Family Ties...

Charlie got home from work early this afternoon and so we got the chance to spend some time together and hang out with Asher while he was awake. Because I had help I was actually able to get my camera out for a bit and take a few photos of the little man (other photos will follow next week). As I went to put them on my computer I immediately recognized one of the photos of Asher, as if I'd seen it before, the same exact face on a different little baby! It took me a while to find but here is a photo of Asher and one of his cousin Ezrah, at about the same age with almost identical 'mom-you're-annoying-me-with-your-stupid-camera' glares in their little eyes.

E at about 4 months

Asher at 2 months

It's hard not to see the family resemblance; ears, cheeks, pouty little bottom lip, they are related for sure!

Cait

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Introducing (2 months late) Asher Finn!

Well, it has been almost exactly 2 months since I posted last and obviously a lot has changed! The little man is here and we are all home and doing well, when I have more time I will write a post about his birth and hopefully a second (and third) post about all the things we did in his first (and second) month but for now just some photos.

The following photos were taken at the hospital by one of the photographers from Our365 and they were given to us as a Christmas gift from my dad (sorry, I love the little guy but there's no way I could afford to buy the rights to these prints!) So here you go, our first photos of Asher Finn:

Asher Finn Akes
November 3rd, 2012 at 1744
7#12oz & 20inches

The little man looking worn out but who can blame him!

His cute little feet with all his battle scars!

Asher and his Daddy!

Me and the little man!

Our first family photo!

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season and hopefully I will be back soon with more photo updates! Merry Christmas and God bless!

-Cait

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Getting Ready

So it is getting to crunch time... kinda, technically we still have a month but we are trying to get ready for the little man hoping he decides to show up a little early. The reality of the situation is that he will probably get an eviction notice (I'll be induced) within the next few weeks if I don't go into labor on my own. He is doing well but getting very big. We had an ultrasound today (sorry mom, no pictures) and he was measuring big. The measurements they took all put him in the 40-42 week age range which is 4-6 weeks further than he really is and averaged his weight at a little over 9 pounds (the 97th percentile). It doesn't seem like 9 pounds is necessarily huge but its weird to think that if he was born today he would still be considered a month premature. Charlie just says he's an overachiever!

I go to see my doctor tomorrow so she can review the results with me and hopefully talk about a plan for getting the little man out if he doesn't come on his own, just so I know what to expect. On the upside last week they checked my A1c level which checks overall diabetes control over the last 3 months and it was good, a little elevated but lower than I thought it would be. The plan was that if it was below 6, it was 5.9, I could wait a little longer to be induced as long as he does okay with his non-stress tests and my blood pressure stays down!

My weekend project!
Getting the car cleaned and Asher's seat installed!

Overall I think we are doing pretty well here; my belly itches like crazy, I am getting stretch marks everywhere and I feel like everything on me is swollen but I think that is all normal at this point unfortunately. I'm working for the next three nights with the hopes that maybe that will entice him to keep dropping (or start dropping, I don't think he has yet!). But both Charlie and I are VERY excited for November to finally be here! The plan is to have an update later in the week but we'll see. I hope everyone enjoys Halloween!

Cait

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Procrastination...

...something I actually am good at; unlike blogging, cleaning, laundry, organizing, and being productive in general! Point being this post doesn't have much of a point, except for giving me something to do besides all the things I am supposed to be doing (see list above for a start!).

This week Charlie had an overnight job in Westport, Wa. about 3 hours west of Seattle on the coast and because of my ginormously pregnant state his boss let me go with him! It was a nice trip to a somewhat (understatement) creepy tiny fishing town. Charlie kept saying over and over "I come from a small town but... Not like this!"

I didn't actually bring much with me to keep me busy, not even a camera, so here are some phone photos of the places I wandered to while the boys were working.

Fisherman's Boardwalk

Watchtower lookout. 

Float 20. 

So you might not think those photos are too bad, pretty little costal town, kinda. Then you step off of the sightseeing board walk and things get a little more horror movie-esque!

Welcome to small town America!
Incase you were wondering, this anatomically correct (I think) alien was NOT wearing pants. 

Despite what it may look like this house has NO porch.
That red door has an open hole instead of a handle and drops straight down onto a pile of rusted rubble!

Ransacked looking boat Charlie and Clinton were fixing after it almost sank when the new owner took it out for the first time on what was supposed to be a cross country sail, in a horrible storm, without a working bilge pump.
(I know very little about boats but even I could tell you that is a BAD idea!)

Not really sure about this house at the end of a Dead End road,
but in case you were interested it's for sale!

Overall it was kind of a long week, but it was nice to spend the end of it with Charlie. We are home now, my rib is slowly healing, still very sore but healing. We are hoping to spend the weekend getting the house ready for the little man. Charlie is up in Shoreline fixing my car and clearly accomplishing a lot more than I am (he just called and things are a lot worse than we thought)! I have a doctors appointment on Monday so maybe we will know a little more about the plan for Asher Finn's arrival after that, but maybe not, who knows? I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather.

-Cait

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Fort Casey Retreat (pt. 2)

Alright, I think that worked so here is my attempt at Part 2, Black & White photos of the actual fortress part of the Fort and a story below about the little complication we ran into towards the end of the weekend!

Playing with overgrown sea kelp.

Puget Sound from the top of the Fort. 

Gun tower. 

Walking through the inner halls.

Hanging out!

Boys being boys!
(Notice Asher's belly shadow standing watch over his dad!)

Ammunition elevator. 

It was a wonderful fall weekend away but not without its difficulties (you would think that by this point I would have just learned to expect complications!) When we left on Friday I was getting over a bad cold/respiratory infection but I was hoping that a few days away relaxing outdoors would help me get over it. It did... in a way. I feel like the cold was slowly getting better but I was still coughing a lot Friday night! By Saturday my ribs on the left side were so sore from coughing (and from Asher and his hard little bum being wedged up underneath the ribs on that side) that it was difficult to cough and take deep breaths but I spent a long time walking through the Fort and it was refreshing to get out and be a little active. But by Sunday I was having a much harder time breathing (because of rib pain not the infection) and was having to curl up and brace myself each time I coughed. As we were packing to leave Sunday morning Asher kicked a few times right underneath those ribs that were so painful that it sent me into a coughing fit, after that I had a hard time even standing up right. Charlie had to help me do just about everything that day, even walking would send my rib muscles into spasms that were excruciating. Luckily I had an appointment scheduled with my OB Monday so I just had to make it through the night. 

By Monday things were not any better, it took me almost 2 1/2 hours just to get out of bed, shower and get dressed for my appointment. By the time I got there my blood pressure was pretty elevated and I was in tears. It didn't take my doctor long to determine that I had most likely fractured the lower false rib on my left side. She said there was a chance that I could have torn the intercostal muscle attached to that rib also but she said either way there was not much they could do about it. They gave me some meds to try and help with the pain that are safe for the baby but I'm trying to take as few of them as possible. Other than that it is back to more 'bedrest' for me (a least a week or two) to try and let the rib heal. 

The good news is that the little man is doing well, he had his first official Non-Stress Test at the doctors office (since I wouldn't be going into work this week to do one myself) and he looked good, not quite as lively as usual but he passed. We've got another one Friday so maybe I can post another update after that one! I hope you guys are enjoying the fall weather, I for one love it!! It makes me feel like we are getting closer to actually getting to meet this little man, making it more real for me I guess. I personally think tomorrow would be a pretty cool birthday 10/11/12, huh? But if you asked me everyday I could probably think of a reason any of those days would be cool! (We still actually have 6 more weeks so I am trying to learn to improve my patience!)

-Cait

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Fort Casey Retreat (pt. 1)

This weekend was our church's (Epic Life Church) second all church retreat. Last year we went up to the mountains but this year we headed out to the coast (kinda) and stayed at Fort Casey. Fort Casey is on Whidbey Island near the opening of the Puget sound. It was built along with two other forts on opposite sides of the water to protect Seattle and the rest of the military bases around the Puget Sound during World War I and again reactivated during World War II. It is now a beautiful State Park with views of rolling hills, mountains, and the sound. We stayed in the barracks at the Fort, ate at the mess hall, and walked along the beach to see the fortresses and historic light house. It was overall a beautiful weekend with perfect weather!

View from the beach

Charlie exploring the Fort

Charlie and a VERY tired, VERY pregnant me!

View from the lighthouse. 

Charlie and Tim playing pool in the creepy basement. 

The colonel's house at sunset

Deception Pass

 (All of the above photos were edited using Instagram) 

I have a few more black and white photos of the actual Fort that I want to post but I'm not sure how many photos I can post at once so I will put up a second post if this one works!

-Cait

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Our Date Night!

Here is just a quick peek at a few of the photos I took last weekend when Charlie and I attempted to take a day trip (we only made it about 15 minutes from our house) to get out together one last time before the little bean arrives!

At Lake Washington

Cooling off my swollen feet in the Lake :)

After stopping by a small park on Lake Washington (OO Denny Park) we headed up to Mill Creek to find lunch, coffee and wander through some bookstores! It was a nice quiet day, by the end of which I was completely exhausted!!! We ended up home by 6 and in bed by 8, we're not even parents yet and our bedtime has already become seriously compromised!

Charlie. 

I was trying to get a cute photo of the two of us but could never get out into the water fast enough,
this was the best I could do!

This weekend we went to our Church's retreat up at Fort Casey. I'll try and get some photos up of that soon!

-Cait

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