Today's Appointment. . .

Determined that I am starting to dialate! We're at a 1 so far. I really would like to make it to August, but we'll see. . .

And Heath finished rototilling the backyard tonight. Now he has to level it and plant grass! What fun it is to watch him with his new landscape maintenance skills.

Getting There

Well, we are almost to 37 weeks now. I have another appointment with my doctor this morning so we'll see how things are progressing. Last week's visit reaped nothing interesting except that I am starting contractions now and then.

I had another ultrasound to check Eden's size and she looks perfect! We're still going to try for the VBAC. I am nervous about the birth, but I know she will come out one way or another! I just hope it doesn't take 28 hours this time!

Heath is in his fourth of six weeks of the PSP Program and loving it. He is also working on expanding our backyard so every night this week he's been out until dark 'tilling up the dirt, getting rid of the blackberry roots. It'll be fun having more room back there for the kids to play.

Zion is now a toddler! He doesn't crawl at all anymore. His understanding of speech picks up more everyday too. This morning he made the "moo" sound for a cow when we were reading a book. So cute! He is such a delight--a true crown on our head.

So there is a quick peek into our life. I'll post more about Eden when we have more details!

June News

The sun has finally arrived again. It has been nice to see the blue sky, but the trade off is steep--I am SO HOT! Ugh!

Here Zion is getting ready to play in a local water feature. We are lucky to have several parks around us with them. He absolutely LOVES playing in water (but still hates the bathtub. We can't figure that one out!). I love this picture of his toddly-penguin walk and how his shorts are really pants.

Just THRILLED about this little stream of water. So innocently cute!

"Here's my tummy!" He likes to pat it when you ask him where it is. Seems like he learns something new everyday. Talking has also started. Some of his words are: dog, tree, please, food, cheese, shoe, this, no-no-no, Dada, Mama, and oops.

He also got his first haircut in June.

Before:

During:After:

June also brought a new baby into our fam. Little Boston Cole! Congratulations, Brock and Natasha! He is just so adorable and perfect! Unfortunately, I never got a great angle of his precious face or one with him and his parents. Isn't he a DOLL!

Here Zion is with his first boy cousin on Heath's side.

Speaking of babies. . .our Eden Belle is due in five weeks! And, yes, I have the BEL-LY to prove it! I begin my weekly doctor visits next week. Yikes! She'll be here before we know it! Yeah!

Memorial Weekend

I know, I know. This is already Thursday and I am just getting around to posting about this past weekend. . .but at least I'm doing it!

Saturday was my Nana's funeral in Yamhill. Cousins were there that I had not seen in years and other relatives were there that I had never met. The memorial service was nice--light-hearted--which makes for a pleasant funereal environment. Then all of us trucked over to Depoe Bay/Lincoln City. It was a beautiful weekend at the coast, weather-wise!

My mom and her siblings took Nana's ashes out to sea on Monday and then we all headed home.

Kasi, my cousin, had her baby boy on Sunday, so we stopped by the hospital on the way home to meet Travis Michael. I don't remember Zion ever being THAT small! He is going to look gigantic next to Eden when she comes! Which reminds me, good luck, Natasha! She'll hopefully be having their boy any day now!

Here are some pictures of Zion's first trip to the beach. He was SO cute and loved the sand. Since it is hard to keep his fingers out of his mouth, he did end up swallowing a good amount of sand.

Cousins Bailey and Brayden playing with Zion.



Brody and Zion playing with foliage. They are 9 months apart but about the same size.

The "Men" and their hats: Heath, Zion, and my dad.Heath and Zion mowing the lawn.

Zion's 1st Birthday!

Saturday, May 16th marked Zion's first year in this world. It was a great party and he loved playing with all the kids! He is such a lucky little boy to be loved so much by so many people.

We moved the party to the park at the last minute because the weather was just beautiful.

Unfortunately, yesterday (Sunday) he came down with a fever that is still lingering today. I am hoping that doesn't get worse as the day progresses.

Here are some pictures of the party:

Here he is on his birthday morning. He is such a happy little man!

Us with The Boy.
This is his birthday cake. I had Heath help me decorate it and he did a great job.

Blowing out the candle.

Cake time!

Here he is with his girlfriends Mackenzie. . .

and Jordan.With his cousins, Brody (almost 2) and Brayden (almost 5).



Here he is in the grass for the first time. He didn't like the feeling of it and would not crawl or walk in it.


Pretty busy weekend for the him, but so fun! Here is to another great year with our little guy. . .

Out Walking

Yesterday we decided to put a book we borrowed from some friends to use. The book is about different walks you can take through Portland. It is full of information and is like having a tour guide with you. So we took the walk through the Pearl Disctict and Slabtown. However, we only made it through the first half due to a hungry and sleepy baby. So Slabtown will have to be done in the future. We love getting to know our new city. There is so much to explore and do here.

Pictures of our tour:

It started at Union Station. What a pretty building this was! The inside still has a very 30's feel to it and looks as if you should see a couple waving goodbye to each other as the train whisks one off from the other.

There was this walking path over the tracks that we found. Very pretty view from up there of the bridges in the area.


Our walk continued past the Federal Building. Again, another gorgeous structure.

We walked up further and found the old customs building. It is hard to tell in this picture, but it is in an old Italian style. Very ornate and pretty. We are not sure what it is today.

Zion got to ride on the swings in the park--his favorite thing!

We then walked past the old Armory building. It is now a trendy theatre. We ducked in there to escape the downpour that had caught us.

After the shower passed, we went on to Jamison Park. We will have to visit this park again when the weather warms up!

We continued on to the more industrial section of the Pearl, but we didn't take any pictures there because we were into the meltdown by then. You'll have to wait for our Out Walking Part 2!

What a Month!

What a great month April was! The changing of the seasons is always my favorite time of year. We got Eden's room set up this month (sorry, no pictures of that) and did tons of other stuff. I'll give you a tour with pictures:

Zion and Heath building a shoe rack. Zion got a bunch of toy tools that he loves to use.

Here is Zion's 11 month picture:

Zion took some first steps while we were at Frank and Nora's house this past week. He'll be running before we know it!

Alex had her 3rd birthday party. She is getting so big!

Zion on the swing at Columbia Park. He loves the swings! When we are still about 1/4 of a mile away from them he starts jumping in the stroller. He is so cute!

Heath's new bike. He loves riding to work and home.

Zion on his new slide. It is just his size.

And the saddest part of the month. . .my Nana died. We were able to go see her in the hospital one last time before she went. She had a good life and was a GREAT Nana to me and her other grand-kids. She went peacefully and now she is with my Papa again. We will miss her so much!