The Griffins

Selling AND buying...

2010-03-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy few months!! Rob has been working with a client who has been looking at condos. When he couldn't find anything that met all his needs in a 2 bedroom, he decided that he would look at 1 bedrooms. So, Rob told him he could look at our condo. He was open to looking, so he brought him by. It had all that he was looking for and was the right price, so he called us a couple days later to say he would like to buy our condo! We have been our condo, as of April 14th, exactly 5 years! So, we set the closing date for April 15th, so that we can take advantage of the tax credit, which requires current home owners to have been in there primary residence for at least 5 years. We can't believe that this is happening so fast, and without even planning to sell! It has been perfect timing that we can only attribute to God's timing! We even found a home in South Everett that will fit our needs for many years to come. So, assuming all goes smoothly from here until closing, we will be moving!!

The home that we found is a Cape Cod style 1 and 1/2 story with full basement, 4 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, HUGE 2 car detached garage, on almost 1/2 acre! The backyard is fully fenced and looks like a park, with huge trees, flowers and plenty of open space! The home needs a lot of updating, since we think that the owners were either the first or second owners of this 1930 built home. Overall the construction is sound, so just minor updates will be needed; carpet, paint, appliances, etc. We are planning on putting new carpet in 3 of the 4 bedrooms and turning the 4th into an office. The "office" has a tongue and groove sub-flooring that will be great to paint and distress. The living room, which is covered in a fabulous orange and black shag, has fir wood floors underneath. We are hoping that the wood is in good condition and won't even need to be refinished, but we won't know until we pull that carpet up all the way. We are also going to take the wall out that separates the living room from the dining room. It will have an exposed wood beam header that should match the overall theme of the house. The kitchen, which is HUGE, has oak cabinets that we want to paint white and distress to give a "country kitchen" look, and possibly tile the floors. Right now the floors have an old laminate, but if there is tongue and groove under that, we will do the same thing we are planning on doing in the office.

We are getting very excited and nervous at the same time. A lot of things need to be done on a very limited budget! We feel very blessed that we were able to make some money on the sale of our condo so that we can afford this home. Could you please be in prayer that everything will continue to go smoothly and that we will be able to make the changes we want in the new house.

Front of home, framed with large cedar trees.

Fir flooring underneath shag carpet in living room.

Living room. The doorway wall is the one we are taking out.

Huge kitchen, this picture doesn't do it justice, it really is big.

View from kitchen garden window of our HUGE backyard.

Ruby has "her" spot already on the landing of the stairs going up to the bedrooms.

This garage has more square feet than our condo!

Finished part of the basement. And, yes, the pool table stays!

Unfinished part of the basement. Hope to finish it sometime in the near future.

Backyard.

More backyard.

Even MORE backyard!

It is a ugly now, but we hope to make it a lot cuter! We will keep you posted on our progress and let you know when we are going to have our house warming party!!

Leavenworth Trip

2010-02-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of January, Crystal, Ruby and I went to Leavenworth for a few nights. We used our Wyndham credits to get a nice place in town. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fireplace, and a great view!

We spent most of the time relaxing and playing by the fireplace. Ruby loved playing with just a plain white sheet! We would fly it in the air and let it drape over her. She would do that for hours on end!

Ruby also loved the snow. She would ask to go out on the patio so she could watch the snow fall and watch the kids sled. So, we bundled her up and took her out to play in the snow. She had a blast! In the deep snow, she would stand in one of my footsteps and not move until we helped her.

We went out for a nice dinner for my birthday. It was VERY good! I had a half chicken, quite possibly the best chicken I have ever had! Crystal had a prime rib sandwich that was fantastic too! We finished it off with a Nutella and strawberry crepe. Ruby loved that one! Earlier that day, we found a local chocolate shop and got a great sampler! I love Leavenworth!

The trip overall was very fun, but we did have some car trouble coming over the pass. It turns out we blew a head gasket coming over the pass, and our car couldn't make it back over the pass. We made it about 5 miles out of town before it just wouldn't go any further. Luckily we made it to a gas station and the owner was a tow truck driver. 5 hours and, $500 dollars later, we made it home. After much deliberation, we decided to sell our Pontiac to get the Subaru fixed. Thankfully we were able to sell it with out any problems, and that covered most of the repairs.

Let's try and catch up.

2010-02-05T11:43:00.001-08:00

So, sorry we haven't been blogging consistently. Let's see if we can't catch up! Christmas was a blast, we stayed at the Westin and Pan Pacific downtown Seattle. All the cousins got to play together every day, and they had a blast! We visited Santa Claus, ate great food, and played a lot. The kids got matching sleeping bags, as seen below. They are dogs, with built-in pillows and have their names stitched in! Ruby and Jaxon are about the same size, and love playing together, hugging and kissing.

We visited the Teddy Bear Room, as a now yearly tradition. Unfortunately this year it was about 95 degrees in there! So, we didn't end up staying too long, but the kids had a blast.

Ruby got her first Huskie Cheer uniform!

Like mother, like daughter!

Ruby has the cutest dress, shoes, and "fur" jacket!

At least one of them enjoyed Santa.

We will try to be more consistent in the future.

It has been 6 months, so, here are some pictures at least!

2009-11-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

These are from many different locations, such as Skylar's birthday at Chucky Cheese, Halloween, Puyallup Fair, my Mom's house, and Richmond Beach.

One-Year Stats

2009-05-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ruby had her one-year check-up yesterday, and here are her stats:

Weight: 17 pounds (She is back on the charts now, but basically at 0%, if that existed. As an interesting side note, Crystal weighed 18 pounds at one year.)

Length: 27.25 inches (about 5%)

Head Circ: 44.5 cm (between 25-50%)

The doctor continues to be impressed with how she's grown and caught up, so that's good. She doesn't have to have her monthly weight checks anymore, so her next appointment will be at 15 months (in August). She also got a shot, but hasn't been too cranky yet. Though somehow she did peel off her band-aid (while she was in her new ball pit at home) and put it in her mouth and was gagging on it. Rob was on daddy duty while I was out for a girls' night, and he got it out of her mouth safe and sound. Yuck!!

Happy 1st Birthday Ruby!

2009-05-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

May 14, 2009

Dearest Ruby,

Today you are one year old—where did the year go? We have cherished every precious moment we have had with you. We are so grateful that God chose us to be your parents. Thank you, Jesus, for our Ruby-dooby, silly Billie, sweetie pie Ruby June.

We love you more than anything else in the whole wide world. We could never have imagined how much we would love you.

We couldn’t ask for a better daughter than you. You have captured our hearts with your gentle and carefree spirit. Your smile lights up a room. You laugh and we can’t help but laugh too. You are a bundle of joy and cheer and everyone who meets you is drawn to you. You must take after your daddy in that regard. You are the most beautiful baby in the world, and yes, you will always be our baby.

You laugh whenever you hear any sort of laughter—when other kids are playing, when Mommy and Daddy are laughing with each other, or when you hear people laughing as they walk by.

You like to copy anything that Daddy does, especially any weird noises he makes. Words you can say include: Daddy, dog, duck, book, ball, hi, yeah, up, and (sometimes) Mommy. Words you can sign include: milk, Mommy, Daddy, bye-bye, good night, sleepy/nap, potty, Jesus, book, eat, more, all done, and cheese. You can blow kisses, give kisses, clap, and give hi-fives.

You love to throw your balls and other toys. You can even roll your balls back-and-forth with Mommy and Daddy. You love it when we play music with a beat, and you dance and clap along.

You love to read and you love being read to. Your favorite books are your “Jesus Book” (Bible stories) and Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss. Last night when we read your Jesus Book, you got so excited you crawled all over Daddy, trying to reach the book. Because of this passion for books and reading, you can sign “Jesus” and “book” and you can even say “up” out loud. You love to say “up” over and over when we read your “up” book. You also follow along when we read you stories—sometimes in the book we are reading, but sometimes in your very own book that you hold yourself. You also read yourself stories when you find books in your toy pile.

You absolutely adore doggies, and especially enjoy chasing Toby around the house now that you can crawl. He waits until you are about to grab him, and then he runs away from you. But that doesn’t deter you! You can spot a dog a mile away, like when we are on a walk, or even on a quick TV commercial.

Now that you eat solid food, you cannot get enough! You love bread and bagels, yogurt, cottage cheese (well, any kind of cheese!), berries, carrots, and pretty much anything we offer you (except for avocado!). You also like Puffs and Cheerios. You drink plenty of cow’s milk and water, but haven’t tasted juice yet. You are getting so big and strong! Sometimes you will eat two pounds of food a day!! But if we give you too much or if you don’t like something or if you’re full, watch out, because you will not spit it out or swallow it, no matter what! We have to fish it out, which makes you cry, but at least you open your mouth after that!

When you get sleepy you suck your right thumb, and it is so darn cute. Sometimes you even suck your thumb when you aren’t tired, which confuses Mommy and Daddy.

You have two little bottom teeth that are adorable, and we’ve been waiting for your first upper tooth for the past few weeks, but it is taking its time cutting through.

Your favorite thing to do this week has been making fishy faces and (almost) blowing raspberries. Maybe you will even be able to blow out your candle on your first cake! We’ve been trying to teach you to say, “I’m one.” So far it just sounds like “Duh”—but you are definitely trying! You’ve also been pulling yourself up on our few pieces of furniture, which makes Mommy nervous. Sometimes you pull yourself up and end up sitting on your knees, but you still bounce and wave your arms without losing your balance!

We could go on and on about all the wonderful things you do and say and all the things you have learned in the past year. All in all you are one amazing little girl and we are so lucky that you are our little girl. Happy birthday, baby girl.

We love you with all our hearts,

Mommy and Daddy

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I am writing this on the day Ruby turned 11 months old (4/14), although I won't post it today because we still have to upload our Easter photos from the camera. I can't believe we only have 1 month and counting left of Ruby's first year of life. Time passes too quickly!

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CHRIST IS RISEN! The Griffin family had a wonderful Easter weekend reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus paid for us--dying on the cross for our sins and conquering the grave so that we can live forever with him! We especially enjoyed watching the live-stream feed of the Mars Hill Ballard Campus services and baptisms. 347 people total were baptized on Easter Sunday! Praise Jesus! :)

Ruby also enjoyed her first Easter. We spent the weekend (and a few extra days on top of that) with Crystal's family in Maple Valley. Before we left our house, though, Ruby received her first Easter gift in the mail--a personalized Easter basket! She loved it so much it was difficult to snap a good shot of her with it. Take our word for it, the back of her basket says "Ruby" not "Rub"! :) Thanks, Grandma Sue and Poppa Smooch Monster! :) (Her cousins also got matching baskets, and their momma snapped much better photos--check out "The Stewart Family" on the right.)

We colored eggs with Kolby and Skylar, and Ruby just wanted to put all the eggs in her mouth. She almost did a not-so-magic trick when she pulled on the newspaper protecting the table from the dye! Yikes! She got to color one egg, and then it was off to bed!

Saturday we were pleasantly surprised by Nana and Papa who visited for the day from Kennewick. Ruby loved seeing them and showing off how big and smart she's gotten. That night the kids left out carrots for the Easter bunny, who left quite a generous sugar-fest for everyone. I didn't get any shots of all the baskets, but maybe that's better... no incriminating evidence of all the junk we've (I've?) ingested.

After church on Sunday we had an indoor egg hunt due to the rain. We made sure all the real eggs were located! Ruby got to open her basket after church and before her nap. She loved all the foil-wrapped candies that were for her mommy and daddy (especially the ones with money taped to the backs!). :)

After a rainy weekend and a snowy day (!!), the sun finally popped out long enough for Ruby to try her new swing and bubble machine from Nani and Papa. At first she wasn't too sure about the bubbles, but eventually she started to squeal and enjoy them. Overall, it was a very nice long weekend with family!

Growing Up Big and Strong

2009-04-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since we've updated. We have some new stats to share. As you most likely know, Ruby has always been on the very small side. The doctor said that's just how she is. However, when we started trying to feed her solids, she would refuse, and just gag and cough. It was as if she physically could not eat them yet. We tried from 6 months to 9 months of age (November-February) without any success. Also during that time she had multiple colds and of course did not even want to nurse very well when she was sick.

Then at her 9-month appointment, we found out that her weight had dropped dramatically off the charts (she had only gained 2.5 ounces in 3 months) and her length dropped from 20% to 5%. The doctor was obviously concerned and said we needed to make sure she ate solids. I tried to convey that we had tried EVERYTHING we could think of (ALL types of foods, in ALL types of presentations, etc, etc). But we would try. Thankfully, just 2 days prior to our doctor's appointment, Ruby experienced what we are calling "the miracle at Miner's." Miner's is a burger joint in Yakima that our family loves. My mom and younger siblings, and Ruby and I drove to Miner's to meet my mom's parents. While we were at Miner's, Ruby was VERY interested in all the food we were eating. So I tried giving her bits of bread and whatever else I could find that was healthy enough to give her. She loved it and really wanted to eat it all! That was a Monday, our doctor's appointment was on a Wednesday, and since then she hasn't looked back!

The miracle at Miner's:

At her first weight check-up (at about 10 months old--one month ago), she had gained 1 pound in 3 weeks (up to 13.5 pounds). We just had her second weight check-up, and she has gained 2 whole pounds in a month! So she now weighs a grand total of 15.5. pounds! If she continues growing at this rate, she will be back on the charts (around the 5%) by her first birthday. We are VERY excited about her growth and we can tell she is happy about it too!

Hey, look, she's bigger than another baby! :) (This is Della, and she was only about 2 weeks old here!)

I love this photo because she looks so chubby, so she'll probably hate it when she's older!

She loves every food we've offered her, except for avocado. Some of her favorites are bread/bagels, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, roasted peppers, pineapple, sweet potatoes, and practically any fruit. But she does love her veggies and savory dinners too. We basically puree whatever we're eating with our Magic Bullet, and she scarfs it down. She's even learned to drink from a straw and a sippy cup, which she can hold by herself.

Eating some veggies:

Blueberries and bagel:

Now that she's eating three solid meals a day, plus some nursing, she is so playful and joyful and is such a character. She loves to laugh, loves to play with her balls, and loves to make her music toys play songs (and then dance along).

Our little girl is getting so big, she even has TWO teeth now! She got her first (bottom left) about three weeks ago, and she just got her second (bottom right) today! We are so proud! :)

Is that a tooth? Oh, nope, just a piece of cottage cheese!

HERE'S her first tooth (can you spot it?):

Some of Ruby's favorite activities:

* Singing into the microphone

* Playing with her giraffe (she's caused a traffic jam with her fire truck)

* Playing with her cousins (here's Jaxon) and her friends from church (here are James and Asha)

* Looking cute

* And her most favorite thing to do... Read stories about Jesus with Daddy!

Ruby is in the Top 500!!

2009-03-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all your faithful voting, Ruby has made it to the next round of Baby Idol!!! She beat out about 4,000 babies to make it to the Top 500!! Needless to say, we are very excited!

The next round of voting starts TOMORROW (Monday, 3/23) at 12:00 NOON and goes until Friday (3/27) at 12:00 NOON. This round will narrow the Top 500 down to the Top 100, so Ruby needs all the votes she can get! Again, each email account will get 10 votes each day.

If you haven't been voting for Ruby so far, now is the time to jump on the bandwagon! And get all your friends and family to jump on too! :D

To vote for Ruby, go to her picture directly: http://babyidol.movin925.com/photos/view/4009/

To see all the babies who made it to the Top 500, go here: http://babyidol.movin925.com/photos/round/1/ (Ruby is on page 9, look for "Ruby G, 10 months")

Thank you all SO much!

By the way, she's more than just her good looks... this Baby Idol can DANCE too!!!

Vote for Ruby!!

2009-03-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

{Please excuse the lack of a "real" blog post, but we have an urgent announcement!!}

Little Miss Ruby is entered in Movin' 92.5's Baby Idol Contest for 2009 (http://babyidol.movin925.com/)! Parents have submitted photos of their babies to compete in this contest to find the cutest baby in Seattle, and there are over 4,000 babies entered! The first round of voting starts Monday (3/16) at Noon and will cut the baby contestants down to just 500.

SO, PLEASE vote for "Ruby G., 10 months" every day, 10 times a day, this week. All you need to do is set up an account and log-in, and then you can vote 10 times a day for Ruby. Just go here to vote for Ruby: http://babyidol.movin925.com/photos/view/4009/ (that's the direct link to Ruby's picture, or you can also find her under the "R" babies, in the middle of page 6... make sure to choose the right Ruby!) Anyone who signs up can vote, so please also send this to as many friends and family as you can!

We think Ruby is the cutest baby in Seattle, and hope you agree and will vote to show it! :D [Of course, if you have your own cutie-patootie, we think they are pretty special too, and this is no slight to them!! :)]

Thanks so much for all your love and support, and for helping to make Ruby June the 2009 Baby Idol!! :)

By the way, the Baby Idol will win $1,000 for IKEA, a portrait package, lunch for four every month for a year, free haircuts and hair products, and a $250 Visa gift card!

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UPDATE (Wednesday, 3/18/09)

Baby Idol was having some issues with their voting the first two days (Monday and Tuesday). So, to be fair, they are ONLY counting votes received WEDNESDAY (3/18) through SATURDAY (3/21).

If you weren't able to register or vote the past few days, please try again, because it should be working now. And if you just forgot to vote, don't worry, now is your chance to catch up!! :D Remember you can vote 10 times a day, per registered account. And you can sign up all the people in your house who have email addresses! Again, thanks for voting for Ruby!! (http://babyidol.movin925.com/photos/vote/4009/)

Just some pictures for now! Will update with stories later.

2009-02-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Six-Month Stats

2008-12-06T23:46:00.000-08:00

Ruby is over six months old now! She is growing up so fast. She can sit up by herself really well now, though she does tumble over if she reaches too far for something that catches her eye! She had her six-month check-up on Nov. 18, so here are her stats from then:

12 pounds, 5 ounces (3 to 5th percentile)

24.5 inches long (20 to 25th percentile)

head circumference = 43 cm (75th percentile)

So, she's growing well, keeping steady on her growth pattern, and her head (brain!?) grew like crazy! :)

We've also started feeding her baby cereal, but she doesn't really like the flavor yet. We've tried rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and even a little bit of squash. She gets really excited when she sees her Bumbo seat (which is where she sits when we feed her), but none of the foods have met her approval yet--despite being made with mostly breastmilk. We'll keep trying, and eventually she'll get the hang of it... right?

Well, there were some other exciting events in November, but we'll have to write about them later. I just wanted to make sure to get her six-month info up before she turns seven months old! Here are a few cute shots for the road.

October-Mostly "Treats"

2008-11-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Where did we leave off last time? Oh, right, Rob’s mom’s wedding reception! Sue and Steve were married in Florida in March, but had a wedding reception/celebration on Lake Union and Lake Washington (on 9.20.08; okay, so that was technically September, but it was still a treat!). We got to meet more of Steve’s family, including his three sons. There was yummy food and crazy dancing until late into the night, and then we got to enjoy a room at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

One major “trick” of October was that Crystal’s grandpa (aka Papa) had heart valve replacement surgery. Thankfully the surgery went very well and he’s been recovering smoothly and quickly. We are so thankful for that and also that we get to see him (and Nana) pretty often, even though they live on the other side of the mountains.

We joined the brand-spankin’-new YMCA next door (literally) and took Ruby for her first swim ever in the pool there. She didn’t cry too much, but they’re still working on the pool temperature, so it was a little cool for her taste. Since then, we’ve taken her swimming in our little condo pool, which is much warmer (in the water and the air). She loved it! She swam and kicked and splashed while on her belly and her back. She especially liked it when Daddy played peek-a-boo with her by disappearing under the water. She laughed and laughed at that.

Ruby was a pirate for her first Halloween, so all together we were a pirate family. I’m sure we intimidated so many people (ha!)! We also did a pumpkin photo shoot and carved jack-o’-lanterns with Crystal’s family.

On the other side of the family, we went to Schuh Farms to check out the pumpkins, donkeys, chickens, and pigs. Ruby’s cousin Jaxon met us there (along with his mommy Emily), and the Farms even put out a special sign greeting Sue and Steve. We felt so welcome!! (No, the sign wasn’t really for us… we think!) Afterwards the cousins got a little playtime together. Check out this super cute pic of the three of them (Jaxon, Torance, and Ruby)!

Well, those were our major October festivities. As for Ruby’s development, she’s been laughing more and more, discovered that her bottom lip is fun to suck on, and loves to read her books (especially the ones she can hold by herself!). She doesn’t like her naps, but still enjoys sleeping through the night (usually!). And after just a few practice tries (at yoga class with Mommy), she decided she can sit up now! Some days she’s better at it than others, but she definitely can when she wants to! It’s just hard to catch on camera, especially with just one pair of hands to assist her and take pictures at the same time!!

If November is anything like October, we’ll have to do at least two blog posts to capture all of the events!

Itsy Bitsy Ruby...

2008-09-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Another month has come and gone, amazingly enough! Miss Ruby is now 4 months old. She had her doctor's appointment last Tuesday (9/16), and weighed in at 10 pounds, 8.5 oz (5th percentile, again) and 24 inches long (50th percentile, again). To us she seems so old and much bigger, but really she's a dainty little girl! She started laughing about a month ago, and even started squealing last week. It is so dang cute!

Some cute poses of Miss Ruby, the first on August 17 (3 months), and the second on September 17 (4 months):

Ruby has found her feet/toes and absolutely LOVES them. So, she of course has to do gymnastic stretches whenever possible. Don't you wish we all stayed this flexible?? Crazy.

And some of the highlights of the Griffins' busy month...

August 22-24 ~ Ruby's first dog show! This is our favorite show, the Boston Terrier Specialty weekend at Marymoor Park in Redmond. Ruby got to meet all of our dog show friends, but unfortunately we had to leave early to get to Rob's ten-year high school reunion!

Labor Day Weekend ~ Crystal's Grandma and Grandpa Kelso celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (actual anniversary: 8/23), so we got to hang out with family in Kennewick and Walla Walla for the weekend. Here's the happy couple and Ruby with her great-grandparents and her grandma.

Skylar's first day of school ~ Ruby and her Uncle Skylar did some (Wii) yoga together before Skylar headed off to his first day of Kindergarten. Gotta keep in shape, physically and mentally!

September 6 ~ Our baby birthing class had its reunion party so we could meet all the new babies. Here are the babies that were able to attend (from left to right): Tom, Tarran, Carter, Ruby, Josie-short for Josephine, Theo-short for Theodore. What sweeties! (And, ironically, the two oldest are the two smallest! Carter was very premie, and, well, we all know that Ruby is dainty!)

September 9 & 13 ~ Our great community group from church is going through the bitter-sweet experience of replicating. We are just too big! Half of us are moving to a new home, in Lynnwood. The Griffin family is staying at the current location, just 5 minutes from our house. Before the "split," though, we had one last photo shoot of (most of) the CG babies, as well as a fun kickball game. Just imagine how big our CG would have been without replicating and after the 4 pregnant ladies give birth (2 boys, 1 girl, and 1 unknown as of today, due at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009). From left to right, the current babes are: Grant, Asha, Ezra, James, Chloe and Brynn, and Ruby. Charlie is absent because his family has decided to move to a Lake City CG to be more missionally minded, Carter was in Idaho for the week, and I guess Caleb (Ezra's big brother) was too old at 4 years to be in the "baby" shot! :) We have made some great friends through this CG, and we have all promised to keep in touch and get together even after our "split."

Ruby's Bumbo seat (9/15): Ruby is finally big enough to stay up in her Bumbo seat! Although she has been able to hold her head up for quite a while, every time I would try to put her in the Bumbo seat this past month, she would slip right out of it! She didn't have enough weight to keep herself up! But, now that she's a big, grown-up, 4-month-old, she can do it.

Well, it only took me the entire weekend to get this post up, and now there's even more to write about (such as Rob's mom's wedding reception), but that will have to wait for another day. Until then!

Three months old and more...

2008-08-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks or so have been a mixed bag for the Griffin family. On the positive side, we celebrated 5 years of marriage on August 9th! :) We got to get away for a few nights at Salish Lodge (at Snoqualmie Falls)... nice, very nice. That was a surprise from Rob, and he even arranged for a few fun extras while we were there: Our good friend Lindsay came to our room and watched Ruby so we could get hot stone massages at the spa... wow! Those were a-maze-ing!! And then Dustin and Holly (Crystal's brother and sister-in-law) came and babysat so we could go out to dinner. It was a wonderful surprise getaway.

And now that Ruby is 3 months old (yikes!!!), she loves to "march" (flail her arms and legs sort of in rhythm and make crazy eyes and faces to match), coo up a storm (on the verge of laughing sometimes!), play with her hands and toes, and blow even more bubbles. However, because of all the fun she is having (and maybe combined with the heat? and who knows what else...), she hasn't been napping during the day for the past two weeks or so. It is very draining on Mommy!! She still sleeps at night, but instead of napping during the day, she likes to cry and cry. We've resorted back to the swing to get by some of the time. Also, she doesn't seem to smile as often as she used to. Maybe she is just enjoying her new skills too much, or maybe it's the lack of sleep making her less social... but we miss it. :(

Here are a few photos of Ruby since our last post.

Sporting her red, white, and blue in honor of the Olympics! Go USA!! Go Phelps!! (We measured Daddy's "wingspan" to compare it to Phelps', and Rob has 2 inches on him--Rob's is 6'9"! Maybe Ruby will be the next "superfish"... or the next all-around gold gymnast...) And, yes, those ARE cowgirl boots! :)

Ruby's "crazy eyes":

Snuggling with Asha at Miss Mallory's house.

Going for her regular walks with Mommy while Daddy's busy playing tennis. Thanks, Grandma Sue, for the cute (and functional!) sunhat!!

Sleepy time (at night, of course!). We love our sweet little Ruby June!

10 weeks, smiles, and rolls!

2008-07-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Our little baby girl is now over 10 weeks old! Wow! Summer has been fun and busy so far, and is likely to continue that way. We've been to the drive-in twice now, and have seen Wall-E, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, and then the first half of Wall-E again. We were too tired to stay for the whole thing! It was a surprisingly cute movie, though. We really enjoyed it. Ruby likes the drive-in, too. She gets to sleep and eat, so she's content! :)

Ruby had her two-month check-up on Monday, July 14. She was 8 pounds, 10.5 ounces--not even 9 pounds yet!! That places her at the 5th percentile for weight. The doctor says she is very healthy, though, so nothing to worry about. She was 22.5 inches long (50th percentile) and at the 25th percentile for head circumference. The doctors and nurses all think she is so cute! She also got her first round of vaccinations, which she did not appreciate, and neither did Mommy!!

And the BIG NEWS for this week: Ruby can roll over now! She can roll from her tummy to back, and did it for the first time on July 11th--before she was even 2 months old! Wow!! :) She likes to roll over more and more. Just today she rolled over four times in a row, and for the first time she rolled over to her right (usually she prefers rolling to her left). We've been trying to catch this feat on video, to no avail.

Ruby continues to bless us with her precious smile. She has a really cute smile right now. It's like a shy, bashful, flirty smile. She smiles really big, but then tilts her head toward her raised shoulder, like, "Don't look at me... Oh, okay." It is the cutest thing! :)

Hmmm... what else.... she is still sleeping through the night for the most part. Recently she's been sleeping for 9 hours at night. Woo-hoo! Sometimes she sleeps more like 6, 7, or 8 hours, though. Still good! :) She usually isn't a very good napper. But I prefer it this way over the alternative!!

Well, that's it for now. Until next time...

Sleeping like a rock.

Ruby at her first Drive-in, we saw Hulk and Wall-E.

8 weeks old!

2008-07-09T13:05:00.001-07:00

So, it has been a very busy few weeks. We have been traveling to families, restaurants, weddings, Leavenworth, beaches, and I am sure there are many more. We went to greenlake and were going to walk around a little bit, but ended up walking around the whole lake. That is a lot of walking for crystal, seeing as we haven't done much more than walking around the house or grocery store!

Crystal's brother Dustin got married to Holly last Saturday! It was a beautiful wedding and a very fun reception. Ruby did OK, she started to get fussy halfway thru the ceremony and so Crystal had to take her to the back. After the wedding, the Wood family had a family camp at their property in Maple Valley. Horseshoes, slip-n-slide, bocce ball, and BBQ! We had a great time.

For the 4th of July, we went to my Mom's beach house for a BBQ and a firework show. It was really fun and great food! We then decided to go to Leavenworth for a mini-golf tournament my friends were having. We stayed later than we thought and didn't want to have to fight the Sunday traffic home over the pass, so we stayed at one of our Trendwest properties. It was beautiful, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, and an amazing view of the cascades! We then woke up and walked thru the town and down to the river.

I will post more pictures of our fun times soon! I have to upload them first. Hope you all have had a great July and are enjoying this summer weather!

Greenlake outing

Long day of sleeping and playing, sometimes you just need to unwind.

Dustin and Holly's wedding!

Smiling more and more each day!

Her first lightning storm.

5 weeks and funny faces...

2008-06-18T21:50:00.001-07:00

So, today is her 5 weeks out of the womb. We saw her first smile on the 14th, and she said goodbye with a few smiles before I headed off to work this morning.

"You won't like me when I'm angry..."

Daddy thought this was too fun to stop...

"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Where did you go?

Ok Dad, last one.

All those faces made me tired!

Four Weeks Old!

2008-06-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today Ruby is 4 weeks old. We cannot believe it. She had a doctor's appointment today, and she now weighs 7 pounds, 14.5 ounces (up from 7 pounds, 2 ounces on 5/28, two weeks ago). She is also 21.25 inches long. She's getting so big!

In celebration of her 4 weeks of life, I've written up her "birth story," and it is finally ready to post here, like we promised. It's pretty long, so for those of you who stick with it, I applaud you! I enjoyed putting all the details down in writing, so we are sure to remember them later on...

Our baby girl’s due date was Thursday, May 8, 2008. That date came and went, and we saw our doctor for our regular weekly appointment on Friday, May 9. Everything looked good and healthy. My numbers (e.g., weight, blood pressure, baby’s heartbeat) all looked good. The baby’s head was still down, I was already dilated 2 cm (it had been 1 cm the week prior), and my cervix was soft, forward, and all that good stuff that it should be in preparation for childbirth. But to make sure the baby remained healthy since my due date had passed, the doctor scheduled us for a non-stress test the next Tuesday (May 13). The test would monitor the baby’s heart rate and activity. The doctor guessed, based on statistics, that she would arrive sometime that week, or the following weekend (7-10 days “late”). The test was just to make sure that she remained healthy as we waited for her arrival. Standard procedure.

So, we waited out the weekend. I continued having practice contractions, as I had for the previous two weeks. Some days they came harder and more regular than others. On those days I thought for sure we’d be going to the hospital. The night before our appointment I could barely sleep because of the contractions. They were actually cutting into my sleep, and I am a hard sleeper! I had to use breathing patterns while I slept, or rather, drifted in and out of sleep. I remember looking at the clock at 3am and thinking that these seemed more painful than all the other contractions I had had. Somehow I managed to get some sleep for the rest of the morning. When I got up for my morning pee, there it was—my mucus plug! I was excited—maybe those contractions really meant something! On the other hand, I thought, it had been the middle of the night. Maybe my sensory receptors artificially elevated the pain level so they just seemed like they were more painful, because I was trying to sleep, not cope with contractions!

It was time for me to get some work done before the stress test, which was at noon at the hospital. I grabbed my laptop and worked from my rocking chair. I was still getting contractions, which I monitored with an online calculator, but they weren’t as noticeable as they had been during the night. I was probably distracted by my work, which I was trying hard to finish before the baby arrived. And I figured these contractions would just peter out like all the previous ones had. They were just practice, too.

We arrived at the hospital at noon for our appointment. One of the nurses took us to a labor and delivery room, where the test would be conducted. She hooked me up to two monitors, one for the baby’s heartbeat and one for the contractions. She told me the test would take about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how long it took them to see the patterns they were hoping for from the baby. I did not realize that I was going to be confined to a bed for nearly an hour. Oh well.

I was having contractions again (they had picked up on the drive over), and the nurse asked me how painful they were (on that 0 to 10 scale hospitals use). I said probably about a 4. She seemed surprised. I was using the breathing patterns we had been taught. She got me settled and then left us alone with the machine. We watched the paper scroll out, charting my contractions like waves.

The nurse continued to check on me and the paper. She analyzed it, looking for sure signs that the baby was still doing fine. After about 40 minutes, she explained that the baby was fine, and received a passing grade, but not an A, so she wanted to continue monitoring me. She was waiting for the baby’s heart rate to speed up substantially when the baby moved, but hadn’t gotten that distinct pattern yet. On the other hand, my contractions were making a very distinct pattern on the scrolling paper. They were coming every few minutes. Some of the peaks couldn’t even be seen. Rob seemed very impressed by this. So did the nurse. Finally, she came in, looked at the paper, and exclaimed, “More contractions!?! That’s it, I’m calling your doctor!”

When she came back, she informed me that I was in labor. I was 2 cm dilated, and my cervix was thin. However, the baby’s head was only at a -2 station, which means she wasn’t far enough down in the pelvis yet. The nurse was waiting to hear back from my doctor to see what he wanted me to do, but she told us I would have the choice of staying at the hospital, or going home for a little while and then coming back. I was dubious. Surely this was just practice again! But if the nurse said it was labor… By this time we had been at the hospital for nearly three hours. Rob got on the phone to our parents to let them know our options. We wanted to go home so we could pack and also do some of the laboring at home.

But that wasn’t going to happen. My doctor wanted me to stay at the hospital so I could be monitored. The baby still hadn’t given a stellar performance, and he didn’t want to risk anything happening if I left the hospital. I made a packing list for Rob and he ran home. The nurse officially admitted me, switched me over to wireless monitors, and I changed into a hospital nightgown.

While Rob was gone I paced the room and breathed and breathed. I tried to stay in upright positions as much as possible, in hopes of getting the baby’s head further down the pelvis. I also ordered a shake and mashed potatoes since I hadn’t eaten lunch. I was starving, but one of the nurses scared me by saying I should only eat things that would be easy to throw up. So there was no way I was ordering a full meal, like I wanted to.

It took Rob about an hour to get back. Then the nurse checked me again. I was about 3 cm dilated. My mom arrived about this time, too. She and Rob helped me cope with the contractions and kept me company. I could not believe I had been at the hospital for 6 or 7 hours by now. The nurse told me my doctor had his last appointment at the clinic at 7pm, then he’d come to the hospital.

The nurses’ shift changed at 7pm, but my first nurse hung around long enough to check me again at 7:30pm. I was up to about 4.5 cm dilated (she said I was at 4 cm, but 5 during contractions). My cervix was also completely thinned out (as thin as it could get). My doctor arrived at the hospital around 8:30pm. He checked me, but there was no additional progress after the nurse left. Still, the pain was increasing regularly and the contractions were close together. In fact, almost every other contraction was a “coupling”—where the uterus doesn’t completely relax before going straight into another contraction. Actually, many of my contractions were 2 to 4 in a row with no break, then a one minute break, another regular contraction, a one minute break, and back into a coupling (or “tripling” or “quadrupling,” as I call them). Those were the worst. No rest for the weary, as the nurses said! Tell me about it!

Besides all the walking, swaying, tilting, breathing, and birth-ball-using, I also tried a hot shower to cope with the pain. I was surprised that I was able to use the shower with the monitors on, since they’re waterproof. The shower was lovely! I stayed in there for about an hour, which was as long as I could stand being pruney. Plus, my doctor had come back to check on me. I was sure there was going to be good news. All of this hard work had to be getting me somewhere! But I was wrong. Still no progress; I was still at 4 or 5 cm. And the baby’s head wasn’t any further down.

And so my labor went for the next few hours: intense contractions with barely any rest, going off of no food and no sleep. The duration, frequency, and intensity of the contractions seemed to reflect late active labor or transition, from what I had read and learned, and yet my cervix was not dilating. I did not understand it.

Finally, around one o’clock Wednesday morning (5/14), my doctor came in and told me that I should consider getting an epidural. He wanted to see if my body could rest and relax while my uterus did all the work to dilate and progress. I wasn’t ready to get the epidural, though. I asked him if I could try the Jacuzzi tub to see if it would relax my body enough for my uterus to do all the work like he wanted. He said sure. So, Rob and I went down to the Jacuzzi, stopping to deal with contractions in the hallway. I stayed in the tub for about an hour; it took a slight edge off the pain, but not much. The hot water and bubbles felt good, but I could definitely still feel the contractions. By the end of my stay in the tub I was feeling ready to give in. I was telling Rob that I could not handle it anymore.

I returned to my room and was checked yet again. Still nothing. It had been about 7 hours since my last progress, which was during the nurses’ shift change Tuesday night. That was the last straw. I was frustrated, exhausted, and couldn’t handle it anymore. One or two more contractions back in my room, outside of the tub, and I was sure that I wanted the epidural. Rob objected—I hadn’t even said the code word! I said screw the code word. I was serious that I wanted the drugs, and he knew it. No code word was necessary.

But, just my luck, the anesthesiologist was just getting into an emergency c-section and wouldn’t be available for at least an hour to do the epidural. They hooked me up to an IV and gave me a shot of drugs to take the edge off the pain, around 3am. It helped enough to keep me from shaking and helped me to focus through the contractions. I was very thankful for that drug, whatever it was. I could definitely still feel the pain, but it helped! I had been concerned that I wouldn’t be able to stay still to get the epidural in my spine, but when the IV drug kicked in and relaxed my body, I knew I would be able to do it.

The anesthesiologist wasn’t available until nearly two hours after I asked for the epidural. By that time I was only slightly concerned about a needle going into my spine. Rob, my mom, and the nurse helped to keep me steady and cope with the contractions while the anesthesiologist did his work. My mom had to sit down halfway through, though—she was turning green! She hadn’t had any real food or sleep, either.

Anyways, I finally had the epidural. I couldn’t feel the contractions anymore. The whole point of the epidural was so I (and Rob) could sleep for two or three hours to see if my uterus would dilate my cervix anymore. However, my doctor came in and woke me up about 45 minutes later. His blurry face seemed concerned (I had my glasses off so I could sleep). He checked my cervix (which was the best check of all, since I couldn’t feel it!) and there had been no progress. I was still at 4 or 5 cm. And the baby’s head was still at a -2 station. Her heartbeat was also dropping with the contractions. He explained that she wasn’t in dire distress yet, but he didn’t think that waiting a few hours would benefit us any, since I hadn’t dilated since 7:30 the night before (and it was now about 5:45 am). Furthermore, if we waited a few hours, the baby could be in distress at that point and need to be taken out quickly.

We woke up Rob so the doctor could explain our options. There was really only one, a c-section, and sooner rather than later. My body and I had done all we could to get the baby out. I had tried all sorts of positions and techniques, used the shower and Jacuzzi, and had the epidural, with no progress. I asked if I was still having contractions like I had been before the epidural. He said oh, yes. My body was still working hard. It was not for a lack of contractions that I wasn’t dilating. The baby’s head was not fitting into my pelvis, either because it was too big or because it was the wrong fit or position, he said. Like a square peg in a round hole. Normally to move labor along, a doctor might break the water (mine still had not broken). However, this wasn’t even an option for us, the doctor said, because there was still at least a finger of space between the baby’s head and me. If he broke my water, the umbilical cord could come rushing out (called “prolapsed cord”), and then I would need an emergency c-section anyways, to get her out within 2 minutes. The surgeon on duty came in and introduced herself. She agreed with my doctor’s analysis. They left us alone for a few teary, emotional minutes. And then we were ready to go into surgery.

Rob changed into scrubs then went down the hall to fill my family in on the situation. The nurses were rolling me down the hall when he joined me again. We went down to the O.R., but he had to wait outside as they got me ready.

It’s amazing how small an operating table is! They rolled me onto it and I tried to make sure I wouldn’t fall off. My arms were splayed out like I was on a cross. As a result, my entire left arm was numb. (I wouldn’t regain feeling in that arm until a few hours after the surgery.)

The doctors and nurses were joking around lightheartedly. I think they were trying to make me feel more comfortable. They began taking bets on the size of the baby. The lowest guess was 8 pounds and the highest guess was 9.5 pounds (that was the surgeon’s guess). They all thought the baby was going to be on the larger size, given how I had come to arrive in the O.R.

The anesthesiologist was behind my head and he put an oxygen mask on me. I did not expect that! It made me feel claustrophobic, but I tried to stay calm and eventually I felt like I could breathe normally. He tested spots on my body to make sure he had increased the epidural enough for surgery. That’s one part I had been worried about—how did they know I was numb enough? But a few minutes after one of his last questions (e.g., “Does this feel scratchy?”), he informed me that the doctors had already started! Oh, well, then. I guess I was numb enough!!

One other strange thing was how violently I shook. I had been shaking before I received the epidural, but now that my entire lower half was completely numb, all of the adrenaline and shakes were focused in my arms, head, and jaw. I could not stop them from shaking.

Rob came in and stayed by my head. He wasn’t allowed to watch anything until they started pulling the baby out. As she cut into me, the surgeon was more and more confident that her guess of the weight was going to be close. She said that my belly was all baby.

At 6:43am, I heard the baby cry, and my doctor said, “It’s a girl!” I immediately started crying, as soon as I heard her cry. I knew Rob was crying too. Ruby June Griffin had finally arrived, after over 18 hours of labor (not counting the previous night’s contractions during my sleep), 12 of which had brought no dilation progress. I was exhausted, emotional, relieved, and shaking uncontrollably. Our doctor showed her to us before bringing her over to the heat lamp in the corner. She was wailing and obviously had good lungs! She scored an 8-9 on her Apgar. Makes a mom proud. They measured her—it was the moment of truth for the doctors’ bets. And they were all wrong. She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

Rob went over to keep Ruby company while I was being sown up. I told him to take as many pictures as possible. He told me how beautiful she was, but also that he was sorry he couldn’t tell me much more—he was speechless. He wasn’t allowed to touch her for a while, and then he finally could. I saw him holding her out of the corner of my eye, and he brought her over so I could see her. I was shaking so hard I could hardly turn my head to get a good look.

They finally rolled me out of the O.R. and back to my room. Rob carried Ruby. He kept trying to get me to hold her on our way back, but my arm was so numb and I was shaking so hard I was afraid I would drop her. After we got to the room he kept wanting to give her to me. But every time I lifted my arm it collapsed back onto my body. Eventually he just held her on top of me, so she wouldn’t fall off. He asked me if I still wanted the hour to ourselves that we had asked for in our birth plan. Ha! That was funny, as if anything had gone like we had hoped for in our birth plan! I was so dead tired that I told him to go ahead and get our parents so they could meet her. The few minutes would be good for me to catch my breath.

And that’s how Ruby June got here. We never would have guessed that that’s how her arrival story would play out, but we are so thankful for a healthy, happy baby. We are thankful that my mom was able to help us during the labor, and also at home when we asked for help during the first week back. We are also thankful that so much family was able to be at the hospital to meet Ruby right when she was born, and also at our home afterwards. She is a very loved little one and we are so blessed.

Three Weeks Old!

2008-06-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Ruby is now three weeks and one day old! Wow, how time flies when you're having fun...

Here she's having her first tummy time, a few days shy of two weeks old.

All that tummy time exercise wore her out, so she took a little nap in mommy's sling. (Isn't she so cute when she's asleep?)

I just thought she was adorable as she slept on my lap (this was exactly one week ago--does she look one week smaller here??)

Making funny sleep faces on daddy's lap. And, of course, her hands-behind-the-head pose.

"Please! No more flash photography!"

Ruby's friend James loaned her his swing. She loves it! Thanks, James! (These are on her exact three-week-old day. Does she look bigger? I hope so!)

Catching some z's... while daddy's vacuuming! Gotta love it!

Jaxon Kristopher Stewart! Cousins!

2008-05-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

Our nephew was born today (5/29/08) to Rob's sister, Emily, and her husband, Kris. His name is Jaxon Kristopher Stewart, weighed in at 8lbs, 4oz, and we hear he looks like his big sister except that he has lots of hair! We can't wait to meet him, and hope we can make the trip up north tomorrow! If we can, we will be sure to get lots of photos to post here! (We haven't even seen any pics yet! :()

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE:

We were able to visit Jaxon and crew last Saturday (5/31/08). He is so cute! He was still a little bruised from his strenuous and very quick birth, but I'm sure that's cleared up by now. (To read the story of his labor, check out The Stewart Family blog link, in the left-hand column on this page. Way to go, Emily!) Anyways, he was bigger than Ruby, but the same length. He has cute dark hair, styled in a mohawk, of course. Here are some pics of the cousins, grandparents, and aunts/moms! :)

Ruby's First Bath!

2008-05-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is Crystal and it's my first blog post, so please bear with me if I make any mistakes! :)

Today was a fun day for us because Ruby got to do a lot of new things. One of which was her first sponge bath. Well, maybe it wasn't so much fun for her, but it was a new experience for us all! Here's my little commentary and photo journal of the fun... (How nice it is to have a digital camera when you have a baby! :))

All nice and cozy, little did she know of the torture that was awaiting her...

She did not like the wet washcloth and cried whenever I touched her with it. But she did enjoy snuggling next to Rob! As long as the washcloth did not come in contact with her, she was quiet and took it all in.

"Hey, Mama, put the camera down and put some clothes on me!!"

Once she was nice and clean, we dressed her up and I even got to put a pretty bow in her shiny hair! (Thanks, Grandma Sue, for the hair bows! They fit perfectly and are absolutely adorable!)

Then we did a little photo shoot with Papa and Mama. (By the way, the crossed eyes are normal for newborns. Really.)

Well, that was our morning. Ruby can be glad that we won't be doing that again for another week, or at least three or four days from now! :) But what new experiences does tomorrow hold for us?

A song for Ruby

2008-05-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is a song my Brother-in-law wrote for his new niece! It is a raw copy, he will have an actual recording of it soon. It is very touching, thank you Chelsey!

Pictures!

2008-05-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

So, by popular demand, here are some pictures for you to look at. I will still have to tell you the whole story, but another time. Love to you all!

Rob and his Mom, Sue

Party over here!

Crystal's Grandpa, Carlos

Crystal's Mom, Kathy

Crystal's Dad, Tod

Rob's Dad, Jim

Crystal's Mom and siblings singing to Ruby

Crystal's Brother, Dustin

Crystal's Brother, Skylar

Nap time

New baby smell; nothing like it!

Rob's Bro-in-law and Niece, Kirs and Torance

Rob's Sister, Emily

Another nap!

Crystal's Aunt, Brandis

Crystal's Grandparents, Ray and Zelda

Papa Steve

Heading home from the hospital

Welcome, Ruby June Griffin!

2008-05-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

I will write more soon, but for now, here is a small video clip. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did living it! Mom and daughter are healthy, happy, and resting. I will update you soon.

Due Date TODAY!!!

2008-05-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

So, today is the due date, and still nothing! I was almost sure that she was going to come early, but unless that baby comes out in the next couple hours, it is going to fall in with the statistics of first babies being a week late! We are getting very anxious and excited. Anyway, I will keep you up to date! Take care.

Almost here!!!

2008-05-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

So, Thursday is our due date! Crystal has been having a lot more contractions, to the point where we are timing them! It could be any day now, or night most likely. We have been keeping very busy, with social events and baby classes. We are all finished with our baby classes and are feeling much more prepared, still nervous, but more prepared. Crystal had her last baby shower the other week with my sister who is also due at the end of May with a boy. We have just about all we need so far, or at least we think we have all we need, being the first baby, we probably won't know until we need it! Thank you to all who came to the showers.

Today we had an early Mother's Day, thanks to my Dad and Lori! We went to Anothony's Beach Cafe for lunch, and then played in the sandbox with my niece Torance. It was such a beautiful day. The sun was warm and the food was great! Our little girl is going to have a lot of close family, and for that we feel lucky. Thanks for reading and I am sure that our next post will be about the birth of our girl, so check back soon!

38 WEEKS!

2008-04-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was 38 weeks. We had a doctors appointment in the morning; everything is still going great! We also had a baby class last night on newborn care. It is getting so close and so real! We are getting very excited and anxious.

Last week at our community group, a young child, about a year old, by the name of Carter Long came up to my wife, reaching for her belly saying "ball". He tried and tried to get this "ball" out from under her shirt. It was so cute; his mom is pregnant and will be growing a ball just for him, so he won't have to come to my wife anymore! We also found out that a new couple are expecting! Congratulations to Hugh and Mandy who are due in November! That makes 7 babies due this year alone from our community group. We are going to have a very busy year and I can't even imagine what next year will bring. We might need to hire a nanny just so we can have our group!

I wanted to post this movie again. I just love imagining what she is going to look like! Plus, who knows, the next post we do, could have pictures of the real thing! Please be praying for a smooth birth and healthy mom and baby. Also, be in prayer for me, as I am going to be her coach and main support. We have been taking all the classes, but until you actually use what you learn, you don't know how you are going to handle it. So, pray I am affective in what I need to do! Thank you, and we look forward to introducing you to her!

37 Weeks, FULL TERM!!!

2008-04-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was 37 weeks. That means full term! It could be any day now, hopefully not though, our doctor is out of town until the 30th. We would prefer having him deliver her, but have been seeing back up doctors in the office just in case! The doctor we met with today said that everything is looking good and that her belly is ALL baby! The doc is guessing that she is already 7 or 7 1/2 pounds already, and that she could grow to be a 8 1/2 to 9 pound baby! That made both our jaws drop! Please be in prayer that if she is going to be that big, that it will go smooth and not hurt Crystal.

We spent all last weekend cleaning the house and getting the "nursery" ready. We only have a one bedroom condo, so we are making a nursery in the bedroom with us. Luckily for us, we have a very large bedroom. It felt really good getting everything organized and prepared. We are getting really excited to meet her!

Below are pics taken by Kaitlin Musser. She does a great job and is very affordable. A link to her web page for examples of her photos is in my "Friends and Family" section or you can just use this: www.uber.com/silverspoon

Anyway, things are going great and will hopefully continue to go great as the days and/or weeks progress. Thank you for stopping by!

The pictures above were taken at UW

The pictures below were taken at Kerry Park

Of course we had to get one with the whole family in it!

New blog

2008-04-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Come visit my new blog for Real Estate. I have a lot of tweaking to do, but for now you can see my listings! I hope you enjoy.

www.soldbyrob.blogspot.com

A couple pics for you

2008-03-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some early prego pics of Crystal....This above picture was take December 4, 2007.

The above picture was taken January 2, 2008.

34 Weeks

2008-03-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today, Crystal is 34 weeks along! She is getting more and more uncomfortable, especially at night. And, her skin is being stretched to the maximum! We started our baby classes this week at Ballard's Swedish Hospital. It seems to be a very fun group, and the instructors have good knowledge, plus, unlike the ultrasound ladies, have actually had children of their own. We have been very surprised in how many women are in the business of helping pregnant women and teach them how to give birth, but have never had children and don't ever plan on having children. But I guess that is Seattle, and you know what they say; those who can do, those who can't teach.

Anyway, the past couple weeks we have been getting the house ready for the arrival of our little girl. Crystal has been especially motivated, and been working very hard on getting everything organized. We have a ton of stuff to give away, and a lot to put into storage we don't have. Some friends of ours graciously offered some free storage to us though, so hopefully we will be able to fit everything in that place. Not much else new right now, so I will wrap it up. Please keep us in your prayers for safety, health, planning, work, etc. Thank you!

The Atlantis in the Bahamas!

2008-03-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the slideshow of the second half of our vacation. We went to the Bahamas and stayed at the Atlantis. This place was huge! Pictures don't really show how vast this resort is! You have to take a bus to go from one hotel tower to the other, just to walk from the lobby to the beach is probably a half mile or more! They have about 20 huge pools, waters slides, lazy rivers as well as rapids, climbing walls, the largest aquarium in the world, shopping, casinos, restaurants, and so much more. We could have spent a whole month there and not have seen everything. I don't have the pictures of our dolphin adventure uploaded yet, but when I do you will see we got to swim and play with dolphins. That was amazing! We also went on a tour of the island and learned the history of it, went to the local markets, and the zoo. This is definitely going to be in the top spot for vacations for a long time to come! Thank you Mom and Steve!

Press play!!!

Florida Vacation

2008-03-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a slideshow of our most recent vacation and took down the individual pictures. There are just too many to post, so this way it will be easier. This is our vacation to Florida. We stayed with Mom and Steve, her fiance at their condo in Marco Island. We had so much fun! We went on an airboat tour of the Everglades and saw a bunch of alligators, birds and locals! We then went to the Seafood Depot for some authentic Everglade cuisine. I had the most authentic, fried frog legs and gator bites! It was great, very surprisingly, it tasted like chicken.

We also went to the beaches. The sand there is so white and soft. Then when you get down to the water, the sand turns into little shell pieces! We went on a beach walk to see the local birds and wildlife, but we went during the wrong tide, so not many birds were there. There were a bunch of little crabs though! Thousands of them actually. The weather was beautiful as well! We stuck out like sore thumbs, with our Seattle "tans"!

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32 Weeks

2008-03-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 32 week marker! It is getting so close and so real. The baby has been very active in Crystal's belly, she seems to like doing cartwheels! I don't have any new pics to show you of our little girl, so I will put up some pics of our recent vacation to Florida and the Bahamas soon!

Ultrasounds

2008-03-06T15:57:00.001-08:00

So, today we had another 3D ultrasound. It was great! You could see her face really well, and the technician caught some good video clips of her smiling and sticking her tongue out at us! I put together a little video of past and present pics and videos; I hope you enjoy!

New Beginnings

2008-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Crystal and I are having a baby girl in early May! So, we are putting together this blog to keep you all up to date on our life. Soon to come will be pictures of our ultrasounds, Crystal's belly, family vacations, Toby, and anything else we feel like sharing! So, keep your eyes out for new posts. If you have any requests, please let us know.