Baby Shower #1

On Saturday my mom & mother in law threw me and Hayden a shower at my Grandma's house in Ventura. We had such a great time! I really enjoyed seeing friends and family. Here are some pics from the day...



Thank you to everyone who came to my shower and to my mom for putting together such a fabulous event. Janet did a bang up job with the invites & games & it was so nice of my grandma to host even after having surgery on her foot! :)

And the winner is...

Wow, my blog readers are GOOD! After only 2 weeks, someone had guessed the middle name. At 3 weeks, many someones had guessed both.

So, without futher adieu....

THE BABY'S NAME IS...........

HAYDEN ELIZABETH VORHEES

Congrats to Chelsea McCormick for getting the middle name right and to Stephanie Long for getting the entire name. I will bring your prizes when I see you!

Nike Women's Marathon

Some of you may remember that about a year and a half ago, my good friend Elizabeth Egel and I walk/ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon. It was a great time - the course starts in Union Square in San Francisco and heads down to the Embarcardero, then up through Golden Gate Park. I've never seen the city this way before and it was just beautiful!

During the race, there are lots of fun things going on- a "chocolate mile" where they hand out ghirardelli chocolate, pedicure stations and lots of other giveaways and entertainment. But the best part is the end. Not just because you are finished walking 13.1 miles, but because there are cute firefighters dressed in tuxedos handing every woman who finishes a Tiffany necklace designed especially for this event.

The race benefits the leukemia/lymphoma society and there were ALL types run/walking it. Elizabeth and I saw some older women, some really big women, some super athletic women, and all types in between. The great thing was, that everyone cheers each other on and it's a great atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable.

So, you might wonder why I'm blogging about something that happened almost 2 years ago.... Well, I've decided to try and run/walk (mostly walk) it again this year. The race is scheduled for 10/18 and due to it's popularity, they have to raffle off spots. So, if you are interested in joining Elizabeth and I for another great time, please follow the link below, then when it asks for your group, enter "NPRuns@gmail.com". That way, we will either all get in or none of us will.



I hope you'll consider joining me in October!

Name Game #3

Today I am officially 100 days from my due date. It's kind of scary how fast this is all moving. I'll be in California most of March so this month is going to fly by!

Here's this week's clue:

This clue is a cipher that is used to translate binary code into safe text. It is used to send attachments in email and to change small bits of unsafe high-character data into stuff that is a lot nicer for text-based system.

In this cipher the baby's name is: SGF5ZGVuIEVsaXphYmV0aA==

Clue by Jason (in case you were wondering...)

Previous Clues:

Clue #1- The baby's name ends in a consonant.
Clue #2- The baby's middle name ALSO has an "A" in it.

I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR YOUR GUESSES!!!

Name Game #2

Last night, Jason was able to feel her move. After the first movement, we were so excited! Then about 30 seconds later, she gave the biggest kick I've ever felt. We were both surprised at how strong it was. It was like she was saying "Hi Mom & Dad". Very cute!

Here's this week's clue:

Baby's Middle Name ALSO has an "A" in it.

Name Game Kickoff

Jason & I had so much fun putting the list of clues together that we decided to start the Name Game today. I'll be posting a new clue every Thursday and when I go into labor, we'll post the remaining clues (if any) and a word jumble with all the letters of Baby Girl Vorhees' first & middle names.

If you'd like to guess, leave a comment at the bottom of the blog post. I will not respond to guesses until after she's born, but those who guess her name first will win a prize! There will be 3 prizes available - one for whoever guesses her first name, one for whoever guesses her middle name and one for whoever guesses both.

Here's some inspiration that may help...



Good luck!!!

Clue #1
Baby's name ends with a consonant.

Parents Weekend 2/12-16/09

Last weekend my parents came to visit. It was so much fun! I picked them up from the airport at about 1:30 on Thursday and later that afternoon we went to look at a house. Let's just say it wasn't "the one". It was in a great area in the hills above Portland and was on about 2 acres but to say it needed work would be a HUGE understatement. It didn't even have walls! It was down to the studs throughout and had plywood floors. Jason is handy, but with the new baby coming and his job getting busier and busier, we decided to pass. :)

Friday, Jason had to work but took some time off in the AM so that we could go see our baby on 3D/4D ultrasound. It was amazing to see her features in such detail and she is still ALL GIRL! J posted a video to YouTube (Scroll to about minute 3 for the 3D portion):



Friday night we went to the movies to see Paul Blart, Mall Cop. It was pretty funny but you guys can probably wait til it comes out on DVD. :)



Saturday we went to Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River. We had lunch at the Multnomah Falls Lodge & hiked a little bit. We tried to stop & take pictures at each of the falls.



Sunday the boys went out exploring & the girls went to the outlet mall & other shopping. Mom & I went to the CAbi outlet where she got some really cute stuff. I bought socks. :) Nothing fits right now so it's pretty inexpensive for me to go shopping. I did buy a cute "I love grandpa" onesie at gymboree for the little one. :)



Monday came way too soon and my parents left on an early AM flight. We had a great visit and I can't wait to see them and all my Cali friends when I'm out 3/10-22/09!

February 07, 2009

It's been a busy couple of weeks! We had some friends come visit from Cali a couple of weekends ago and this Thursday my parents arrive for a visit. The guest room is getting lots of use these days. :)

I've been keeping busy with bible study (2x/week), MOPs, and meeting up with friends for walks, coffee, etc. in between. Jason's job is still going well and he has enjoyed having weekends to putter around or watch movies in the Man Cave. He is looking forward to the Genentech golf league which should start up in May.

Thursday afternoon I'll go pick up my parents @ the airport then we are meeting J & our realtor that evening to take a look at a house. J & I are looking for a smoking deal and who knows, this might be it! We still have a lease until August, so we aren't in any hurry to buy.

Friday, we are going in for a 3D/4D ultrasound. I'll put the video on YouTube so everyone can see our little girl. :)

Saturday, we will probably head out to Cannon Beach to show my parents the beautiful Oregon Coast. I'll be sure to take lots of pics & video for everyone. :)

I'm more than halfway through my pregnancy. Our baby girl will be here in no time! Here's the latest pic taken Sunday. I'm 22 weeks, 3 days in it. :)

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Just wanted to quickly update everyone, I went to the Dr. today and he was able to catch a clear shot of baby Vorhees' parts and confirmed our suspicion that she is indeed, all GIRL! Jason and I couldn't be happier. Let the shopping begin!

It's a Girl....We think....

Jason & I went in for our 20 week ultrasound today and the great news is, that the baby looks healthy, all organs were working as they should be and all measurements are totally normal. Here's the YouTube Clip:




The not so great news for those of us Type A personalities who want to go shopping and start decorating the nursery is that the baby was very modestly hiding it's parts with the umbilical cord. Initially the ultrasound technician thought he saw girl anatomy:



But, the baby's position made it very difficult to confirm. We tried all sorts of different positions and were ultrasounding away for almost 40 minutes, but in the end, they told us they really just weren't sure. :(



The baby was quite active during the ultrasound which was fun to watch. She (we are going with "she" for now...) was also sucking her thumb and stuck her tongue out at us (which probably backs up the girl hypothesis).



We are so happy that the baby is healthy, she is a blessing from God, for sure! Thanks to everyone who voted!

Seattle

Saturday Jason & I went to Seattle to see the sights. I had been there back in 7th grade & J had visited a few years ago on an Amgen business trip but we had never been there together. It was a lot of fun! We left at about 8 am and were to the city by 11:00 or so.

We were able to check into our hotel early and then we hit the streets. First we walked down to the waterfront to check things out and debated going to the aquarium. In the end, we decided to skip the aquarium and head up to Pike's Place.

We walked up a LOT of stairs to get to the market but once we were there, it was worth the hike. We saw the fish thrower guys and ordered drinks at the original Starbucks. After we finished walking around the market, we started walking towards the Space Needle. We got to the space needle & took the elevator up to the top. Once we were at the top, we got some amazing views of the city, Mt. Ranier and the Puget Sound. Jason took a lot of video with his new toy.
Once we had finished with the Space Needle, we took a monorail to the downtown mall. We went in Nordstrom and shopped a bit and Steve Madden (a shoe designer) was signing autographs in the ladies shoe department. Since I'm not really a fan of Steve Madden, I didn't make J stand in line with me to meet him. Which I'm sure J was happy about. But, we did get some video of him. After I went upstairs and looked at cute baby stuff (good thing we didn't know the sex of the baby then...it would have been an expensive trip!) Then we decided to head back to the hotel and out to dinner.

We walked down to the waterfront and had dinner @ Ivar's. They had good clam chowder & J and I split some fish & chips. It was fun to eat on the waterfront and watch the ferry and other boats. After dinner, we walked around the shops a bit and then headed back to the hotel. We debated going to a movie but prego here was too tired and just wanted to fall into a comfy hotel bed. :)

I definitely wasn't "sleepless" in Seattle and after we slept in, we decided we had pretty much seen Seattle and decided to head out. While we were looking for a restaurant for breakfast or lunch, we came across a cute waterfront neighborhood that looked like the type of house that Tom Hanks lived in for Sleepless in Seattle. We stopped and took a few pics and some video. It was really peaceful and I told J that we could live there once we retired. :)

We started to head home and had Sunday afternoon to relax before going over to some friend's house for some HBO. Monday Jason was off and we accomplished a lot. The garage is much cleaner and I worked on organizing our dressers and closet. It's nice to start feeling settled & more organized.

Here's a link to our vacation highlights video on YouTube:




That's all for now, tomorrow is the big day when we find out the sex. I'll keep you posted!!

Noble Woods Park

Today (and yesterday) the dogs & I took a walk @ Noble Woods Park. I love this place! It is just beautiful, it's a great wooded area with lots of pine trees and walking trails. There are also some cute wood bridges that cross over the creek. This morning it was really frosty out and we went for an extra long walk, probably about 3-4 miles. At the end, Jake was dragging! I realized he was cold, poor guy! By the time I got home, he was still shivering! So, I wrapped him up in a blanket and held him until he warmed up. I think he needs a sweater!

Here are some pics from our walk...

I'm 19 weeks pregnant. J took my picture today so you can all check out the bump.

Only 1 week to go until we get to see the baby on the anatomy scan. Don't forget to vote for the sex of the baby on the poll at the top of our blog!!

Our Guest Room

For the last few months the guest room has been my "hot zone" for clutter. All unwrapped Christmas gifts as well as anything baby related got dumped on the bed. This was great because I could just shut the door and pretend it wasn't there. Unfortunately, I knew the day would come when I'd have to open the door and face the music.

I have exciting news! As of today, the guest room has been cleaned and is now open for business! All this a good month before my parents are set to arrive! I'm so impressed with myself! :) It won't stay a guest room for long...our plan is to take the sectional that is in the man cave & move it to storage and then move the guest bed into the man cave making it a man cave/guest room so that we can have a nursery and still have a place for our friends and family to sleep over. Who wouldn't want to sleep in a movie theater????

Jason & I have an exciting weekend planned, since it's such nice weather and J has a long weekend, we will be heading up to Seattle for a mini-vacation. I'll be sure to post pictures & fill you in on the trip next week. Also coming next Thursday will be new ultrasound pics and hopefully an announcement about the sex of Baby Vorhees!

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas from the White Girls!

Mom & I showing our "bellies" in front of the tree...I think I win! :)

Jason & I had a great Christmas this year, we headed down to CA on Friday, 12/19 to beat the snowstorm that was scheduled to hit that night. There was no way I was staying in Portland away from my family on Christmas! We had to get down there! I had a really bad cold and was sneezing the whole way down and totally miserable. J could have driven the whole way, but I made him stop in Anderson, north of Sacramento for the night. Then we got up on Saturday morning and finished our drive to Bakersfield. On Sunday, we went to church with Joel & Stephanie to see Joanna perform in the Christmas program. It was very cute and she sang beautifully! She even saw her "Gawma" (Godmother) Janet waving at her from the second row. She said, "I see you Gawma!!" It was very cute & we got some great video!

Here's a pic of Janet holding baby Joy during Joanna's performance. Joy turns 1 in February!

Here's a picture of Jerri (Joy & Joanna's grandma) holding her during church!

That can't be comfortable Jessie! (With her daddy Tim)

On Christmas Eve, we were worried about snow closing the grapevine, so we headed to Ventura after a great Christmas with Tim, Janet, Nick & Ashley. We made it safely and stayed over at my Grandma's house. On Christmas day, I was 16 weeks pregnant, so Jason took this pic of me in front of the tree at Grandma's house. Thanks to mom for the red sweater & Janet for the jeans! :)

Jason & I had a great time visiting friends & family and were so blessed to have so much time off this year. Genentech was closed from 12/25-01/04 so J took 3 days of vacation & got 2 weeks off! I usually had to work during this time and had so much fun being off! On New Year's Day, we headed home & made it in just under 14 hours....not bad with a pregnant wife who has to pee every 5 minutes & 2 rowdy dogs! :) We were able to relax & unwind over the weekend before J had to go back to work which was really nice.

18 weeks & counting....

I'm starting to blog again after quite a lengthy absence. Now that things have settled down from the move and all my traveling, I should be able to keep this up on a more regular basis.

I'm 18 weeks today and things are going really well. I'm starting to get my energy back and have been swimming and taking the dogs for walks. I'm also starting to get those "nesting" feelings and can't seem to stop cleaning & organizing.

Jason & I picked out the furniture for the baby's room last Saturday and look forward to delivery in about 11 weeks. We chose the "classico" collection by Ragazzi because of it's solid construction & classic design. This will be our crib for all the children & then can convert into a toddler bed & then a double bed. We picked up the dresser & hutch that are in the picture as well. I think it will be a great place to put the little one's clothes, books & other items we want to display.

Yesterday was J's birthday and we went to Brazil Grill in downtown Portland for some Brazillian BBQ. It was pretty tasty although my favorite was the grilled pineapple & salad bar. :) When we came home, we video conferenced his mom and opened presents. It was fun to be able to see her and Hogan while we were talking. So much better than just over the phone!