October 05, 2008
Alaska Photos now available
scroll down to the babymoon entry to find the link to 379 breathtaking photos.
do you think any of them could win a contest somewhere? they're mine and you have to give me all credit and any royalties you make off them thank you very much.
your host for this episode : dan; 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2008
29 weeks and 5 days
almost 75% of the way there... can you believe it? the last couple of weeks there's been a couple of serious growth spurts. i'm not terribly uncomfortable yet, but my hips have been sore the last few nights.
I'm a little bummed because now that it's finally cool enough to wear this jazzy sweater from jen vv, my belly's almost to big to wear it without hanging out below.
your host for this episode : carrie; 06:45 PM | Comments (1)
October 01, 2008
Registries and Showers
Let me remind you that I do Not like to be the center of attention, huh? My mom tells me that as kids my brother and I were polar opposites (like we're any more similar now than we were then, right?) and he'd pull his toys out to the center of the crowd to play and i'd be off in our playroom sitting quietly with my halo on playing with my toys. Ok, maybe no halo, but i'd be off quietly anyway and Not demanding to be the center of attention. But I know that some would be cross if I didn't tell you how to send us a gift for Tiger. So then, in case you Are dying to send us a gift for Tiger, we are registered at Babies R Us and Target, as well as USA Baby and Hop Scotch in Grand Rapids.
View registries at
www.babiesrus.com or www.target.com
and type in my name and select Michigan. Our registry will pop up.
For USA Baby, you'll have to actually go to the store off 28th St by Centerpoint Mall, but the main thing we've registered for there is a high chair by Svan. I also really like the bouncy seat by Svan but can't locate it anywhere but the Svan site.
For Hop Scotch, you'll have to call or stop in to their store on Cherry/Lake and they've got some things in a basket for us. You can either pay for shipping or they'll call us to come get it. 616.233.4008 is their number. Rachel, the owner, will be happy to help you out... she's been very helpful for me so far! They also have a website.
Showers
There will be one in Ellsworth on the 18th of October, and one in Grand Rapids sometime in November. If you'd like to attend and haven't received an invite yet, it's because I don't have an address for you! Please identify yourselves :) and give me your address so I can pass it on to the hostesses.
If you would like to order off the registry and ship something for me to open at a shower, it can be sent to
6323 East Jordan Road
Ellsworth, MI 49729
or
O-1673 Parkland Trail
Grand Rapids, MI 49544
Gender specifics
Just because we don't know whether we're having a boy or girl, it doesn't mean you can't buy cute clothes of a certain gender persuasion. Feel free! But please include a gift receipt so I can exchange it if Tiger comes out the other gender ;)
And don't bother with diapers - we now have a really big pile of cloth ones. But if you're inclined to get some wipes, I wouldn't say no.
Here's a pic of the bedding set we've chosen.
your host for this episode : carrie; 10:51 AM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2008
Bumps
We spent the evening with our friends Max and Courtney who are also expecting, within two weeks of us!
Here is a photo of the girls, sorry it was dark out, and I took this photo with my phone, so no flash.
your host for this episode : dan; 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2008
Tiger Pics
many of you are demanding pictures of "the bump", so here are a few. there are certainly dozens more that could be added from our trip to alaska, but we haven't gotten through all of them yet... but these should keep you from breaking down my doors!
18 weeks and 3 days - 16 July, at home
20 weeks - 27 July, at home in the Brickyard for a pizza party
22 weeks - 10 August, at Kirk Park on Lake Michigan with friends
24 weeks - 24 August, at "Angel Rocks" and then Chena Hot Springs not far from Fairbanks, Alaska
24 weeks and 1 day - 25 August, at the Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks
24 weeks and 3 days - 27 August, at Polychrome Pass inside Denali
24 weeks and 6 days - 30 August, at Reflection Pond beneath Denali
25 weeks and 5 days - 5 Sept, on Lake Hood, hours before takeoff to return to GR
your host for this episode : carrie; 10:22 PM | Comments (3)
The "Babymoon"
at 24 weeks pregnant, dan and i (and Tiger) hopped on a flight bound for alaska on frequent flyer miles for 2 weeks. into fairbanks and out of anchorage. hiking, hot springs, camping, rain, rain, rain, some frost, wild blueberry and wild cranberry picking and then making PANCAKES with those... and a base to summit view of Mt McKinley (aka Denali) for 1/2 a day! that was certainly the most breathtaking.
do you know much about alaska? i sure didn't before we went. denali park and preserve is the size of Massachusetts. and it's not the biggest park in alaska. huge. and there's one road: 95 miles long, most of it one lane and unpaved and perched on the edge of one mountain pass or another. we stayed at wonder lake at mile 87 for 2 nights by a very fortunate turn of events {the dufus we made the reservation with for 28/29/30 aug at igloo creek at mile 30-something wrote it up as 29/30/31 aug so when we showed up on the 28th and our bus driver (who Grew Up in GR by john ball zoo!) noticed our ticket was for the next day, we went and got "bumped" to an employee site at wonder lake - which was where we really wanted to be anyway but were told that it was "full"...} and hiked 7 miles one day [pregnant - let me remind you] mostly in a drizzle and always under overcast skies. the 2nd evening the rain quit and things seemed to lighten up ever so slightly and by 3am the sky was Clear, the stars were out, and so was the mountain. nearly everyone else at the campground there at Wonder Lake was/is a professional photographer (aka: pro-phos) - didn't know that was a pre-req! - and at 3 they started making their way to various vantage points for the twilight and then sunrise pictures.
when we woke up at 7 we were in fog. it rolled up off wonder lake (behind us and below us a bit) around sunrise but you could sense that above the fog there were clear skies. so we ate breakfast, and made our own way to a vantage point above the campground, bushwhacked through some underbrush with our bear bells on, and stood in awe of the majesty of the Mountain, and in ever More awe of the Creator of that Mountain. there was still frost on the berry bushes and i'm happy to say that we Never saw a bear or a moose while on foot. praise Jesus bc i think i would have wet myself.
so yeah, it was gorgeous. simply gorgeous. covered in snow, surrounded by fall foliage (and it was the 30th of August mind you), and just majestic. by about 9 there started to come some small clouds in front of the face, and by 12, when the first buses from the entrance would have made it to a vantage point around 50 some miles in, the face was again completely obscured with only the base and the very summit showing itself briefly now and then.
our way out of the park that day on the bus was also incredible. we saw caribou grazing withing 30 yards of the bus, a wolf munching on a moose kill, Several grizzlies - one of which crossed the road in Front of our bus, two wolf pups (already large but not yet full grown) walking In the road, and - just when i had given up - two bull moose having a go at it in the road in front of our bus. not serious, but like a couple of brothers wrestling or something! there was a Mob of people with big lenses and several of them dangerously Close to the animals (moose are more dangerous than bear, btw). we were quite afraid that they'd get trampled. the parks department is pretty adamant about people using the buses, but pro-phos somehow get special permission to drive their private vehicle in. see, if you stay On the bus, you're not a separate entity to the animals. they know the bus is a) not a threat and b) not a food source, so they leave it alone... but if you're outside of your vehicle, they get confused.
our two days in seward (on the coast just south of anchorage) were spent in the rain. the town is situated on the end of a fjord and supposedly the fjord is Breathtaking when the sun is out - which we're told happens at least 2 days per year ;) we were planning to camp, kayak, hike, and take it all in that way, but instead of setting up camp in the rain, cooking in the rain, ending up with wet socks because there'd be no place to dry them out in the rain, hiking in the rain, and kayaking in the rain and High Seas, we opted to upgrade our reservation at millers landing and splurged on a "camping cabin": an 8x12 structure With a front porch, bunks, and a Wood Stove! we could stand up inside to get changed, light a fire to dry out our socks and coats, and be on the front porch enjoying what we Could see of the fjord without being in the rain. and we also opted for a boat cruise instead of a kayak trip to see the wildlife. we saw a harbor seal (actually in the harbor!), several sea otters, a passel of sea lions who'd managed to haul themselves out onto a rocky outcrop, puffins, rare kittiwakes (which look remarkably like a charlevoix seagull), mountain goats (yes from the water - that's how steep the fjord is!), and supposedly 2 hump back whales. but at that moment, there were too many people around me getting sick (even dan was a bit green) and they only showed their humps and a little flip of tail fin and Everything was grey (because of the rain and fog, remember?) so i couldn't vouch that they were really whales!
so anyway, the rain made us relax. forced us to really. see we're not good at that. it's raining again today, that's why-come i can write this, because i'd rather be in my garden. or at the farmers market. or Something other than inside. but me and Tiger are sitting here just bringing you all up to speed while dan is off playing paint ball and riding dirt bikes in the woods with friends.
click below to be taken to our photo album on picasa. or just watch it here. be forewarned: there are 379 photos. but these are the good ones of the 1500+ that we started with.
your host for this episode : carrie; 11:28 AM | Comments (1)
August 31, 2008
we have emerged unscathed...
and yet so very tired. The journey out from the back country today was spectacular but to really understand HOW spectacular you have to know that it has rained all week. And The Mountain has been in hiding since last Saturday! So the first three days of hiking were spent in the rain, or at least off and on. We went to bed last night fully expecting to go home without seeing The Mountain. We woke up this morning to frost, and you know what that means: it got clear overnight! We had gorgeous views and full sun until about noon when it started to get overcast and the mountain was obscured. Not even the first buses out had clear views but because we had stayed out at Wonder Lake we did! :)
Ok then goodnight to you all maybe we'll write more from the train and upload once we get to anchorage mañana.
xo, c&d
your host for this episode : dan; 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2008
On the move
After two days and three nights in Fairbanks, we are on the move. We have tickets for the morning train to Denali, where we will stay untill sunday, or saturday or tuesday or tomorrow...
The weather is a little on the cool side, but far from cold.
Sorry we don't have any photos to post, we don't have access to that technology.
We will try to post again if we find free internet access.
your host for this episode : dan; 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2008
We have arrived
we have just checked in to our hotel and are pulling an Eric and Heather move, going to bed brefore 9:00. More when we are more awake.
your host for this episode : dan; 12:53 AM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2008
we're halfway there!
20 weeks and counting. amazing. since 15 weeks, I've been feeling a few mambo moves going on in the nether regions and last wednesday as i was laying awake at 5:30 am because them, i had my hand on my belly and felt a poke from the outside! so amazing, so precious.
i'm sure in a few months i'll be tired of having my bladder stomped on and my ribs punched, but for now it is just precious.
we had an ultrasound on friday, the "20 week baseline" where most people find out the sex. and we found out...
that we're having a...
healthy...
baby...
with ten fingers...
and ten toes! 
and while Tiger was not shy, dan and i could not make out on the screen whether he's a she or she's a he. and so we don't know. and neither do you. doc did say they "got to see all the anatomy they needed and everything looks good" but i couldn't tell if that was "we saw it and noted it but because you don't want to know we'll not tell you" or if it was "we took all the measurements (of bones, heart, brain, etc) that we need to and gender is not a needed part of the anatomy for us to see". either way i'm glad we don't know.
we have some Beautiful snapshots from the ultrasound. profile, feet, hand over face and a few others. it's really amazing to see the bones and stomach and heart and tongue and jaws and... well you get the idea. it's amazing. a.ma.zing. seriously.
Here's Tiger at 10 weeks and a day: 
but now, 10 weeks later, we see Tiger opening her mouth and rubbing her eyes...
and rubbing his torso...
just like grandpa dave after a good meal... 
i've also been doing lots of research on diapering and a friend in ypsilanti has been watching craiglist (a.k.a. crack list bc it's so addictive) for cloth diapers for me. she emailed me this morning that i'm the proud new owner of 5 dozen cloth diapers of various sizes. hooray!
go ahead, jibe me for wanting to do cloth. i've heard it all before. but i'm not too keen on filling a landfill with plastic that will never biodegrade. and besides, it's cheaper. i like cheaper.
and the first belly shot was taken yesterday, at 20 weeks. if tiger is measuring to weigh 14 ounces (according to the ultrasound), which is 3 1/2 above average, it would explain why i'm feeling as "fat and sassy" as i am! we had a patio party yesterday and so this picture was taken in our backyard, a.k.a. the brickyard. :)
your host for this episode : carrie; 11:59 AM | Comments (2)
