm feeling considerably better, morning-sickness wise, but I still have my yucky moments. I actually started work at Starbucks at 6am this morning...and it didn't kill me! How grand!

I'll post more pictures soon.

Grr.

(An old one but a classic.)

I left for California last Thursday and got back on Monday, and then worked two (oh-so-long) days at Starbucks, so it was last night that I finally asked Nate to take a picture of my bulging belly. Yes, well, the man was tired, so no photo...YET. He agreed to take one this Saturday, and if he doesn't I know Leslie will. We're heading to Pendleton tonight for Les' graduation.

We had an ultrasound appointment with Peggy on Tuesday, and it was so funny I just have to tell you about it. Nate and I were put into the ultrasound room and sat there for a few minutes before Peggy passed by the door on her way to another patient's room. Before she came by, though, I had been reading the poster next to the table I was sitting on.

I haven't really gained any weight this pregnancy. I lost 20-ish pounds when we lost Nathaniel, and I kept it off for several months. I wasn't trying or anything - it sure was a nice surprise! The first trimester of this pregnancy, my weight stayed put. It didn't fluctuate at all. But when I got on the scale at Peggy's, I had somehow gained 5 or 6 pounds in the last week. Personally, I think it just looks that way because I went into the appointment after lunch...

So I was sitting on the table in the ultrasound room and reading the poster when I spotted a little bit of information under "Month 4" - it said that I would be gaining a pound a week pretty much from here on out. I hollered. Nate laughed. At me. He thought that was hilarious.

It was about then that Peggy stopped by for 2 seconds (and good timing on her part because my baby and I were about to go after Nate). She handed ultrasound goo and the ultrasound tool to Nate and told him to find the kid, which distracted Nate and I from a-pound-a-week-from-here-on-out. I laid back on the table and we exposed my belly and Nate started squirting the goo all over my clothes. I took it from him at that point and put a good sized glob on my actual stomach. And Nate performed the ultrasound!

We got some good pictures. We saw the heart beating rapidly, the unearthly glow of its growing bones, it's strangely large and weird looking head...And because Peggy wasn't in the room, I got to hear how Nate actually feels about it all (usually he leans against the wall and sticks with, "Oh that's neat. Cool."). This time he was totally involved with the ultrasound: "OH...Did you see that? That's so awesome! It totally just moved, did you see that??" I may have spent more time watching him than the screen at that point...

Peggy finally bustled in and took over. She took one look at my stomach and said, "Wow, oh my, you've grown!" Good? Bad? Ugly? I don't know. We walked away from that ultrasound confident of the amniotic fluid levels and the kid's heartbeat. All good!

This is our "scary week," the same time we lost Nathaniel in our first pregnancy. This baby feels much stronger than Nathaniel did, though. I find myself easing up.

Our baby anatomy appointment is set for July 1st. We'll take a good long look at the kids developing body, and find out the sex of the baby! So exciting...

So you want an update, do ya?

We're at 14.5 weeks in our pregnancy now - I just had an ultrasound about an hour ago with midwife Peggy and she said the baby is about 10" long. TEN! That seems so weird to me. I see changes in my belly, but I don't expect some stranger on the street to look at me and say, "My, you must be pregnant!" That would be weird.

Editing is going well, or at least getting better. I enjoy what I'm working on right now, but it's so hard to stay awake :) I find that that's my greatest struggle - which, if that's it, then no problem, right?

I'm still working through some morning sickness, but I try to remember that every time I throw up it's just a good reminder that I'm still pregnant! That's really the only way to be positive when you have toast coming out of your nose.

Nate's hecka busy. He's surviving on the triple grande vanilla lattes I get him from Sbux/other workplace. I think that this week alone (so far) he has to write up and send out six bids. He's a busy man! If you want any painting done, and you want him to do it, I urge you to call him SOON. I love watching him at work, though - he's so efficient at and proud of what he does. He has a crew working for him right now, so at this very moment, he's working in his office lining up jobs and his guys are finishing painting a house. It's wonderful when everything flows so smoothly!

I take off for California this week. One of my down-south cousins is getting married so I'm going to his wedding. Even though it's now June, there's no sun to speak of in Oregon! It's still very dreary here, so I can't wait to see the sun shining! Oh, and when I get back from California, it will only be about two weeks (end of June) until we find out the sex of the baby...ACK!

By the way, Happy June! Can you believe it??


P.S. This was the first ultrasound we got of this pregnancy - I hope to have a new one for you next week.

10 weeks and counting

So Saturdays are the beginning of each new week in my pregnancy. This last Saturday was quite a surprise - week 9 had gone really well with longer periods of feeling in good spirits and like I had energy. On Saturday alone I threw up three times between 2:30am and 9:30am. Argh! The last couple days have seen an improvement, although my gag reflex is huge. I know that you really want to know all these fantastic details :)

So that's our baby update! I'm not posting any baby bump pictures because, well, it's still in the works! But you'll be the first to know when it happens...

Blessings!

So it's been a month or so.

I took a break from blogger, and without any forethought! I really didn't mean to. Things went a bit crazy when we found out that we're pregnant again...

Yes, it's true! We're due November 29th, two days after Thanksgiving. We're pretty excited! We're just about 9 weeks right now - the morning sickness began just before we hit six weeks and I've been working my hardest to beat it with protein and B6 and ginger...whatever I can think of. My prayer has been not only that this baby is healthy but that my morning sickness would end before we hit the 16 week mark. I had morning sickness up until the day we lost Nathaniel Micheal...I'd rather not repeat that! But it seems like it might be dissipating a little these last few days, which is marvelous!

Anyway, I just wanted to let people know that we're pregnant again. Pray for us!

I'll post other interesting things (with pictures) later...Forgive my laziness but I'm downright tired right now :)

Super Fast Post

Nate is the coolest husband ever, I have to say. On Saturday morning I jotted off to BSF at 5:30am. I called him on my way home, around 9:45am, to see if he was up (ha ha, the man can hardly sleep past 6am) and to find out his plans for the day. He said he wasn't doing much, just stuff around his office. That didn't strike me as odd because he's, uh, well, obsessed. (love you, hon!)

So, when I opened our front door, the first thing I noticed was booming music. I made my way to the kitchen, but Nate wasn't there or in the family room. I glanced upstairs and spotted him in his work clothes at the top of the stairs. And then I noticed a ladder peeking at me around the corner. And then I smelled paint. PAINT. Wahoo! He was painting the upstairs hallway! SO exciting! And, don't worry, he got it done in a day.

Our house looks lovely :) And I have a lovely husband!

The Pearl

Before my move up to Canada several years back, I was really getting to know downtown Portland, mostly because one of my friends had sweet access - her parents had a studio apartment in the up-and-coming Pearl District. We'd stay the night in their apartment and spend the next day roaming through the city. I learned to love Powell's and the meat packing district. Walking all those blocks repeatedly, I feel like I saw a certain aspect of the city come alive. Now going to the Pearl is like entering a whole new world.



It's packed full of apartments and condos and quaint shops. One of my newest "treasures," introduced to me by Rae Ann, is Sip & Kranz, a Stumptown coffee shop located near Lovejoy. I think I'm so attracted to it because it's something new and different. I enjoy the coffee shops near my house for their specific purposes (one I meet editing clients at, another I always end up doing some BSF at while Nate reads), so this shop is fresh. And the Pearl isn't so far away from my house that it's unreasonable to drive there!

Nate and I used one of the fancy cultural passes from the library about a week ago and walked through Pittock Mansion. Yeah, just about as uninteresting as it was when I was nine. Don't get me wrong - if you live in Portland, you should take some time to tour the touristy spots, but some of them just don't need to be visited more than once. I love the Portland Art Museum so I'll continue to go there as often as I can, but not so much the Pittock Mansion. We do want to go back and tour the grounds, though - I guess some of the property has been set aside like a park. Well, the City of Portland does own the Pittock Mansion, so I guess that's why the grounds are public also.



But I digress. After the mansion, Nate and I visited Sip & Kranz together. So the pictures in this post are from that little trip.

That's all.

I'm done. :)

March 13, our lost due date

The day has passed. And it was much harder than I thought it would be.

But I'm alive, and breathing. The song I've attached hits my heart hard.

And all I can say is, "By the grace of God go I."

Never Let Go (David Crowder Band)

Video Code provided by MusicRemedy.Com

A couple weeks back

Brunch! Leslie was in town doing some job searching, so we decided to get together and chat over sausage, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. I honestly can't recall the last time the six of us were together in the same room. I missed the last get-together but sent a message with Leslie to tell the girls I was pregnant - yes, it was that long ago! So her are some pictures from that morning...

Fun times! Thanks for hosting, Jen :)

Stephen was in town...

Yes, it's true! He came to town for a little bit and it was great to see him! We took a day to play around outside in the beautiful sunshine - well, the boys did anyway. Stephen and Nate decided to toss a ball around, and then Dave and Charlie Martin showed up and joined them in their game of catch. It was a bit windy outside, though, so Tiffani and I sat in her car and chatted :)

Nate's Birthday Party

I had sooo much fun putting together Nate's surprise party! I worked on it for several weeks and had to keep all of the anticipation to myself...

His party was on Saturday, February 8th, about two weeks after his actually birthday. On Thursday night, Nate stayed up all night working on his tax information to take to our appointment with the most amazing tax lady ever. Okay, but he stayed up all night - which meant that he stayed home and slept on Friday, the day I had planned to use to do all of my cleaning and baking for the party. So Friday was shot! I cleaned the downstairs and then snuck out of the house and drove to Mom's with all my baking stuff to make the desserts for his party.




On Saturday morning, I went to BSF and Nate was called to help his mom with an errand she had to run at Ricky's storage unit. When I returned home from BSF, I raced around the house doing what I could before driving to Mom and Dad's to meet up with them and Nate to go to lunch. We took off for Olive Garden and Karen and Rick drove over to our house to finish getting it ready for company and to open the door for guests when they started to arrive. We were late getting back home, but that ended up being a great thing! More people were able to get there before us :)





When we walked in the door, everyone was waiting for us in the front room, and it was awesome! They yelled a mixture of "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!" and he turned around and looked at me and asked, "Are you kidding?" He was so surprised, and it's a rare day that I can keep a secret from him long enough to actually surprise him! I had a guest list out on the counter earlier in the week, but he somehow never spotted it...





But anyway, we had so much fun! It was fantastic to see everyone - it had been years since the last time I saw some of Nate's friends. We had a great time, so thank you to everyone who was able to make it to his party!

More work done!

This is from a little while ago, when Nate was home and able to get some painting done. We really enjoy the green from the front room and we had painted it into the downstairs hallway, but Nate and I agreed (after 1.5 years of the green hallway) to repaint to a more neutral color. So these pictures are from when he painted the staircase - the paint in the staircase matches the downstairs hallway, and the upstairs hallway will eventually be painted the same!

I have a fantastic hubby :)