Merry Christmas

Is it me or did Christmas come and go before you could blink? We had an early Christmas in Seattle with both of our families. Pete gave me my Christmas gift early so I could document our trip...a maginificent Canon EOSi Rebel camera that I totally have no idea what to do with. I feel unworthy of all it's features, but I'm learning. Hopefully some photography classes will be in my near future:) Here's some pics of the family at the Bradbury home (Pete's oldest sister Leigha and her family).

Lana and Mama Rigelman looking fabulous

Pete, Grandma McKamy, and Marcus (Leigha's husband). She's such a trooper!

Leigha and daughter Elena

Isabelle, Linnea and her boyfriend Scott

Liam and his sisters exploring the new battery powered Minnie Cooper

It took 3 grown men to get this thing figured out...nice work boys:) The wheels turned out to be much trickier than they appeared.

Look it's Shane (Lana's husband) and his sports bra...that's what you get for being a husky fan! Of course that wasn't his real gift from us. Still waiting for a picture of him in it:)

Uncle Pete and Timmy (Lana & Shane's baby boy) playing some wall ball.

After a full fledged Rigelman Christmas, we had many other things to do on our visit in Seattle. One of those things was seeing friends! We met up down at Toulouse for a delicious dinner.

Beauties Rose and Ellen (who just got engaged to Scott on Christmas)!

The cool kids with glasses (Scott, Mary and hubby Trevor)

My girls (Ellen, Nikki, Mary, & Anna). Who ate too much for dinner on the right?:)

At the time, Ellen wasn't engaged yet but had been suspecting that it would happen soon. I can't wait to see them around New Years so I can get a close up of her beautiful rock! Yay...love weddings!!!

Another highlight of our trip was meeting baby Oscar earlier that day. Yes, Gretchen and Jordan are now parents:) Gretchen was really put through a tough labor situation and recovery. There was quite a scare with baby AND Gretch, but I thank God with all that I am that everything turned out okay in the end.  

Meet the much awaited Oscar

Proud mama Gretch admirining her prize

Ozzie...happy as a clam with Pete

And baby makes 3...the Lindstroms are complete (for now)

I guess Pete couldn't find the flash:) Thanks for letting us visit so soon after coming home from the hospital.

Needless to say, we were back home in Wenatchee for Christmas Eve and Pete's parents and sister were kind enough to travel over the pass to see us. We kept busy both days snow shoeing in Blewitt Pass and Mission Ridge. I got to play with my camera a bit and tried to take some good shots.

Beautiful Day

The Rigelman Crew...love the hat Papa Greg (he's having a National Lampoon's moment).

Very little snow, but we made our own path

My hottie husband and soon to be father himself:) He lights up my world

Snow Shoeing with my baby...7months preggo and still trying to go hang with the best of em!

Of course, what's Christmas without opening the dogs' stockings! Since we had our Christmas early, we got to watch the dogs dig in. Hopefully with a new baby, the dogs will still get this much attention now and then.

How suitable... a lump of coal for Atlas:)

What's really going on here? The dogs are watching me trying to figure out the camera. Love those mugs.

Busy break, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Glad we got to see so many loved ones to wrap up 2011!





Take a Load Off

Why take a picture of my computer screen? This was the news I got to see this morning as I checked to see if I passed National Boards. After waiting all weekend to find out (not to mention 7 1/2 months waiting), I can finally say that I've joined the ranks of other esteemed teachers across our nation by becoming certified under the National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards!!! I still can't believe it...WHEW! I was getting worried that I'd have to redo part of it and that's the last thing I wanted while being preggo. What does it mean? I can competently teach anywhere in the United States and hopefully earn a significant yearly stipend if our state doesn't cut it out of the budget.

Yes I did the leg work, but not without help from my favorite person...Pete. He's the one that encouraged me to do it. I begrudingly started the process kicking and screaming (on the inside) because I just finished my Professional Certification, so why do more work??? I saw other teachers go through the process and it looked like they gave up so much...and they did! I dragged my feet through the whole thing, but Pete helped out by making dinner and doing most of the stuff around the house (including paying attention to our dogs) while I had many dates with the laptop. He helped me study and listened to my ultra-long, really monotonous portfolios. All the while, he never complained and always filled me up with confidence. Pete, you're the best and I love you more all the time...I'm the luckiest girl:) Now it's time for me to return the favor to him in order to study for his Captain's test in March...right before baby boy arrives.

Time to celebrate! (Maybe in 4-5 months)

Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

That's what little boys are made of...or at least that's how I remember the nursery rhyme:) Yep that's right, we are having a boy!!! We couldn't be more excited, but of course we'd be happy with whatever God gave us. Here he is:

The money shot! His little man parts are clearly there. One leg tucked under, while the other is bent upwards so you can see the bottom of him foot.

Cute profile...we can't wait to kiss that little face.

He started arching his back a lot towards the end. Stretching or just tired of the ultrasound tech poking around in his space:) I like this pic because you can see his stomach, heart, and spine. All good things!

Tummy at almost 20 weeks...we're about half-way there!

Draino Time

A few years ago, our dear friends the Eastman's (Matt and Kristin) introduced us to the infamous draino test...a test that is highly valid in determining the sex of a baby. Okay not really, but it has some pretty consistent statistics (rumor has it 19/20 times it's been accurate) and it's just for fun, so why not? Wednesday we decided to see what Dr. Draino had to say and had a somewhat impromptu soiree to place bets on the results. Pete was the mad scientist (trying of course to pawn the dirty work onto Matt) mixing first morning pee with a secret amount of draino and VOILA it's supposed to turn green or brown to tell you the sex. Green=girl, brown=boy. Pretty straight forward right? Except that nobody can entirely agree if it's brown or green.

Brown or Green...what's your call?

The majority vote was green, but I still think it may be a boy...I've never been right with anyone's pregnancy though. I guess we'll get a second opinion on Friday (Nov.4th) when we see the ultrasound :)

The best part of the night was seeing some of our friends:

Todd, Kelly, and baby Taylor

Jay and Kristin (Where's our other Eastmans?)

Mike and 2nd baby Nate (wife Jamie -in pink)

Davidson boys -Andy & Rachel have their hands full with 2 boys and 1 on the way!

Westward Weekend

We spent last weekend in Seattle visiting family and friends. It was a quick trip, but super busy. On Thursday we got to see Pete's sister Lana, her husband Shane, and our nephew Timmy. Always love staying with them and visiting. We were blown away with how much he's grown and what a little boy he's becoming.

Friday morning was spent seeing my mom and brother and then we were off to shop for Gretchen's baby shower and other stuff. Babies R Us was like being in a foreign land and Pete seemed ready to get in and out. I admit, it was kind of overwhelming seeing as we're still getting a grasp on the fact that we too will soon be needing to look at all this stuff. As luck would have it we ran into Pete's mom at Nordy's and she entertained him with some beverages while I did some damage to our bank account. Good timing:)

Later Friday night we got to spend the evening with Pete's high school friend Will and his wife Cynthia who finally tied the knot last month in Roche Harbor. We were super disappointed to have missed their wedding (should have gotten a picture with them). They took us to a fun restaurant called Chupacabra on Phinney ridge. It made me miss exploring different restaurants in Seattle.
Saturday, I was excited to see Gretch and her baby bump at the shower. She's definitely got the momma glow and I can't wait to hear all about her adventures in becoming a parent. I'm glad she's pioneering the way. It's crazy that we've been friends since we were in Kindergarten and now we're both embarking on motherhood at age 30. Love ya Gretch.

That evening we met up with Ellen, Scott, and Nikki to head out to dinner on Queen Anne. Although I don't remember the name of the restaurant, it had delicious pizza that we all shared. While the boys decided to indulge in another beer, I was happy that there was a Molly Moo's next door. It was nice to catch up with my girls over ice cream...like we never missed a day. Ellen's got a new adorable house with Scott and Nikki has moved in with Anna and is working hard at Swedish Hospital. I love seeing my friends happy and well. Can't wait to see them again in November.

We wrapped up the weekend staying at Pete's parent's house. It's always nice to catch up with them and start making plans for the holidays. Although Pete wasn't feeling too hot Sunday morning (must have been the pizza...or maybe the beers and random whiskey;) Papa Greg fixed us up with some breakfast before getting on the road. Ah, and then we were home sweet home.  Until next time!

Atlas Getting into Trouble...As Usual

Poor Atlas really did it this time. Not sure what it was he got  into in the back yard (our guess, and the vet's is an insect bite), but looks like he was sticking his nose in all the wrong places again. Before we went to bed last night we let the dogs out, but Atty came back with some swelling. We gave him benedryl and called it a night. Needless to say, he interrupted our sleep all night by itching and rubbing his face against anything he could find. I was shocked when I woke to see this face:

Our POOR BABY! Even with all this itchiness and swelling, he still had his boxer wiggle. I felt awful that I just assumed it would be better by morning. Pete of course was calm and collected while I freaked out. He graciously went to work late so he could take Atty to the vet ASAP. Atlas was there all day and got some heavy doses of antihistimines. Fast forward to this evening, he looks much better...

Ah, there's our boy

Look at the swelling still around his neck...like a big water pocket (edema?)

We're happy for the recovery with only one downfall. Last time he was on prednisone (yes, last time) it made him so thirsty that he couldn't help but pee all over the house. As for the culprit to all this... don't know for sure. Pete said he looked around and I investigated outside with a stick destroying every spider web, looking for any suspicious bug, and kicking through weeds all in hopes that I might find the answer. We love you Atty and let's hope you keep getting better (and please leave the pee outside).

Here it is! 11 weeks old and already showing off by moving and shaking for the ultrasound. Lot's of arm and leg kicks...are we going to have a busy body on our hands?! We hope so!

Mama feeling relieved to have seen the baby that's

been making her so tired.

Today we start documenting our life.

The infamous "knuckle heads" Atlas and Ruby.