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

September 10-16th

Week of September 10-16, 2007: Our BABY BOY has FINALLY arrived!
Written by Annaliese

Wow- who would have thought that having a baby puts you 3 weeks behind in just about everything! :) I feel like I missed the whole last half of September! Oh well, it's definitely worth it! :)

Tuesday, September 11th- I had a doctor's appointment that morning. I was just about 41 weeks and hoping to find out what the plan was as far as this baby goes. With Corrine I was almost 2 weeks late, so obviously my kids just don't come on time. The doctor said things were looking good and that he would like to induce on Friday, the 14th. It was nice to at least have a plan to go from (I should know that anything too planned is just BEGGING to be messed up!).

That night we also had one of those not-so-fun surprises. Our fridge died. We think it's been happening slowly because we noticed a few things have gone bad sooner than we expected. And just that morning I had turned the temperature up thinking that the fridge didn't seem as cold as usual. Well as I went to get a glass of milk before bed I realized that the milk wasn't as cold as normal and that there was no blast of cold air coming from the fridge. Luckily we have a spare fridge in our garage that Mom & Dad Allen gave us. So we got that plugged in, Chris ran to the store for ice, and we proceeded to move everything that was freezable to the freezer and the rest into coolers with ice. Then we stayed up until the fridge was cold enough to transfer everything. We felt very blessed that we had the extra fridge as our property management couldn't get anything done until the NEXT Monday!

Thursday, September 13th- was my last day of work at both CMA and babysitting. I was anxious and stressing out a little just trying to get everything done and worrying about labor and delivery. Chris came home early that day so he helped me get the house clean and a few other projects done. I didn't sleep well that night because I was so anxious- probably not the best way to go into labor!

Friday, September 14th- my wonderful parents arrived EARLY that morning from Maple Valley so they could stay with Corrine while we went up and got settled into the hospital. We had to be there by 6:30am so I know they were up even earlier! We got up and got checked in, they put me in a room, but wanted me to wait as they had a "full house". I guess several women had come in that night and all the recovery rooms were full as well. When my doctor came in to start the pitocin, he was surprised that nothing had been done, but after talking to the nurses he came in and asked if I would mind waiting until Saturday so that there would be enough rooms, nurses, etc. to really give me the proper attention. It was fine by me- so we headed home.

Going home was a blessing in SOOO many ways. Once we got home Mom & Dad Allen took Corrine for a walk and picked lots of blackberries and I took a much needed nap. I had also found out on Thursday that we had some problems with our insurance and the bills for this pregnancy & birth would not be covered. A friend of my sister-in-law's works at the hospital and helped us with some paperwork & such to help get the costs covered. Because we have paid all the prenatal bills out of pocket it qualified us for some additional coverage. The real blessing is that in order to be covered we had to apply BEFORE the baby was born- and by delaying things a day, it all fell into place.

We took a drive out to the beach at Ocean Shores- M&D Allen had never been out there. Chris brought the dogs and we walked for a long time along the beach. Corrine LOVES the beach- so she LOVED it! It was just nice to all be together. We enjoyed ice cream on the way back and drove around looking at homes in the area. That night Mom & Dad treated us to Mexican food- always yummy! It was just a good mental health day that I'm so glad I had before the real adventures started!

Saturday, September 15th- We went back up to the hospital early that morning again. It turns out there is an influx of babies being born on the harbor- they had 3 women currently in labor (there are only 4 birthing rooms) so they didn't want to start inducing me and not have the resources available, so they put me in a room and asked me if I would mind waiting. I sent Chris home and I took another nap- I don't think I've had this many naps my whole pregnancy! :)

Later that morning they came in and gave me the option to wait at the hospital or go home and they would call me when the other women delivered. Chris & I felt that Corrine was in good hands with my parents and that I may as well wait it out so that I don't "lose my spot". :) It was a fairly uneventful day- just waiting, waiting and waiting. The last of the women finally delivered about 6:30-7:00pm so as soon as they were finished they got things moving quickly with me.

By 7:30pm they had me all hooked up and the pitocin was started. And they were upping the dose every 20 minutes- so the contractions were coming much faster than natural labor. I wasn't quite ready for how fast & hard they would come. Since we didn't know how long it would take- my mom got set up on a bed in my room and Chris went home to try and sleep for a little bit. He said he didn't even sleep- just as he was getting ready to get into bed we called and told him to come back up to the hospital! Everything happened MUCH faster than ANY of us expected! The baby didn't drop until after my water broke and almost up until I was ready to push- and once that happened it all went very quickly. I was so grateful to have my mom there as an INCREDIBLE coach through the labor pains. I opted not to have an epidural- so I felt (and remember) more of it than I think I want to! :) But I do remember my mom after the contraction would pass saying "here's your reward" and giving me ice chips. She's too great. I definitely would have laughed if I wasn't concentrating so much on labor. :) I was also very grateful when Chris got back to the hospital- I appreciated his strong hands for the back labor and just being there and being supportive.

Sunday, September 16th- We welcomed our little boy into the world at 1:24am. The doctor & nurses were a little worried about him as the umbilical cord was around his neck and they were having hard time picking up a heartbeat- so they had me pushing hard, beyond the contractions and the little guy was out in 3 pushes. It was a little scary at first as he was very purple and didn't scream right at first- I remember that being my only thought, "Is he ok? Is he breathing?" A crying baby never sounded so good. He was a hefty 8lbs 14oz, 21 inches long and had dark hair (not as much as Corrine, but still plenty of it). He has broad shoulders like his dad and the same blue/grey eyes that Corrine did as an infant- I won't be surprised if he keeps them as well.

Newly Born- you can see just how black & blue the poor kid was!

Chris- a proud daddy!

It was such early hours of the morning and we were all exhausted- so we put off deciding on a name until later that day. As they brought him into me a little later I kept running through all the names on our list to see if any of them fit and none of them were quite it. On Saturday morning Chris had suggested not using any of the names we had. We were planning on using my maiden name, Allen, as a middle name, but he suggested using it as a first name instead. We really struggled with a middle name as neither of us were thrilled with the options we suggested. Chris wasn't really keen on naming the baby after him, but with a little coaxing from my parents he agreed to using his name as the middle name for the baby. So finally late Sunday afternoon our baby had a name: ALLEN CHRISTOPHER PRIAMOS. I'm still getting used to it some days. :)

Mom & Kids- the blue blanket was Corrine's present: a "bee"-
(what she calls her blankie) to Allen

The newest family photo!

My parents had gone up to Stake Conference which was a broadcast from Salt Lake- so of course many were asking and I think it was fun for my parents to be able to relay the good news. They brought Corrine by the hosptial after church and she was ADORABLE with her baby brother. She couldn't quite get used to the fact that he had a name and kept calling him "baby brother" and wanted to constantly smother him with kisses. That afternoon they headed back up to Maple Valley taking Corrine with them for the week- thanks for being here and for letting her come and play for the week!

Corrine & Grandpa Allen with new baby Allen

Grandpa Bill Priamos with Allen

We had several others come and visit and later in the afternoon were transferred to a recovery room. I enjoyed resting and just getting to know this beautiful new baby boy! Definitely a great way to end the week! Thanks for all the wonderful wishes we received from everyone! We are thrilled to have little Allen here! :)

September 4th- 9th

Week of September 4-9, 2007: No Baby Yet
Written by Annaliese

Well, it's been a busy & somewhat exciting week, but not exciting enough for pictures- so you'll just have to read about what's going on in our lives! :) But it is a shorter week since I wrote about Labor day last week!

Tuesday, September 4th- It was back to work after a long weekend. It's always hard to go back after such a nice relaxing time! I also went back to babysitting that day. The older of the 2 girls I was watching is in junior high and they offer a wonderful after school program that she is participating in- so I only have the younger of the 2 (8 years old). I wasn't sure how it would go, but it's actually been great as she is much more independent & responsible without her sister there. I think it will work out nicely with the baby on it's way too!

Chris was pretty excited that day as he FINALLY got the firewall at work fixed. He's spent WEEKS AND WEEKS trying to get it figured out and it finally all came together. We celebrated that night with a bottle of sparkling cider! :)

Wednesday, September 5th- Baby's due date, but no baby! :) Oh well, I wasn't expecting it as Corrine was 2 weeks late and nothing exciting has been going on my last 2 doctors appointments. I went in the garden and picked a good sized bucket of sweet peas (luckily Corrine & I LOVE snacking on them) and quite a few zucchini too! I'm just glad that our garden is FINALLY producing SOMETHING- it's been a pretty sad year as far as our garden goes.

That evening Chris watched Corrine while I went to a Presidency meeting at the church. Since I had been out of town for the weekend, lots of people thought I had maybe had the baby, so were surprised to see me still big & pregnant!

Thursday, September 6th- that afternoon I got motivated to use some of the zucchini I picked- I made 2 batches of zucchini bread- 3 large loaves and 5 mini loaves. Chris & I both laughed about the fact that my recipe calls for raisins, but I have NEVER put raisins into my zucchini bread- I prefer chocolate chips! :) It's been fun eating & sharing it.

I had a surprise phone call from my friend Britnee who is living in London- she & I worked at camp together and were roommates for awhile in Fresno. It was LATE London time and she just wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday! So sweet of her! And such a fun surprise to hear from her!

Corrine had gone up to my in-laws to play for a couple hours that evening, so when she came back my mother-in-law, Pat, brought over a birthday present for me- a beautiful Kitchenaid mixer! It will be fun to use! And of course, Chris couldn't resist bringing out his gift either- he got me a laptop backpack! I wasn't so sure about having a backpack for a laptop bag, but with a baby & a toddler it may make the most sense- and it does have a lot of really cool compartments and extra room for other stuff. Either way, it's much better than hauling around my laptop in my diaper bag!

Friday, September 7th- I turned the big 31. I seriously don't feel that old. I don't know what happened to the last 5 years since the last big b-day I remember was turning 26! It was SOOO fun to hear from all my family that day- my parents and each & every one of the boys called to wish me a happy birthday (Corrine loved that as she got to talk to "her guys"). I really think the world of all my brothers and wish we all lived closer so we could spend more time together.

I had a doctor's appointment that morning as well- they did an ultrasound to make sure I had enough fluid & check the placenta and everything looks "too good" (as in nothing is happening any too quickly). But it's fun in these late weeks to really "see" the baby- to actually be able to see a little face is incredible. They had a hard time getting a good picture as he was all snuggled up to the side of the placenta- babies like to do this because it's warm and they can hear & feel the mother's heartbeat. Amazing how connected they are right from the start. So the doctor is going to see me again on Tues the 11th and tenatively has me scheduled for inducing on Fri the 14th- we'll see what happens!

After work we ran some errands including a trip to our local fruit/farm stand. They had several cases of peaches that had fallen off the pallet- so many were bruised. Each case was only $1.00!! I bought a case, not sure what to expect and once I got working on them at home realized it was less than half that were bruised- I wish I would have bought more! I cut off all the bruising and turned those ones into peach freezer jam (they were perfect as they were a bit soft and made for easy mashing) and the rest were put in the freezer for pies, cobblers & smoothies or into the fridge just to eat. I love deals like this!

Chris gave me a second present when he got home- a mini mouse for my laptop! Another fun toy! :) He insisted that I shouldn't cook since it was my birthday, so we had Chinese takeout and Chris did all the unloading & loading of the dishwasher- what a good husband!

Corrine & I had fun that night sorting & organizing all her puzzles- we labled each puzzle with a certain letter so they wouldn't get mixed up and put the matching letter on any boards for those that were board puzzles and then zipped them up in ziploc bags. I'm amazed at how good she is at doing puzzles- she can see what colors/shapes/pictures go together and does it! And it's been a fun way to help her remember her letters as she goes. And the best part is that I'm not finding puzzle pieces all over the house anymore!

Saturday, September 8th- we mostly worked around the house and got a few projects done. We also went out and picked a HUGE bowl of apples from one of our trees- they are delicious! We just picked these ones for eating, but hopefully we'll be able to get a bunch for applesause too. That night I was trying to get some online work done, so Chris offered to take Corrine out of the house for a few hours so I could work- what a great husband!

Sunday, September 9th- church was great and many were again surprised that I was still "with child". There is actually one sister in the ward who was due 3 weeks after me that had her baby last week and they were there at church- kind of crazy!

That afternoon Chris was good enough to finish the last major thing that needed to be done in the playroom- moving the bed out and the futon in. We feel so blessed as it is a really nice wood frame and the mattress is in pretty good shape- and we got it for free! And it adds to that room, giving us an extra guest bed and a nice play area for the kids- which will especially be nice for when the baby is sleeping upstairs and Corrine needs to be somewhere else.

I talked to my dad for a quick minute- they are home from the cruise and I'm sure are trying to catch up and recover from a fun vacation. Pat stopped by with flowers & chocolates- for when the baby is born- maybe in hopes that it will give the baby some motivation to come out sooner!

Well that's our week- maybe next week there will be baby news & pictures- now THAT would be an exciting week! :) Love you all!

August 27th- September 3rd

Week of August 27- September 3, 2007
Written by Annaliese

Monday, August 27th- Chris had spent the weekend working (again) so his work told him to take Monday off. This was fantastic for me as I was able to let Corrine sleep in while I went to work. Chris was also home with her for the afternoon while I ran up to a dentist appointment for a cleaning. It has been far too long since I've had a cleaning and it showed! I need to stay on top of that in the future. Corrine went and spent the night at my in-laws that evening since I had an early morning doctors appointment the next day.

Tuesday, August 28th- The doctor's office was PACKED that morning, so it took awhile to get in. My doctor pretty much said that nothing is going on that looks like this baby is making an arrival any too early. He scheduled my next appointment for after my due date even! So I'm guessing he's really not too worried. As long as it's after the 9th this baby can come whenever he wants. :) That night we got the stuff cleaned out of Corrine's room downstairs so we can take the twin bed out of there and put the futon in soon so that it's more of a playroom than a bedroom. I didn't sleep well that night as my mind was reeling with all I wanted to get done before the baby comes, so after tossing & turning I just got out of bed and worked for a couple hours- I got the crib bedding all put together and all the clothes organized- I was pretty impressed with my middle of the night productivity!

Wednesday, August 29th- Corrine & I spent the afternoon cleaning up around the house and working on a few big projects. We finished her "little room" (as she calls it) upstairs. She's been sleeping on a crib mattress on our floor for some time now as she didn't like being downstairs by herself. But we now have a toddler bed upstairs and a little area that's all her own. I let her pick out the sheets, blankets & pillowcases she wanted on it. We moved the crib mattress into the bed, we put her little cd player (she listens to the primary songs when she goes to sleep) and a few of her favorite books by her bed. She was pretty excited about having it all set up.

It wasn't too long until my mom arrived from Maple Valley. Corrine was so excited to have her there and wanted to show her our "big trampoline" right away- she's actually pretty good on it. We enjoyed visiting and watching Corrine for awhile. Then my sweet mom was good enough to tackle one of my large baskets of clothes that needed ironing while Corrine napped and I got some work done on the computer.

That evening we headed up to my in-laws as my mother-in-law, Pat & sister-in-law, Cheree were throwing me a small baby shower. There weren't many people there, but it was so kind of them all to come and they were all so generous with their gifts! We got some darling things- which I'm so grateful for as we had very few "boy" clothes. Mom headed out shortly after the shower as she still had a long drive back to Maple Valley and lots to do to get ready for the weekend. I know it was lots of driving, but loved having her here for a few hours!

And our big accomplishement: for the first time in MONTHS Corrine slept in her own bed!!! Her new little bed! Yay! I think the fact that it's just outside our bedroom helps as she knows we are close by and doesn't feel so alone. But I'm glad to get her transitioned to there before the baby comes.

Thursday, August 30th- Chris surprised us by coming home early! He was going to have to put in some more hours over the holiday weekend so his bosses told him to take a couple days at the end of the week which was really nice of them. I was able to run some errands while Corrine napped- it's amazing how much faster it is to shop by myself! :)

Friday, August 31st- after work, Corrine & I came home and did some packing, ran a few errands and headed out of town to Maple Valley for the long weekend. Traffic wasn't bad leaving town, but was really bumper to bumper coming INTO town as you have to go through Aberdeen to get out to the beach towns. I was glad we were going the other direction! We got into Maple Valley, had dinner with the family and helped mom & dad get everything ready for all the company that was arriving the next day. It was Maple Valley's 10th Anniversary- they were having a BBQ, music, etc in the park down by the lake below Mom & Dad's house. While we didn't go down for all the festivities we did get to enjoy a fantastic fireworks show from their balcony & bedroom window! It was great! Corrine LOVED watching them- fireworks are so much fun!

Saturday, September 1st- Uncle Larry & Aunt Myreel (Linton) arrived that morning, we all said our hellos and then headed to the airport to pick up the "rest of the gang"- Uncle Malin & Aunt Sally (Lewis), Sally's mom, Beverly Nelson, Uncle Clyde & Aunt Delon (Pease), Clyde's Parents, and Grandma Myreel Lewis had all flown in from Arizona. After making the hugs & kisses rounds we loaded up the vehicles for a bit of a tour around Seattle. First stop was the Klondike Museum, which I think was especially fun as they will get to see much of the route while on their cruise. After the museum, we went by Pike's Place Market, the Seattle Center (space needle, Pacific Science Center, etc.) We took the floating bridge across to see the Temple and were able to see the Univ. of Washington on the way. After seeing the temple we headed back to Mom & Dad's house, gave everyone the grand tour and the men all settled in to watch the BYU game.

Corrine & Mom at the Klondike Museum

Some of us women decided to walk down to the lake and were surprised when the men came and joined us- it was half time in the game! :) We (mostly Delon & Clyde) picked a lot of blackberries on our way to the lake to use for ice cream later! Yum! Dad was even good enough to let Corrine wade in the lake, but of course she cried the whole way back about needing her swimsuit so she could play in the water some more.

Blackberry Picking FUN!

That evening Aunt Myreel did a wonderful ham dinner and delicous chocolate cake (in honor of Grandma's 87th b-day). It was even nice enough to enjoy eating out on the deck. After dinner Tanner told us about his experiences as a missionary in South Africa, showed us pictures and some fun things he brought back. It was so fun to hear about! It's so wonderful to hear about how much he loves the people there and learn the insights into the culture.

We all visited for awhile, but tried not to stay up TOO late as Sunday was another big day ahead! I stayed up with the boys for awhile as they watched "Holes".

Sunday, September 2nd- All the "adults" went to another ward at 9am so they would be able to attend a full block of meetings before they had to meet the cruise ship. Us "kids" (me, Corrine, Tanner & McKay) went to the regular ward block at 11am. Tanner was teaching Gospel Doctrine for Dad, so it was great to get to hear him teach! My little brothers have all grown up so much and matured! It's so great to get to know them again as adults and really appreciate who they are. I slipped out of Sunday School a little early, picked up Corrine from nursery and headed back to the house. The shuttle was coming to take the bulk of everyone to the pier, but couldn't quite fit everyone- plus it was good we took another vehicle just for luggage! My goodness you guys pack a lot of stuff! :)

Uncle Tanner playing computer games with Corrine

The rest of the afternoon the house felt pretty quiet. We made dinner together, watched the video of when Mom, Dad & Taylor picked up Tanner in South Africa (Corrine especially loved watching all the animals!), visited, made cookies and stayed up WAY too late playing a couple games of Settlers. It was fun just to be together!

Monday, September 3rd- While technically this is part of another week, it just fits better here being a long weekend and all, so next week you won't have to read as much! :)

Both the boys had to work that morning so Corrine & I enjoyed lazing around the house until we finally got motivated- we did some cleaning and got ourselves and our stuff ready to go. Before we left town we stopped by Goodwill to see Tanner in action. Corrine was so excited to see him and would tell every worker we saw that we were there to see her Uncle Tanner. He's only been there a day, but they already had wonderful things to say about him! I'm so proud of all my little brothers.

We got a few things and headed back to Aberdeen. Corrine slept the whole way home and we were lucky as traffic was great- once again everyone was headed the OTHER direction!! Once we got back Chris took all of us out to dinner- it was the perfect way to spend time together (and not have to cook) to wrap up a great weekend.

Well another week gone! More excitement to come I'm sure! :)

August 20th- 26th

Week of Aug 20-26, 2007
Written by Annaliese

Monday, August 20th- We had a fairly normal day at work and at home, but poor Chris is STILL dealing with issues with the firewall at work. They returned the faulty hardware, but had to stay late to try and install the new stuff- he didn't get home until after 1am! I don't sleep well when he's not home, so I stayed up and did some cleaning & ironing. It was nice to get a bunch of things done, but it started me on a tired streak for the week!

Tuesday, August 21st- I had a doctor's appointment first thing that morning. Everything looks good, baby is still there and not looking to come out any too early! After work I headed up to Olympia for a dentist appointment (as you remember I chipped my tooth about a week and a half ago). McKay was so wonderful to meet Corrine & I at the dentist office and take her over to McDonald's to play in the PlayPlace during my appointment. Since it's a dental clinic they don't do everything at once- I have to schedule each thing individually. So that day they took some x-rays, did an exam and told me what would be needed for the chipped tooth. Luckily they did have another appointment open 2 days later so they could do some build-up and temporary crown for the chipped tooth.

We ran a quick errand to Target and then all of us headed North to Maple Valley- Corrine BEGGED me to ride with Uncle "uh-kay". So she did. He is so adored- it's great. Traffic wasn't bad and we made it to Maple Valley without a hitch. It was so good to see Tanner- first time in 2 years! Corrine LOVED looking at all his Africa pictures- especially the animal ones! It was also so fun to see Bradford & Megan and cute Baby Lucy (Baby woo-cee as Corrine says) as they were stopped over before getting on the ferry to Alaska- I still can't believe they are moving to Alaska- so cool! Megan was working in the kitchen and Tanner was BBQing chicken on the grill. It was all very good. It was fun just to sit and visit with everyone. Corrine & I were going to head back that night, but we were just too tired, so we opted to stay the night. But of course we stayed up until after midnight talking and enjoying time together. Luckily I keep a change of clothes for Corrine in the car and because of my dentist appointment I had my toothbrush- so at least we didn't have to sleep with gross teeth! :) And Corrine LOVED that we slept in G&G's BIG bed.

McKay reading to Corrine & Lucy

Wednesday, August 22nd- Corrine & I were up and out the door about 5:45am. She was a good sport and got up and got dressed without being fussy. And she crashed fairly quickly after we got on the road. Traffic was fairly steady, but moved at normal speeds so we made great time home. I left Corrine asleep in the car while I ran in the house to grab some changes of clothes and food for us for the day, and put out the garbages, then we headed into work. Corrine slept for quite awhile after we got to work and I just tried to stay busy and stay awake! Luckily we both got naps that afternoon as well!

Thursday, August 23rd- After work we went back to Olympia for my follow up dental appointment. McKay was once again my hero and came and took Corrine for me. I don't know what I would have done without him this week! My dentist said the reason my tooth cracked & chipped was that an old filling had worn out (for lack of a better term) and since it hadn't been replaced, started decaying again. By the time he got all the cavity out, he said it was close to the nerve, but the nerve wasn't exposed so no root canal was necessary- YAY!!! I walked out with a temporary crown as it takes a few weeks to get the permanant one- we went ahead and scheduled it, but we'll have to see what this baby decides to do! :)

After the dentist we ran into Tumwater where we picked up a free wood frame futon! I was grateful for the truck that we got from my boss AND for McKay who helped me get it loaded into the truck- it was a tight fit, but perfect. And the woman was even kind enough to give us a brand new cover that was still in the package for it! We've turned our upstairs loft area into the kids room and so Corrine's room has become a playroom/guestroom and this is perfect!

We also stopped by to take Chris a milkshake at work since things have been stressful for him lately- nothing helps stress better than ice cream! :)

Friday, August 24th- Sunday, August 26th- The rest of the week & weekend was fairly uneventful. Chris had to spend another Saturday at work. I know this is getting frustrating for him as even the engineers can't figure out why the firewall isn't working properly. Corrine & I did some work in the garden and around the house- the upstairs is actually clean and looks like a kids room now and all the laundry got finished. Now if we can just tackle the other projects that need to be done before this baby is born! :)

August 13th-19th

Week of August 13-19, 2007: Falling Behind!
Written by Annaliese

I have to write this before I have 2 weeks to catch up on!!

Monday, August 13th- I got one of those rare bursts of crazy energy and took advantage of it- I scoured the house: dishes, laundry, ironing, vacuuming floors & couches, spot cleaning the carpets, kitchen floors, changing sheets, etc. I just kept going. I really should learn to pace myself as I was exhausted the next day- but it's so nice to have a clean house!

Tuesday, August 14th- My morning started with another doctor's appointment. This is the start of my weekly visits- which means this baby is coming soon! I was down a pound, but feel like I'm eating more . . . I hope that doesn't mean that this kid is getting any ideas of being a 10lb baby! I was officially at 37 weeks on Thurs 16th, which is good news because even if the baby is born now, he's fully developed and doesn't have the same risks- always comforting to know. The doctor said it doesn't look like this baby is trying to come out any too soon- which as you know, I'm more than ok with!

Since Chris had to spend the previous Saturday at work, and ended up working late on Monday, he took Tuesday off. It was nice to come home from work and have him here. He was working on the truck (it's somewhat of a constant project- but it was a free truck, so we don't mind), mowing the lawn, weed-eating, etc. I talked him into taking a break and we took Corrine & the girls I babysit to McDonald's to redeem their coupon for free ice cream from the library summer reading program. What made it even better was that it was one of those nice rare HOT days here in Washington! :) Made the ice cream taste even better!

Wednesday, August 15th- my wonderful mother-in-law had the day off, so she offered to take Corrine for the day and come steam clean my carpets! I had mentioned to her that I wanted to borrow her cleaner before the baby was born- and instead she just came and did it! They look great and it's one less thing to worry about now! And of course Corrine had a ball "helping".

Friday, August 17th- I was feeling restless and anxious all day. Chris knew he was going to have a long evening at work as the issues he thought had been resolved, weren't. So when Corrine woke up from her nap I asked if she wanted to take a drive to the beach. We are lucky to live close to the ocean, so in about 20 minutes we were walking barefoot in the sand. We had a great time- we buried our feet in the sand, let the COLD waves wash over our feet and then would run away from the next one, we built a castle (which was really more of a large mound of sand, but Corrine was thrilled with it), and we walked the shores picking up random bits of shells that Corrine found fascinating. There is such a wonderful calming, peaceful feel effect of being, hearing, seeing the ocean. I love that we live close enough to take a small afternoon adventure and enjoy it.

Saturday, August 18th- I spent most of the day working online. I ran some errands in the afternoon while Corrine was napping and that evening we all headed out to the wedding reception of Alan & Kym Sommerville. Alan was a good friend of Chris' growing up. They were married several weeks ago in a small ceremony, but had the reception where most of their family is. We've had the chance to hang out with them on a few occasions while they were dating and were thrilled for them both. The food was good and it was nice to be there with Chris' parents as well. After the reception we all went up to Mom & Dad Priamos' and played Phase 10 into the late hours of the evening. Of course we all lost to Bill- very typical when it comes to card games! Jimmy (Chris' older sister Cheree's son) was staying with them for the week, so it was fun to hang out with him as well.

Grandpa & Grandma Priamos -- Cousin Jimmy

The weeks keep flying by and summer is almost over! It always happens way too fast!

Corrine & Ebony enjoy a warm afternoon outside

August 6th- 12th

Week of August 6-12, 2007: Lots to Say for a Slow Week
Written by Annaliese

I'm honestly not sure anything exciting happens in our lives to document every week, but I know my mom will appreciate the fact that I'm at least writing! :)

Monday, August 6th- was a tiring day. None of us slept well, so we ended up waking up early to start our day. Not that there's anything wrong with an early start to the day, it just really hits you hard mid-afternoon! Chris' parents were kind enough to have us up for dinner that night, which I especially love because it means I don't have to cook! :) Corrine stayed the night there as I had an early doctor's appointment the next morning. So we were actually able to get to bed early that night at least!

Tuesday, August 7th- My doctor's appointment went well and I took advantage of the fact that Corrine was still with G&G Priamos and ran errands after work. I hit up the local farm stand with the girls I babysit to stock up on produce- we love having a place that caters to local produce and for such a better price! I've also been trying to bring my own non-plastic bags to the stores when I go shopping because I swear my plastic bags reproduce when left alone! I think it almost makes shopping more fun by bringing my own bags . . . that could be a dangerous thing.

Thursday, August 9th- was the tragic day in our household- I chipped a tooth while eating frozen M&M's (dang pregnancy cravings). Luckily it's not overly painful, and it's not one of my front teeth, it's just annoying. Add that to the fact that I don't have dental insurance and I wasn't a happy camper about it all. I did do some research and was at least able to find a dental discount plan and a dentist that can get me in to see him fairly quickly. So hopefully I'll have a pretty mouth soon.

Friday, August 10th- I spent some time after work in our garden. It has not been doing well this year. I don't think our soil has enough nutrients in it and couple that with our overly overcast rainy summer, I think most of our stuff hasn't gotten enough sun & nutrition. I was able to pick a bowlful of sugar snap peas which we snacked on all afternoon and a few blackberries that are coming over our fence. We have lots of strawberries growing, but it looks like the slugs and the ants are getting to them before we do! They must be good because they eat them right up! And luckily we'll get some zucchini & squash (growing those can make anyone feel like a good gardener!).

Saturday, August 11th- Chris had a long day as he had to be into work early that morning to work on a new firewall they were installing. He was there for about 12 hours of the day and came home tired. But he was able to get everything done that was needed. His company is lucky to have him as he works hard and wants things done well.

Corrine & I spent a lot of the day organizing & cleaning the house. Slowly but surely each pile of "projects" is getting smaller! We spent a lot of the day going through old files, shredding paper and dumping it in the recycling bins- Corrine now wants to shred & recycle EVERYTHING! Hopefully she's gotten the message that she has to ask first before she puts it in the recycling . . . I'm just waiting for something important to disappear.

That night we were thrilled to talk to Tanner! Corrine just jabbered on and on to him about anything & everything. I think at first she was a little confused as he sounded like Uncle Taylor to her! When I explained that this was Uncle Tanner who was on a mission in Africa she got all excited and wanted to tell him about all the "African animals" she saw at the zoo. Too funny. He sounded great- he said that he, Mom, Dad & Taylor had a great trip around South Africa- what a cool experience! I only wish we could have been there to hear his report in church as I'm sure it was wonderful!

Sunday, August 12th- On the way to church Corrine was asking me questions about where everyone was. She wanted to know if G&G Allen were in Maple Valley- I explained to her that they were in Utah because Uncle Tanner had to give a talk in church. She replied "He's speaking at church in Utah (more often called Utahda) like Uncle Taylor?" I told her yes and her quick reply was "Well, hurry! We need to go see him!" I had to explain that it would take too long to get to Utah, but that we could see him when he comes up to Maple Valley. She then wanted the run down of where all the other uncles were- she was NOT happy that none of them were in Maple Valley and said "But I want my guys NOW." So all you Uncles, you are officially "her guys". :)

She's been funny lately about going to nursery- it took lots of coaxing and the promise of fishy crackers for snacks to finally get her to go in. I think it has everything to do with this baby coming. I don't think I mentioned it before, but lately all her baby dolls are baby boys- even the ones with pigtails & ribbons. I'm sure it's because she has a baby brother on the way, but it sure it cute for her to come up to me with a baby in a pink dress and say "Mom, he's fussy- can you hold him?"

We also made a great "trade" that afternoon from a local online reuse board. We found someone who was wanting our old freezer and was willing to give us their infant car seat as we don't have one currently and they are no longer using theirs. It's always fun to find great things like that!

It's been a good week, one week closer to adding to our family- we're getting excited for the bigger adventures ahead!