Maternity Photos: Baby Two

Since Jess was in town this past weekend, we thought it would be a great idea to get in some maternity photos.  We did, however, forget to account for Murphy's Law, which translates to: the one day you have set aside for maternity photos, it will be rainy, cold, and gloomy outside (while the rest of the non-avilable days are beautiful).  So, we had to get creative.  We couldn't go outside, but the natural lighting is best even if it wasn't ideal.  We couldn't really just do inside pics since the lighting in our house, natural or otherwise, is not very good.  So we improvised by opening the slider door and attempting to get a few pictures with whatever natural light we could (thankfully it wasn't actively raining then).  It was a pretty random set up, but Jess, being the creative one that she is, was able to get some great pics.  It was also nice that we were able to get these around the 36 week mark, which was when I wanted to get a belly shot anyway. 

Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Catching Up (February)

Since I last blogged, we've had guests here at the Hammer house, including Noa's mom and Anya, his sister.  It was wonderful to have them here to help with Ruby (now that I'm super pregnant and need lots of breaks!) and allow me to rest a little more than I typically get to.  Plus, it's always nice to have family be a part of our every day lives here.  Being far away from family is probably one of the hardest parts of living the military lifestyle.  I love our life and the adventures that come with it, but it's always refreshing to spend time with family members.  

Ruby loved having her "ama" (Grandma) and "auntie" Anya around.  She didn't show much reserve or shyness at all when they first arrived, which is a big milestone from her, since this happens with most people, family or not.

Ruby loved playing games with Anya.  Auntie Anya taught her how to build bigger, taller block houses and other fun structures. 

I took the ladies downtown for lunch and shopping one freeeeeezing day.

 Of course, Ruby had to push the stroller for part of the time - it's one of her favorite things to do.  Her eyes now just barely peek over the top!

Checking out Ama's new light-up sneakers.  Fancy!

Anya bought Ruby this really cute wooden cookie set for her play kitchen, but Ruby didn't quite understand the difference between the "frosting" and the "cookie" pieces.  So, we decided to make real cookies and practice frosting them.  Ruby was a natural and loved using the sprinkles.

Okay, I'll admit it - I might have frosted a few of these.

We visited the glass museum in Tacoma (yes, we are crazy for bringing a toddler to a glass museum).  Apparently the displays were so thrilling for Ruby that she ended up falling asleep in Ama's arms.  This was just too precious!

Anya and Noa were able to get away and check out the city one day.  The two of them hit many of the local landmarks, including the Space Needle where the obligatory tourist photo was a must.

Soon after grandma and Anya left we had a brief day of snow.  It really was brief…it lasted only several hours before it all melted away.  

We have some wonderful friends here in WA who will soon be adding to their family through adoption.  Their two boys will be coming here all the way from Ethiopia!  Our Care Group wanted to celebrate and support them, so we dedicated one of our meetings to them.  I made the cookies and we also had Ethiopian coffee, decorations, and a fruit try in the shape of the country's flag.  We played games and shared updates on our lives.  It was a fun, low-key night and the cookies were a hit!

Our dogs, who now play second fiddle to Ruby and baby-to-be recently had surgery (dentals) and did great!  I was looking over the paperwork and noticed under Sadie's name that something was listed as a "geriatric" test.  Wow, how fast time flies.  She's already ten years old and will be eleven in May (Gunnar will be turning nine this year).  These dogs have been through so much and continue to be a delight in my life, even on the days that I can't give them all the attention they deserve.  I'm so glad they made it through the procedures smoothly and are back to their normal selves.  Oh, and Ruby was super excited to pick them up at the end of the day.  When the vet tech brought them out, she (Ruby) squealed in delight.  It melted my heart.

We celebrated Valentine's weekend with our dear Apostles.  Spending time with them is always a breath of fresh air and it was awesome to have the whole family here.

The kids did great together - you never know how it's going to be with a couple of toddlers, but overall, they played really well.

Puddle jumping!  They had such a blast, but were soaked up to their knees afterwards!

We had to turn their seats forward facing in the rental and it was pretty fun to watch them enjoy this new point of view.  When the middle seat was up, you could see their little eyes peeking up over the top.  Adorable!

Also, you can kind of tell how wet they got by looking at Ruby's pants and sneakers.  We stripped them down as soon as we got home and put them in dry clothes.

I'll have more pics to share of their visit in the next post, but these were the ones I was able to quickly download off my phone.  Anyway, as you can see, things have been busy here, in spite of baby-to-be only weeks away from arrival.  I'm trying to slow down, especially since I've had more aches and pains, but I also want to try to get in all the fun stuff before I really need to slow down with a newborn at home!

New Hampshire Trip - Fall 2013

Note: I'm backdating a few posts since we've been traveling and then without Internet for a week.  Time to play catch up….

We were fortunate enough to travel to New Hampshire this year for Thanksgiving.  Although fortunate, traveling with a 2-year-old was not a breeze, especially considering we took some red eye flights.  Let's just say that she's not one to quietly sit still in her seat during a flight, even with lots of toys and distractions.

But, we made it.  It was so fun to be reunited with family, especially for Ruby who only sees her extended family a couple of times each year.  We refer to my parents as Oma (German for Grandmother) and Opa, although she had trouble saying Oma, so she called Oma, "Apa" which is the same word she uses for apples.  "Opa" became "Bob," which is pretty funny since that's his first name.  Anoli, my sister, is much to hard for her to pronounce, so she became "Auntie" and Ruby was able to say that name with ease. 

Ruby quickly reconnected with the family and was soon playing and laughing with them.

She and Opa "Bob" were twins one day.

And read books together.

Oma ("Apa") took her to the park.

Auntie played lots of games with Ruby, including several iPad games.  This was a piano app that they did together.  It was so cute to watch the concentration on Ruby's face. 

Auntie was the "bees knees" - she could do no wrong in Ruby's eyes.  Ruby would go around the house (and still does to this day) saying "Auntie, auntie, auntie…" It's pretty adorable.

After a few days with family, Mike, Jess, and Brady flew out.  They were coming with one main event in mind: the upcoming Patriots game (versus their home team, the Denver Broncos).  However, since the game was in New England, we used the opportunity to show them some of our old stomping grounds, hang out with family, and sightsee.  We spent a day in Maine, visiting the area where Noa and I got engaged (about 13 years ago!), ate seafood, and shopped.  Oh, and did I mention we did this towards the end of November when it's completely freezing outside!  It was kind of crazy to be walking around coastal Maine, but it sure made memories.  We even brought the kiddos with us.

This was taken on Marginal Way, close to where Noa and I got engaged many years ago.

The kiddos were super adorable all snuggled up in the car.

We also showed them the church we got married in (located in my hometown)…

…and hit up the local outlets.  I love that New Hampshire doesn't have sales tax.

Did I mention that this visit was in the middle of a cold spell?  The news reports referred to the game day weather as "arctic blast."  This became our mantra as we prepared for the event.  We drove down to Gillette Stadium, where we had booked a room at the adjoining Renaissance Hotel (smart move, even if the hotel did charge us an arm and a leg to stay there).  Then we hit up the shops to grab a few more extra layers for the game.  Between the clothes we brought, borrowed, and bought, we were still unsure if we would be warm enough.  This is what the weather looked like the day of the game:

Notice that it says "feels like 7 degrees."  We ended up adding balaclavas and heat packs to our lot.  We did a little shopping at Patriot Place and then headed to the CBS Scene for dinner.  Noa and Mike had made reservations, which ended up being a brilliant plan since the place was PACKED.   There was a huge line out the door and the bar was standing room only.

Since the boys smartly made that reservation, we got a private booth, complete with private TV and great people watching.

  After dinner, we headed to the room to start putting on our many, many layers.  It was quite comical.  Noa was dubbed "Deadliest Catch" due to him wearing my dad's bright yellow ski parka.  We looked kinda ridiculous, but it was so necessary.

I was the only one who couldn't wear a jersey, since mine wouldn't fit over my pregnant and layered belly.  Noa loaned me a sweatshirt that fit the bill.  Oh, and Mike and Jess had Tebow Patriot jerseys, which made them noticeable in the crowds.  Several people approached them about it - one guy even tried to buy Mike's (he didn't part with it).

With the wind chill, it ended up feeling like 3 degrees outside. It was colder than the weather forecast predicted.  We were pretty amazed that the guys' beers got colder (even developed ice) as the night went on.  Our "hot chocolate" became milk chocolate soon after arriving to us.  It was really, really cold.  Arctic blast was a pretty accurate description.

This is my favorite picture of the four of us from the game.

To recap the game's events, it was a pretty wild night.  The Patriots played a HORRIBLE first half due to sloppy errors and weak defense.  They went into halftime with the score being 24-0 Broncos.  I'm not sure if it was the extreme cold, the pathetic score, or a combination of the two, but lots of people left the stadium, including the season ticket holders sitting next to us.  

But, the second half was a different game.  The Patriots scored 31 unanswered points.  The crowd was on their feet!  It was like a crowd and the team were both revived.  Then the Broncos scored to tie the game and it went into overtime.  The Pats ended up winning in a dramatic fashion with a field goal in overtime.  It was C-R-A-Z-Y. 

We were all smiles when the Pats started scoring!  Although, Jess couldn't hide her pleasure when her home team scored - she even cheered out loud once for the Broncos.  Brave girl!

Everyone was on their feet as the game progressed.  Plus, it helped to keep moving in order not to freeze!

It was a wild, fun night and something that I will remember for many, many years to come.  While we were braving the cold and cheering on the team, the kiddos stayed at my parent's house and kept them busy for a couple of days.  They would send us photos every once and awhile just to let us know how they were doing.  This was our favorite:

We were also fortunate enough to have Jess do a photo shoot with out family.  Again, it was probably crazy of us to schedule this in November when it is pretty darn cold outside, but we were all together and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.  Here are some of my favorites (warning: there are a lot!!) - no captions needed - they speak for themselves:

Sadly, the Apostles and Noa had to fly home shortly after.  I stayed behind to celebrate Thanksgiving with Ruby and the family.  We had a wonderful day with just the immediate family for dinner and then spent the evening with friends.  I treasure these days since I don't get to spend many holidays with family now.

Even Ruby got into the Thanksgiving events, with her turkey shirt and helping to make dinner.  She and Oma worked on a salad together.  It was adorable to watch them.  Ruby loves (literally) throwing a salad together. 

Anoli and I did our own little photo shoot (well, with help from dad).

This is my 24-week pregnancy shot.

And a quick pic with the patriarch.

I ended up having to fly back solo with Ruby, which was again very challenging - she was overtired and I wasn't feeling well.  But, we made it and it was still wonderful to have the opportunity to travel to New Hampshire.  It's a good thing I know that I'll be seeing family again in a few months (when baby girl makes her debut!) because it's always so hard to part ways!