Hmmmmm....my water broke?????

At 5:30 this morning Rachael woke me up saying " I think my water just broke"!!! Obviously very exciting news...she was headed to the bathroom and said it felt like the peed her pants. So we called the birthing center and they told us to take our time coming in.....Take a shower, eat, pack your bag...so needless to say this is a morning to take note in my journal of life as one of the oddest days in my life. I never thought Id be this patient and calm. We are going to take our time and head in about 7:30 this morning. We have both been anticipating this moment for a couple weeks now. We are like a couple team mates headed into a tournament....Ive counted about 3 high five's and we are already pumping each others confidence with comments like...."lets go have a baby" and " its a good day to be born". I think we are as ready as we can be, bag packed...check, camera...check, music...check, dog sitter...hmmm? We can figure all the little things out later. Anyhow....here we go!!!! it is time to bring our little girl into this fine world we live in. Wish us luck! I have a feeling that this blog has just turned its first corner and we can officially start speaking baby dialect with a goo goo gaa gaa type of excitement!

God bless!!! Go Cougs!!!!

TC 5/29/2010

2 Days After Our Due date:

These photos were taken 2 days after our due date....May 27th! We had a doctors appointment today and everything is healthy and moving along quite nicely. We have another appointment this coming Wednesday and if she decides to hang out any longer we decided to be induced on June 4th. Of coarse we are hoping everything comes naturally but if not, you can expect a phone call or announcement sometime around then. We are still at the Y in the road when it comes to names but we have a handful that we like and will decide on one when we meet her. We have also decided not to tell anyone our options for names due to a number of people who are far to opinionated to keep their mouths shut about past experiences with certain names. Names are so tough!!!

We will keep everyone posted on the progress! Pray for smooth and natural!!!!

Uncle Aaron Marshall!

Sometimes we do see the sun in Seattle and this was a perfect day to take a stroll to Golden Gardens with Uncle Aaron and Grizman. We managed to capture one of Aaron's first experiences with our little girl practicing her ninja kicks in Rachaels belly. I strongly recommend eating a tasty Cuban sandwich at the Ballard Paseo's. There is also one in Fremont but the lines are insane and they only take cash, so hit the bank before you go!

A Day At The Park!

Rachael and I took Grizman to Denny park for a little puppy burn out. Griz has become an awesome swimmer! The wind was blowing and the waves rocked the little pup like he was in Maui during the winter months. He body surfed the waves in but the swim out to the ball was no easy feat. It was a good day!

At this time, Rachael was 1 week out from her due date and ready to pop.

2nd Post of the day!!!

Wowwaweeewa....2 posts in one day? Who know one person could spend this much time on a computer? Keeping this one nice, short and sweet. Thought id include some photos of the new baby room. Rachael and I are not real FOOFY or GIRLY so we came up with a medium scale of TOTALLY RAD CHICK! Feel the love!

WAAAAWAWEEWA!!!!

Rockhaven photoshoot!!!

8 months pregnant!!!!! The belly has reached a level of beauty that we just had to capture photos of to remember this last little bit of time before our selfish quiet time ends. Sleeping in and cuddle time is precious and we are soaking it up for all it is worth.

These images are mostly taken in the baby room yet others were taken in front of our house named Rockhaven. The photographer is a great friend of mine named Amaryllis. As of late... I have been helping her take photos at weddings and she hooked us up with a little prego photo shoot. I love her old fashioned style and she is a master editor. I'm taking notes and learning a lot from her. Someday....someday my photo skills will be ready for the world to soak in and enjoy. My new camera will prevail!

The little baby we have been calling Lil' Miss Moppet due to her unfound name will be coming any day. We are very excited and anticipating the most beautiful little nugget ever seen by human eyes (Knock on wood)....JK! We have a tour of the Hospital at Overlake this Friday and they are going to walk us through some of the "must knows" for delivering a baby. In addition we are making a check list of all the things we need before she comes.

I find it funny that I know exactly how to get to Baby's R US and my office is now brown and pink with hearts, flowers and a white chandelier with little gems hanging from it. It really does make me laugh how fast life can change. I am so ready for this change....it has been something I have been searching for for years. Who knew it was a baby that could make my life so much more valuable? She isn't even here yet and I'm already talking about a life change.

Well I'm off to play with my pup...as I know that my time as a independent man with little responsibility is almost over. Maybe ill take a nap...then a little Bed Bath and Beyond....ah....who knows if ill have enough time.

Enjoy the photos!!!
Tyson

This photo was taken on Valentines day when Rachael and I went to Seward Park and longboarded along the water. It was a great day!!!

Well, the weather has been dramatic lately and I think everyone is ready for the seasons to make up their mind and change. I had the best day this year up on the mountains just last week. We had 22 inches of fresh powder and it was only 19 degrees. That makes for perfect conditions yet Rachael was worried that I would be going onto the back country and boarding out of bounds where avalanches are easy to run into. I assured her that I would be safe and not get too far away from the lifts so her babies daddy would be here when she arrived.

Anyhow... we have had a few days that were very warm here in Seattle. I have mowed the yard several times already and we are starting to plant some bulbs in the front. The rhododendrons has started to bloom in my back yard and you know that Rhody is as colorful as the 4th of July when it is full bloom. We are excited to put away the winter cloths and break out the shorts and flip flops.

Rachael is almost all moved in and making rockhaven home. She has plenty of closet space and seems happy to not be commuting from Seattle a couple times a week. It has been like a game of Tetris trying to create space in storage. Most of the time I just give in and donate my old crap. It is refreshing and Rachael has been very patient with me.

We bought her an antique vanity for the bathroom at the country village and she is in LOVE with it. It is very cool and fits the style of the house. I have a feeling she will be getting pretty in front of that artistic piece of furniture for decades to come. Heck....it might even end up something our little girl will use when she starts putting on make-up when she is 35. HA HA!!!!

Easter was a lot of fun this year. We started the day over at Jason and Tracy's with traditional eggs and a massive Easter egg hunt. Rachael and I had the pleasure of hiding about 150 eggs stuffed with money and candy. And the hunt began!!! Trust me...I got as creative as I could trying to hide the eggs but as far as I could tell they were all found. Who knows...I'm sure Tracy will find some of them this summer when she is doing yard work. Later we went over to Rachael's parents for a ham dinner. We picked up her grandparents in Woodinville and met up with her brother and parents in Kirkland at there home they grew up in. It was a nice dinner and very laid back. It was a great day filled with family and of course we all wished the Chester parents were there to enjoy it with.

Mom and Dad...great talking to you yesterday! Looking forward to seeing you on the 18th!

TC