Charley's Flying Adventure (sounds like a great title for a kid's book huh?)

Last night some of our good friends, Drew and Rachel came over for a BBQ. After dinner, Drew (who's a pilot and has his own small plane) offered to take Charley flying. Charley was stoked since he LOVES flying and hopes to get his pilot's license in the next couple years. So the two of them headed out for their adventure, and Rachel and I stayed at home content to sit on the couch, chat, and eat brownies (being pregnant, that's as adventurous as I get). Here are some pictures that Charley took from their flight.






As thankful as I was that Charley got to go flying, I am always excited when we get the call that they have landed (safely) and are on their way home. Flying makes me nervous... which is another reason I chose to stay home and eat brownies instead.

This weekend, I will *have* to get into a plane though, because we are going to Seattle for 3 days as an early anniversary get-away. I've never been to Seattle short of a layover, so we are looking forward to exploring the area and seeing some new sights. I LOVE pro-baseball, so Charley got us tickets to a Mariner's game... and he also made reservations for us to have brunch Sunday morning at the Space Needle. What I think I'm MOST excited about though, is getting to have lunch at my beloved Olive Garden, as well as doing some shopping for baby at a few if their fancy-shmancy malls (our shopping options here in Anchorage are a bit limited)! Also, our friends/adopted family (kind of a brother to me and his wonderful wife), Ben and Sommer are driving up from Portland (where they attend Multnoma Bible College) to meet us in Seattle so we can spend some time with them, too! CAN'T wait to hug them both! They are so awesome! It should be a nice trip- pray our plane doesn't crash. Like I said, flying makes me nervous.

Baby Eden is doing good! We've hit the 7 month mark! Yippee! Blood pressure remains in the 'perfect' zone, and headaches are tapering off (Praise God!). Well, we're headed out so I'll sign off for now. :)

Happy Birthday Michelle! :)

I do a Bible Study with a *precious* young lady every Friday afternoon at my house. She's sweet and loves God & her family so much. She reminds me of my wonderful niece Ryann (and she comes from a big, wonderful, homeschooling family like Ryann too). Anyways, we are going through a book called 'God's Priceless Woman' together, which I also went through as a young lady (when I was about 15). Well, this week is Michelle's 16th birthday... so after finding out randomly that she loves tea parties, I asked her mom if we could throw her a surprise 16 tea party. Her mom, who I LOVE by the way, thought it was a good idea too, so we started planning. :) The way I got her over here was telling her that I had something going on Friday (our regular study time), and asked if she could have her mom bring her over on Sunday instead. Soooo, Sunday, when she showed up at my house, she was quite shocked when I answered the door all dressed up- and then several of her friends popped out behind me and shouted 'SURPRISE!'.

Her mom then gave her a bag with some nice clothes for her to run upstairs and change into (since we were all dressed up), and she came back down and received this special 'Sweet 16' sash.. since she was, after all, the birthday girl! Isn't she gorgeous?? By the way, I love the way she and her sister Sarah have matching white blouses w/ skirts which they fondly refer to as their 'purity outfits'. :)

Here's the table, all set up for the tea party...

And all the girls enjoying lunch and some fellowship together

What a beautiful bunch of sweet girls... :)

In other news, I cleaned ALL of my bathrooms today. That's right. All THREE of them. I won't tell you the last time I cleaned my bathrooms, because it'd gross you out. But I'm paying for it now. My body hurts. But I'm just so excited to have clean bathrooms!! I have no point in telling you that... just patting myself on the back.

Gliders & Caffeine Headaches

Guess what just came in the mail? My rocking chair/glider for the nursery!! We went last night to pick it up at Babies-R-Us. See? Doesn't it just make you want to go find a baby and snuggle in for a few hours?



Last week, her dresser/hutch/changing table came in. It's set up in her nursery all cute-like (courtesy of her daddy) . Neat-o huh?

I can't believe I'll be 28 weeks on Sat. That's almost 30!! I'm getting more and more giddy. So is Charley. Thank you for your prayers in regards to my high blood pressure. It's gone (way) back down and has seemed to stabilize between 110/50 - 130/65... which is excellent! We are thanking the Lord for that. I'm still maintaining my "fun" low-salt and zero caffeine diet. It must be doing the trick! As much as I love salt, and my morning white mochas on my way to work, they are worth giving up for a bed-rest-free pregnancy and healthy baby!

I went to the hospital yesterday to get checked out for some headaches I've had for the past few weeks (that HAVEN'T gone away)... turns out it's probably just caffeine withdrawal. Duh. But while I was there, all hooked up and sprawled out on their hospital bed, I got to just lay there and listen to Eden's heartbeat for over an hour (they naturally had her on a monitor too). That was very fun. Wow was she active! They had a hard time keeping it on her because she kept wiggling and bouncing around in there. I was encouraged by the nurses and good care I received while there at Providence (where I will deliver). I'd never been in the OB unit, so it was nice to get a feel for how they operate.

Spring is upon us here in the Last Frontier. Praise God! I haven't worn a jacket for a week now... and we have been able to keep our window open at night again. I LOVE it when it starts getting warmer in Alaska. Pretty soon, before we know it, all the trees will have leaves and the grass will be green. Virtually all the snow is gone now and the street sweepers have been out and about (which beats snow plows ANYday).

Hope you all are enjoying your Spring as much as we are!

Getting Ready for Baby

I wasn't going post these pics of the nursery till we got her furniture set up and everything "perfect", but then today I changed my mind, which, being pregnant, I'm entitled to do. I'm home from work because I was feeling really crummy, but now I'm just bored sitting here in the living room so I figured I'd blog. So here are the before and after pics of her bedroom:

Before... boring and bland (well, almost) ;)

And the pink goes on..

there's me, doing my part. Sorry for the scandalous top there. I was burning up.

My handsome husband- putting the trim up

"can we be done now?"

unenthused with wallpapering.

Finished product (well, almost. Picture it with all the other junk out of there)

Here's her little bassinet, which is actually in our room (where it will remain), rather than her nursery... but isn't it cute? I love that the Moses basket comes out so that I can tote her around in it. :)

Her first little teddy bear, eagerly awaiting her arrival (like Daddy and Mommy) :)

Ok, now I'm hungry, so I will be done. We're making some good progress though, huh? Pretty exciting!

Exactly How Many Pounds Does the Camera Add Again?

... ugh. Oh well I guess. Yesterday, Easter Sunday, Charley and I got all fancy-like and went to church and then to dinner at the Nielsen's. It was a nice day, except for the snowing part (we got a couple inches overnight but it's already melting rapidly). Here's the two of us all dressed up before heading out to church. I'm 26 weeks now... looking at me, you'd think I was 57. Doesn't Charley look spiffy though?


The last week or so has been sorta up and down. I went to the doctor on Tuesday (a regular prenatal appointment) and found out that my blood pressure is waaaay too high- which, according to my sister, runs in the family -and according to my doctor, is not a good thing. The problem is that Dr. Wiggins says if it's not under control by the next appointment (Monday), she wants me to cut back on my hours at work, or quit altogether. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except for the little fact that I don't have health insurance outside of my job... and last time I checked, it's not cheap to have a baby. She told me that I needed to cut back on my salt intake (since I'm retaining a LOT of water), as well as lay down and get my feet up as often as possible when I'm not at work, otherwise, according to her, I could end up on bed rest or even with a premie baby. Is she using scare tactics? Maybe. But it's kinda working. Anyways, please keep me in your prayers that God would help me to be self-controlled in implementing this new 'salt-free' diet (NOT fun), as well staying off my feet when tempted to do housework or projects. Please pray that God would just bring my blood pressure right back down, and keep Eden and me safe for the remainder of the pregnancy.

Charley's been sick this past week. It seems like he gets sick around this time every year. Anyways, he's feeling a little better now, so we're praising God for that. Eden is doing awesome. Her little kicks are getting STRONG, and as you can see from the pictures, she's getting big. :) Her nursery is completed (as far as the painting, trim and wallpapering goes), and now we're just waiting for the furniture -consisting of a crib, glider, and dresser/hutch/changing table - to get here.

That's about it for now. Hope you had a wonderful Easter! :)

Could it be Spring in Alaska?

...Probably not, but the longer, sunnier and slightly warmer (35-45 degree) days have sure been nice! In Alaska, we have two seasons: Summer and Winter. Our 'Spring' usually lasts about a half an hour. However, our gorgeous, lingering Summer days make up for it. And one of my very favorite things about the little bit of Spring that we DO get is the way that everything seems to turn green LITERALLY overnight (that is, when it finally happens). That's, of course, due to the 15 hours of daylight we are seeing by the end of April-middle of May, along with the overly fertilized and moist ground from all the melting snow (and now ash). But hearing the birds chirp in the mornings again, and the sun pouring in my window well before 7am has given me hope that our brutal winter is *finally* drawing to a close. We are seeing more light now than most of you who are in the lower 48... and with the fresh (but rapidly melting) snow on the ground, it's bright enough out there to give a girl a headache! I'm loving it though- headache and all.

Saturday was Charley's birthday. We had a bbq and bon fire for him at our house. What. A. Gorgeous. Day. It was so beautiful outside. The guys had fun burning stacks and stacks of pallets and then staying up till midnight playing Playstation 3. and I enjoyed visiting with the wives inside and eating my fill of doritos and birthday cake. Charley turned 26. Can he really be that old? That's almost 30! Ok, so it's not that old, but the fact that he was only 22 when we met (which feels like yesterday), kinda freaks me out. What an incredible 4 years this has been. When we first met, I knew he was a pretty awesome guy, but never dreamed he could get even MORE awesome as time went by. You know how sometimes when people first meet, they put their best foot forward and try to impress the other person by doing all those things that frequently stop after they get married? Well, that didn't happen with Charley. In fact, many of those wonderful things he did three years ago when we were only dating (like sending me flowers at work for NO reason at all, or stopping by just to see me and bring me lunch, or complimenting me even when I looked like a walrus, or praising me in front of his friends) he does even MORE often now than when we were dating! It's really amazing to me the way he seems to get even more incredible each and every day. Since I've known him, Charley has demonstrated Christ-like, unconditional love for me. No matter what I do, or say, he continues to show me patience, total acceptance, and gentle kindness. This is something that means more to me than almost anything because of my particular past. I can be *very* unlovable, and quite terrible, but God, in His infinite grace, gave me a man who could see past those things, and love me tenderly and wonderfully despite myself. I think that in the four years I've known him, he's still never once yelled at me, or walked out on me during an argument, or let ME walk out when I wanted to. He, like our heavenly Father, just patiently waits for me to calm down, and then draws me back to himself. I love that man. I can't express how thankful I am to have a husband who I know will love our little girl like that, and who loves her mommy like that already. What a godly legacy to leave. He will make such a wonderful Daddy, just as he does a husband.

In light of Easter, I'd encourage you to check out the latest post that my sister wrote at her blog. It's quite good and thought-provoking. She's one talented writer. I've sure learned lots from her over the years... and continue to do so.

I'm 25 weeks now. Baby is doing great. She kicks and rolls all the time. I can actually see my tummy roll around, which can be very entertaining. I still can't help but wonder what she'll look like. Will she have Daddy's straight blond hair? Or Mommy's wavy brown locks? Will she be mellow and shy like Charley was as a little boy? Or bouncing off the walls and wanting to be the center of attention at ALL times like me? Oh boy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Today I'm going in for a glucose screening. Apparently I'll have to drink some awful stuff to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. yay. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I hear it can be for some people. A friend of mine told me that it tasted like flat Mt. Dew, which, if that's the case, I won't mind at all. I happen to like flat Mt. Dew.

I hope you all have a blessed Easter! What a wonderful, awesome thing to celebrate, no? Praise be to our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! :)

Ash in Anchorage

What a sight, huh?

Saturday I went to a "mini women's retreat" out in Wasilla (an hour North of Anchorage). About half-way through, everyone noticed out the huge windows in the conference room we were in, the bright blue sky against the mountains suddenly go dark gray. Many of the women started getting calls on their cell phones from their husbands, "Redoubt went off again and ash is falling in Anchorage ... come home". So they ended early and sent us all back to Anchorage . As I was driving into town, this is what i saw:


... An enormous cloud coming from the direction of the volcano, carrying ash to kindly sprinkle all over our city. Lovely. It's erupted over 20 times now (in one week), but this was the first time the wind blew ash to Anchorage.

And here are some pictures from the rest of the day (these are pics I got off of our local news website):

Gross, no? Thankfully, we woke up Monday morning to about 6 new inches of snow, so even though there is still ash everywhere, we won't see it again until 'breakup' (our term for Spring... when the snow starts to melt). So at least it LOOKS pretty again outside.

Edit: Please be praying for our friends, the Yager's. Sandor is a life-long friend of Charley's and his wife (a friend of mine) is going through a very difficult situation right now in regards to a recent miscarriage she had. You can read about it HERE. Please lift them up if you think of them. Thanks.