She's so Cuteiful

We had a wonderful weekend with our families celebrating Ali's baptism. My family arrived on Thursday and Jed's parents came on Saturday. The boys thought Ali was "so soft and little" and Jonas kept telling us that Ali was so "Cuteiful".

Ali slept through her baptism...no screams at all. She wore Jed's baptimal gown, and we even kept it clean! Jed did the baptism, and both of us managed not to cry...barely. It was just a beautiful, amazing thing!

We also got to take everyone to the beach on Monday. Carrie was the only one in my family who had been to California before, so the ocean was a big hit. Tannim liked to pretend to surf, Jonas liked throwing sand back into the ocean, and Beckett just liked eating the sand! Ali seemed to enjoy her time at the beach as well.

Here a few pictures of all of us. Ali is looking more and more like her Dad. She is still doing well. Jed and I are doing pretty well too!

Introducing Alaethea!

As many of you already know, Alaethea Ruth was born on September 8th at 6:40 am. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 13 ounces (much to the surprise of all in the room) and is 21 inches long. We spent Friday and Saturday in the hospital, and arrived home as our family of three this afternoon. I was able to make it through my 13 hours of labor with no drugs, much to the amazement of the hospital staff. The hospital I was at has a 90% epidural rate, so I was the "odd girl out." But, hey, being different is a good thing!

Jed and I are both still in the "wow, there is a baby in our apartment" stage, but we are also so happy to have her in the world and to really look at her. I have to admit, having her in the world and not in me is an okay thing! Life is hard enough without someone kicking you from the inside.

Here are a few pictures because we are proud parents. Her baptism will be on September 24th. If you are in the area, let us know; we would love to have you come!

40 weeks!

Today is the official due date for Ali...and she is not here yet. But, we know that she will be born in the next week. If she doesn't come by Thursday, the 14th, I will be induced. There is a very good chance that she will come sooner, so we will have to see. Here is a picture for all of you--what I look like at 40 weeks.

On a lighter note, you should all check out this site: It is the LA County Fair commercials. Jed and I both get quite a kick out of them. We hope you enjoy them too!

Be on the lookout for a family picture in the next week!

20, 19, 18, 17...

For everyone's enjoyment, here is a new picture of me. Yes, we only have 20 days until the due date. My doctor says that I can start wishing for Ali to be born tomorrow. She would consider us full term then. As ready as I am, if I could wait until at least the 29th, that would be better. That is when all the before school meetings will be done. Talking to some teachers today, they think it would be "great entertainment" if I went into labor AT the meetings... we will see!

We are almost ready for Ali. Her clothes are washed, our bag is packed, and we have successfully completed 2 out of the 3 childbirth classes. We have also toured the hospital. This is important becuase now we know where to go. That seems to be a good thing.

In other news, Jed is currently working as a "signing specialist" at Target. It is a job and we get discounts at Target, so I like it. I start meetings next week. My nephew, Tannim, started school today, and when asked what he wanted to learn, told his teacher, "I think I pretty much know everything I need to". Ahhh, to be five and understand the world.

There you go...all you wanted to know about us, but were afraid to ask. Hopefully, the next post will be of the three of us!

It has come to my attention...

...that something sinister has happened to me. Something inexplicable. Something terrible.

I'm losing my mind.

Somehow, in the midst of all my revelry and cross-state-border traveling last month, I forgot to mention in my blog that I had an absolutely wonderful time with my nephews and in-laws in Kansas! I don't know what it was...maybe a good old-fashioned Texas brainwashing? (They do that, you know, with the steaks.)

So in penance, here are some pictures of "the in-laws." I beg you not to consider me an outlaw now.

"You don't get to take seven million pictures of me..."

"...because I'm seven months pregnant..." Anna said, while trying to give me "the look" she gives all her middle school kids. Such are the joys of pregnancy.

In addition, I get to learn lots of other things. Also on the "not recommended" list is going up to her and saying "Boy you look HUUUUUUUGE." She gets enough of that at from the old ladies at church. But we love them anyway!

We've had lots of fun lately. Anna got back from Nebraska without incident, barring all the usual things to do like eating strangely named foods from strangely named small towns and baby shower which attacked her without warning. She also went to class in between all the frivolities and got a great start on her master's degree.

I had lots of fun in Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, including getting to go on an aircraft carrier! The wedding was also a blast, where we visited a church that has the largest LCMS cross EVER, in Lexington, Missouri.

A week later I was visiting another Lexington, although this one did not have a huge cross. It managed to make up for it with a short runway, as it was the aircraft carrier the USS Lexington. There were lots of cool planes on it, and so I frolicked around and cavorted among the fighter jets and close quarters of this spectacular feat of engineering. I also preached at Zach's church, Fishers of Family, and you can even hear my sermon on the website. I have to admit, though, that Zach did a great job of using audio magic to make me sound much better than I really am in person, kind of like Avril Lavigne's voice.

We made it back in time for the July festivities, such as July 1st (Dominion Day for Canadians, or the greatest day in the world) for the birthday gang who celebrated at the beach in Corona Del Mar, July 3rd, for those who were lucky enough to get married on such a great day, and July 4th, for our blessed country. We were lucky enough to have our friend Art Eichhorn visiting from the Lou, and we thought "What better way to celebrate our nation's independence than watching colorful explosions in the sky in the Happiest Place on Earth (R)," Disneyland. The fireworks show was spectacular, we have to admit.

Then a few days later, Karen Sohn came to visit us for Tom Kosche's wedding to Ruth Truitt, and much more fun was had. We wish Karen the best for her wedding this weekend (although Anna still thinks Karen is insane for traveling a week before she gets married.)

So after all that, we're back to our normal, mundane, leisurely summer lives...at least until around Sept. 6th! We'll keep you updated if anything exciting happens!

Ali Update (And Jed and Anna)

Ok, so when Will (Anna's brother) starts complaining that we don't update our blog enough because he actually has to call us and talk to us in order to know what's going on in our lives, well, that's up there with a sign from God, so here's the update so the rest of you don't have to call us! God forbid!

So what's going on in our lives? First of all, Ali is healthy and growing and still inside Anna where she should be. I tell her to stay there for a few more months, and then she can come out and play. Anna's health remains alright aside from the usual pregnancy soreness. School is almost done for her, only about a week to go!

As for me, I finished teaching a few weeks ago and decided not to come back to Lutheran High next year. I pretty much figured out teaching wasn't for me, so now I'm looking at actually becoming a pastor. I'd like to find a position where I'd be involved in emerging worship and do some counseling. I think something like that would make good use of my talents...so if you have any ideas, let me know!

For our summer plans, we're splitting up for a couple weeks. I'd like to call it a trial separation, but Anna won't let me because that has other connotations. I'm running away to Missouri and Kansas for Paul Kyle's wedding, to visit my nephews and Anna's sister and her husband in Hiawatha. After the midwest visit, I go down to Texas to preach at Zach McIntosh's church in Portland and hang out with my dear friend Andy Bates (aka "the deacon").

Anna will be flying to Nebraska then a few days later to start on her Masters degree at God's gift to humanity, Concordia University Nebraska in Seward. There she will be supported by everyone but her husband as friends from the four corners of the globe will converge to visit her during her two weeks of intense study. Nine credits later she will emerge from her cornhusker cocoon and return to the relative sanity of California. I said "relative." Speaking of relative, Anna's birthday is June 27th, and hopefully she will be spending some quality time with some relatives and friends on that important day!

Anna gets back on July 1, (Jed's birthday, hint hint), and hopefully I will remember to pick her up amidst all the raucous partying I will be doing on the beach with Pastor Greg (Strand) and Miss (Cari) Chittick, who share that awesome birthday. After that we have some guests coming, and then the rest of the summer will hopefully bring a little time to rest and relax before the advent of school and Ali's due date, September 6th.