Just a Little Teaser..

Marissa teased us with one of our photos from our maternity session so I am going to do the same to everyone else....

Oh, how I can't wait to see the rest!!!!

3 Year Anniversay/Week 30

I have to apologize for resulting to "highlights of the week" for the past couple weeks but we have just been so darn busy!!!

Courtney flew in from Houston for Hood to Coast on Tuesday night. Cody and Roxy picked her up from the airport at midnight. She's here for the Hood to Coast Relay this weekend.  Wish I was running with her team this year but I guess thats something that will have to wait for next year!

On Wednesday we celebrated our 3 year anniversary.  The day started our a little rough..I was grumpy with Cody Wednesday morning when he was at fault for me running late in the morning. He took the cell phone to the airport (which is also my alarm clock) then left it in the truck when he got home.  So my 4:45 am alarm was useless to me.  The part that annoyed me so much was that before I went to bed, I even reminded him to bring the phone back to the room after his trip out to the airport.  I guess I should cut him some slack though...I have only had 3 years to train him :o) Looks like I got some work cut out for myself for the next 80!

We had our 30 week appointment after work on Wednesday.  Everything check out just fine. Our midwife said that Hanley has already positioned himself head down and I measured in a week ahead again. After our appointment, we ran home so I could shower before our anniversary dinner.  Dinner at Chart House was great! Dr. June has taken us girls there a few times but Cody hadn't been there before. Thanks Honey for such a great evening together!

The beautiful flower's Cody had delivered to my work

The rest of our Hood to Coast guests arrived Thursday..including Courtney's friend from Houston and Tyler from Seattle. They had a team dinner that night and I worked late on Thursday. I came home to a quiet house and Cody had dinner on the table.  He made excellent fajitas using bell peppers from our garden.

Friday was a low key day: work, quick trip to the Dr.'s for a vaccination, haircut, I made dinner while Cody worked on some painting then we ended the evening with a long walk with the dog.

We made some great progress with the painting Saturday morning then did some canning.  We tried some corn salsa using corn, bell peppers and hot peppers from our garden! I got a manicure while Cody went and got his haircut. Kim and Loren were in town so we met up with them for dinner. They called it an early night because Loren was up early volunteering for Hood to Coast. The HTC gang came wobbling in Saturday evening.  I felt really bad watching them try to make it up our stairs into the house :o)

Corn Salsa in the works!

Kim and Loren made breakfast this morning so Cody, Courtney, Tyler, Whitney, and I joined them for breakfast. Cody and I had to eat and run because we had our maternity photos scheduled with Marissa Lynn Photography. We chose to have them done at a park in Lake Oswego and I think it ended up being a great location.  There were a variety of scenes for Marissa to work with and the weather really cooperated with us. Marissa really enjoyed the moments of a light breeze for the wind blown hair look :o) I am beyond impressed with her abilities as a photographer. It's been fun to watch her develop into such a great photographer.  She really has an eye for the small details, was able to pick out the best locations for good lighting and made us feel comfortable while she directed us.  Thank you Marissa for a great experience!!!!! We can't wait to see how they turned out!

I think the rest of the day is going to be spent preparing for the week ahead of us and laying low.  Normally I would be really excited about the upcoming 3 day weekend but something tells me we are going to spend it painting the whole time...

Painting Sucks!

It was another busy week at The Olson's.  We got lots of work around the house but still managed a social life at the same time.

Cody's buddy Jordan was in town this week for training. So, we went out to dinner with him Tuesday night after work.

Wednesday was our hospital tour.

I worked late on Thursday then we met up with Jordan, Marissa and the rest of the gang downtown.  We planned on just going out for an hour or two for drinks (well drinks for Cody and "angry dolphins" aka water for myself) but we ended up having such a great time that we were out until midnight. For two old folks like ourselves that have a set bedtime of 9:30 pm, that was super late for us (especially on a work night).

Cody managed a full day at work Friday after our late night and I got up early for a busy day myself.  I started out my morning with water aerobics and came home to start painting door jams right away (trying to beat the heat).  It was pretty hot Friday and painting in the heat in a house that lacks AC was pretty miserable.  It's sad to say but the whole time I was painting, I was wishing I was at work! When Cody got home from work, we headed out to our friends Katie and Buck's new house out in Beaverton.  I was rushing Cody out the door in a hurry because I wanted to make it over to their house before it was little Stella's bedtime!!! Normally I don't encourage him to drive like he watches Nascar but this was an exception :o) We made it just in time to see her just before she headed to bed (oh and what a cutie she is!). We had a great time over at their house and I loved having the chance to pick Katie's brain for all the baby/pregnancy/labor/breast feeding/etc info I could!

Saturday we spent all day painting.  I finally finished all the door jams in the house and Cody started on the doors. The lower temperatures on Saturday made painting more tolerable but it's still not my favorite task.

Cody was up early Sunday painting again and I took Caleb out to the airport. When I got home, I helped Cody finish up and then we took a little break to run out to our friend Cam and Sarah's house for Josie's 5th birthday (it's hard to believe she is 5 and going to start kindergarten...I remember her 1st birthday like it was yesterday).  When we got home, we painted some more until we finished the doors. Most of the doors are hung and looking pretty good.  Too bad we still have soooo much more painting to do around the rest of the house.  Next task: closet doors and window sills in the rooms and base trim throughout the house.

Since we have been so busy painting this week, the housework has been completely neglected.  We have company arriving this week and our house is a disaster! I think an easy dinner is in order for tomorrow so I have some time to get some stuff done around this messy house!

Hospital Tour

Yesterday we had our hospital tour.  I was excited about it because I felt like it would help me feel more prepared and give me an idea of what to expect during the labor and delivery process.  I have to admit I have been a little nervous about the labor part but after yesterdays tour, I feel a lot better about it. 

Assuming I go full term, we will deliver at Kaiser Peramanente. I actually feel really good about delivering there because they are big advocates of natural delivery. I might be a Republican but I do have a little bit of hippy in me (must be my Eugene roots!).  The hippy side of me really wants to have a natural birth.  Now, clearly I understand that this is my first child and I really have NO IDEA of what kind of pain I am doing to endure during this time or what kind of complications may arise.  I hope for the best but will try to mentally prepare for the unexpected. Therefore, I won't be disappointed if my birth plan doesn't go as I would like it to. Flexibility is key! However, we have a midwife and many of the support nurses at Kaiser are very knowledgeable in different positions and techniques to achieve a natural birth.  So, with my hubby by my side and medical support that encourages natural birth, I feel that the odds are in my favor.

So, back to the tour...Cody was excited to find out that each delivery room and postpartum room is equipped with a mini fridge and T.V.'s. This was good news to him just in case I go into labor during a Beaver football game and he has to tailgate at the hospital.  Unfortunately for him...the hospital has made if very clear that MOM'S are fully in charge of room lighting, temperature, and THE T.V.'s, not DAD'S!

I was excited to find out that the hospital has jacuzzi tubs to manage labor pains and the delivery rooms are large in size.

The maternity wing of the hopsital was super quiet while we were there. We didn't hear any women in labor but we heard a crying newborn on the postpartum floor.  Just hearing that baby cry almost made me emotional. I can't believe that in only 11 weeks, we will be at the hopsital holding our little man and hearing him cry for the first time.  I can't wait to meet him!

Weekly Wrap-Up

We have been pretty busy the past week.  Here is a quick weekly summary:

-My parents have been staying with us for the last week and a half because they have been up here for work. They managed to spoil the heck out of the dog.  My goodness if Hanley can manipulate them as well as Roxy can, Cody and I are in for it! 

-My Mom made this for Hanley and I just love it! I am sure it's going to make it in his newborn photos :o)

-Speaking of photos....we just booked our maternity photo's with Marissa Lynn Photography!!! Check out her website at marissa-lynn.com.....She is an amazing photographer and a wonderful friend!!! I am so excited for our session with her. 

-Check out my new work chair....It might look a little wild but it's great for my back and ribs! Thanks Tami....your a lifesaver!

-We started a new project around the house.   You see, we made a huge mistake when we chose matte finish paint for the trim and doors when we painted the entire house 2 years ago (Yes, my Mother warned us against this but we didn't listen!).  Now we are tired of the the scuff marks that won't come off our nice white trim, so we are re-painting it all (base trim, doors, door jams, door trim, window sills, and the stair skirt).  I wasn't looking forward to this little project (okay, BIG project!) but it's something that needs to be done.  We started on Saturday and it's looking great so far!

-My Grandma turned the young age of 80 today!! We celebrated her birthday with the whole family in Tillamook yesterday with a BBQ at my Aunt Linda's house.  It was really nice to see everyone who made it.  The weather was perfect...I even came home with a sunburn!

-Our hospital tour is scheduled for this Wednesday.  Cody doesn't really see the point of the tour but I am really looking forward to it. 

Well, I think that about wraps up the last week of life at The Olson's!

The Bob

Early on, I somehow managed to talk Cody into The Bob stroller. I thought it was going to be a hard sell and even tried to tell him it could be my birthday present.  He absolutely shot that one down responding with a "well, why don't I just go ahead and buy you a workout video for your birthday while I'm at it..?" (His Mama taught him well!)  To my surprise, he told me to pick out the jogging stroller I wanted (originally I was deciding between The Bob and a Phil and Ted) and we would just get it.

Last weekend when Cody was in Houston, my cousin Melissa told me that Thrifty NW Mom featured an awesome deal Amazon was running on The Bob...28% off with free 5 day shipping!!!!! I immediately called up Cody and got the okay to buy it!

I got home from work today to find it sitting on our doorstep (good thing we live in a good neighborhood because this is one spendy stroller to go missing!).

Maxi seemed to be just as excited about the new package as I was....

This evening Cody set it up for me. The shocks on this bad boy are amazing. I have a feeling we are going to get a lot of use out of this thing!

Hanley's New Ride



SHOC Walk

For the second year in a row, I participated in the SHOC Foundation Annual Empowerment Day Run & Walk event. Last year Courtney and I ran the 10k race and this year Joanne, Roxy and I walked the 5k.

The SHOC (Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer) Foundation raises awareness for ovarian cancer and aids in research.

Did you know....?

-Ovarian Cancer occurs in 1 out of 69 women.
-Ovarian Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S.
-Each year 25,000 women will be diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and nearly 16,000 will lose their lives to the disease.
-A pap smear is NOT a test for Ovarian Cancer - it detects Cervical Cancer.

The event was a huge success this year thanks to all the organizers, support from the community, and the many sponsors (including Nanna's Best Biscotti who donated 500 biscotti!).

Roxy loved being a part of the event this year! We went off course and let her go for a quick dip in the river at the halfway point. She also got to eat pancakes and sausage for breakfast which was a huge treat for her since we don't normally feed her people food.

Roxy and I with Joanne Santee (CEO of Nanna's Best Biscotti)

Sponsor's List!

HOT DOG!!!!!

Joanne and I with Lori Dayton (sister of Sherie Hildreth) 

Girl Time

Cody has been out of town for the past 2 weekends.  Last weekend he joined the guys for "Brofest"- a weekend full of camping, fishing and whiskey. At first he was a little concerned about agreeing to go away with the guys for the weekend when he knew he had his Houston trip coming up the next weekend. When he asked me about it, I told him if it's something he wants to do he better go now while we still have lots of flexibility in our lives (we all know this is going to change once the baby comes).

He was worried about how I would feel about him being gone for 2 weekends in a row.  I am not going to lie, I already miss him tons and he just left to Houston to visit Courtney yesterday. I didn't realize it was going to be so hard on Roxy though. She managed to do okay last weekend but this weekend she is super depressed.

Too much time away from Dad for this little lady. However, it has given her and I some "Mama and Puppy" time which I have really enjoyed.  We have spent lots of time at the park and today I took her to the river to cool off.

Fetch!

I think I wore her out pretty darn good- Mission Accomplished!

Nothin' like a great swim on a hot day!

I guess I shouldn't leave Miss Maxi out of this post but to be honest she hasn't missed a nap or a meal over Cody being away :o) Lets just say, she's the Mama's girl!

As this belly grows, there seems to be less and less room on my lap for this little girl!