Two Week Checkup

It was time to take Ava to the doctor to see how she was doing.  Everything looks great and she has even gained some weight.  She is now 8 pounds 5 ounces.  She loves to eat all day long and then does a pretty good job at sleeping at night.  She is such a blessing to our family.  We can’t express how thankful we are that she was able to come and join our family.

Lauren’s First Soccer Game

So Lauren had her first soccer game on Saturday.  She was very excited about it.  I wasn’t sure how she would do, but I figured she would do well based on her practices.

Right before the game, our neighbor told Lauren that is she scored three goals he would get her ice cream.  She was very excited about that.

She scored her first goal in the first 60 seconds.  Then it took a little while longer, but she eventually ended up scoring five goals altogether.  It is amazing what she has learned by watching Tyler and her cousins play.  This will be a fun season to watch.

I think my favorite part of this video below is not Lauren scoring, but Tyler cheering her on.  He was so excited for her!

Lauren and Soccer

Lauren has been so excited to start soccer.  This is her first time playing on any kind of a team.  She has watched Tyler and her cousins play in countless soccer games. 

I remember the trip to the sporting goods store.  She was so excited to put those cleats on.  At the store they have a place that looks like a track and she and Tyler would run up and down that area like they were the fastest people on earth.

Yesterday I had the chance to go and watch her at practice.  It was so fun to watch these cute little girls try to figure out this sport.  The coach does a great job. 

Towards the end of practice they played a little scrimmage and it was fun to see Lauren play.  She was way more aggressive than I thought she would be.  She must have learned something while watching her cousin Alice play soccer.  I tried to video tape a little bit of the action with my phone.  That is posted below.  Can I just say that I love being a Dad!

Raingutter Regatta 2010

Yesterday was the Raingutter Regatta for Tyler.  I was proud of him because he built his boat on his own.  I came home from work and all I needed to help him with was gluing the fin and sail on.  He painted an eagle on his boat with some other designs.  It looked great.

When it comes to these competitions in Cub Scouts, I fear that I am not the best Dad as I don’t get too into it.  So far our performance in the Pinewood Derby has been a little disappointing.  I am just not that into it when it comes to building the car.  Maybe next year I will recruit some help and try to help Tyler build a competitive car.  Or, I can do as my brother does and just buy a winning car online.

Back to the regatta.  Tyler’s boat performed great.  The race has more to do with how you blow on the sail than anything else.  He came in 2nd place in his Den and 3rd overall.

I love scouting.  It is so much more than learning to tie knots.  Giving these boys a chance to set goals, learn new things, compete, have leadership experiences etc.  Scouting is great!

Perfect excuse to take a nap

“Sure honey, I would love to hold Ava for a while.”   

Nothing like having a great reason to catch a quick nap while Ava sleeps.  I know I can’t be the only Dad that enjoys this part of the job! 

I was in the office checking on some e-mails and I just needed to close my eyes for a little while.  Next thing I know, Meredith is standing next to me.  Ava and I are very good sleepers.

Garden Update

We have had a lot of fun with the garden this year.  It is VERY small, but it’s been fun to try the new square foot gardening method.  Once the rain finally stopped, things really started to do well.  This summer has been pretty mild and everyone is noticing that their tomatoes are not ripening very quickly.  Ours are still VERY green.

May 29, 2010 – Before

August 18, 2010 - After

The tomatoes are still looking like green apples.

Tyler is a great big brother!

All of our kids are about 5 years apart.  We didn’t plan it that way.  Heavenly Father had a plan for us and he decided that it was going to be every five years.  We are grateful for the wonderful kids that we have been blessed with.

Tyler is 10 now and he is such a great big brother.  He just loves Ava.  Every time I turn around he is holding her.  Lauren and Ava will be well taken care of by their big brother!

Decorating cup cakes is serious business

Alice and Lauren started to decorate some cup cakes this past weekend and man are they good at it.  The pictures don’t tell the story completely, but they come close.  This was serious business.  They were in the zone.  I don’t think they would have noticed a fire in the other room.  They were working on their masterpieces and nothing was going to get in their way.  I think they were inspired by the recent cup cake shows on TV.  If you look closely, Lauren is hand placing each of the tiny candy sprinkles. 

 

And now for the best part……yum!!

Ava has had a lot of visitors

There are so many people that have been waiting to meet Ava Jane.  It was fun to have so many come and visit us.  Here are some pictures of a few of them:

Papa and Ava shortly after birth:

Cate, Emma and Aunt Stephanie stopped by early in the morning:

Lauren loving her new little sister.

Tyler is already a pro!

Cousin Spencer was loving holding Ava!

Alice is trying to teach Ava how to be a good sleeper.

Wes still has the magic touch.

Kaitie is our “oldest” daughter.  She helped out big time.  We look forward to many visits from Kaitie.

Grannie and Tyler getting some quality time with Ava.

The Butterfields came to visit as well.  Here is Ashlyn being such a great cousin:

Brayden looks like he has done this before.

A big thanks to all of our friends and family members that came to visit.  We love you all!

Ava Jane’s Arrival

Well, It all happened so fast.

August 15, 2010 – 11:30 AM > Meredith went to Church (see picture below)

August 15, 2010 – 5:00 PM >  We then went to Meredith’s parents house to have dinner.  We stayed there until 9 PM and then when we got home and we put the kids to bed.

August 15, 2010 – 10:30 PM >  Meredith came downstairs and sat on the couch.  She asked me to time her contractions.  The night before we did this until about 3 AM and then the contractions stopped.  So, I was expecting the same thing tonight.  The contractions kept on coming and were starting to get more and more painful.

August 16, 2010 – Midnight > We called the hospital a little after midnight.  They suggested that we come on in.  We then called Kaitie (THANKS KAITIE!!!) to come on over and spend the night with our kids.  Meredith and I then headed on over to Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin, Oregon. 

August 16, 2010 – 1:15 AM > We arrived at the hospital and the nurse could tell Meredith was ready so they just admitted her.

August 16, 2010 – 2:30 AM > Contractions are now about 2 minutes apart.  they are very painful and they finish putting in an IV and administer some pain meds.  The pain meds help a little.  Meredith wanted an epidural, but the anesthesiologist was busy with an emergency in the operating room.  Meredith is now asking where the anesthesiologist is.  She is getting a bit snippy, but hey, I don’t blame her.

August 16, 2010 – 2:40 AM > Finally, the anesthesiologist came in and started to get busy.  He even mentioned that Meredith had a great back for epidurals.  Then, he couldn’t get it in.  Are you kidding me.  Don’t mention how great her back is and then have troubles getting it in.

August 16, 2010 – 2:50 AM > The epidural is still not in.  The anesthesiologist is trying so hard to get the epidural in.  He starts to take on the stance like he is going to break down a door.  Still won’t go in.  At this point I start to get light headed.  In my mind I keep thinking that there is no way a needle like that should be going into someone’s back.  He is pushing so hard that Meredith is rocking back and forth as he tries to get it to go in.  I glance to my right and I look in the mirror and I am ghost white!!!  I start looking for a chair and the nurse asks if I need something.  I told her I needed a chair.  She told me to go sit down.  So, with my tail between my legs, I went and sat down.

August 16, 2010 – 3:00 AM > Then the anesthesiologist took the next 5 minutes to finish up the epidural.  Meredith mentions that the epidural is only working on her right side.  The anesthesiologist tries to adjust the epidural placement and that still didn’t work.

August 16, 2010 – 3:20 AM > He then gives her an extra dose of the “good stuff” and said that should work.  At this point I feel fine and I am at Meredith’s side giving support and trying to not get in the way.

August 16, 2010 – 3:28 AM > At this point, Ava wanted to come on out.  At 3:28 AM Ava was born. She was 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.  Perfect little baby.  A little miracle delivered to our home.  We are so richly blessed and know that we have a great work to do in raising these wonderful kids.  We consider each one an amazing miracle.  Heavenly Father has truly blessed our lives with these wonderful children.

August 16, 2010 – 3:35 AM >   The epidural is really working now.  A little late, but it did provide some relief.  I have to hand it to Meredith, she was a trooper through all of this. 

 

Marshmallows anyone?

Tyler and Lauren love it when we do a “campfire” in our fire pit in the back yard.  I thought it was because they love s’mores, but they really don’t like s’mores.  They just like to have a fire going in the fire pit.  When ever we do this, we usually invite their friends from the neighborhood to come and enjoy with us.

Today we had some cousins over and Meredith said everyone had to eat their dinner or they wouldn’t be able to do the campfire.  Well, Kira and Ziza didn’t want to eat their dinner.  Luckily, Alice and Tyler stepped in an convinced them to eat so they could roast marshmallows.  I am not sure how they did it, but Auntie Sarah sais she might need them to come to her house and get them to eat their dinner everyday.

I love this picture because it makes it seem like they were being forced to roast marshmallows.  I promise they were having fun.  They just were mesmerized by the fire I guess.

I want to ride my scooter!

So last night Lauren walks into our room at 2:35 AM.  When she wakes up at night she always comes to me.  Usually I just get up and walk her back to her room and she goes to bed without either one of us exchanging words.  But last night was different.  I asked her what she was doing and she told me.  I asked her again because I thought I miss-heard.  She wanted to go outside and ride her scooter!  Hilarious.  I told her that it was the middle of the night and that she needed to go back to bed.  She said “OK” and went back to bed.  So, the question is, was she awake or was she talking and walking in her sleep?  Who knows.  Meredith asked her today if she remembers doing that and Lauren’s answer was “no”.

Rock Meadow

One of the things the grandkids love to do is play in Rock Meadow.  This is a part of Grannie’s back yard.  I think it started with Cate, but now it is a regular spot for the kids when they come to visit Grannie and Papa.  I am not sure who named it Rock Meadow, but I bet you it was Cate.  What do the kids do here?  They throw rocks into the canal.  They have thrown so many rocks, I am surprised that boats can still get by.  Grannie and Papa make sure they keep a steady supply of rocks with trips to Lowes or Home Depot to replenish the supply.  If they were to drain the lake, they would find a nice collection of river rock in this part of the canal.  The kids also like to climb the tree, but it isn’t called Tree Meadow.  This location is also used by the grandkids to eat food that they probably aren’t supposed to have because it’s close to dinner time.  I don’t blame them though.  Their Grannie is one of the most generous people that I know.  She keeps the shelves stocked like you just walked into a Costco.  Many a bags of chips, popsicles, Oreos, gogurts and more have been eaten here.  The kids love Rock Meadow and who wouldn’t.

Geocaching in Lake Oswego

On Saturday, we took the kids out to eat at Baja Fresh (a favorite of ours).  Then we headed over to Trader Joe’s so Meredith could do some grocery shopping.  While she was shopping, I took the kids out geocaching.  We found three caches while we were out.  The kids had a lot of fun finding the caches.  Of course, everyone wants to be the first to find the cache.  We have established rules so that everyone gets a chance to find it.  The main rule is if you locate the cache, you need to walk away from the exact location and then you can announce to everyone that you found it.  This process repeats until everyone has had a chance to find the cache.  The third one we found that night was hard to find and took us about 10 minutes looking through the same shrubs and trees over and over until we found it.

This cache required the kids to get close to the trunk of the tree.

The hidden cache with a million dollars inside……ok, nothing of value is in these caches.

What is geocaching?

Lunch downtown with family

Martin, Bob and I decided to meet up for lunch downtown Portland.  Bob and I work downtown and Martin was in town visiting.  Then we received call from Meredith and Rachelle and they decided they wanted to meet up with us as well.  So, we all ate outside in the beautiful Portland weather.  The kids noticed a fountain close by and so we headed over to take a look.  It is the Keller Fountain Park and it is pretty neat.  The kids started off just playing on the concrete portion of the fountain, but five minutes later they were swimming in the water.  Nothing like being a kid!  If you are downtown, you should stop by and take a look.  It is right next to the Keller Auditorium.