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.

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.

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.

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

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.

xo, c&d

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. :)

but they call me a slave driver. i don't understand why? i only had a list of 23 things for them to help with. and we (i mean they) made it through #14. i was pretty sure that anything beyond #15 was going to be a pipe dream, but hey - a girl can dream, right?

dan came down with the good old fashioned flu bug on Monday, coupled with a viral gastro enteritis and even today isn't back to 100%. he hasn't worked since Wednesday morning, and pancakes this morning was the first solid food he's had, unless you count saltine crackers or jello! then yesterday i didn't work a full day b/c i was getting the same yucky tummy feeling. i slept 3 1/2 hours and spent most of the rest of the day on the couch.

read about and see where we were in April. since then, we've just been whittling away at it. mostly because of excessive exhaustion on my part b/c of Tiger's growth spurts, but also due to the departure of various friends...

dan, last weekend, on his way into the attic to install the evacuator fan and light in the shower

where we were with the shower last weekend, before mom and dad arrived

so while dan and i were either at work or sick, mom and dad did all this:
(the b's and c's were what They added to my initial list)
1. remove and store screen door off back entry and remove entry door trim
2. move mud room contents to garage/basement/living room
3. remove and store insulation from mud room
4. remove old siding from mud room and bathroom
5. build new stud wall in mud room (the bathroom already has a stud wall)
6. hang new siding (4x8 sheets are pre-primed in the garage)

here dad is holding a trim piece that says "DAVE HEERES I WAS HERE 6/25/08" but you probably can't read that...

-6b. painted new siding and trim
-6c. caulked edges where the new siding meets the brickwork
-6d. installed "shoe molding" trim around perimeter of siding
7. install new window (glass block), including install of durock inside frame

8. hang new door (we already bought it and it's the same size but a different orientation), use existing lockset.
-8b. rehung old screen door
9. insulate mud room, using insulation from #3
-9b. used extra siding from exterior on interior of mud room
-9c. painted, caulked
10. hang durock in shower

11. build cubbie in shower above knobs using thin durock

12. finesse the floor - pour a skim-coat of concrete to make the water flow Towards the drain
13. tape/mud durock seams
14. build threshold into shower

And they cleaned the Garage. and washed the bike. and did a Bunch of laundry, dishes, and nurse-maiding.

#15 was to lay the floor tile in the shower, and we didn't get there because the concrete was (and is still) drying/curing. we thought finessing the floor might entail sanding down around the drain, but instead of knocking Down the high spots, dad brought Up the low spots. maybe, just Maybe, later today i can lay that floor tile and then grout it monday. and seriously, we thought getting to #11 would be phenomenal.

and here's the top of the cubbies and the header where we've left Some brick exposed, and the other side of the shower entrance where you can see the old porch ceiling, and the faucet knobs, a mop bucket spigot and the threshold.

beautiful isn't it?

so how to thank them? i hardly know where to begin.

and no we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl. we don't mind either way and hope that you don't either. and even if the ultrasound tech doesn't heed our wishes to not know and she waves the wand over the parts that would let us know - we're not gonna tell you! so there ;-) if you see something really cute that's gender specific, you can buy it for us, but please get a receipt so it can be exchanged if it's the "wrong" gender. and remember we like orange...

i'm happy to report that all queasiness has ceased, the extreme exhaustion has subsided, and i'm in maternity clothes almost all the time. i have one pair of (low-rise) jeans that still fit, and a couple of non-maternity shirts that i can still pull off, but the belly is starting to peak out. i suppose soon we should start taking pictures of it, what do you think?

next on the docket is to write an entry about this past week: my mom and dad came down monday and were here until friday morning, slaving away on our back entrance and bathroom... stay tuned.

God has blessed us with another child - Tiger is our third, if you count the two that we've lost.

today marks twelve weeks and it was completely unaided. we had just started investigating fertility treatments and trying to figure out "what's wrong with us", gotten the test back that, while possible, our chances of a natural conception were low, and then three days later i ovulated and we conceived. praise God! we know so many people were in prayer for us for this, and we really feel like He has answered. i must say, the last year had been quite hard on me and i wasn't owning up to the grief that i was going through over the first two losses. when i started to own up to it and process through it, things really started to get better. we find it kind of amusing that our conception occurred on Easter, the day celebrated as Jesus' resurrection and triumph over death and sin. maybe "amusing" isn't the right word... fitting? ironic? such a blessing anyway.

from what i'm reading 12 weeks is when you can determine by ultrasound whether it's a boy or girl - but i don't want to know!!! we've taken to calling him Tiger, so as to avoid the "it" that so many use. and frankly with the english language, the gender neutral is "he" but if i do that people will start to suspect that i know! and i don't... i'm suspecting that this one is a boy. but i'll be happy with a boy Or a girl. as long as he (or she) comes out breathing. healthy and well would be good too...

based on the doctor's read of the situation, coupled with the fact that this is the furthest we've made it, we are now confident that by Christmas we will be cradling our little Tiger in our arms. and no, Tiger will not be his (or her) name but i refuse to call my child an "It"! so, for now - and maybe always - his nickname is Tiger.

please continue in prayer with us that Tiger will indeed be born healthy and well, and that i would regain some level of energy (the first trimester has been really difficult), and that daddy dan would be able to handle all my emotional, hormonal swings!

check this out, from babycenter.com
12 Weeks:
Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

here's a photo journal from the last two weeks:
the artist surveying his work.