September 17th- 23rd

September 17-23, 2007: First Week Home
Written by Annaliese

Monday, September 17th- Both Allen & I slept soundly that last night in the hospital. We would have slept longer, but the doctors get up and going EARLY in the morning! Which was probably good because Allen needed to eat anyway. We were both checked out and released by our doctors. The hospital does a nice thing in giving you a free guest meal during your stay, so Chris & I had lunch there in our room before we left. So many people had come and brought stuff for Allen that we had to borrow a cart to haul it all out! Lucky kid!

When we arrived home I received a phone call from a friend in the ward who wanted to bring over dinner. She brought us a roast and visited with Chris & I for awhile. We also set up an evening to play games with she & her husband later in the week. Mom Priamos stopped by on her way home from work and brought us a frozen lasagna, garlic bread & salad for whenever we ran out of meals! So thoughtful!

Tuesday, September 18th- we mostly took it easy and enjoyed spending time together and with our new little guy. A sister who I serve in the Relief Society Presidency with, called and offered to bring dinner (these people who brought dinner weren't even assigned- they just wanted to)- such kind people. Graham- it was all food from the Phillipines- you would have loved it! :)

Wednesday, September 19th- we were brought a delicious dinner by the Seyfriend family in the ward and Keya & Eric Erickson came over to play games. We played "Pit", a game I haven't played since I was a kid. It was nice to get to know them better and enjoy visiting with them. After they left we were treated to a visit by Carmen (Chris' oldest sister) and Pat (his mom). Carmen & her family live in Bremerton (about 2 hours away) and she drove down just for the evening so she could see us
and Allen. It was fun to visit with her and so kind that she made
the extra effort to come see us. And of course we love showing off Allen.

Thursday, September 20th- We had an early and busy morning as Allen had his first doctor's appointment and Chris had a dentist appointment. Allen weighed in at 8lbs 13oz, which is great for a 4 day check up to be only one ounce below his birth weight! I was hoping to head up to Maple Valley that afternoon, but was feeling a little overwhelmed so I decided to wait a day. That night was Enrichment and I knew I didn't feel up to a whole
evening, but figured I would at least go up for a little while to drop off some papers and show off the baby. It was fun to let everyone see him.

Friday, September 21st- I ran around in the morning trying to get my scatterbrained self ready to be gone for a week. I didn't think it would be hard to leave, but it was harder than I thought. I think my emotions hit the surface all at once and I had a hard time leaving my home & my husband. But Allen & I finally got on the road and headed to Maple Valley where I was going to stay for the next week. We hit a lot of traffic through Tacoma, so things were very slow, but luckily Allen was a great traveler and slept the whole way.

It was nice to finally get to Maple Valley and be with everyone. It was especially good to see Corrine- I missed her while she was gone! I was told she was good, I hope it's true! She's so smart and so much fun, but is definitely stubborn! :) She told me all about her nightly tradition with Uncle McKay eating ice cream and popcorn (teaching our daughter real healthy things there McKay). And she told me how Tanner is "Uncle Rinocerous" and she is "giraffey" and how they both chase her around the house. She loves to play and I'm so glad they are there to play with her.

Sunday, September 23rd- We had spent Saturday evening playing "Aw Heck" until way too late, so we enjoyed sleeping in a bit! We attended church with Mom & Dad Allen, Tanner & McKay. It was nice to have several extra sets of hands at church, especially with a new little one. Tanner spoke in sacrament meeting and did a wonderful job (Corrine thought it was pretty cool that he was speaking at church "just like Taylor!"). M&D had some friends over for dinner and then we all enjoyed more visiting and games. It was a nice way to get ready for a new week.
Our cute kids asleep