Welcome Amelia Anne Checketts

Born 6:11 am Wednesday, September 23, 2009
7 pounds 2 ounces, 19 1/4 inches long

Proud Mom and Dad after a start-to-finish 3 hour labor!

She's finally here and she is so much fun! We are so in love with our sweet little girl and are having so much fun with her. Can't wait until you all get to meet her!

Tuesday morning I went into my 39.5 week doctor's appointment and my amniotic fluid was low and the baby was measuring small. Throughout the pregnancy there had been enough concern about the placenta failing that the doctor felt it was time to get our baby out. So she said, "Are you ready to have a baby tonight?" Well, ready or not, it was time!

We went into the hospital Tuesday night and they planned to induce me at 7:00am the next morning. I ended up going into labor that night at 2:30 am and having the baby 3 1/2 hours later at 6:11 am - 1 hour before we were scheduled to be induced! And she was a pound bigger than the ultrasound had shown at my doctor's appointment. It was an amazing experience and such a surprise that it happened so fast.

Andrew giving Amelia her first bath an hour after she was born. He is such an awesome dad and it has been so fun to see them together. His eyes light up when he sees her and he always wants to hold, burp and change her. She loves the sound of his voice and being held by him.

Our sweet little Amelia

We can't tell yet who she looks like, but we sure think she's cute

What a good-looking new Dad!

Andrew taking a work phone call with his 1 day old baby in his lap :)

Getting ready to go home in her fuzzy psychedelic pjs

How many first-time parents does it take to put one tiny baby in a car seat? Apparently two with two grandmas standing by for support!

1 day old
Tired new mommy...and this is just the beginning!
I love her hair and hope she keeps it! I didn't have hair until I was 3 years old, but Andrew did as a baby, so we'll see.

2 days old
After a night of very little sleep, she's ready for a day full of sleep. It appears that we've got a long way to go before this little girl gets her nights and days straight.

We are so grateful for our healthy, happy, sweet baby girl and are having so much fun with her. I know having a baby means I will be taking more pictures, and I hope I will find time to blog them more frequently. It's 2:000am right now, so it looks like I may be having more hours in my day so we'll see.

Yummy Watermelon

Doesn't that picture just make your mouth water? I love the wonderful fruits and vegetables of summer, but one of my absolute favorites this year has been watermelon - yum! I like to chop the whole thing up into bite-sized pieces and put it in a tupperware in the fridge so I can pull it out on a whim and enjoy cold, juicy, delicious cubes of watermelon...wish I had one right now.

So the funny thing about watermelon these days, unlike the watermelon from my childhood, is that they are almost always seedless. I have discovered that this is a nice perk and seems to make it that much more enjoyable to savor the flavor without bothering with the seeds. I didn't even realize how convenient this was until last week when I bought one that happened to have seeds in it. When I asked Andrew if he wanted some for dinner he jokingly said, "Yes, but can you take out all those annoying seeds for me?" Oh, how convenient our lives have become...

Okay, now the third, and last thing I will say about watermelons is this: I look very much like I swallowed one whole, don't you think?

38 Weeks

Compare to the picture in the same outfit 8 weeks ago to see the dramatic difference of the last couple months...yikes. Having such a "large and in charge buddha" (magilla gorilla quote:)) has definitely made me consider some things I will not take for granted in the future. Just a few of those things being:

• Having an innie belly button (look, you can see it sticking out in the picture above)
• When I drip food (like juicy watermelon) and it lands on the table instead of on my belly
• Being able to roll over in bed without a ridiculous amount of moaning and groaning
• Being able to get up out of bed without first rolling over onto all fours (seriously, you try doing a sit-up with a whole watermelon in your stomach!)
• Being able to wear my own workout clothes on my morning walk instead of my pajama pants and Andrew's large t-shirts (you know, the ones where the "short sleeves" come down to my elbows - so attractive. Just one of the many reasons it's wise to get married before you get pregnant)
• Being able to go to the grocery store without every little kid gawking and shouting loudly, "look Mommy, that lady has a baby in her belly!" Actually, I think that's pretty cute but I certainly hope they stop saying that by at least a month or two postpartum!

What an intense and wonderful journey this pregnancy has been. We're getting excited to meet our little girl.

Blueberry Picking

Saturday Andrew and I went to a farm in Eugene and picked blueberries and they are delicious. They were sitting on our counter for a few days and every time I walked by I would grab a few of the fattest ones - yum! In just under an hour we picked a huge bag full and it is a great feeling to have so many blueberries that you can eat handful after handful and not be limited by that tiny expensive container you buy from the store! We had blueberries on our oatmeal, blueberries for snack, and blueberry pudding pie for dessert. Anyone want to come visit?

Andrew's motto was: "One for the bucket, three for my mouth."

Any guess what this is a picture of?


Maybe this one will help:

Yup, that's right, that's my belly from my perspective! When I look down, I can no longer see my feet (unless I stick them out like I did for the second picture). Kind of a weird feeling.

I also had another weird pregnancy experience this week. It happened one sunny afternoon when Andrew was waiting for me in the car in the garage. I came out of the house and walked around the car but when I tried to squeeze past the bike handle bars leaning against the garage wall and the car mirror I found I couldn't fit! Andrew was inside the car cracking up and I was just looking down at my belly in shock! Now every time we get in the car together Andrew has to pull out first and when we get home he has to let me get out before he pulls in so I can waddle to the door without getting stuck!

30 weeks

4th of July, Florence, OR

Andrew and I had a wonderful 4th of July in Florence again this year. We went down on Friday night and hiked to our favorite lighthouse on the beach, Heceta Head. We stayed at a charming bed and breakfast in Old Town and Saturday we did a long day hike at Cape Perpetua. We love hiking so much and we love that there are such beautiful places to enjoy only an hour from home. I carried the baby for the whole hike, so Andrew was kind enough to carry the backpack for the whole hike :)

Enjoying the ocean view at the base of the lighthouse.

The living room at the Edwin K Bed and Breakfast

We also enjoyed ice cream at the yummy ice cream shop in Old Town...


...and we may have tasted the salt water taffy too!


Then we bundled up to watch the fireworks show. They shoot them off over the Suislaw river where it opens up into the ocean. Very cool.


Obviously my firework photography needs a little help.
Here is the best picture I could get of the show.

New York May 12-19, 2009

Dan graduated from Medical School on May 14th and the whole Blaine and Patrice Asay family (except for Andrew) went out to celebrate. Our family hadn't been together since Christmas 2007, and it was wonderful to be together again. I was so sad that Andrew couldn't be there with us, but he had to work and wasn't able to come.

Here are some highlights:

Dr. Dan

What an accomplishment. I was feeling very emotional during the graduation as I watched Dan receive his diploma. He worked so hard to reach this point and is such an impressive guy. I have always looked up to Dan, and I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished and become. It was the culmination of many grueling, miserable, draining hours, but he did it. Now for some more pain in residency!

Ithaca

After Dan's graduation in New York City, we drove up to see Scott, Trina and the girls in Ithaca. We got to see Scott's little office in this gorgeous building on the Cornell campus and get a little taste of their beautiful life.

The Girls

I think everyone would agree that the highlight of the whole trip was spending time with these two adorable little personalities! Evelyn and Allison are the two cutest girls I have ever met and I loved being around them. They really are so special. I hope our little girl is very much like them...

Hiking
Of course it wouldn't be a real Asay family vacation without lots and lots of hiking and walking. We hiked to some beautiful waterfalls and in some captivating forsests and parks. It was spectacular.Lisa and me.
(In real life I looked more pregnant than this picture lets on - I was 5 months here. Three random strangers even asked me when I was due during this trip, so I know that I must have looked noticeably pregnant!)Lisa, me, Trina, Evelyn

Hanging out like when we were kids...
It was wonderful to be with my family again. We all live so far apart now and it makes me sad. It is fun to get together now that we have grown up some and I love mixing our "grown-up" personalities. My siblings are so impressive and my siblings-in-law are perfect fits and I cherish the time we get to spend together. There were only a few instances when I got mad at myself for reverting back to acting like an immature 16 year old...hopefully I'll grow out of that some day.

Talking to AndrewI missed Andrew so much on this trip. The time difference made it challenging to find good times to talk and I was so sad to be without him. He is my best-friend and I missed sharing my family and fun with him. He is a wonderful husband and I am grateful for all of his sacrifices and hard work to support our little family. I love him so much.

The Whole Family (except Andrew, of course)

Me, Dan, Lisa, Matt, Scott, Allison, Trina, Evelyn, Mom and Dad

Thanks Mom and DadThanks for all you did to make this trip possible and so wonderful. We love you.

A Perfect Day

Spent all day with Andrew
Went out to lunch
Took a sunny drive up the McKenzie River
Walked around a fish hatchery
Had a BBQ with friends
Cuddled and watched a movie

Can I put in an order for another day like this sometime soon?

The name of this park was "Llyod Knox Water Board Park." Didn't sound like a lot of fun to us, but it turned out to be a beautiful walk! We passed on the water boarding.

I'm no fisher, but I'll bet I could have caught one of these beautiful Rainbow Trout.

Pregnant or big purple tank?

You don't really have to answer that, please.

Another nice article on Andrew:

http://gazettetimes.com/articles/2009/04/28/beavers_sports/top_story/6osu01_base042809.txt

We had our ultrasound on Friday and found out we are having a girl. We are so excited and happy and it is so fun thinking about our baby knowing that she's a she - like Andrew said, it makes it more real.

Already assuming the role of concerned parent, during the ultrasound I asked the technician, "If there's an error in determining the gender, isn't it usually that they tell you it's a girl and it turns out to be a boy?" She straightened up in her chair, got a little huffy and said, "In this office, we don't make errors!" Then she told us that she was so positive our baby is a girl that she'd come repaint our nursery if she comes out a boy! Well then, girl it is until final confirmation on September 27th! We'll keep you posted.

Anyway, we are so happy and excited and now we can start talking names...From our track record of making decisions, however, this could be a long and painful process! Wish us luck.

It's a little blurry, but Dad wanted to see the ultrasound picture of our little girl so here it is. That's her pretty face in profile with her cute little nose and lips and pot belly (just like mommy's!). She's a cutie.

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.

Register Guard Article

Andrew was in the Eugene newspaper again this past week and it was a really neat article. The article includes some really nice things the head coach and some of his pitchers had to say about him. The head coach said:

• “Awesome performance. I definitely hired the best pitching coach in the country.”
• “His work ethic is unparalleled, and the kids love him.”
  

One of his players said:

• “He’s just an absolute genius”

The article also talked about how he "has guided his young staff to a team ERA of 3.62, which is second in the Pac-10 Conference and 19th nationally."

It was a fun article to read and if you want to read the whole thing go to: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/sevendays/11095343-35/story.csp.

Andrew really is exceptionally talented and hard working in every aspect of his life. We just celebrated our two year anniversary this week, and I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. And really, I am.

Heartbeat

I got to hear the baby's heartbeat today and it was so neat! The doctor and I were able to hear the heartbeat immediately as she put the heart monitor to my stomach - a fast whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh like a washing machine on agitate. It was so exciting and it made it seem so real. The little heart was beating 150 beats per minute. Apparently the baby didn't think the poking and prodding was as cool as I did because he/she promptly made me throw up in the parking lot on my way out of the appointment. I tried to make it to a bush but ended up throwing up right behind my own car. Gross.

Unfortunately Andrew couldn't be there for this appointment, but he'll be there next month when we find out the if we're having a boy or a girl. Any guesses? Vote at the top left :)

We may still blog about our dog...

...but in September we'll also blog about our baby! We are so excited and nervous and can't believe it actually happened and we're going to have a baby. We are 10 weeks along and are due September 27th. We went to the doctor last week and it was amazing to see the little tiny gummy bear of a baby on the ultra-sound. Isn't he/she cute? It made it seem much more real and helped me to see the reason I have been spending the last few weeks bent over this fine piece of furniture:I have been pretty sick and miserable. I have some good days - for which I am so grateful, but I spend a lot of my time puking, sleeping and just feeling gross. I'm grateful my mom did this at least twice (so I could come along:)), but 4 times?! Wow. What a woman. Everyone says you forget...I hope so or we'll be a one kid family. In addition to being so nauseous, my sense of smell is heightened which makes cooking, cleaning and opening the fridge insurmountable tasks. This is why after working so hard every day, my poor husband has to come home and fix his own meals from here:
I stocked up on frozen meals so when he comes home I can stay in bed and say, "Hi honey! Glad you're home. Dinner's in the freezer." Not quite as nice as a home cooked meal, but it's better than nothing!

Anyway, we are so excited and are so grateful for all of our family and friends who are sharing this journey with us. I am so grateful to be married to my best-friend and we are excited for this new little life that will be joining us.

My First Sewing Project as an Adult

So we've been renting the same house since May, and since May we've been having the same problem. Namely, one of the windows in our bedroom has shutters that only go up halfway and every night when we try to go to bed, our neighbor's light shines in through our window. As Andrew says, "It's like trying to sleep with a strobe light on!" Our neighbors are 100 years old but apparently they have a much later bedtime than ours. So now that I have a sewing machine (graciously given to me for Christmas by my angel mother and hardworking father), I finally decided to do something about it.

So I found a pillow case in our cupboard that had lace on one side. I carefully picked out the stitching on all sides and was left with a great sheet of cloth perfect for a curtain. I bought a tension rod and sewed a loop in the top for the rod and then hemmed in the sides and Vioala! Easiest curtain pattern I've ever heard of! Andrew said he really likes the wavy seam lines. Sorry Mom, some things never change :)