Happy July!

We had a salute to armed forces in church this morning. It was interesting to see the men (all were men) who came forward as service members. There were quite a few of them - we go to a rather large church - and most of them were middle aged or older. I suppose part of that would be because the younger ones are probably still in service and we don't live anywhere near a military base.
Anyways, it was cool to see a couple guys up there I didn't know were veterans and we gave them all a standing ovation. Made me wish my dad was there as well. He's a navy veteran.

In Cory news: I got down in front of him the other day so you can see the world from his point of view and also see how strong (and cute) he is!

Look at me, I'm learning to crawl!
And I'm so darn cute you don't know what to do with me!
Sleeping with daddy in the mornings


The play gym I bought him last week... it's the only way he'll lie happily on his back.
And he "talks" to the critters and makes up stories for them!



Becca's 2 older kids, Isaiah and Lydia, reading the story Cars. Practice for daddy!

3 months old!

and quite a bit bigger than the bunny now!
and when he figured out that he could lean forward I couldn't get him to stay back against the couch long enough to take any more pictures!
Look at those big feet though!

He's been sleeping through the night about every other night which is wonderful! He's also "swimming" like crazy anytime we put him down on his tummy. Look out world!

Of floors and thunderstorms

This weekend we went to Seattle to help my college roommate, Wendy, and her husband with their new house. They are currently living between houses... I was helping pack and clean at the old house while Brian and Wendy's dad were mowing and figuring out how to put in a wood laminate floor at the new house. We did get quite a bit done over the weekend, including the whole floor in the master bedroom (that's the only place it's going) and it does look really nice.

There was a really pretty rainbow on Friday afternoon and then a crazy cool thunderstorm complete with hail on Sunday afternoon! They really do live out in the country - we got woken up by a rooster every morning and there are horses next to the backyard.

Of course the weekend wouldn't have been complete without a trip to IKEA... we even managed not to buy anything (other than lunch and cookies) although we did find a nice crib that we may purchase later.

You've got to be kidding...

So, I'm beginning to think Brian's car is an accident magnet...
He went to pick up a friend and while sitting in the parking lot a guy backed into him. Ugh.


On another note, I think we have an aspiring wild west bandit. Cory looked way too cute peeking out over his Tigger overalls! (size 6 months no less!) He's also worrying his hands, too bad we don't have video!


And I'm beginning to think it wasn't such a great idea to clean my house this morning... as there are currently 6 guys not including Brian in my living room... and they already have made swords out of "noodles" with bamboo rods in the middle (thank you David Dyer) cutting the noodles over the carpet and making a general mess. Yay.

School's out for the summer!

Well, actually it was out last Thursday... but here are some pictures from graduation! (which was last Sunday even!)

David Rutherford

Tyler Mueller

Mr. B says a "few" words

Yay, graduates!

Cory's Life

Look Mom, I'm bigger than the bunny now!!!
2 months old

I like to chew on fingers, especially daddy's!

Oh, I found my thumb, yay!

This is my future pony, Mara.

I'm so cute, especially when I'm the center of attention!

Cory meets Great-Grandparents

This weekend we drove down to Oregon so all of Brian's family could meet Cory... and see us, too! We had a BBQ on Sunday afternoon and lots of family were there! On the way home on Monday we stopped in The Dalles to see the other set of great-grandparents. And finally made it home at 1:30am. Cory was a champ in the car. On Saturday we only had to stop twice (in a 7 hour drive) and on Monday we had to stop twice besides in The Dalles. Good thing, since we do make that drive fairly regularly!

Grandpa Wayne makes a nice pillow

Hugs for Grandpa Gene

Don't try any tricks Grandpa, I'm on to you!

Hey, I think I like this guy!

I like Grandma Elaine, too!

Look out Cory!

Mad scientist (aka math teacher) Kelly in action!

Camera, Yay!

We got our camera replaced by the school and it came last week. Yay! Now I can take lots of pictures and post them easier... case in point, we've already taken 500 pictures! Good thing we don't use film anymore!
This post could also be called the Many Faces of Cory!

Checkin' out the world from Grandma's shoulder

The typical face that mom and dad see...

Rayna is almost 3 months older than Cory...
his feet are the same size as hers and so is he, almost!
She just weighs a little more!

Cory likes being "frogman" with Grandpa!
Look at me mom, I've got a mohawk!

Cory and the new book that Grandpa brought from the Aquarium in Boston.
He was totally enthralled with the cover!

Allison and Joel

All of Brian's family came for Mother's Day. We had Cory dedicated at church and it was a busy weekend!

The difference a few days makes...

So 10 days ago I was doing okay, then I went to the ER with a gall bladder attack. 4 days ago I had my gall bladder out. I seriously hope this is the end of after pregnancy weirdness because I've had my fair share I think...
Although I would say having the gall bladder out was probably easier than giving birth... other than the fact that it took them 3 times to get the IV in right and now I have nasty bruises. And Cory likes to wiggle and kick his mommy in the tummy...

Here are some "not so new" pictures now that I finally got all the pictures off the camera and on my computer.

Oh, and my dad is officially retiring the end of May! So, no more commuting to Longview! And he might even be Cory-care if I decide to go back to work next fall...

First bath in the baby bath tub - after the umbilical cord fell off

He actually likes baths, although after this first one we took out the little froggy sling thing because it kept him up out of the water and he got cold.

4 generations!

Cory's favorite place to sleep again... and he likes to hug Daddy!

One of the weekly "growing" pictures. "I like my elephant!"

Look Mom, now I am almost as big as the bunny!

And this is how Mom gets a little more sleep in the mornings...

Yeah, Spidey!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 95% Superman 70% Robin 62% Supergirl 60% Wonder Woman 50% Catwoman 45% Iron Man 40% Green Lantern 35% Hulk 35% The Flash 30% Batman 30%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Oh Joy

So, we just got home from the ER... I swear I've been to the doctor/hospital more in the last 3 months than I have in any one year period in my entire life.
I have gall stones which means I have to have my gall bladder out in the next couple weeks. The doctor said it's extremely common in women of child-bearing age, but also just common in general. He said the doctors at the clinic where they do the surgery do half a dozen a week each. So I guess that's good because it means they have a lot of practice...
Ugh, I do not want to have surgery and I especially hate IV's... but neither do I want to go through the extreme pain that I experienced this evening.
Yay.

New Cool Science

Scientists unearth Superman's 'kryptonite'

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!!!

Musings

You'd think after 9 months I would be used to the fact that I have a baby. But no, it still kind of boggles my mind that there's this other little person here. It's like he just appeared by magic! And I'm totally responsible for him. That's kind of scary in and of itself.

I'm one of those people that change takes a long time to get used to. And I've been in such a haze for the last few weeks (who wouldn't be on an hour or two of sleep here and there!) that it really hasn't sunk in yet. It still feels like a dream. Not a bad dream most of the time, but still a dream.

Sometimes when he's not screaming and just awake and looking at me I think he understands me. Probably crazy, but he does make the cutest expressions! Pictures could never do them justice.

And I think I'll probably have to get used to always having a wrinkled shirt because his favorite place is sleeping on my chest which means we both get kind of sweaty... and so much for the shirt!

First Bath

So, we don't have too many pictures from this last week. Mostly Cory's been screaming, eating, or sleeping. And we haven't had many visitors that always require pictures. But... we did give him his first real bath the other night! I don't think he liked it very well. Mom's not so good at keeping him warm yet. But he has much lighter hair when it's clean and dry rather than all sweaty from screaming. I think he's going to be a red-head - or at least have very red highlights in his hair. Brian thinks that means he'll be strong-willed. I hope not!

Yesterday was his first doctor check-up and he's gained 1 1/2 inches and over a pound. He now comes in at 9 1/2 pounds and 22 1/2 inches long. The doctor says he looks good and is a strong little boy. He's got strong lungs that's for sure!

Otherwise, I'm sad because my best friend and her husband sold their house and are probably moving to Waterville. That's a good half hour drive away and a really nasty road in the winter. Now I can't just drop by her house whenever I'm in that part of town. :(

The "Next-Blog" Button

Have you ever hit that link at the top of the page that says Next Blog? It can be quite interesting. You never get to the same page twice, some of them are in foreign languages, and some of them are not worth looking at. But then again you find some really cool things sometimes! Like this one from http://inspiration-stories.blogspot.com/

A Nun asked her class to write notes to God.

Here are some they handed in:

**********

Dear God :

I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset You made on Tuesday. That was cool.

**********

Dear God:

Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You keep the ones You already have?

**********

Dear God :

Maybe Cain and Abel would not have killed each other if they had their own rooms. That's what my Mom did for me and my brother.

**********

Dear God:

If You watch me in church on Sunday, I'll show You my new shoes.

**********

Dear God :

I bet it is very hard to love everyone in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I'm having a hard time loving all of them.

**********

Dear God:

In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation?

**********

Dear God :

Are You really invisible or is it just a trick?

**********

Dear God:

Is it true my father won't get into heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house?

**********

Dear God:

Did You mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?

**********

Dear God:

Who draws the lines around the countries?

**********

Dear God :

I went to this wedding and they kissed right in the church. Is that OK?

**********

Dear God:

Did You really mean "do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if You did, then I'm going to get my brother good.

**********

Dear God:

Thank You for the baby brother, but I think you got confused because what I prayed for was a puppy.

**********

Dear God:

Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up.

**********

Dear God:

I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big, but not with so much hair all over.

**********

Dear God:

You don't have to worry about me; I always look both ways.

**********

Dear God :

I think about You sometimes, even when I'm not praying.

**********

Dear God:

Of all the people who worked for You, I like Noah and David the best.

**********

Dear God :

My brother told me about being born but it doesn't sound right. They're just kidding, aren't they?

**********

Dear God:

I would like to live 900 years just like the guy in the Bible.

**********

Dear God :

We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school they said You did it. So, I bet he stole Your idea.

A week from hell?

So, apparently I'm making up for having a relatively symptom free pregnancy by getting everything weird now. =( I haven't even been to my 2 week appointment yet (actually 3), but I've already been back to the doctor twice. First I got an infection and then after I get off the antibiotics my "stretch marks" have been turning bright red, spreading down my legs, and itching more and more. So yesterday I went to the doctor again to find out that I have a text book case of PUPP which is something like pregnancy induced papules. I looked just like the picture in the doctor's book. Basically it's a reaction to the fact that Cory has Brian's genes as well as mine. So now I'm on prednizone and trying not to scratch...

So this coupled with the fact that for some reason Cory's been screaming all week has not made for a lot of fun. I finally had a thought last night that maybe he has gas so I bought some drops for that and today he seems much calmer. Yay! It's actually quiet at our house at the moment...

Poor Brian has not gotten much sleep at all since he went back to work this week. He was even late for school on Wednesday. Good thing he can fall asleep fast so he can take advantage of any opportunity to cat nap!

On one happy note: Our car is finally in the shop and getting fixed. Woo hoo!

More pictures of course!

There's that crazy Uncle Kevin

Sleeping on Auntie Allison - which is his favorite position

And again on Grandma H

Grandpa H and Cory check each other out

Daddy has way too much fun dressing Cory...

Cory has now met all his immediate family except for the great-grandparents on Brian's side. He is eating well and screaming A LOT. We're not quite sure why except that he just wants to try out his lungs. Which doesn't make for a whole lot of sleep for mom when he screams for 2 out of every 3 hours between feedings...

Meetings

Cory meets Grandma...

and Grandpa...

and Great-Grandma!

This is the bunny, Flopsy, that Great-grandma thought would be the same size as the baby... I'm so glad he's smaller!

This is my favorite picture so far!

He's a pretty responsive little guy!

And Cory makes three!

Cory Elias

Born: March 28th at 2:38am
8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long

We finally brought him home from the hospital today. He had trouble getting enough oxygen at the beginning and then he developed jaundice so had to stay another day under the lights. We think he's pretty cool (quite warm actually), but we are still having some issues getting the feeding thing down so please pray for that... and for sleep!

Love, Krista, Brian, and Cory

March Madness

So, Thursday was my mom's 60th birthday. I planned a surprise party for Saturday afternoon. But she got 3 parties anyway because they had one at school, then one with the teachers (half day) on Friday and then mine! But Grandma almost ruined the surprise... I shouldn't have told her because she called on Friday asking how the surprise party was ... "I waited all night for someone to come pick me up!" when Mom had been up there that night anyway!
And then the cake almost didn't arrive, my friend Becca was supposed to go with me to Costco to pick it up... But when I got to her house Saturday morning her husband had taken the car (with all the carseats in it) to a wrestling tournament and didn't have a cell phone on him. Plus he had taken the keys to the truck. And Becca can't drive a stick, which my car is!
So she gave me her card and said just don't say anything! I got in fine, but they look at your actual picture when you check out so I was wondering how that would work out! But thankfully I ran into Brian's principal who agreed to let me check out with him. And then he found a canvas carport thing he wanted to buy, but didn't have his truck with him! I looked at the box and said, "oh, it'll fit in my car". Which it did with the back seats laid down and the passenger seat pushed all the way to the dash! So it worked out both ways and since he was coming to the party he could bring his truck and get it later!
Then since my mom didn't know about the party of course she had scheduled Min Ho for a physical (he's going to play tennis) at 10:30 and my dad was going to try to take her out to lunch at 11:15 so I could decorate and set up! He finally got back and got her to lunch at noon and thankfully again a couple of friends had called and asked if I needed any help so they came and we got it all done.
The party was a success, she was very surprised and lots of people came! Yay!

The only sad thing lately is that some how someone stole our camera. :( Brian had left it on his desk at school and we're really hoping it wasn't one of the students. It's possible that someone could have gotten in because the high school is just an old house and not really secure. But I'm most sad about the fact that now we don't have a good camera to take pictures when the baby's born. Not to mention that we don't have the money to replace it right now. So we're just praying that it will turn up at a pawn shop or someone will find it or something. There was a rash of thefts at the public middle school and high school last week and my friend who is a teacher up there had her cell phone stolen. The police were hoping to track the thieves down with that so maybe it will be connected...

Then we had Brian's friend Sami (from college) come visit also to go skiing with us! Too bad it was all warm and slushy today. We even got up to go to the early service at church (at 8:15 on daylight savings no less!) so they could go skiing. At least I think they had fun even though they didn't stay all day.

Hooray for the Cougs making it into the brackets - and at the #3 spot!!!