Rock Climbing

Spring has sprung here in Spokane (we think). At least it has stopped snowing and it's a little warmer outside. Coupled with daylight savings time (which gives us a good extra hour of light every day) and we are pretty happy. I feel like we've been stuck inside in the dark for months!

Last Saturday was sunny and gorgeous. Lainy said she wanted to go rock climbing. It took very little convincing to get her Dad on board, and Leah and I were happy to go too.

And so we spent a perfect afternoon sitting in the sunshine and rock climbing. Lainy has become quite the climber. (She might be better than me.)

Starting out

Sweet move

At the top!

Even Leah gave it a go for the first time! She did great, besides a minor meltdown when she realized how high she was. She said she liked swinging (aka repelling) the most.

I half jokingly asked Brad if I should do a climb, you know, to encourage baby boy to come early. He said he didn't want to be accountable if my water broke and we ended up rushing to the hospital. I figured it was probably sound advice. So I watched. And ate most our snacks.

But I am getting anxious to meet our little guy! I've been walking and eating lots of fresh pineapple and drinking raspberry leaf tea (disgusting). So far they've been ineffective. My due date is Thursday. We'll see if he makes it by then.

Seattle

Well, friends, we went to Seattle last weekend.

It was a very spur-of-the-moment trip with virtually no planning. Brad got off early on Friday so we jumped in the car and left.

Four hours later we pulled into our hotel in Bellevue where we ate good food and went swimming.

Saturday morning we headed into Seattle. The girls were so cute driving into the city: "There's the baseball field!" "Oh look, that's the bridge to the beach!" "Look, the Space Needle!"

We spent the morning hanging out on the pier and at Pikes Place Market.

We visited the gum wall...

And snapped a pic with our old friend Rachel the pig.

Then we went to sit on Alki Beach. The weather was mild and the sun was out. It felt so good!

We even saw a seal pup sleeping on the beach. We couldn't get close to him, but here's a picture I found of the seal on the Alki Beach blog:

Cute, hu? Apparently his name is Spencer and he does this a lot.

We splurged and ate brunch at Salty's where we devoured all kinds of fresh sea food, prime rib, belgian waffles, crepes, fruit dipped in chocolate fountains, and at least 4 desserts each. Mmmm.

Before heading home we surprised some friends at our old apartment complex, then walked around the University Village and looked at all the things in stores we still can't afford. I guess not much has changed :)

We miss you Seattle! It was fun to go "home" for a day.

Sisters and Daughters

Today I was thinking about my parents as I made lunch. They just sent their youngest daughter (19-year-old Cassi) on a mission to Chile. I know they are extremely proud of her and are grateful for her decision, but I also know what a void she leaves behind. She's my only sibling whose whole life I can remember pretty vividly. I wondered how in the world she grew up so fast? And if I, as a sister, felt that way, how were my parents feeling?

I looked at my little girls who were playing so sweetly together in the living room. They were lost in a pretend world with Jessie and Belle, squealing and dancing and collapsing on the floor in giggles. I stood in the kitchen and watched them with an ache in my chest. I noticed that Lainy's curls are longer and bouncier than I remember (when did I really look at her last?). I noticed the way Leah's big brown eyes flash when she has the giggles. I didn't want to interrupt them even though the food was ready. So I just watched them smiling to myself until one of them came in asking for a drink.

How do you tell your kids how much you love them? I tell them every day, but do they get it? I hope so. I hope they know how much I love them, even though I get frustrated sometimes. I hope they know that I can't sleep until I've slipped quietly into their room to make sure they are warm and to kiss their rosy cheeks. Maybe I'll tell them that someday.

Today I gave them hugs and fed them lunch and thanked God that they are mine for a while. And I said a little prayer for my parents who are aching to do the same to their baby girl, but have lent her back to the Lord for now.

Skiing

A couple of weeks ago we went up to the local ski resort to go skiing. Night skiing is free for kids under age 6 and adult passes were $13, so it was quite a deal.

It rained the whole drive up to the mountain and we were getting nervous about snow conditions at the resort, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot the sky filled with big huge snowflakes. A miracle! It snowed the whole time we were there.

Originally our plan was for Leah and I to hang out in the lodge while Brad skied with Lainy. I packed lots of snacks and games to keep us entertained. It didn't last long. Leah took one look at the chairlift and decided that was WAY cooler than sitting inside. I explained to her that she had to learn to ski if she wanted to ride the chairlift. She gave me sort of a withering look and said, "Yeah, mom".

So the girls ended up switching off gear and lessons with Daddy with treats and games in the lodge with Mommy. It worked out perfectly.

Lainy did awesome! She somehow remembered every tip her instructor told her last year when she took lessons with her cousins at Grand Targhee. With a few more reminders from Daddy she was skiing down the whole hill making turns in her "pizza". I was impressed.

Leah, as I said, was much more interested in riding the chairlift. So every time down the hill she ignored any advice from Brad and just made a beeline for the chairs. No turning or attempt at stopping. She'd either run into Brad (if he could catch her) or fall down. Once on the chairlift she said, "These chairs should go faster!" Silly girl.

Isn't it crazy how different your kids can be?

We had a blast. The only tears shed were when we had to give the ski's back and go home. I'd call that a successful outing. We can't wait to go again!

PS: For those of you who get this by email, I don't think the videos will work unless you log into our blog website (tbahans.blogspot.com)

34 Weeks

I went to see my OB yesterday.

"How big was your last baby," she asked?

I told her. (7lbs 8oz.)

"This one will be bigger," she said confidently.

She also mentioned that I'm measuring 1-2 weeks ahead of schedule.

I was expecting this news. Especially since I realized last week that I can only squeeze into one pair of pants (including maternity pants) that are acceptable to wear in public (bring on the sweats!).  Brad is worried I'm going to have a 10 pound baby. My suspicion is that my due date is a little off and he might just come early.

Hopefully I'm the one that's right.

Meanwhile, I've been starting to get things ready for baby boy (finally). I found a few items amidst my precious horde of pink, ruffled, girly baby clothes that can work for a boy and sold some of the older, less precious items to a local consignment store for a whopping $15.75.

I also made two little baby boy blankets. One turned out great. The other...didn't. Let's just say that satin binding and I don't get along very well. Oh well, I never claimed to be a seamstress and at least it's something boy-ish to wrap him in.

Finally, and perhaps most exciting, we ordered new car seats for the girls. We'd love to get a new car, but with finances being tight and an impending cross-country move, we decided to make do with our 5-passenger Subaru for now. Last week I tried to cram the baby car seat in the back along with both girl's older seats. I'm sure I made a comical sight, super pregnant and working up a sweat as I wrestled car seats in the back of the car. I managed to get them in and slam the door closed, but also realized that it just wasn't going to work. Not safely, anyway. So we found some new, slimmer seats that will fit 3 across with room to spare. They were even on sale. They came yesterday and they are awesome.

Mostly I'm enjoying my last few weeks with just my little girls. They are so sweet and so grown-up lately! I feel like I'm getting away with something. We've been sleeping through the night for almost 3 years, we've had no diapers to change for over 1 year, tantrums are few and far between... a new baby is going to shake things up! But we're so excited.

Now we just need to decide on a name... Is it just me, or are boys harder to name than girls?