We're back ...Again!

After taking a year off from writing we are finally back. I know we've said it before but this time we'll be good... we promise. We stopped posting back in June of 2007 and obviously, a lot has happened since then. We tried to give you the highlights so you'll see a whole bunch of posts between now and then. So many in fact, that they don't all show up on the first page so you'll have to use the month-by-month thingy on the sidebar.

Among the things that are new... we have a little boy on the way! Marcie is 5 months along now and due in October. We've also had many visitors in the last year, Brianne and Mary lived here for 9 months but are now gone to California. Erin and Ray have moved back to Saint Louis and so has Katie and Jim. Not many people are left here for us to play with but we are slowing making new friends. Erica and Crista are now living out here as well (in downtown Seattle). Of course, we have had many visitors come out as well like Justin and Laura, and Anne has been our a few times with Bryan and then Anna, Mom's been out and Marcie's family comes out to see us regularly. We also picked up some kayaks which we have used about a dozen times already.

We also bought a house! We bought it back in October and now live in Tacoma. It's a bit of a drive to Seattle (about 30 miles) but it's a lot of fun here. I'll be sure to take some pictures of the house someday soon for everyone to see.

Another Hike-in

This weekend we made a last minute decision to hike-in to Olympic National Park on Saturday. We stayed near the Elwha River at an old drive in campsite. We made sure to do an easy hike (most of it was on the washed out road to the campsite and it was only 2 1/2 miles. Unfortunately we had to camp near lots of other people. The trip started out on a bad note - when Mike went to get his bag out of the trunk it was soaked - the camelbak that I had filled had leaked all over (ooops!!) About 1/2 mile from the campsite were 7 hotsprings. Once we set up camp Saturday evening (which was infested with carpenter ants) we headed out to the hot springs but each one we came to was full of nude people! We decided that it would be weird to join them so we came back early Sunday morning and had one of the pools all to ourselves. The water must be hotter in the morning because I couldn't tolerate even having my feet in! Before we hiked out we saw a mother deer feeding her two babies. These two other hikers were pretty sure that the babies had just been born that morning because they were still wet! The trip ended on another bad note - the camera was washed in the washing machine - this time Mike was to blame. At least we were able to salvage the pictures; we'll let you know about the fate of the camera once it dries out!

Five Months pregnant

At promptly 18 weeks I felt the baby kick and at first I could only feel him in the evenings when I was sitting still but after about 2 weeks I began to feel him all the time! At 20 weeks Mike was able to feel him kick for the first time! We had our ultrasound at 18 1/2 weeks. The first thing the tech said is "wow, your baby has big feet, they are 1 inch long!" At that point I started to panic because I knew it was going to be a girl who would be cursed with my big feet! I was then relieved that it was actually a BOY with big feet. Mike and I were both guessing it was going to be a girl but EVERYONE including my mom and sisters and all of my coworkers kept telling me I was having a boy! I guess they knew something that I didn't know. We have had our boys name, Louis Michael picked out for a long time - so we are very excited we get to use it! (This picture was actually taken at 21 weeks)

Steve and Jenny's Wedding

This weekend we travelled back to Maine to for Jenny and Steve's wedding in Portland. It was so much fun! While we were there, we hung out with Mike's family, went to the beach, went to the Old Port Festival, ate lots of lobster and seafood,(but not more than the recommended amount for pregnant women!) and had a great time at the wedding!

On Sunday, Jenny, Katie, Sarah, Becky and Kelsey had a baby shower for me at Derrick and Sarah's house. While the guys played boccie ball, we made baby aprons, opened presents (which was VERY generous) and ate cheesecake. Thanks guys!!! It is always really nice to see Mike's family and friends.