Saying Goodbye

Our last few days with Jerri and Mark were fun. Although, Meadow ended up getting a bad 24 hour fever that put a damper on our last full day. But, you never know when those things are going to happen so at least we had already gotten in a lot of fun before that. On Sunday we hiked along the upper Salmon River trail and saw beautiful views of the Salmon river and both Zoe and Meadow got a lot of walking in themselves. Meadow had fun riding in the back pack with Mark on the way back. In the evening we headed over to Little Zig Zag falls on our way to the Ice Axe Grill.

Here is a picture of Meadow while sick. It was a very scary fever with her temperature spiking at 103. I had never experienced this as a Mom and hope I don't have to again any time soon. But, thankfully as quickly as it came on, it quickly left and she was back to her normal self by Tuesday morning. It is definitely hard watching your normally very active, energetic child be so innactive. She stayed on the couch all day Monday until about 6pm. Then as her temperature dropped she came back to life again.
Mark enjoying some down time on the deck.

Meadow insisted on having these balloons come along with us on the hike. Meadow has definitely become very particular about certain things. Everything was great until one of the balloons fell while she was running and it landed in the creek. Todd tried with all his might to get the balloon, but while he was attempting to retrieve it, he got stung by a bee and then the balloon popped. I think they both wanted to cry, even though Meadow was the only one who shed any tears. I had been hiking ahead with Jerri and Mark and didn't realize the drama that had unfolded. This may be a note of advice to other parents that it may not be a good idea to bring balloons on a hike. You just never know what is going to happen.

In front of Little Zig Zag falls. Meadow now with only her one balloon. Zoe was so cute, she let me hold her a lot during their trip and really enjoyed walking with me. I think I was at great hand holding height for her.

It was so great to be able to spend such quality time with my good friend from childhood. We have such a great friendship and I can't wait for our next adventures together.

Blessingway

While my friend Jerri was here from out of town, I thought it would be great to be able to have my baby shower/blessingway so that she could be a part of it. A couple of my friend's had offered to plan something, so I gave them the idea of hosting it at my house. It was nice to be able to bring some of my closest friends and family together to celebrate the upcoming birth of Baby Boy Van Hee. It was kind of an overcast day, but the sun decided to make its appearance during the event so we were able to all enjoy the views of the river from the deck. The main premise behind a blessingway is to bring your main support system to your home, where labor usually begins, to take part in a few activities that will help bring strength and calm during labor.

Before the event got going, Tonia gave Meadow a very cute shirt. It says Big Sister Meadow on it. Tonia also decorated a onesy that has Van Hee on the back of it. She always does such a great job at personalizing things.
Meadow in her cute U of O outfit. She actually wanted to wear this that day. She must be gearing up to cheer for football season.

Some of my closest friends. Amy, Heidi, Liz, Jerri, Rita, Sara, and Jen.

Rita took a picture, so Tonia could be in it as well. Everyone brought a dish to share and the food really turned out amazing.

One of the activities for the day was to share a bead to add to a necklace for me to have while in labor. Everyone picked out such amazing beads and shared such thoughtful words. The necklace will help remind me of all the women supporting me in this endeavor. It was amazing how most of the beads were blue and green. I guess they know what kind of colors I like. I thought this picture of Rita was so cute. She gave me three beads. One for Meadow, one for Todd and a heart that represents the baby.

The organizers. Sara and Amy

The finished bead necklace.

Another "big" activity we did was to have everyone draw something on my belly. It turned out really cute. I may have Meadow draw on it on my due date, if he hasn't arrived sooner.

The finished belly. I will also add that this is my belly at 34 weeks and yes I know that it looks huge. But, I am measuring right on, so this is what happens when you are under five feet tall and pregnant. I have definitely noticed in the past few weeks that I cannot go anywhere without someone mentioning that I look ready to pop and how much longer do I have? Wouldn't it be nice if people said, Wow what an amazing belly you have, or, what a beautiful pregnant belly.

Opening some gifts. Tonia and Rita had fun shopping for their new little man in the family. He will definitely be dressed to impress. I got some wonderful handmade items as well. My friend Liz made a quilt and Sara is in the process of making the baby a blanket. It was fun to start making up his little wardrobe with cute outfits. I also got a great postnatal yoga video you can do with your baby from my friend Jerri. It was such a fun event and so nice to be able to have it in such a relaxed environment. I really hope that my labor can at least begin at home so I can enjoy a few views of the river before heading to the hospital.

Jerri, Mark and Zoe come to visit from Minneapolis!

My childhood friend Jerri and her husband and their 13 month old daughter came to visit us for eight days in August. We had a great time showing them some of our favorite hikes and places to go on Mt. Hood and at the coast. The first day of their trip we headed up to Trillium lake and enjoyed a picnic lunch and went sea kayaking. The girls had a blast playing and wading in the water. The next few days we camped at Ft. Stevens and also explored Cannon Beach and Ecola state park. The day after we came back a few of my friends also facilitated an awesome baby shower/blessingway at my house while Jerri was here. It was great to be able to have her here for it. It was hard to just pick a few pictures, so I posted a fair amount.

This was taken before our guests arrived. We tested out our hand me down bike trailer with Meadow and she loved it. Todd and Meadow relaxing on the back of the pick up.
Zoe and Meadow at Trillium Lake. Both the girls just love the water.

Truck all geared up for our camping trip.

Back of the truck on the drive on I84

Zoe and Meadow got busy right away at the campsite playing with buckets and sand.

A cute photo opp of the girls in the bike trailer.

Meadow loves the coast, can't you tell.

Having a scrumptious breakfast. I believe this morning was blueberry pancakes.

Even though, Zoe wasn't too fond of riding in the trailer she did love to model her bike helmet. They really did have a grand time together.

The campsite! We really lucked out with the weather. It sprinkled here and there, but only when we were driving or sleeping.

Meadow posing for this picture

The Wagners at Ecola State Park

The girls at the North Jetty, where the Columbia River and the ocean meet.

Meadow was also helping Zoe walk in this photo.

As always, our trip to the coast seemed to fly by. We did get eat some ice cream and enjoyed some great food. Todd got a chance to surf kayak. If we had more time, we would have like to have kayaked on Nahalem Bay. Hopefully, we can do that the next time we are at the coast.

35 Weeks and counting

Just had to do a quick update post before I post about all of our fun adventures in the recent weeks. I am currently 35 weeks and will be officially a month out this coming Friday. My body is hanging in there, but I have definitely felt a bit more tired and I can tell the baby is growing nicely as I have less room to bend down and tie my shoes. Baby Van Hee is about the size of a honey dew melon and weighs around five pounds. We have been busy in the past few weeks hosting friends from Minneapolis and then going on our annual Timothy lake camping trip. So, I think I am holding up pretty good for having been camping twice in the past two weeks. Meadow just woke up from her nap, so not sure how much I will be able to post now. She continues to be a very active and energetic child and is chatting up a storm. Hope to post some pictures soon.

Five Years!!!!!

Just had to share some of these pictures from our wedding, five years ago. It was really fun to be at our friends wedding recently up at Timberline and reflect on all the fun we had at our wedding. I can't believe all that has happened in five years. Can't wait for the next five!

Liz and JD's Wedding Weekend

Last weekend was filled with wedding festivities for our good friends JD and Liz. We felt so honored to be included in all the activities over the weekend. Todd started out his weekend on Thursday for JD's bachelor party. He had a great time with 12 other guys kayaking and rafting down the Deschutes and then spent the evening at Mcmenimins Edgefield. Friday, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner, which was a beautiful event held in JD and Liz's backyard. They have a great friend who is a professional chef and made an awesome southern spread for the event. Meadow had a great time with her gal pal Maddie and also had lots of attention from many of the dinner guests. The day of the wedding, we dropped Meadow off at Todd's parents for a fun filled overnight stay with the grandparents and we headed up to Timberline to enjoy the wedding and reception and to stay the night.

It was a nice coincidence that their wedding pretty much coincided with our fifth year wedding anniversary. So, it was a great excuse to stay up at Timberline and celebrate our anniversary. On Sunday, Liz's family also hosted a brunch for family and friends and then later we hosted a little bbq for the bride and groom and some of their out of town guests. So, it was a fun filled weekend with lots of socializing and celebrating.

This is their backyard. It definitely inspired me to want to host a formal outdoor dinner party someday. It was just so beautiful and fun to have this outside. It also helped that the weather was pretty much perfect the entire weekend.
Another view, with pregnant lady in it.

Meadow and Maddie having fun in the hammock

All tuckered out after a very fun filled evening

Liz walking down the trail with her dad. So, hard to believe I did this same walk five years ago.

The happy couple

Beautiful Bride.

The cake was actually a mountain with both the bride and groom wearing skis on the top. JD actually shrunk pictures of their actual skis and pasted the pictures unto the skis for the cake. Now, that is the most attention to detail I have ever heard of from a groom.

First Dance

Handsome Todd all dressed up.

Todd and Tony. Drinking pals for the evening
Jen, aka Maddie's Mom

Me at 31 weeks pregnant. Maybe not the most flattering picture, but the mountain does look picturesque. We have a picture from when I was almost due with Meadow in front of the mountain as well.

I just had to share this picture of JD's Mom, Sarah with Meadow. She was so cute with her at our little bbq. Meadow wanted to show her the river, so they went on a little walk together. I also have to had that Sarah is 6 feet 4 or 5 inches tall. So, Meadow looks like an even tinier peanut.