17 weeks

We had our second ultrasound last Thursday, right at the 17 week mark. We were hoping the baby would be cooperative and we would have a little insight as to the gender of this child. But, he or she was extremely active (no big surprise there), and we didn't get a good look.


The best profile we got. Looks like a round forehead and strong jaw with lots of teeth.


Little alien face, straight on and sideways. You can see a little round tummy, and the black splotch inside is the heart.

The baby was measuring a few days ahead of schedule, which is wonderful news. Since I've been mostly healthy this pregnancy, I've been able to eat normal amounts of healthy food, and have even had the luxury of digesting it. Which means the baby is getting all the calories and nutrients he needs, and growing like a champion. He or she is about the size of a potato now, and getting stronger every day. I've been feeling tiny little baby movements for a few weeks now, but especially so this last week.


The heart was beating right along in the 160s.


Our baby has a spine!


And two tiny feet.

And so far, everything looks good. This wasn't the super thorough ultrasound that checks every detail of development, but it looks like the baby has all the right parts in all the right places. Praise be to God.

I've been having a few Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks now, and I had a weird little scare a week ago. I had what felt like a 3 or 4 hour long contraction, which was fairly painful. Drinking lots and lots of water didn't really help, and it was definitely worse if I was standing or walking. So I finally texted my midwife (ah the conveniences of modern technology), and tried a few things she recommended. Things eased up, and I kept my feet up as much as possible the next day. Within a couple of days things seem back to normal, even when I was walking around. We're very grateful we don't have to entertain the idea of bedrest.

Then this last Saturday, I woke up at 5 am throwing up. The first real morning sickness I've had in about eight weeks, which seems a little strange. And then I was really sick the rest of the day. I didn't keep anything down, and even the smallest sip of gatorade made me feel disgusting. By 8pm, I was really dehydrated. I'd lost about five pounds, and my pulse was 95. So I texted my midwife, and we discussed her coming over to start an IV. We decided to see how the night went, and praise God, I was able to keep some fluids down during the night. So I spent yesterday recovering, ate a few crackers, and only threw up a couple of times. Today I feel halfway normal, but still have a lousy appetite. I'm thankful I'm feeling better, and hoping it was just a weird fluke that will pass.

I was going to get a profile picture this weekend, but, well, that obviously didn't happen. We're hoping to have another ultrasound in a few weeks, and maybe we'll be able to tell if we need to focus on boy names or girl names.

Thanks again for all your prayers.

Logos Class of 2001

Yup, folks, here they are. The cute kid in the middle, back row is the guy I married. Rumor has it he got along with everyone, and was even the Salutatorian.

For those of you unfamiliar with our community, Logos is a classical Christian School accretited with the Association of Classical Christian School. Yes, it's a private Christian school. But unlike many private schools in the country, this one graduates well educated (and, gasp! moral!) kids. Lord willing, our kids will someday attend this school.



The 10 of the 20 graduates from Logos Class of 2001 that showed up to the small reunion we had last weekend.
Back Row: John Pernsteiner, Shawna (Casebolt) Wright, Kerith (Brown) Hardcastle, Lisa Just.
Front Row: Luke Rust, Isaac Grauke, Katie (Gray) Grauke, Betsy (Oplinger) Becker, Andrew Becker, Bryan Blakey. Four of these 10 married each other.



The 10 grads including four spouses.
Back Row, L to R: Tina Persteiner, John Persteiner, Isaac Grauke, Josh Wright, Kerith Hardcastle, Lisa Just.
Front Row, L to R: Katie Rust, Luke Rust, Katie Grauke, Shawna Wright, Betsy Becker, Andrew Becker, Bryan Blakey, Bess Blakey.

I didn't see any other cameras that evening, so I'll share these for those of you who might want to see them. Plus, since I didn't get a high school reunion (it would have been me sitting in an empty room all by myself), this is what I have to share with everyone.


Tina and John Pernsteiner (and sleepy Henry).


Josh Wright and adorably chubby Harper.


Marae Rust. She spent most of the evening blowing raspberries.


A few of the kids playing. (Only picture I got. Sorry it's so grainy.)


Betsy Becker. I think she looks dangerously gorgeous here.


Bryan Blakey (surprise!) and Chloë.


Katie and Isaac Grauke.


Kay Rust.


Henry Pernsteiner.


Gus Grauke.


Kate Persteiner and Gus Grauke.


Chloë Blakey.


Luke and Katie Rust, being adorable.


Here they are again, a little more posed and normal looking, but Luke still has cake in his mouth.


Shawna Wright, Betsy and Andrew Becker.


Betsy and Andrew, about to get mushy.


(Yeah, I think they like each other.)


Josh, Andrew, Betsy, Lisa, Isaac, John and Katie G.


Tina Persteiner and Henry.


Katie Grauke and Max.


Lisa Just.


Andrew Becker and Eva.


Max Grauke.


Katie and Isaac Grauke, and Bella Becker. Isaac was reading out of Bryan's old year book, sharing everyone's "Future Plans" from 10 years ago. God has been good.

We had a fun, low key backyard BBQ at the Grauke's. The kids ran around, and the adults sat around and talked about current adventures and reminisced a bit about old times. The Rusts' came from Seattle, and the Pernsteiners' came from Clarkston. The rest of us actually live in Moscow.

Here are a couple of Bryan's Senior Pictures, just for fun. He reluctantly agreed to let me share these little gems with you all.




This last one is the whole Blakey family, including Andrew. He actually lived with the Blakeys for a couple of years during high school. He and Bryan have always been good friends, and we see the Beckers quite frequently. Good thing I get along with them so well.

14 Months

She's a happy kid, most of the time. She plays some by herself with different toys, or her blocks, or the tupperware drawer, or random things in my bedroom. She likes to be close by, and sometimes paws at my feet if I'm in the kitchen.


My little girl is learning new things every day. It seems like she's constantly trying to impress me with her vocabulary. In the last month, she's started using these words and phrases: Thank you: "gay-gah," no thank you: "ah-gay-gah," bite: "bipe," binkie: "bah-bahp," water: "wah-wah," juice: "doosh," bottle: "bah-bah," no no: "nyo-nyo," no touch: "ah tuch," bear: "beaw," ball: "baw," sunglasses or a hat is "coooo!" for cool.

She has two upper molars now, the crazy child. She still just has the two teeth on the bottom, so it's a little strange to me that she's already cut molars. And her hair is growing. It even looks a little mullet-ish sometimes.





And in the mornings, oh boy. She has quite the bed head.


Yes, her hair really looked like this. You can tell she's not always a morning person.

This is her fat look. She's pretty skinny as far as babies go, but obviously isn't starving, despite the fact that she's a picky eater.

Speaking of eating, we've been letting her feed herself sometimes. It makes for a much bigger mess at meal time, but she really enjoys using her utensils, and is starting to get the hang of it. She seems to have the most trouble with not turning her spoon or fork upside down before getting it to her mouth. But she's learning. She also really enjoys holding her sippy cup up for "cheers."



Chloë is not a good sleeper. She still would prefer to cuddle with one of us until she falls asleep. And sometimes we let her. Half the time she takes her afternoon nap on the couch next to me while I catch up on computer stuff.




But sometimes I make her nap in her crib. (This is her classic butt-in-the-air thing she does a lot these days.) I'm really trying to encourage the independent sleeping thing. It's just that she's so much fun to cuddle with.

She still walks along furniture and walls, and has even gotten to the point where she'll sort of lunge between the coffee table and the couch. But she doesn't seem eager to walk on her own. Which is really completely fine with me. And I'm not at all worried about it.





She is really quite the character. Sometimes so happy and cheerful, jabbering and giving kisses and just full of all sorts of sweetness. But sometimes she is a grump and fussy and winy, and I just can't figure out what is ailing her. And lately she's developed this defiant streak where she touches my laptop every chance she gets. She was so good about not touching it for so long, but for some reason has decided that it is just too much fun to mash the keypad. I usually see her from the other room, and start walking into the living room to give her some discipline, and she quickly moves away and acts oh so very innocent. It is so heartbreaking to flick her hand or spank her little thigh, but I know that "the rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame," and "chasten your son while there is hope, and let not your soul spare for his crying." And so we pray for her, we pray for wisdom in raising her, and we give her much grace and a little discipline.

We love her so much. In fact, the other day, Bryan wondered aloud how we could possibly love our next child as much as we love this one. I'm sure it will come easily enough. But boy is it easy to love this kid.