the bakers

It's been so long...

2009-05-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

SO, since it's now mid-May and our last posting was December it's pretty obvious that we haven't been keeping up on our blog... Everything is great, but life is busy with an almost 9 month-old baby, work, family, etc.

To that end we wanted to provide some closure to this blog, to those (if there are still any) who are checking in for updates.

Please find us on Facebook, as we are much more dilligent about keeping that updated. Below are a few recent pictures of Avery from Easter Sunday.

So long for now blog...

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks preparing for Avery's first Christmas and my first days back at work. Thankfully I'm able to ease my way back into work a few days a week. I started back on Tuesday December 16th and will work a few days a week until the first week in January when I will resume working Monday - Thursday.

We are blessed to have both grandmothers willing and able to watch Avery while I work- so she will be spending two days a week with Reed's Mom, two days a week with my Mom and Fridays home with me. Last week she spent a day at each grandma's house, and did wonderfully- I think that I shed more tears then she did.

Avery is growing and thriving and has become quite the little attention-getter. Everywhere we take her we see people smiling at her and commenting on how cute she is. And usually she is happy to smile and talk with anyone.

Fall Recap

2008-12-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Time sure goes by fast, as evidenced by the time elapsed since our last post. Avery is growing and thriving. At her 12 week check-up she was 24 7/8 inches long (97th percentile) and 11 lbs 7 oz (35th percentile). Because she's so long/tall she has already grown into 6-month size sleepers and one piece outfits.

Avery is now one day shy of 15 weeks and her fun, playful personality is emerging. She's been smiling and cooing for quite a while now and recently started laughing outloud when watching daddy and Bailey playing "chase".

Here are some fun pictures of our little sweetie:

Family Trip to Louisiana

2008-10-17T15:46:00.001-07:00

Avery went on her first plane ride. Christine, Avery and I went down to Louisiana to visit my family. So being 51 days old we figured it was time for her to get on a plane. She was great just about the whole time. Because of a lot of driving and flying that was needed, we were traveling for a total of 24 hours, and she probably only cried for less then an hour of that. Here are some pictures of our trip:

From Seattle, to Dallas, to Shreveport, to New Orleans

Hangin out with Great Grandpa:

Wearing her LSU outfit while watching the game with Great Grandma:
In Jackson Square, with St. Louis Cathedral in the background in New Orleans:
Just hanging out in the car:

PICTURES!!!!

2008-10-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Avery is growing and developing great. She tracks us, smiles, almost rolled over (she got stuck half way) and laughed in her sleep once. She also has some crazy hair, just like her mom did when she was young. She has also been sleeping through the night. I guess waking up at 3 am, isn't technically through the night, but she is sleeping for 7 hours straight. We are very thankful for that.

Here are some new pictures of our wonderful daughter:

A painful recovery and a growing girl

2008-09-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry, for the lack of updates. Bailey our dog got attacked by a couple of pit bulls on September 6th, so we have busy trying to make him better and taking care of Avery. Thankfully Bailey is alive, though he is very, very lucky to be.

He has about 8 puncture wounds over his whole body, literally from head to toe. Christine was walking him when it happened and probably saved his life by kicking and punching the dogs and holding on to his leash. Thankfully a neighbor came out to help before I rushed out there. Avery was peacefully inside the house during the whole ordeal.

Bailey is physically getting better but mentally he currently is a different dog. Hopefully with time he will be back to the playful loving dog that he is.

On to a much happier topic, Avery. She is getting bigger , giving us smiles, and doing a great job of eating and pooping. The last picture is us trying to find a little bit of joy in Bailey's situation and taking advantage of him being on two different pain meds.

More pictures of sweet baby Avery

2008-08-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

We have been home for a few days, and are working on getting into a routine. Avery is doing well- and is eating with a very healthy appetite. I am healing and feeling better every day, especially thanks to my pain medication. It's amazing how much you can love someone you've just met.

Here are some more pictures of Avery from the past couple of days.

Hello World...

2008-08-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

...my name is Avery.

And with what only can be discribed as a ROAR, Avery Elizabeth Baker entered the world at 5:16 am on August 20, 2008.

At 12:30 am on August 19th, Christine's water broke, by 4 am we were at the hospital. My 9 am she was on pitocin and the contractions were getting stronger, but then it happened, or it actually wasn't happening. Christine was still only 1 cm dilated, she had been that way since August 18th, and now is was 11:30 pm on the 19th. She was having contractions like she should of been at least 7 cm, but she wasn't dilated any further and apparantly Avery was very happy to be where she was that, thank you very much

So after 11:30 pm, it was decided to give her an epidural to help her possibly relax more and more importantly help her with the pain. Usually they don't give epidurals until one is at least 3 cm, but with Christine's pain becoming more and more unbearable, it was necessary.

After a short little nap, at 4 am, August 20th, Christine was only 2.5 cm dilated; this is not good. So the options were presented which included, wait another 8 hours for a possible non c-section birth, but that was only about 10-15% likely of happening. Also at this point Avery's heart rate was dropping in between contractions making Christine have to frequently change positions. No fun also. So the likely hood of having a c-section was there no matter what, and we decided earlier that this was a good choice if needed.

At 4:30 am she was wheeled into the operating room and at 5:16 am, Avery came into the world. Mom and child are both doing very well. Christine is recovering on schedule and Avery is doing all the things babies do (eating, sleeping, pooping). She was 6 lbs 14 ozs and 19 inchs long, with a head covered in black hair.

We want to thank everybody for the love and support that has given to us and we are excited for Avery to meet you.

It's time

2008-08-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

Christine and I are currently at the hospital. We have been here since about 4 am, a few hours after her water broke. Things are progressing slow and steady and hopefully we will have pictures of our little girl soon!

Due date- come & gone

2008-08-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday, August 15th - Avery's due date, and no baby yet.

There has been a little more progress this week, and some probable undercover contractions. I've experienced some intermitent lower back aches, that I've been told by several other women are probably the beginings of contractions. So far nothing consistent or what I anticipate full-blown contractions to be. So we pray and wait expectantly for her arrival.

My next appointments (OB and acupuncture) are on Monday the 18th - more info then!

Waiting on baby

2008-08-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

I went in yesterday, Monday the 11th for another check-up. Thankfully there was more progress, and even some dilation. For now we are going to stay the course with walking and acupuncture to get labor started.

I am scheduled for my next follow-up appointment next Monday the 18th (if no labor by then). My doctor said that he will look to induce the week of August 25th if Avery hasn't arrived by then.

My last scheduled day of work is this Thursday the 14th- yeah!! We are hoping that Avery arrives soon, so that I can spend my time off with her, instead of waiting for her. :)

The countdown begins

2008-08-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

We are less then a week from Avery's due date- Friday August 15th.

At my appointment last Monday, August 4th there was a little bit of "progess". Tomorrow (Monday the 11th) is my next appointment, so I am interested to see what my doctor says at that visit. Last Monday he did suggest trying acupuncture to get things going- so I went once on Thursday and on Saturday, but so far no baby.

Overall I am feeling pretty good besides some swollen feet and hands. We know that Avery will come when she's ready, and we are getting more and more excited to meet her.

Just add baby...

2008-08-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

It's 38 weeks and 2 days & we are officially ready for Avery to be born. Her laundry's done, car seat installed, swing assembled and room complete. So now we wait... I did have one contraction on Saturday afternoon, but that was it. I go in Monday afternoon for my 38 week check-up.

Here is a picture from 37 weeks and some pictures of Avery's completed nursery:

Almost there

2008-07-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest profile picture from 36 weeks, 3 days. I swear that's a shadow- I don't have a double chin!! :)

Last week we went on our hospital tour and saw where baby Avery will be born. Just a few last things to pick up and we'll be as prepared as we're going to be for this little baby. Can't wait to meet her!

Bailey is One!

2008-07-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

On July 1st Bailey had his first birthday. For a special treat he got his favorite meal for dinner- brown rice and shredded chicken breast. The pictures below show a comparison between when we first got him, and how big he's grown.

A smiling dog with green "socks" after playing outside in the recently cut lawn...

Bailey and Christine the first day home...

And now (we've both grown a bit).

Bailey and Reed playing the first few days home...

And now posing for the camera.

Time to shower baby!

2008-06-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

We are approaching 32 weeks (on Friday June 20th) and closing in on two months until Avery hopefully arrives. This past weekend we attended a weekend childbirth class series, and feel a bit more educated and prepared for her birth.

As we continue to get ready, we have been blessed to have friends and family plan four baby showers for baby Avery. There was one shower on May 18th and one on June 7th, the other two are scheduled for June. Below are some pictures from each of the showers.

3/4 of the way there!

2008-06-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

Our last appointment was a few days over 28 weeks, and everything looks very normal. I am measuring right on track- one centimeter per week along. Baby girl's heartbeat was a strong 145 beats/minute and she has already moved into a head down position with her bottom up near my ribs. I am scheduled for my next follow-up at 32 weeks which will be the last monthly appointment. After that I'll be seen every other week until 36 weeks, and every week after that until her debut. We have started taking some baby-prep classes and are amazed to think how fast time is going by.

Our preparations continue and things are continuing to come along with Avery's bedroom. Below are the most recent pictures of her room and a curent "profile" picture.

A bed near the window with Reed's old friend George keeping watch for the time being.

Dresser/changing table with a china doll my grandma gave me when I was a little girl.
Bookcase with baby's first books and some bins for toys.
30 weeks and counting.

Talk about a heat wave

2008-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today hit record temperatures in the Seattle area. While driving back home around 3 pm, the car registered 93* outside!!! We spent the morning at the University Ave street fair, and Bailey met several other dogs. He however did not like the heat- nor did I, as my hands swelled up like sausages and I had to take off all my rings.

After the street fair Reed & Bailey went to the Bellevue park to sit in the shade and play with other small dogs while I looked around at the mall for some more warm weather maternity clothes. While leaving the park Bailey took an unexpected "dip" in the water fountain- head first. Luckily Reed was standing right next to him and was able to grab him out of the water before he realized what happened. Although he was startled, the water helped to cool Bailey off a little bit. Below is a picture of him relaxing in front of the fan, trying to keep cool.

Below is a picture of me at 27 weeks, also trying to keep cool. It's amazing to think that in about 3 months baby Avery will be here. We are still working on the nursery and will be taking our first baby-prep class in a few weeks.

A Spring snow, a crib, and a growing belly.

2008-04-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, it snowed in the Puget Sound area on April 18th. Yes, April 18th...almost a month after Spring started. We actually got snow on the 20th as well. Here is a picture of the snow coming down. After it was all done we had over 3 inches. It was terrible.

We have been working hard on baby Avery's room. We painted it, put together a bookcase, hung some shelves, put some wall decorations on the wall, put together a crib, took apart and sent back a crib because a screw was loose, and put together another crib. Here is a picture of the crib: Also here is a picture of Christine at week 24:
Lastly, a picture of what happens when you leave a 14 lb dog outside without supervision for 60 minutes, may this be your lesson from us to you, we obviously didn't learn the first time.

How cool is this....

2008-04-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Christine and I went to Siemens Ultrasound to get another look at baby Avery Baker. Thanks to our friends the Van Gorkoms, who told us about Siemens Ultrasound, we got some great 3D pictures of her. Siemens pays you a little bit of money to come in and get an ultrasound done so then if the pictures are good, they can use the shots in their marketing material. We saw her heart beating, the blood flowing through it, saw her hiccup and she saw her moving her legs around all over the place. Here are pictures of the baby:

Her right arm is on the left and her face is in the center. You can see her eyes, nose, and mouth.

This is another picture of her face also in this shot is the unbilical cord (it's across her chin) she was playing with it when she wasn't playing with her toes.

This one is of her left arm and her leg. Check our that calf muscle!

Lastly, a short clip of Avery moving her fingers and giving you a sneak peek of her little chin and mouth.

Over half way there!

2008-04-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Baby Avery has now grown to about 10 1/2 inches - or the length of a carrot. She is moving around quite a bit more - sometimes I can feel her in a few places at once.

Here's a little perspective on the growth to date. The picture below was taken at my sister's birthday party the end of January.

This picture was just taken at 21 weeks 3 days. What a difference a few months makes!

We've started getting the nursery ready for baby's arrival in August. Yeah- that is still a long ways away, but considering we're over halfway there, we wanted to get started now and take our time. The bedding and colors we are using to decorate are pink, brown and white. The replacement crib is scheduled to be delivered on April 25th - the first one we got had a problem with the slider on the drop side (the taken apart crib is in the closet of the picture).

This past weekend we (ok, really Reed) painted the nursery. See the "in process" picture below.

Tomatoes & flips

2008-03-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today marks the beginning of 19 weeks gestation for baby Avery. She has grown to the size of a large heirloom tomato and is approximately 6 inches from head to bottom (not including limbs). I've read countless articles online and talked with other mothers to figure out what the first movements feel like. Well now I can say that I know for sure.

Baby girl is more active in the morning (when I first get to work and sit down to check email), and in the afternoon (after lunch, and in the car on the way home). I definitely know now that what I'm feeling is the baby moving around - not just stomach rumbles.

It's not so much of a "kick" as a "roll and press" or a "flip". I'm sure that will change in the coming weeks, as 18-22 weeks is a time of significant growth for babies. At 22 weeks she should be the size of a spaghetti squash- or 11 inches. That's almost double the length in 4 weeks!

Here is a link to the website that shows a baby's growth by week in relation to foods. It's helpful for those of us that are a bit more visual, and kind of fun. :)

A 90% percent chance...

2008-03-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that we went in for the "big" ultrasound. I wasn't able to be at the ultrasound that Christine had a few weeks ago, so this was my first time seeing the baby moving it's arms and legs and opening and closing it's hand and mouth. Obviously it is really, really cool to see those things and is definitely a testament of God's awesome power.

The baby was in quite an active mood and the ultrasound tech wasn't able to get a straight on view, but she said with 90% confidence that it's a....

Girl!!!

151 beats/minute

2008-03-04T10:06:00.001-08:00

We started taking profile or "belly" pictures a few weeks ago. This picture is from 15 weeks and 3 days along.

I am now 16 weeks 4 days, and had a great appointment yesterday. The baby's heart beat is strong and we are scheduled for the "big" ultrasound on Friday, March 14th. In less then two weeks we should know if we're shopping for pink or blue. :)

Another picture

2008-02-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

Christine had an ultrasound done last week due to a scare, thankfully everything is fine. She was able to see the baby moving it's arms, opening its mouth and rolling over. Here is the latest picture of baby Baker:

It isn't the best photo, it's a picture of a picture, but you can make out the head, body and we think we see a thumbs up in there somewhere.

Also here is a picture of Bailey and his friend Tula "throwing down", we figured we should probably show more then him just laying around the house. Though, when Bailey and Tula are done with 45 minutes of wrestling, all he wants to do is rest, that makes us happy.

Yeah- it's true...

2008-02-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

we are having a baby... We'll wait for the shock to set in...

We found out on Friday, December 7th that we are expecting. So far we have had three check-up appointments (all good), two rounds of blood work (good also), an early ultrasound in January (very cool, the picture is above) and we heard the heart beat (awesome) at an appointment on Monday, February 4th.

As of today the expected due date is August 15th, 2008, which puts us just over 13 weeks along.

We are excited, surprised, thrilled, scared, and most of all grateful to have been given this gift. Please do continue to pray for the health and growth of baby Baker and Christine's health as well. Thank you for all of your support during this amazing journey.

Reed, Christine & baby (and of course Bailey)

An update - Finally!!

2008-01-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we started this blog and have negelcted to keep it up to date...

We apologize to anyone whose checked it recently hoping for new information. Below is a re-cap of the rest of 2007. We wish you all a happy & healthy 2008!

Paige showing off the apple turkey centerpiece she made for Thanksgiving dinner.

Bailey relaxing under the Christmas tree while we decorated.

Bailey's first snow. He loved running around outisde and playing in the snow.

All three of us spent the night downtown Seattle at the Hotel Alexis the weekend before Christmas.

Bailey in the bathtub after getting caught digging in the dirt outside.

Baker Family Christmas picture 2007.

Yassas (hello in Greek)!!!!

2007-10-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Greece for our anniversary. The weather was sunny and in the high 70s and low 80s. It was great to walk around Athens and see so much history. We would just walk around and randomly find some ruins.

Here are some pictures of our time in Athens.

On top of the Parthanon with Athens in the background:

In front of the Acropolis:

At Mars Hill East-East-Eastside, where Paul preached Christianity:

Santorini was one of the most beatiful places we have ever been to. Our hotel was high on a cliff looking out into the Aegean Sea. The views were spectacular. A church in the town of Oia:

This is red beach in Santorini, it's red from the volcano rocks:The city of Oia, as seen from the Ammoundi rock that we swam to below it:
This is Oia again as we arrived into town on our two hour hike from our hotel:

The view from the pool at our hotel:

The town of Fira, about a 40 minute hike from our hotel.

The last island we visted was Paros, which was nice and quiet with lots of nice beaches. Here are some pictures.

This is from the town we stayed in, Parikía, it's the capital of Paros, with a harbour with lots of boats:We got a tad bit of sun:The town of Naousa, on the opposite end of the island of where we stayed. It is a small fishing village:

This is a view from the beach that we spend a lot of time at in Paros. It is the Santa Maria beach. During the busy season it is known as the party beach. While we were there during the low season, it was nice and quiet. No sign of the Nina or the Pinta:It was a wonderful vacation but we are glad to be back with our family, friends and our dog.

He's just as sad as we are that we have to go back to work.

Summer Update

2007-08-17T23:08:00.000-07:00

We've been a bit behind posting the goings-on of the summer.

Here are some pictures of the fun.

Bailey- The newest member of the family. YEP- we got a dog. I know, I can't believe it either....

Monday, September 3rd we picked up our puppy- a Bichone, Shih Tzu, Maltese mix who was born July 1st. The boys wrestling.

Saturday July 28th we went to Children's Day at the Mariner's game. Paul, Paige & Jared rode the train with us down from Everett to Safeco Field to watch the game.

Jared watching the sights from his seat on the train.
Paige & I "watching" the game.
July 20th - Redmond High School Class of 1997 10-year reunion. Reed & I before the party.
The Girls- Me, Erin, Brecken, Kelly, Erin & Melissa.

Reed, Erin & Brecken having a good time.

2nd Annual camping trip to Valley Camp. Paul & Jared hiking in the woods.

Paige & Gavin playing together in the "river".

I'm Free... Free Fallin'

2007-06-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

For my birthday Reed suprised me with the chance to go skydiving. After two reschedules, I finally got to jump on Saturday June 30th. Some of the pictures are a bit blurry, as it was hard to track the descent. The scariest part was the brief moment when you look out of the plane to the sky and clouds below- then whoosh you're out. The air passes so quickly during the freefall that it can be hard to breath and the rush from spinning around is thrilling. I got to "steer" the rest of the way down, so we did some turns. My instructor was great and we had a perfect landing. Whoo-hoo! Now, what's next?!.....

Glass Blowing

2007-06-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday Deedee, Brecken and I went to Wildfire Glass Studio in Bothell for a drop-in session. The photo above shows us in the shop and also a few of our final pieces. First we decided on a project and picked out our favorite glass colors. While in the studio we had to wear protective eye wear (notice the chemistry lab glasses in the photos below). Somehow the sunglasses that the artist wore counted as safety gear...

It was amazing to see the flames leaping from the vat of molten glass, it felt a little bit like "fire & brimstone". When turning the rod and melting the glass in the oven, the heat from the fire was so hot it felt like my arm hair was going to start burning- luckily it didn't. Blowing the glass was fun, and it was cool to see the bubble grow into an ornament as you blew into it. We had a great time participating in the glass blowing process, we'll definitely go back and do it again.

California or Bust

2007-05-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to California. Friday night we spent the day with Kelly shopping and exploring the Burbank area. We saw her play The Boarding House- in which she gave a great performance. We went out with a few cast members after the show to a local restaurant

Saturday we joined the masses in line outside of Disneyland at 6:30 am (Reed's in the brown hooded sweatshirt). Getting there so early we were able to walk right onto the rides before the crowds had time to get in line after staking their places along the red carpet. We saw way too many adults dressed like pirates!

California Adventure was fun. After a near-death experience on Mullholand Madness, Reed declined to go on any other "wild" rides with me. Note the "barf shield" in the photo.

Pinwheels for Prevention

2007-04-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

APRIL is CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To promote awareness the Children's Protection Program at Children's Hospital planted a "garden of pinwheels". A planting ceremony was held on April 5th in a courtyard on the Children's Hospital campus. Many friends and supporters attended the event and helped make it a huge success. That is Brayden Hiam in the "garden" with me.

Below are links to some of the Children's Protection Program's affiliates. They are great resources for parenting tips, child protection related issues and other ways to advocate for safe and healthy children and families.

Parent Trust
WA Council for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect

"No one can do everything

but everyone can do something to keep kids safe"

Say Cheese

2007-04-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

That's the digital camera Christine and I want to get. During the approximately 4.5 years that we have been married, the many trips we have been on, and the numerous other opportunities that we have had together for photos, I think we have taken a total of 4 pictures documenting our lives and I think one of the pictures is of my foot because the camera snapped a picture as it bounced on the ground. Needless to say we need a digital camera. This camera gets good reviews, is relatively inexpensive, and uses 8 mega pixels, whatever that means. So watch out, Christine and I are going to give even the best paparazzi a run for their money.

Walking the Plank

2007-04-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

What does Pirates of the Caribbean, Alaska Airlines, and Kelly Lohman have to do with our blog? Well, Christine and I are heading down to California to visit her friend Kelly, and it's been a while since we have been to Disneyland (and never together) so we figured it would be fun to do that. Well, it turns out that the day that we are going to be there they are closing Disneyland early for...the premiere of the Pirates of the Caribbean III, At World's End. Some people are really excited for this and are planning on getting there to have a spot next to the red carpet to perhaps get a drop of Johnny Depp's perspiration, or a wiff of Orlando Bloom's moisturizer. Personally, I could care less about seeing some celebrities, I just want to go on rides, wear some Mickey Mouse ears, and enjoy some sunshine and Christine just wants me to visit Mr. Grim Reaper by forcing me on some roller coasters. Spinning Tea Cups here I come!

off to greece, eventually

2007-02-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

We bought tickets to Greece for our 5th Anniversary in October. Reed has been working hard on finding hotels, restaurants and making travel arrangements. This should be a great vacation!

you've got to start somewhere

2007-02-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

We are Reed & Christine Baker and this is our blog. Hope you enjoy!