Kingston James

Anna and Jonathan welcomed their baby boy on July 12th.  He came 2 weeks early at 6 lbs 11 oz  and 19.5 inches long.  Anna did great and motherhood definitely fits her. 

                                                                   The proud parents

Kingston James

Getting practice

1st day of school

Today was the twin's first day of first grade.  Luckily I had the day off and was able to walk with them to school. 

                        Morgan                                                                      Ella

           

3 years and counting!

On August 9th Chris and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.  Chris is in the mist of his busy field season and actually had to leave the morning of our anniversary for the week.  We saved our anniversary dinner for that Saturday and went to Bella Aquila.  We had heard great things about the restaurant and were not disappointed. Chris made us reservations on the patio.  The weather, view, and food were all fabulous.  It was amazing to look back on all the life changes we have had over the last 3 years.  Whether they were good or bad, there is no one else I could imagine going through them with.  Chris is truly the love of my life and I have so grateful he chose me to marry. 

24 weeks and wives tales

It seems once we decided to tell everyone we were expecting time flew to the halfway point.  Now, however, it has seemed to slow a bit.  With that being said, I know once I am 30 weeks time will again fly by, and I will be in full panic/preparation mode. 

So far things have been going well with the pregnancy.  The baby kicks daily and hard enough that Chris has also been able to feel the kicks for a couple of weeks now.  This by far has been my favorite part of being pregnant. 

This baby is already taking after it's daddy because it decided it really does not like to run.  I had to give it up completely and still miss running but have been able to keep with my walks, yoga and weights.     

                     22 weeks                                                                       24 weeks

  

While Chris and I are still happy we do not know what we are having, it has not kept us (or mainly me) from looking up old wive tales online. 

• According to the Chinese birth chart we are having a girl. 
• The ring test, before either of us knew which direction meant what, says it is going to be a boy when both Chris and I tried it. 
• The heart rate at the last doctors appointment started high (girl) but the baby had also been kicking.  Once things calmed down it dropped to somewhere in the 130s (boy). 
• Every patient who has found out we do not know has looked at me and declared a boy. 
• We have a girl name picked out, but keep changing our minds on the boy one.  Some people tell me that means boy. 
• I have had two baby dreams so far.  For the first I was freaking out about how I couldn't change the diaper or I would know, so I never did.  For the second one the baby was in a beautiful soft pink pj set, but once I did change the diaper it was definitely a boy!
• I guess we will just have to wait and see.  Either way we love this baby so much and are so excited to meet him or her!

Cascade in July

Chris caught the salmon bug and had to head back up to Riggins to see if he could fill our freezer even more.  He took off Thursday and got to Riggins around 6 pm.  He then preceded to tag out his 3 adult fish (they raised the limit) within 45 minutes.  Everyone around him was flabbergasted because they had been there all day long in hopes of tagging out.  Once he was done he set up camp.  The next morning he was on the river at first light.  After four hours he still had not received a single bite so he took off for a drive on the south fork, and then to the cabin to wait for Lynn and family who I was catching a ride with.

When we got to the cabin he already had all the salmon cleaned and one selected for dinner that night.  It was by far the best salmon I have eaten to date. 

He also stopped to pick me a bouquet of flowers

Saturday we all had a lazy morning before heading out the the lake on Lynn and Kerry's boat.  Chris and Kerry both tried wake boarding and water skiing.  Then the girl's put on their skis.  They were so dang cute to watch and popped up immediately.

                                                                 Chris and his girls (Ashley, Morgan, Ella)

                                         
                                 Chris                                                                            Kerry         
 

                                                                         Ella
     

                                                                     Morgan
    
     

20 weeks

We are half way there!  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going.  For the most part I have been feeling great.  Work has been busy for me this summer, so by Friday I am usually pretty tired, but Chris has been a great support when that happens.  I have been feeling the baby kick for a few weeks but it is still sporadic.  I cannot wait until it is a daily occurrence.
Our big OB appointment was on July 21st.  It was so nice get to see the baby again.  All along Chris and I have said all we cared about was having a healthy baby, not what the sex was.  Since that has not changed, we decided not to find out what we were having.  I don't want to call the baby it, so I will just refer to him as a boy one time, and her the next. 
When we started the ultrasound, he was laying face down with his knees curled under him.  After some shaking around, we got him to move a little so the tech to view all she needed to.  Everything looked really good, a very healthy looking baby! 

 
  
  

The only real development was learning I have to watch my running.  I had some cramping pain on my last long run which the doctor told me sounded like contraction pains.  She said the running is still good but I might have been dehydrated with all the heat.  I still think I will give up my longer runs until after the baby is born, but keep to my short runs.  It was a little disheartening to hear I might have to back off, but baby is my first priority.

Here is a picture of me at 18 weeks and then 20 weeks.  By my 20 week appointment I had gained 9 pounds

  

Chris' 30th and 4th of July!

Chris turned the big 3-0 this year.  For months we had planned a big float trip with the Kennedys and Knights.  However, the flows did not want to cooperate this year and were far from safe.  Plan B then turned into salmon fishing in Riggins.  Chris had previously hooked 12 salmon but never landed a single one.  Therefore he was excited to be going with Pat and Andy so he could get tips from the pros! 

Since we had so many dogs we camped outside Riggins.  The campsite Chris found was amazing, and no one was near us so we could let the dogs run free.  I am still mad we never got a picture of the site.


On Chris' actual birthday he came back to camp with one jack salmon (under 24 inches).  He could have caught nothing else the rest of the weekend and have been completely content with his one fish, though that is not what happened.  The next day everyone went mushroom hunting with no success.  Later in the evening the boys headed to Riggins for a couple hours, but there was no success there either.  The next day we all got up at 4:30 am to get to the river at first light (aka first cast).  Chris caught one jack and two adults.  Once you catch the limit of adults (2 at that time) you are tagged out for the rest of day.  He stayed and helped everyone else with getting bait ready and just enjoying the river.  Pat also tagged out on this day and the other boys got a few jacks and 1 adult each.  The last day we all got up early again and Charity was the pro tagging out by 6:30 am.  Chris then caught 1 more adult and we called it a day.



Chris with a jack

It was gorgeous up there

   
 I have heard salmon fishing called combat fishing and now know why.  These pictures were just of one section of the river and by no means the busiest.  I could have watched the fishing all day...there really is an art form to it.
   
  
        Chris reeling in and then holding his first adult salmon.  The spot near the end is a seal bite!

Pat and Charity

      
                                                          Charity with her two salmon

Pat

Chris fighting with a big salmon

What a beauty

All of Chris' fish from the weekend!